Five of the Greatest Bruce Pearl Quotes About Kentucky

[caption id="attachment_173937" align="alignright" width="600"] Photo courtesy of Knoxnews.com[/caption]   Bruce Pearl has always had great respect for Kentucky, Rupp Arena and the Big Blue Nation. Since his early days at Tennessee, he's always provided meaningful quotes about what it means for him to coach against Kentucky. Recently, he said his Auburn team could beat any team in the SEC besides Kentucky. He followed that up with maybe his best quote ever: “Even though I’m that guy that provided false and misleading info to the NCAA, I try to be real.” “This is one of those opportunities that you can tell your grandchildren about," he also said to his players ahead of Saturday's trip to Lexington. Before he returns Saturday night as the head coach of Auburn, we take a look back at five of his greatest UK-related quotes from the past in chronological order: February, 2006 Pearl on wearing the orange jacket for the first time at Rupp:

"I can't tell you how honored and emotional I'm going to be to walk on that (Rupp Arena) floor," Pearl said. Before this season, Pearl said he wanted Tennessee to be Kentucky's rival -- which drew a small smile from UK coach Tubby Smith. "I wasn't calling them out," Pearl said Monday. "I just remember some of coach Mears' teams, and the great games with Kentucky."

Pearl after winning at Rupp Arena in his first season:

On beating Kentucky... "Kentucky is the benchmark for every team in this conference. I was honored to be on the floor tonight coaching because of all the great coaches and players that have been here. What a wonderful crowd (tonight) and a great environment." On building a rivalry with Kentucky... "I would really like to have a rivalry with Kentucky. I think we are fortunate to have Kentucky as our rival. It (the rivalry) is what is going to help me build this program into something. I thought it was great that the fans were interested in beating us. That hasn't been the case in a few years. I looked forward to this game. It is a good feeling to be able to bring a basketball team into here and get that sort of respect from such a wonderful place with great fans."

March, 2011 Pearl after losing twice to Kentucky in his final season at Tennessee:

“To leave second place [in the SEC East] on the table and not finish with Kentucky is disappointing,” Pearl said. “To not be able to add to our history by getting swept by Kentucky is disappointing. “I do feel it’s a benchmark I should be judged on, and I obviously have not done my job in our rivalry with Kentucky.”

August, 2013 Pearl to Gary Parish, reflecting back on his rivalry with Kentucky:

"I wanted Tennessee to matter to Kentucky fans. I wanted Tennessee to be a game Kentucky fans circled. We did that. And that's the kind of thing I would like to try to do again."

October, 2014 Pearl to Jerry Tipton on Kentucky's combine televised by ESPN:

"They’ve got the biggest arena. They’ve got the greatest fan base. They’ve got the best players. They’ve got the best coach. They’ve got it all. Kentucky is different. It’s uniquely different. And Cal does a great job of taking advantage of those differences."

@JohnWilmhoff