Kansas vs. Kentucky series has been near dead heat under current regimes

In the 2008 national championship game, Kansas needed a late comeback led by Mario Chalmers to knock off Derrick Rose and Memphis in San Antonio. A coaching rivalry was born on that Monday night in April.

A decade and a half later, John Calipari and Bill Self are scheduled to meet again on the hardwood. For the 10th time, these two blue-blood programs will face each other with championship-winning coaches running the show. The series has been back and forth between the Jayhawks and Wildcats.

Under Calipari, Kentucky leads the series with Kansas 5-4. Last season, the Cats recorded perhaps the most shocking victory in series history with a 80-62 victory at Allen Fieldhouse. Kentucky also beat the Jayhawks in the 2012 national championship game. But Kansas has also recorded some big wins.

Kansas ran off three consecutive victories in this series by holding off the Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray led Kentucky team in overtime at Allen Fieldhouse. The next season, KU would defeat Kentucky in Rupp Arena and would then record a win in the Champions Classic to begin the 2017-18 season. However, UK bounced back quickly to win two of the last three.

But on Saturday we will have a first in the Calipari vs. Self rivalry. For the first time in 10 meetings, one team in this matchup will be unranked. Thanks to a poor start to the season, Kentucky finds itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble with 11 games remaining in the regular season. Cal’s squad could use a Quadrant 1 victory over Kansas in a big way.

The Kentucky-Kansas rivalry will add another chapter on Saturday night. History tells us that there is a good chance that the meeting could be memorable as these programs keep trading blows despite Kentucky owning a 24-10 all-time series lead.