The Kentucky-Indiana rivalry doesn't have to completely die

by:John Wilmhoff05/06/12

@JohnWilmhoff

  According to a report by Andy Katz on Thursday, Kentucky still has a reserved date at Lucas Oil Stadium for a game next season. The validity of that report has since been questioned, but it looks like Kentucky is at least interested in still playing a game in Indy, even if it is not against Indiana. Texas, West Virginia, and Kansas have been rumored as potential neutral site opponents for quite some time. As Matthew Hayes mentioned yesterday, Ohio State would be a great potential neutral site opponent as well. Playing the Buckeyes in Indy would be a nice geographical fit and would have the potential to fill up Lucas Oil Stadium. Hayes also pointed out in his post yesterday that there would be no better way to stick it to Indiana than scheduling their in-state rival Purdue for a game in Indy. I have an even better idea. Just because we no longer have a rivalry with IU, does not mean we can't have a rivalry with the state of Indiana. I'm proposing that UK starts up an annual double-header in Indianapolis featuring UK and Louisville against two other Indiana teams: Notre Dame and Purdue. You could call it the "Bluegrass-Hoosier Classic", but IU doesn't have an invitation. A past Notre Dame-Kentucky rivalry would be renewed every other year, with UK and UofL alternating between playing either Notre Dame and Purdue. The tickets to the 60,000 seat Lucas Oil Stadium could be divided between the 4 schools, with each school receiving 15,000 tickets. On a Saturday in December, UK and UofL fans could get along for once and root for each other against the Indiana schools, while IU plays a less significant game in Bloomington. This would certainly make IU regret ending the Kentucky series, and perhaps would cause them to cave in and agree to play the Cats on a neutral site in the future. If UK and UofL worked together to make this happen, it would also improve the relationship between the two schools and possibly make it easier to work out an agreement to play an annual game at the Yum Center. So what do ya'll think? If UK goes through with still playing in Indy, who would you like to see them play there? Let me know on Twitter @wilmhoffKSR and sound off in the comment section below.

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