For the first time in over three decades, the Battle of the Bluegrass will break tradition and arrive much earlier on the college basketball calendar.
The University of Kentucky announced Wednesday that the 2025 edition of the storied rivalry between the Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. The game is typically played in mid-to-late December, but this upcoming season, the two in-state powers will face off just one week into the regular season.
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A tip-off time has not yet been set, but the buzz is already building. The matchup promises to be one of the marquee non-conference showdowns of the year—and not just because of the intense rivalry. UK statistician Corey Price says the annual showdown has only been played in the month of November twice before, in 1983 and 1993, making the 2025 meeting the earliest ever between the programs.
Last season, Kentucky captured a high-scoring 93–85 win over Louisville at Rupp Arena, pushing its all-time lead in the rivalry to 40–17. The win also marked the program’s third straight over the Cardinals. Since the 2014–15 season, the Wildcats have gone 8–2 against their in-state rivals, further cementing their recent dominance in the series. While basketball will headline the early part of November, fans won’t have to wait long for another round of Bluegrass bragging rights—the football edition of the rivalry will cap the month on Saturday, November 29, when the Wildcats head back to Louisville to face Jeff Brohm’s squad.
For new head coach Mark Pope, the early date only raises the stakes. The Wildcats’ first season under Pope is set to begin with a gauntlet of heavyweight matchups. In addition to the trip to Louisville, Kentucky will take on Michigan State in the Champions Classic (Nov. 18), Gonzaga in Nashville (Dec. 5), Indiana at home (Dec. 13), and St. John’s in Atlanta for the CBS Sports Classic (Dec. 20).
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The Cats will also host Bellarmine on Dec. 23, and an opponent for the SEC/ACC Challenge will be announced in the coming weeks.
An early rivalry clash. A stacked non-conference schedule. The stage is set for an exciting second-year matchup between Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey — and Big Blue Nation won’t have to wait long to see just how ready the Wildcats are.
The one big question is whether Jayden Quaintance will be healthy enough to play at the beginning of the season. He continues to express confidence that he’ll be ready for the start of the year.
“I’m trying to get fully back by September,” he said. “Playing like full contact by September, so that’s the goal so far. Just trying to stay on pace for that.”
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With that, Kentucky fans will now have to wait six months for the official start of the season and tip-off.
