For the first time since the 2011-12 season, Indiana men’s basketball and the University of Kentucky will resume their regular season rivalry. The schools finalized a four-year series starting in 2025-26 through 2028-29, college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported Tuesday afternoon.
[Related: Indiana men's basketball to resume serires with Kentucky]
The series will feature three venues, starting at Kentucky’s Rupp Arena in 2025. The teams will play a neutral-site game at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2026, return to Rupp Arena the following year and close the series at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in 2028. The teams are expected to play all four games in December.
Following the ‘Wat Shot’ game in December 2011 — in which Indiana upset then-No. 1 Kentucky and rushed the court at Assembly Hall — Kentucky head coach John Calipari refused to play in Bloomington, and then-Indiana head coach Tom Crean and the program declined to play in neutral site venues. The programs had played home-and-home series annually since 1969.
Indiana and Kentucky have met twice since the series terminated, both times in the NCAA Tournament. No. 1 seed Kentucky defeated No. 4 seed Indiana 102-90 in the Sweet 16 en route to its eighth national championship in 2012, and No. 4 seed Indiana beat No. 5 seed Kentucky 73-67 in the second round in 2016.
