Kentucky men’s basketball announces start time for rivalry game vs. Louisville
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There’s no bigger day of college basketball in the Bluegrass State than the one when the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals do battle. Fans of the historic programs have known the day they’d tussle for a while. Today, they learned the exact time they’ll be doing so.
On Thursday afternoon, Kentucky revealed its game vs. Louisville would start at 4 p.m. ET on Dec. 12. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
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In 2025, the Cardinals ended a three-game losing skid to the Wildcats with a 96-88 victory. Pat Kelsey’s arrival at Louisville has reignited the flames of the rivalry. From 2017-2023, Kentucky went 5-1 against the Cardinals. Three of the Wildcats’ five victories in that period were by at least 19 points, and their only loss came during a season they missed the NCAA Tournament (2020).
Kentucky holds a 40-18 all-time series lead against Louisville. The Cardinals have not beaten the Wildcats in back-to-back seasons since 2008-09, when Billy Gillispie was Big Blue Nation’s head coach.
The 2008 game is also the last time Louisville beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena. The Cardinals could easily change that this year, though, after acquiring Flory Bindunga, Seth Trimble and Jackson Shelstad, among others, in the transfer portal. Mark Pope counters those additions with Milan Momcilovic, Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins. Both schools are expected to contend for their conference championships this season.
