Kentucky and Indiana announced Friday that their annual men’s basketball game will not be played at Louisville’s Freedom Hall this season because the facility won’t be available on Saturday, December 9, the date the two schools, along with television partner CBS, have scheduled the game.
Since it is Kentucky’s turn to host the rivalry, the game will now be played at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The game will become a part of UK’s season-ticket package.
The schools first learned of a potential scheduling conflict at Freedom Hall this past February. By that time, both schools had already filled in other weekend non-conference games around the December 9 date, reducing the opportunities for finding an alternative date to play the game in Freedom Hall.
The schools then pursued the possibility of moving the game to Friday, December 8 or Sunday, December 10, but were told those dates were also unavailable. Working with CBS, UK and IU inquired about the possibility of an earlier start time for December 9, hoping to get the game completed before any other scheduled events occurred, but were once again told that was not possible.
In a Friday morning email to Wildcat fans, Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said that he was “very disappointed that circumstances will prevent Kentucky and Indiana from playing at Freedom Hall this season. We will work toward a solution to this issue in the future, with a goal of returning this rivalry to Louisville and Indianapolis on a rotating basis as soon as possible.”
Kentucky has played at Freedom Hall every year since 1958. The Wildcats are scheduled to play the University of Louisville at the State Fairgrounds site on December 16, and have also moved a December 5 game against Chattanooga, previously scheduled for Rupp Arena, to Freedom Hall. UK is 117-31 all-time in Louisville.
“Given the historical significance of the Wildcats playing in Louisville, and our desire to continue giving Big Blue fans in the Commonwealth’s largest city an opportunity to see the Cats play, we felt it was necessary to take another game to Jefferson County.”
Barnhart also pointed out that “the management group at Freedom Hall is always a pleasure to work with, but finding a date for UK to play at the State Fairgrounds has become increasingly difficult.” UK played Austin Peay on the afternoon of December 31, 2003. Last season, UK played Iona two nights before Christmas.
“We know these dates have been difficult for our Louisville-based fans and we understand (their) frustration,” Barnhart said.
Kentucky’s complete non-conference schedule should be released by the end of July.
