Kentucky's 2026 matchup with Indiana officially has a date and location

Mark Pope and Kentucky will look to take down Indiana for a second straight season.

Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on during the second half against the Iowa State Cyclones during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

Last season in college basketball, two of the most historic programs in the sport met as the Indiana Hoosiers came to Lexington to take on Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats. In the revival of this rivalry, the Wildcats got the best of the Hoosiers, winning this game 72-60 thanks to a big second half from Pope’s team.

Indiana led 39-32 at the break, but the Wildcats outscored the Hoosiers 40-21 in the second half for the big win. This game was a bit of a momentum gainer for the Wildcats, who had taken some really ugly non-conference losses at that point in the season.

Mo Dioubate led the Wildcats in scoring against the Hoosiers, putting up 14 points, and Jaland Lowe was right on his tail at 13. The Wildcats took the first matchup between these two teams with the historic rivalry back, but the Hoosiers will look for revenge this season.

Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope reacts during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Now the Wildcats will have to hit the road to take on the Hoosiers, and this game will be played in Lucas Oil Stadium. This is a building that the Wildcats have struggled in historically, with the most recent loss in this building being to the Tennessee Volunteers in the Sweet 16 in year one of the Pope era.

The Wildcats will take on the Hoosiers on November 20th, so this will be one of the earlier games of the season for Pope’s Wildcats. It will be interesting to see what the stands look like in this game. Obviously, there will be a lot of Indiana fans in the stands, but with Indianapolis being about three hours away from Lexington, there will be a big number of Big Blue Nation to make the trip for this game.

Mar 20, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on against the Santa Clara Broncos during the first half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

This should once again be a very good basketball game this season, and knowing it will be played on November 20th, it will be a pivotal game for both of these teams to get off to a hot start against a good opponent.

This is going to be a very exciting matchup, and knowing the matchup will be in Lucas Oil Stadium, there are going to be a ton of fans from both schools in attendance. This will be a must-win game for Pope early in the season if he doesn’t want to lose the fan base.

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