Louisville Facing Limited Options to Reschedule Kentucky Game
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In an alternate universe out there somewhere, today is the day that the Louisville and Kentucky men's basketball programs finally do battle on the hardwood for their annual rivalry matchup.
But in this reality, as we all know by now, that is not the case. The Cardinals announced Monday that they were indefinitely pausing all team-related activities "due to multiple positive COVID-19 tests among individuals within the program," with their Wednesday matchup against the Wildcats in Lexington getting postponed as a result.
"Postponement" is the key word here. With COVID ramping up all around the nation and impacting the sporting world yet again, many games across college basketball are getting outright cancelled. Instead, there is still hope the game can be played, as officials from both schools will "monitor opportunities in which the teams can reschedule the annual rivalry game."
But the real question is this: how likely is it that the annual Louisville - Kentucky game actually gets rescheduled? Head coach Chris Mack found out that, in all likelihood, there's a very low chance it does due to scheduling conflicts.
"First thing I did was I looked at Kentucky's schedule, and the only time they have a bye week, or time where they're off in SEC play, they have a non-conference game against Kansas," he said Monday during his radio show. "They played literally every Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday. Really, really difficult to say, "Okay, after your LSU game on Tuesday, do you want to play on Thursday before you play Alabama on Saturday?". That's where I tried to start."
After Christmas, both the Cardinals and Wildcats will be heading into the meat of conference play. Assuming that Louisville won't be able to resume activities in time to get the matchups in before their next game on Dec. 29 when they host Wake Forest, there will be very few opportunities to squeeze in the rivalry battle, as Mack alluded to.
Of course, there are still some dates on the calendar where the schedules align.
Between Dec. 29 and the start of conference championships in early March, there are three days where both Louisville and Kentucky would not be subjected to play back-to-back games as a result of their rescheduled showdown: Monday, Jan. 17; Thursday, Jan. 27; and Thursday, Mar. 3.
Plus with all the cancellations happening across college basketball, you also could take into account the potential for both programs having opponents cancel for the same day. It's an unorthodox way to schedule, but it is a possibility.
But at the end of the day, there are only a few opportunities to get this game back on the schedule. It would be a stretch for either team, as they would be - at minimum - playing three games in just a five-day span. Even Mack, while hopeful, couldn't say with certainty that the game would get rescheduled.
"I'm hopeful that we could still play the game, but I don't have a crystal ball," he said.
Never say never, but fans on both sides need to embrace the unfortunate reality that, in all likelihood, this game is not getting played this season.
(Photo of Chris Mack, John Calipari: Michael Clevenger - Louisville Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
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