If you thought the saga of the “Lost Rivalry” ended last month when Kentucky officially declined Indiana’s invitation to play games on campus, you were wrong.
According to Dustin Dopirak of the Bloomington Herald Times, who obtained letters sent between Indiana athletic director Fred Glass and Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart, Indiana reopened negotiations with Kentucky on May 10th.
The offer?
Two games in Lucas Oil Stadium, followed by a game at Rupp and THEN a game at Assembly Hall. In 2015-2016:
My first reaction to the news: why are they trying to work this out by sending letters? Is it 1954 again?
My second reaction: this surprises you? UK wasn’t playing this series unless it was going to be held at Lucas Oil Stadium annually. And since Coach Cal knew that Indiana wasn’t going to agree to that, it’s not difficult to deduce that he simply had no interest in continuing the rivalry. He’s the head coach at Kentucky. It is his job to run that program as he sees fit, and as I’ve written about 10,000 times by now, there is actual, legitimate justification to his thought process.
It sucks, don’t get me wrong.
If I had my druthers, this game would get played on campus every single season because we all saw just how awesome the game was last season. With Kentucky and Indiana looking like the nation’s two best teams, it can only get more awesome. I’m a college basketball fan first and foremost, and as a fan, it sucks that we won’t be able to see this game.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.