Indiana Basketball: The 5 most hated rivals in IU history

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BLOOMINGTON, IN – DECEMBER 10: Christian Watford #2 of the Indiana Hoosiers shoots the ball during the Indiana 73-72 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats at Assembly Hall on December 10, 2011 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

2. Kentucky Wildcats

The Indiana-Kentucky rivalry had long been considered a blue blood rivalry with their last regular season meeting containing Cristian Watford’s game winning three point shot over No. 1 ranked Kentucky in a raucous Assembly Hall.

With 13 National Championships between the two programs, they have met just five times in the postseason, and 55 times in the regular season, but the fan base runs deep and are definitely two of the strongest fan bases in the country.

The neighboring state schools have not meet since their two matchups in the 2012 and 2016 NCAA Tournaments, in which Indiana beat Kentucky in the second round of the tournament in 2016 and Kentucky beat IU in the Sweet 16 in 2012 en route to a National Championship Title.

Since then, there has been speculation about both programs potentially rekindling the rivalry and continuing the series.

However, Head Coach John Calipari has been open about his “willingness” to resume the matchup, but only at neutral courts. That plus the seemingly cockiness and condescending manner of Calipari leads to most Indiana fans not liking the Wildcats.

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