Report: Kentucky, Louisville non-conference game set for Dec. 14, 2024

The in-state rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville is going to look far different this season with both programs undergoing massive changes this offseason. Now, the first-edition of this next era in the series has a reported start date for next season.

Per sources speaking to Jon Rothstein, the Wildcats and Cardinals will meet on December 14th, 2024. That game will be inside Rupp Arena with it being the hosting year for UK.

This matchup has usually fallen toward the end of the month on the calendar. Most dates have landed somewhere between the holidays of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. December 14th will mark the earliest that the two have met on the court since November 27th, 1993 when it was the season-opener back over 30 years ago.

Kentucky leads the all-time series against Louisville with a record of 39-17. The Wildcats have extended that lead with two straight wins. That includes a 95-76 victory for them this past season inside the KFC Yum! Center in a historically poor defensive outing for the Cardinals in the series.

Those pair of victories came over the only two seasons for the Cardinals under Kenny Payne. Since then, they have moved on from him and since hired Pat Kelsey. As for Kentucky, they were the final two victories for John Calipari as he posted a 13-3 record against them. He has since taken the job at Arkansas this offseason with UK hiring Mark Pope in turn. That means the programs will both be entering next season with new coaches for the first time in almost a century.

With these hires, both Kentucky and Louisville have also had to undergo major changes in the transfer portal.

Kentucky lost every player from last year’s team to the either the portal or the NBA Draft. They also lost all but one freshman to decommittments. However, in the month and a half since, the Wildcats have added 11 players, nine in transfers and two freshmen, to bring them to a dozen players.

For Louisville, the Cardinals also lost 13 transfers and had no freshmen set to arrive on campus. They’ve also gotten to work in roster construction, though, with a dozen portal pickups of their own along with one freshman.

Per On3’s 2024 Team Transfer Portal Rankings, Louisville sits at No. 1 while Kentucky is at No. 45. However, much of that has to do with the caliber of players going in and out for both programs. Still, in total, the two teams added a combined 11 players in the Top-150 of On3’s 2024 Transfer Portal Top Players. Eight of those rate in the Top-100 and four of them rank in the Top-50 overall.

This is an all-new series now with Kentucky and Louisville each entering far new eras in their storied histories. Only one can win the first-ever meeting, though, with them tipping off in mid-December in 2024.