John Calipari vs. Rick Pitino in Las Vegas. Time to make it happen.

John Calipari needs a game on Saturday. Rick Pitino needs a game on Saturday. Why not let the two legendary coaches go head-to-head in Las Vegas?

Iona and Kentucky look for games

Just after 2 p.m. ET this afternoon, Pitino took to social media to ask for a new opponent this weekend after Iona’s original game vs. Seton Hall was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Pirates’ program.

“Short notice, but anyone out there interested in playing us at 3:00 PM on Saturday in the world’s most famous arena???” Pitino asked on Twitter.

Just over one hour later, Kentucky announced its game against Ohio State was canceled due to positive COVID-19 results within the OSU program.

As of now, though, the Wildcats are still planning on flying out to Las Vegas in hopes of finding a replacement game. The CBS Sports Classic is working with UK Athletics to find a potential match.

UCLA’s current situation is important

Ohio State’s outbreak comes after UCLA — North Carolina’s scheduled opponent in the CBS Sports Classic — canceled its game against Alabama State less than an hour before tip on Wednesday due to COVID-19 issues. UCLA head coach Mike Cronin was forced to enter COVID-19 protocols, with assistant coach Darren Savino set to step in as acting head coach. A UCLA spokesperson confirmed every player on the Bruins’ roster was available to play against Alabama State, but the game was ultimately canceled out of an abundance of caution.

UCLA’s game against North Carolina has not yet been canceled, though Calipari was asked about the possibility of the Bruins’ recent cancellation throwing a wrench into this weekend’s schedule.

After losing last weekend in South Bend, Calipari said his team will do whatever it takes to play in Las Vegas.

“We’d play both (games) then,” Calipari said. “We’ll play one (game) one day, the next (game) the next day. We’re fine. Our kids just want to play and get the taste out their mouth of that last game.”

Why not get another Calipari vs. Pitino matchup?

What better way to get the taste of last weekend’s loss out of their mouths than a head-to-head battle against Pitino in Las Vegas?

Iona sits at 9-2 on the year with wins over Appalachian State, Harvard, No. 10 Alabama and Yale. The Gaels only losses have come against No. 4 Kansas (96-83) and Belmont (72-65). They’re not world-beating juggernauts, but Pitino’s got a very good team and they’re rolling. And beyond the on-court matchup, the headlines and stories would write themselves.

Calipari has not gotten the chance to play Pitino since his last season at Louisville back in 2016-17, a 73-70 victory in favor of the Cardinals on Dec. 21, 2016. The head-to-head record, though, is 8-2 over the course of ten matchups and seven total years.

Pitino was named head coach at Iona back on March 14, 2020, where he led the Gaels to a MAAC Championship title and the NCAA Tournament in his first season.

Is Kentucky vs. Iona a realistic possibility? There’s an opening for both if they want it.

Pitino is open to the idea.

.@KentuckyMBB if you need an opponent Saturday, we travel 😀

— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) December 16, 2021

Other potential opponents

To this point, though, the speculation is that North Carolina, UNLV and Texas are the target matchups for the event, per Andy Katz of NCAA.com.

“Still fluid but based on convos (with) stakeholders on these (college basketball) disrupted events,” he wrote on Twitter. “If UCLA can’t play then would expect (Kentucky) and (North Carolina) to play Saturday in (Las Vegas). Other teams being discussed are (UNLV) and (Texas), which plays (Stanford) Sunday in (Las Vegas).”

UNLV has a break until Wednesday, Dec. 22, making the Runnin’ Rebels a clear option. According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, UNLV “is indeed a replacement team” and “has already agreed to play if it comes to that.” As for Texas, the Longhorns will already be in town taking on Stanford on Sunday, making it a difficult, but doable matchup if necessary.

For what it’s worth, Duke also had its game canceled this weekend, leaving the Blue Devils available, as well.

North Carolina likely?

Both Terry Meiners of 840 WHAS and Nicole Hutchison of Fox 56 are reporting that Kentucky is planning to play North Carolina, should UCLA be forced to pull out of the event. KSR’s own Matt Jones has since reported that the “current plan” is to take on the Tar Heels in Las Vegas.

BREAKING: Source tells KSR that the “current plan” is to play North Carolina but that isn’t official yet because UCLA hasn’t officially opted out of the game yet

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) December 16, 2021

UK Athletics cannot confirm those reports at this time. The Wildcats took on the Tar Heels back on Dec. 19, 2020, falling in Cleveland by a final score of 75-63.

As of now, the Calipari vs. Pitino dream lives on.