The Kentucky and Louisville MBB managers are beefing online

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Kentucky and Louisville mascots - Jeff Faughender, Courier Journal & USA Today Network | USA TODAY NETWORK

The Kentucky-Louisville rivalry is serious business in the Bluegrass State. Even the men’s basketball managers appear to dislike each other.

Friday morning, the Louisville MBB Managers’ social media account posted a DM interaction with the UK MBB Managers account, essentially calling them out for ducking the competition and not having enough managers to play in the yearly matchup between the two, which happens ahead of the real thing with the actual college teams.

Looking at the back-and-forth messages between the accounts, the Kentucky side claims they can only use managers and GAs (graduate assistants) in the game as their numbers are limited. The Louisville managers weren’t fans of that excuse. They even posted a message from the Lipscomb MBB Managers, which said UK used 10-plus guys in their game earlier this season.

Incredibly disappointed to learn that the school up the road “doesn’t have enough managers to play” for what was supposed to be tonight’s Manager Game. Here at Louisville, we were incredibly excited to play the rivalry game to kick off this new era.#GoCards x @ManagerGames_ pic.twitter.com/oWFsdiFHpp
— Louisville MBB Managers (@UofLMBBManagers) December 13, 2024

Just based on the limited information I’ve seen floating on the Internet, I have to say that this isn’t looking favorable for the ‘Cats. Although it does appear some of the issues stem from Louisville Managers potentially being able to roster Peyton Siva, who is now the program’s Director of Player Development/Basketball Alumni Relations and would technically be allowed to play in the manager game. That does seem like an unfair advantage.

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But at the same time, this entire “beef” is more hilarious than anything. These are scrimmage games. The Louisville account even tagged several sports media personalities to try and blow the “story” up. It’s not that serious or even close to it, but a rivalry is going to rivalry.

The game was set to take place on Friday night, but it does not appear to have been played. Oh well. I guess Kentucky will just have to beat Louisville in the real thing tonight at Rupp Arena. But the UL managers can have this “win” if it makes them feel better.