Pope predicts the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry will heat up

The Kentucky-Louisville basketball rivalry is still the best in college basketball, but it’s not nearly as heated as when the two Italians, John Calipari and Rick Pitino, coached each team, hating one another. Calipari and Pitino would play nice in front of the cameras, often downplaying their personal rivalry and the significance of the annual rivalry game. They didn’t fool anyone. It helped that their teams were consistently good, too, even though Kentucky regularly won the head-to-head meeting.

Lately, the rivalry has still been lopsided in Kentucky‘s favor, but the juice of Calipari-Pitino is long gone. Louisville is on its fourth coach since Pitino’s messy exit in 2017, and the Cardinals saw a significant decline in success in trying to replace Pitino. The program hit its lowest when it won only five ACC games in two seasons under Kenny Payne before Pat Kelsey, Payne’s successor, quickly turned Louisville around in 2024-25.

At the same time, Mark Pope brought new life into Kentucky when he took over for John Calipari in Lexington. Two first-year head coaches, Pope and Kelsey immediately won over their new fan bases with infectious energy and an appreciation for each job. They even won over some of the fans on the other side of the rivalry, too.

KSR’s Matt Jones told Pope that he and Pat Kelsey are too nice. “Louisville fans don’t hate you, and we don’t hate Pat Kelsey,” he said during Pope’s sit-down with KSR.

Pope tried playing up the animosity with a playful reply. “I hate this Pat Kelsey and all of those Louisville fans! Hate ’em!”

He didn’t fool anyone.

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Pope’s boatload of respect for Kelsey and prediction for the rivalry

After Pope’s poor attempt to hate Louisville, he expressed admiration for his rival coach.

“I’ve got a boatload of respect for Pat Kelsey, okay? I got so much. What he did last year was incredible, and two of my guys played for him last year, right? And what they accomplished–I don’t have a ton of interaction with the Louisville fan base, but I’m sure they’re great.”

He also predicted that the rivalry would heat back up soon, not because the coaches will eventually feud, but because both teams are on the rise.

“I actually think that this Kentucky-Louisville thing is just going to get heated and heated. You know why it’s going to get heated? Because it’s going to be back to being like No. 1 versus 4 in the country.“