Rick Barnes has turned Kentucky vs. Tennessee into seesaw affair

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Kentucky and Tennessee will meet on the hardwood for the 238th time on Saturday night at Rupp Arena. No program has more wins over the Wildcats than the Volunteers (77) but that is mostly due to the fact that these two SEC programs play multiple times per season. Despite Kentucky’s overall dominance in the series (.678 winning percentage), the Vols have made the rivalry series much more interesting in recent seasons.

Following the 2014-15 season, Tennessee hired former George Mason, Providence, Clemson, and Texas head coach Rick Barnes to take over the basketball program on Rocky Top. The 69-year-old has thrived at Tennessee with four 25-plus win seasons, five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, one SEC regular season title, and one SEC Tournament title. These are the glory years for the Vols on the hardwood.

Barnes has helped make the Kentucky series a dead heat.

From 2010-15, John Calipari was 9-3 against Tennessee as Kentucky’s head men’s basketball coach with season sweeps in 2011 and 2012 against Bruce Pearl and Cuonzo Martin. That has changed against Barnes.

Since his arrival in Knoxville, Barnes has accumulated a 10-9 record against Kentucky with two wins in the SEC Tournament and a regular season sweep in 2018. Last year was the first season under Barnes where Tennessee did not collect a victory against Kentucky after the Wildcats swept the Vols for the first time in a decade.

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Entering a pivotal college basketball weekend, Kentucky and Tennessee are fresh off home losses and each trails Alabama (7-1) in the SEC title race. Both need a win to keep pace. Saturday night in downtown Lexington will be a big moment. Barnes’ track record tells us that Tennessee is a legitimate threat to win on the road. Tennessee has won three times in Rupp Arena under Barnes.

Kentucky will be looking for three wins in a row in this series for the first time since 2012-13. An argument can be made that this is the best current basketball rivalry in the SEC.