West Virginia has been good for Kentucky Basketball ever since, you know, that one game

The 2010 NCAA Tournament–specifically, the East Regional final in Syracuse–was a dark time for Kentucky Basketball and its border rivalry with West Virginia. The Mountaineers spoiled the Wildcats’ dream run in John Calipari’s first season with a shocking Elite Eight upset when Joe Mazzulla, now the head coach of the Boston Celtics, and Desean Butler, who my friend Sean kicked in the shin in the Bahamas, took down two-loss Kentucky featuring John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and company.

Many Kentucky fans still aren’t over it all these years later.

I am one of them.

But John Calipari and his program have overcome that crushing defeat to a Bob Huggins-coached team one round shy of a Final Four. And with the addition of Tre Mitchell to Kentucky’s roster from the transfer portal via West Virginia, Calipari scored his fifth straight win over West Virginia since the day the Ice Cream Paint Job music died.

Count it up, and Kentucky is back on top of West Virginia on the scoreboard.

2011: Kentucky returned the favor a year later

After Kentucky saw five of its players drafted following the 2010 tournament loss, John Calipari reloaded with his second Kentucky recruiting class, and that group found quick revenge for the previous season’s exit. Calipari’s 2010-11 team entered the tournament as a No. 4 seed and ran into West Virginia in the second round.

This time, the Wildcats advanced past WVU, led by Brandon Knight‘s 30-point effort against the Mazulla-led Mountaineers.

2015: Kentucky doubled up West Virginia in 37th consecutive win

This one may channel another dark moment (I have some regrets about this exercise), but the 2015 NCAA Tournament provided another fond memory of Kentucky eliminating West Virginia. It was the 2015 Sweet 16. Kentucky was still undefeated, and the Wildcats scored twice as many points as the Mountaineers in a 78-39 victory.

Before the game, West Virginia’s Daxter Miles guaranteed a win. “They’re gonna be 36-1,” Miles infamously said the day before the game.

He scored as many points as you did.

2018: Kevin Knox spoiled the SEC/Big 12 Challenge fun in Morgantown

The fourth meeting between Calipari’s Kentucky and West Virginia occurred in Morgantown as part of the 2018 SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Kentucky was unranked and traveling into a hostile environment to play the seventh-ranked team in America, only to ruin the fun with Kevin Knox‘s 34 points scored in a victory. Knox led the improbable comeback as the ‘Cats trailed by 17 points after halftime.

2021: Oscar Tshiebwe

More than any game, Kentucky added West Virginia transfer Oscar Tshiebwe in January 2021, before the transfer portal and moving around without penalty. For that, Tshiebwe sat out the rest of the 2020-21 season on the Kentucky bench but spent the next two seasons setting many of the school’s rebounding records, ranking sixth all-time in only two seasons played.

Tshiebwe will also be remembered as one of the most beloved Wildcats ever.

2023: Tre Mitchell

Tre Mitchell‘s Kentucky story is still to be written. However, we can still celebrate Mitchell moving his belongings from Morgantown to Lexington when John Calipari was desperate for experience and help at Mitchell’s position. His surprise transfer out of West Virginia checked many boxes for the Wildcats only weeks before the team’s first exhibition games in Canada.

Next chapter 💙 pic.twitter.com/bqZSpNdcc5

— Tre Mitchell (@tre_mitch33) June 26, 2023

Suppose Mitchell is even half as impactful as Kentucky’s last big-man transfer from West Virginia. In that case, the Big Blue Nation has West Virginia to thank again.

(I’m still not ready to forgive for 2010, though.)