Pat Kelsey, Louisville's Players 'Excited' for Rivalry Showdown vs. Kentucky

Nov 10, 2025.

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Nov 6, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey calls out instructions during the second half against the Jackson State Tigers at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Jackson State 106-70. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Nov 10, 2025:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - We might be barely a week into the 2025-26 season, but the biggest game of the year for the Louisville men's basketball program is already here.

While the Battle of the Bluegrass is typically held sometime in December, this year, the showdown between in-state arch rivals Louisville and Kentucky is much earlier than normal - and it's next on the docket. This year, the No. 9 Wildcats will make the trip to the KFC Yum! Center to take on the No. 9 Cardinals, will tip-off set for Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

While this is not the first Louisville-Kentucky matchup for Pat Kelsey, it is the first time for the UofL head coach to experience the rivalry in a home environment. As expected, both he and his played are excited for the upcoming showdown.

"You guys have heard me in press conferences many times, that I always say the most important game in the history of Louisville basketball is the next one we play in," he said Monday. "The next one we play in is against our rival, in a really big setting, under a really big spotlight. We're approaching it the same way we do everyone, but we're very, very well aware of the stakes and the spotlight.

"We're just excited about the opportunity. It's gonna be a big time college game in a big time college atmosphere. They're going to find out a lot about themselves, as are we, by the end of it."

Diehard Louisville fans need no introduction to how much the rivalry vs. Kentucky means to them. Not only is this one of the top rivalries in all of college basketball, it's one of the most fierce in North American sports, period. After all, in the closing minutes of their past game vs. Jackson State, fans began to chant "Beat UK."

"I've heard about this rivalry since I was a kid, so just having the opportunity to actually be able to play in this game is a blessing," guard Ryan Conwell said Monday. "I just want to take full advantage of it, and not take it for granted. Just committed here, and all the fans talking about the game and just hyping the game up, it lets me know this is a big game, and we'll be ready."

But for most of Louisville's roster, it will be a brand new experience. Of their five returners from last year's team, just two of them has the opportunity to actually play in last year's Battle of the Bluegrass: J'Vonne Hadley and Khani Rooths.

While it will be the first time playing against Kentucky for most of the Louisville's team, they already know how much it means to the fanbase and the community.

"You can't even walk around the city of Louisville without somebody telling you to beat UK," forward Kasean Pryor said last Thursday following the Jackson State game. "You feel it instantly. Even when I got here last year, maybe in the first week or two, 1000 people told me 'Beat UK. We don't care about anything else, but beat UK.' I think that speaks for itself. They know how big this rivalry is.

"Obviously a state rivalry, one of the biggest in college basketball. It's always gonna be exciting, it's always gonna be a big time rivalry. We gotta be out there prepared, and bring the edge."

While the game has yet to be played, Pryor himself has already started to "bring the edge." Immediately following the postgame press conference against JSU, the stretch forward proclaimed to the media in attendance as he walked out the door: "We'll see you guys on Tuesday after a win. F--k 'em."

Kelsey would have preferred that Pryor not go as far as he did, but did fully embraced his free-spirited nature.

"Kasean is very much a free spirit. I love him for it, because that's who he is. At his core, he's unapologetically himself. He's the type that he loves the moment, he loves the smoke, he loves all of that. He loves the banter. He loves the social media stuff- which I hate, Ignorance is bliss. ... I saw that, and I went, 'I should have grabbed him, and tackled him, and reminded him that we're from the Skip Prosser School of praise your opponents, praise your teammates.' But that's KP, and that's who he is, and I love him for it."

Not only will it be a raucous environment simply because of the nature of the rivalry, the actual basketball itself will be high caliber.

With Louisville coming in at No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and Kentucky at No. 9, it will be their first meeting since the 2019-20 season that both teams are ranked. In fact, according to the analytics site KenPom, UK is the No. 1 team in the country.

"They're very good," Kelsey said. "Very well coached. They have positional size, they're strong, they're athletic, they're physical from a defense perspective, and they're good in their system from an offense perspective.

"They're very talented, in a lot of ways, a lot like like us. They're talented, they're very deep, they play very fast on the offensive end. they're very good in transition. In the half court, they execute and they run their stuff. Even before I turn on the tape and start watching them, obviously I knew the caliber talent they have, and I have a lot of respect for the way they're coached in their system and things like that. We got to be at our best, but I'm sure they're saying the same thing."

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