Kentucky basketball vs. in-state schools

The state of Kentucky has eight D1 hoops programs now thanks to the recent addition of Bellarmine. While we all know that UK has dominated all of them throughout hoops history, just how much separation is there between Kentucky and everybody else?

Here’s UK’s record against every D1 school in the state except Bellarmine and Murray State (they’ve never played UK before).

Eastern Kentucky: UK leads series 12-0

UK has never lost to the Colonels and probably won’t anytime in the near future. None of the games have been that close either, though in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament UK only beat the Colonels by eight.

Morehead: UK leads series 12-0

Pretty much the same story with Morehead, as they’ve also been dominated in pretty much every meeting. They too had a close NCAA Tourney game with the ‘Cats, but it was way back in the 1960s when they lost by seven in the regionals.

Northern Kentucky: UK leads series 3-0

The Northern Kentucky Norse are kind of new to Division 1 still, but haven’t found a way to break through against the ‘Cats yet. Coincidentally, they also have played a somewhat close NCAA Tourney game with the Wildcats, as they only lost by eight to them as a 15 seed some years back.

Louisville: UK leads series 37-17

Kentucky lets the Cardinals play them as much as they want because they are always ready to deliver another whoopin’. Some of the most memorable matchups in the series have come under John Calipari, including a Final Four win in 2012 and a Sweet 16 triumph in 2014. Louisville might consider themselves a basketball powerhouse, but they weren’t even the best team in the state at beating Kentucky coming into the week. That team would be…

Western Kentucky: UK leads series 5-2

The Hilltoppers may have gotten crushed by Kentucky on Wednesday, but they’ve managed to have about as much success vs. the Cats as any Bluegrass team. Prior to that game, their 33.3% winning percentage against Kentucky was the best of any in-state team.

In the seven times this series has taken place, WKU has won not once but twice. That includes a 2001 win at Rupp Arena. Since 1999, Louisville has just one win in Rupp vs. Kentucky teams not coached by Billy Gillespie.

Overall, UK is 69-19 against teams in the Commonwealth and looking to increase that to 70-19 by the season’s end if they can get the UofL game rescheduled. Given that UK is historically the most dominant basketball team in the SEC and in the entire country, the fact that they rule their own state makes a lot of logical sense. No wonder the grass here is blue…

Go Cats!