Why Just 1 IU-UK Game in Bloomington? Woodson Says 'Only Way I Could Get It Done'

Indiana and Kentucky will resume their basketball rivalry in 2025, but the four-game series includes two games at Rupp Arena, one at Lucas Oil Stadium and the last at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Indiana coach Mike Woodson said Tuesday, "That was the only way I could get it done."

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Indiana and Kentucky agreed to renew their rivalry basketball series in 2025, but it came with an asterisk.

The teams will play in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. in 2025 and 2027. But the second leg of the series in 2026 will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. It's considered a home game for Indiana, who will control the majority of the tickets, according to a report from Rick Bozich. The series won't reach Indiana's true home arena, Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., until 2028, the fourth game of the series.

"That was the only way I could get it done," Woodson said Tuesday at Big Ten media days. "We'll move forward probably after that last year of it being in Bloomington, to maybe have it Rupp-Bloomington-Rupp-Bloomington and just leave it that way."

It's clear that Kentucky coach John Calipari has no interest in playing at Assembly Hall. Calipari has mentioned in the past that he didn't like how his team was treated after the 2011 game at Assembly Hall, and even said, "No, we're not coming to Indiana."

So in order to renew a series that hasn't featured a regular season matchup since 2011, Indiana compromised. And following the agreed upon four-game series, Woodson sounded confident that following years would take place strictly on the college campuses.

At the end of the day, it's a big win for college basketball to have the Indiana-Kentucky series back. The sport thrives when featuring rivalries like this, which has produced several memorable matchups over the years. 

Kentucky leads the all-time series 32-25, but Indiana won the most recent contest, a 73-76 victory in the 2016 NCAA Tournament Round of 32 under former head coach Tom Crean.

Woodson has scheduled difficult nonconference games for Indiana in 2023-24, including Kansas, UConn, Auburn and either Texas or Louisville. He's looking forward to playing Kentucky again in a few seasons.

"So excited about it," Woodson said. "Thank you, Calipari, because he had a lot to do with it, John. We spoke when I first got the job about it. John and I have known each other for many years, man, and I have the utmost respect for him and his coaching and what he's done over the years as a coach, and I'm sure he feels the same way about me."

"So I mean, it was something that had to happen, and we stayed in each other's ears until we got our ADs together and actually got it done. So I mean, I'm happy for it, man, because I think the fans want to see that. I mean, it's been so competitive over the years. It's just like the Purdue game, it's competitive and fans have become accustomed to playing Kentucky and vice versa, so I think it's good for basketball, I do."

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