Mark Stoops says UK fans can fill Rupp Arena and also show out in Nashville while Kentucky football and basketball have games at the same time Dec. 31. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops is confident there are more than enough UK fans to support both the basketball and football teams when both have games at the same time on Dec. 31.
Kentucky basketball will host rival Louisville at noon in Rupp Arena while the UK football team will play Iowa in the Music City Bowl in Nashville that also starts at noon.
The tipoff time for the basketball game on CBS-TV has been set for months while the bowl pairings were just made Sunday for Iowa-Kentucky on ABC at noon.
“I know it puts our fans in a pickle but there’s not a lot we can do about that,” Stoops said Monday. “Some may like or not like we are playing Iowa again. I know it will be a heck of a game. They will fight you tooth and nail.”
Actually, some basketball/football fans seem ready to fight over the simultaneous starting times but sometimes conflicts just happen.
In the last 10 years, there has not been a set date for the Kentucky-Louisville basketball game: Dec. 28, 2013; Dec. 27, 2014; Dec. 26, 2015; Dec. 21, 2016; Dec. 29, 2017; Dec. 29, 2018; Dec. 28, 2019; Dec. 26, 2020; and Dec. 31, 2022 (there was no game in 2021).
In 2017, Kentucky lost 24-23 to Northwestern in the Music City Bowl in football while the basketball team beat Louisville 90-61 in a game that probably was closer than what this year’s UK-Louisville basketball game might be. However, while the games were on the same day, they were not at the same time. Still, fans who wanted to attend a game had to pick which one just like they will on Dec. 31 this year.
“I hate the fact our fans are torn. It worked in (20)17 but I know the times were different,” Stoops said. “I expect Rupp to be packed for the Louisville game and us to sell our allotment (of bowl tickets).”
“There are enough Kentucky fans to spread around and support both Kentucky teams like you always do. So thank you to BBN.”
Both basketball and football have to set schedules on what works for them. John Calipari does that for basketball and Stoops wanted no part of playing in the Las Vegas Bowl just before signing day.
“Anything on the 31st or later is ideal. Playing a game earlier than that is difficult with morale,” Stoops said.
“Asking players to get up on Christmas morning and go to practice is a little rough. This gives us time to recruit and hit the recruiting trail hard the next two weeks and work in practices around that.
“I can give players a little bit of a Christmas break and then they can fly to the bowl site and we can pick up where we left off and try to continue to represent our program the right way and compete and fight and try to win the thing.”
One Response
We’ll, Coach Stoops has that right.
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