UK Rivals Tournament: #8 Kansas vs #9 South Carolina

Interesting poll last week in the rivals poll. Guess the Memphis?UK rivalry IS non-existent on UK's end. I always thought they were delusional. So this pairing marks the end of the first round in the UK RIVALS TOURNEY and it pits another basketball rivalry against a division rival. As always, vote in the box to the right.

#8. KANSAS JAYHAWKS

John Calipari already has a price to pay against the Jayhawks for the 2008 title game loss and UK has found itself on the short end of matchups this decade. The Cats and Jayhawks have met just twice: a 88-76 second round NCAA Tournament loss to Kansas, and a 73-46 Kansas thrashing of UK the previous year. There are lots of scores to settle as Kansas is number three on the all time wins list and will be in the shadows for the next several years. The recruiting battles have been split thus far, Calipari won round one of the Henry's saga, lost round two and almost pulled off a steal in round three. UK and the Jayhawks look to lock horns on several other prospects and unfortunately that is the only competition we will see for a while. Calipari is open to a game in St. Louis but no idea if Self is interested.

#9. SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS

With Steve Spurrier at the helm, there will always be a reason to hate South Carolina. He is 16-0 all time against UK and the football Cats had trouble with the Gamecocks even before Spurrier. South Carolina has won the last nine game in the series and UK will need an upset in Columbia to avoid having THREE division teams with double digit loss streaks. Football aside, the basketball rivalry has been pretty good over the last five years. UK holds a 7-4 lead and the last three season have all been sweeps. Last season the Cocks needed some late magic to beat UK but Kentucky will be evening a lot of scores basketballwise the next eight years or so.