Kentucky, UCLA Announce Home-and-Home Series Starting in 2015

Two of the most celebrated programs in college basketball history are going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next several years.

ESPN.com's Andy Katz reported on Nov. 26 that UCLA and Kentucky, who are already scheduled to meet Dec. 20 of this season, were close to finalizing a home-and-home series that would begin in 2015. Katz's report was confirmed by Jerry Tipton on Dec. 8, who also provided some insight into the series:    

The Bruins and Wildcats have combined for 33 Final Four appearances and 19 championships. While John Calipari's seemingly endless run of stacked recruiting classes has helped Kentucky to more recent success, there's little question the combination of history and talent would turn this into one of the most entertaining non-conference matchups in the country.

Kyle Tucker of The Courier Journal put it simply:

Both teams face a gauntlet of a schedule in 2015-16. In addition to potentially playing each other, Kentucky will face Duke, Ohio State and Louisville, while the Bruins take on Gonzaga, North Carolina and potentially Kansas, Indiana or UNLV.

It's tough to criticize the strategy, and it's nice to see bigger programs continue to build loaded non-conference slates more and more.   

Not only does it get teams ready for conference play, but it also makes them more visible for potential recruits. And perhaps most importantly, a difficult strength of schedule is always beneficial come March.