John Calipari, Mark Cuban Talk Restarting Kentucky vs. Indiana CBB Series

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball head coach John Calipari and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban discussed the possibility of reviving the Kentucky vs. Indiana rivalry in the near future on Calipari's Coffee With Cal Facebook Live series.  

Cuban said he was "talking about now" when speaking about the matchup (h/t Mrs. Tyler Thompson of KentuckySportsRadio.com):

"Lexington and Bloomington are so close. We flip a coin, decide where the game is played that way, we get on buses, we take the buses right to whichever arena and then we just throw the ball up with fans or without. Made for TV. If the NCAA doesn't want to go for it, I'll figure it out. I'll get us a TV partner or you have your TV partners. IU's got theirs. Let's just do this. Let's be that first game coming out for college athletics and get the ball rolling."

Calipari responded:

"Hey, without fans, I'm in. And we can do it without fans and, like I said, I offered different places to play but you got it. If that were to start us up and bring everything together—you know, I watched IU. They're going to be really good. You know I lost my whole team, is that why you're doing this? They don't even have a scholarship to give out. They've got all 13 back."

While the two eventually turned to other subjects, they circled back to putting on a Kentucky-Indiana showdown.

"We're going to talk more about this Indiana-Kentucky game," Calipari said. "Hey, if it's one of those, we're going to start it all, no fans, let's go, and then Kentucky gets beat because you got me to play, I gotta get some floor seats in Dallas."

"Just think how much fun it would be," Cuban responded. "Get the kids on the bus, clean the bus up, get the kids on the bus. Essential personnel only, no fans. Put it on national television. Just get the whole country to go nuts because college basketball is back. Unbelievable."

The two even discussed a plan for deciding which program would host the game.   

"We'll do this," Cuban said. "We'll set up a fund for some charity that really needs it, and whichever side's alumni donates the most, that's where it's played."

There would be logistics to consider, of course.

Would either school agree to hosting such an event after the NCAA canceled all winter and spring sports? And even if there were no fans in attendance, would the event still follow social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic, given the sheer amount of people that would be involved, from the teams and coaching staffs to the training staffs and folks putting on the broadcast?

Regardless, seeing Kentucky and Indiana eventually revitalize their long-time rivalry would be good for college basketball. The two traditional powers last played a regular-season game in 2011 after meeting every year since 1969 (and a number of times before that as well).

The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 32-25.