The rivalry: Florida vs. Kentucky

By BILL KOSS
Florida Gators Basketball Color Analyst
Feb. 25, 2011



The Southeastern Conference has a long history of great rivalries in basketball, with Kentucky still being the one team that everyone wants to beat. The Kentucky program has won more college basketball games than any program in America. The Wildcats have seven national championships, 44 SEC championships, and 26 SEC tournament championships. There is no one within sniffing distance of these records in the SEC.

In the past 20 years, however, there is one program that has been nipping at the Wildcats' tails and more than once has taken a pretty good size alligator bite. The people who know their hoops history as well as anyone in America are the basketball faithful of the Big Blue. Few programs, if any, have a more knowledgeable fan base than the Wildcats. Even though their in-state rival Louisville brings out the true DNA of a Kentucky fan, there has been no other SEC rival in the last 30 years that gets them riled up like the Gators.

From a Florida perspective, except for a nondescript SEC win in 1934, it took 38 years for the Gators to beat the Wildcats in a game that really mattered. It happened on Jan. 23, 1965 in a regionally televised contest in old Florida Gym, and Adolf Rupp was finally made to seem human as Florida blasted Kentucky 84-68.

Two seasons later Florida did the unthinkable and actually won in Lexington, beating Kentucky in Memorial Gymnasium 78