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Kentucky and Gonzaga agreed to a home-and-home series beginning in 2022, setting up two potential top-five prep teams to meet in a heavyweight clash during the non-conference schedule later this year. The two teams will first meet in Spokane, Washington on November 20, 2022, followed by a showdown in Lexington, Kentucky at Rupp Arena sometime in 2023.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few helped break the news Tuesday night by calling into a telethon in which UK coach John Calipari and his team answered calls in an effort to raise money to help parts of the state affected by the recent floods.
“This guy keeps bugging me. He wants to schedule a game,” Calipari said in front of Kentucky fans on a call with Few. “But everything has to be on his terms. I thought we were in Kentucky?”
“First of all, we were good,” Ligo quipped. “We were looking good, and you just said, ‘Hey, do you want to play?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m good at acting.'”
And so it went.
The two college hoops have played each other only once in the history of their programs. That was nearly two decades ago in 2002, when Kentucky beat Gonzaga 80-72 in the Maui Invitational. Few were the Zags’ coach at the time after winning the 1999 coaching championship, but Calipari was coaching Memphis at the time.
The meeting between Gonzaga and Kentucky is more than just a meeting between two of the most consistent winners in the sport over the past few decades. 2022 will also feature a matchup between reigning National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky and his dominant counterpart, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme. Gonzaga and Kentucky are also ranked No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, in theCBS Sports Top 25 (and 1).
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