Have Tennessee, Kentucky ever played in NCAA Tournament? Vols, Wildcats 242nd game will be a first
Tennessee basketball and Kentucky have played 241 times in 115 years.
The 242nd meeting will be a first.
The Vols and Wildcats are meeting for the first time in an NCAA Tournament when No. 2 seed Tennessee and No. 3 seed Kentucky play in the Sweet 16 on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. A game time and TV designation for the March Madness game between the Vols (29-7) and Wildcats (24-11) have yet to be announced.
Tennessee lost both regular-season matchups this season, losing 78-73 at Food City Center on Jan. 28 and falling 75-63 at Rupp Arena on Feb. 11.
Tennessee and Kentucky have played since 1910, but have never met in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols have never played an SEC team before in the tournament.
The NCAA Tournament allowed one team per conference in the field until 1975 when it expanded to a 32-team field.
The NCAA bracketing procedure typically aims to avoid matchups between conference foes in March Madness. That was complicated this season by the SEC getting 14 teams in the field.
Tennessee, Kentucky and No. 9 seed Georgia were all placed in the Midwest Regional. Texas played in a play-in game as a No. 11 seed.
The West Regional featured No. 1 seed Florida, No. 6 seed Missouri, No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 10 seed Arkansas. The South Regional had No. 1 seed Auburn, No. 4 seed Texas A&M and No. 6 Ole Miss. The East Regional included No. 2 seed Alabama, No. 8 seed Mississippi State and No. 10 seed Vanderbilt.
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Kentucky has a 163-78 edge in the all-time series against Tennessee.
The Vols are 11-12 against the Wildcats under coach RIck Barnes. They have a 2-1 record in neutral-site meetings with the Wildcats under Barnes. They lost in the SEC Tournament finals in 2018 against Kentucky. They won in the SEC Tournament semifinals in 2019 and 2022 against UK.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike's coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee vs Kentucky in Sweet 16 is first NCAA Tournament meeting
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