Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats won the first meeting over Pat Kelsey’s Louisville Cardinals, but both college basketball coaches are inspiring hope.

Transition remains for Mark Pope with No. 5 Kentucky and Pat Kelsey with Louisville, growing pains and all. But judging from the intensity Saturday for the latest Bluegrass showdown, the first-year coaches have already succeeded in re-igniting excitement into their programs along with the rivalry that had recently become rather stagnant.

On the eve of the first time Mark Pope would coach his college alma mater against its intrastate archrival, the new Kentucky head man decided to do a little historical research. Along with his wife, Lee Anne,

A new era has arrived as the Kentucky Wildcats took on the rival Louisville Cardinals for the first time with Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey on the sidelines. The Cats continued their winning ways as they defeated Louisville by a final score of 93-85.