Kelsey was hired in late March with an even taller task of lifting Louisville from two historically bad seasons under former Cardinals player Kenny Payne, who previously spent 10 years as Calipari’s assistant. (Payne has reunited with Calipari at Arkansas.)

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,

The Kentucky Wildcats were able to take down the Louisville Cardinals in the first matchup of the Mark Pope vs. Pat Kelsey era. Despite nearly leading wire-to-wire, Kentucky had to battle for 40 minutes to pull out the victory,