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In this article, we are diving into the Kentucky Wildcats’ record against every ACC team, both in regular season and NCAA Tournament play.
Compared to the Big Ten and Big 12, UK has played these schools way more in its history. Many factors have contributed to this, most significantly rivalries with Louisville, Duke, and North Carolina, and also old conference ties with Georgia Tech and an annually scheduled game with Notre Dame, which they once had for decades back in the Rupp and Hall years.
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Let’s take a look at UK vs the ACC:
Kentucky Basketball Against The ACC
Notes:
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Two of UK’s national titles came against ACC teams: Syracuse in 1996 and Duke in 1978. The title over Duke was so far back that Coach Krzyzewski wasn’t even there yet. The title over Syracuse, of course, was indeed during the 40+ year tenure of Jim Boeheim.
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Due to Georgia Tech once being in the SEC, the Wildcats and Yellowjackets have played 73 times—more times than UK’s played any of these other schools, including even Louisville. Yet for all those games, they have never once met in the NCAA Tournament.
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Kentucky’s played Duke (twice), Louisville, Stanford, and Syracuse (twice) in the Final Four or title game. In those games, UK is a spotless 6-0 and scaled the peaks of basketball glory.
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UK’s first game against an ACC team was against Louisville on February 15th, 1913. They won 34-10 in Buell Armory Gymnasium in Lexington in a game predating the SEC, ACC, and even World War 1.
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The only ACC team UK has a losing record against is North Carolina. Both in the regular season and in the NCAAs, the Tar Heels have had the upper hand on Kentucky historically and are one of the few teams in all of Division 1 to do so. Kentucky’s only NCAA Tournament win against them was in 2011 in the Elite Eight with Brandon Knight, Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones, and the rest of their first Final Four team under John Calipari.
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