Kentucky will play an Indiana college basketball team it has a long history with this season after all.
Notre Dame will play host to the defending national champion Wildcats on Nov. 29 as part of the SEC-Big East Challenge, the Irish announced Friday. Kentucky ended its series with Indiana in May.
"I'm thrilled about this matchup and the opportunity to play Kentucky," Irish coach Mike Brey said in a news release. "These two schools have a long tradition of playing each other and we've been exploring options for renewing the rivalry. With all five of our starters returning next year, this is going to be a great early non-conference test for us.
"I'm excited that our fans will have the chance to be a part of such a powerful and meaningful game so early on in our season."
Notre Dame and Kentucky have played 60 times prior to this season's matchup. The Wildcats lead the series 42-18.
The game will also be the teams' second matchup in the Challenge. Kentucky defeated Notre Dame 72-58 in Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., on Dec. 2, 2010.
Kentucky is 5-2 in Purcell Pavilion, but the Irish did win the last game in South Bend, knocking off the Wildcats 77-67 in the NIT quarterfinals March 25, 2009.
Notre Dame's game against Kentucky comes on the heels of the Wildcats ending their series with Indiana.
IU and Kentucky could not come to terms of where to continue the series that dates back to 1969. The Hoosiers wanted to continue the series on the campuses of the universities, while the Wildcats wanted to play at neutral sites.
IU athletic director Fred Glass and Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart did continue to negotiate to keep the series alive, according to the Associated Press. But Kentucky rejected a four-year extension from IU to play two games at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, then a third game at Kentucky and a fourth at Indiana, the AP reported.
As for the rest of the SEC-Big East Challenge, which will feature 12 games during three days, Marquette will play at Florida, Seton Hall will travel to LSU and South Carolina will be at St. John's on the opening day of the Challenge on Nov. 29.
Syracuse will play at Arkansas, DePaul at Auburn, Tennessee at Georgetown and Georgia travels to South Florida on Nov. 30.
Alabama will play at Cincinnati, Rutgers at Mississippi, Mississippi State plays at Providence and Villanova at Vanderbilt on Dec. 1.
The games will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. The network and start times for the games will be announced by ESPN in August.
