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Tennessee basketball vs. Kentucky: Ranking Vols 5 wins at Rupp Arena

By Caleb Calhoun

LEXINGTON, KY - FEBRUARY 06: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers and PJ Washington #25 of the Kentucky Wildcats battle for a loose ball during the game at Rupp Arena on February 6, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY - FEBRUARY 06: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers and PJ Washington #25 of the Kentucky Wildcats battle for a loose ball during the game at Rupp Arena on February 6, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Tennessee basketball has five wins against the UK Wildcats in Lexington since Rupp Arena was built in 1976. Here is a ranking of those Volunteers victories.

In a rare setting, Tennessee basketball travels to Rupp Arena to face the Kentucky Wildcats as the higher ranked team. It’s the first time the Vols will face UK in Lexington as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation and the second time they’ll do so overall.

Kentucky is ranked No. 5, but they just lost to the LSU Tigers. So this makes it look like the Vols have a very legitimate chance to win, and Rick Barnes has been a very difficult team for Kentucky to face through three years.

However, one thing that is extremely rare for the Vols is winning in Rupp Arena. Ever since the place was built in 1976, they have only been able to win five times. At one point, they went 20 years without a victory in Lexington.

It goes without saying that, given UK’s dominance in the series, the Vols’ relevance now makes this the biggest game ever between the two schools. Kentucky fans are excited about playing Rocky Top, a rare role reversal only equivalent to how UT fans felt about playing Kentucky in football earlier this year.

But can they win at Rupp? What’s the historical precedent for that? In this post, we’re going to look back at those times Tennessee basketball was able to do the unthinkable and pull off such victories in Lexington.

We’re going to rank the Vols’ five wins in Rupp. The rankings are based on the excitement of the game itself, how highly ranked the ‘Cats were, its affect on the overall outcome of the season and any storylines that came with it.

Usually, a win at Rupp itself is an amazing storyline. But the Vols have some things that go even deeper than that. All five games have been won by five different coaches, and they all just happen to be the five most successful coaches in school history.

So ahead of another huge match-up at Kentucky, let’s step back into history. And let’s remember the great players and coaches that pulled off some of the best regular season wins UT ever had. This is our ranking of Tennessee basketball’s five wins over the Wildcats at Rupp Arena.

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