Louisville And Indiana Having 'Serious Conversations' About 3-Year Series

Rick Pitino's vision of Louisville and Indiana meeting on the hardwood every season may wind up coming to fruition.

Hoosier head coach Tom Crean confirmed to the Indianapolis Star Tuesday afternoon that IU and U of L are having "serious conversations" about a three-year series between the two basketball powerhouses. Pitino first mentioned the talks during his weekly radio show Monday evening.

"I respect Rick a lot," Crean said Tuesday. "I would say that, if we get this series completed, a three-year series, a series of that magnitude really deserves the respect of an official announcement."

Monday night, Pitino said the plan for the series was to play a game next season at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, then have Louisville come to Assembly Hall the season after that, and the Hoosiers would the visit the Yum Center in the final year of the deal.

Louisville and Indiana have not played one another in more than two consecutive seasons since they played every year between 1984-1988. The Cards won four of those five meetings, but still trail the all-time series (which dates back to 1921) 10-7.

U of L knocked off the Hoosiers 94-74 in December at the Jimmy V. Classic in New York.