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Kentucky Vs. Indiana College Basketball Rivalry On the Brink of Ending

Negotiations to keep the popular Indiana-Kentucky basketball series alive have stalled for the second time in a month and there seems to be little chance of reviving it. Indiana athletic director Fred Glass announced May 3 that the series, an annual tradition since 1969, would end because the two schools could not agree on whether to play the games at neutral sites or on the two campuses.

According to a letter obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, the two athletic directors reopened negotiations May 10. Two weeks later, the letter said, Kentucky rejected Indiana's offer for a four-year extension that would have put the first two games at Lucas Oil Stadium, which Wildcats coach John Calipari wanted. The third game would have been played at Kentucky and the fourth at Indiana.

"I'm disappointed Kentucky rejected what I thought was a compromise that would address everyone's concerns," Glass told The Associated Press. "(Coach) Tom (Crean) and I felt like we tried to be accommodating to Kentucky."

Kentucky had a variety of concerns, some of which were explained in the letter dated May 25.

Wildcats AD Mitch Barnhart said he didn't receive Glass' letter until Wednesday and expressed additional concerns in a statement released by the athletic department.

"I informed Fred that we were disappointed that our previous verbal agreement for a two-year neutral site contract was off the table, but we would consider the new proposal," Barnhart said. "I also noted there were some challenges in our current schedule that were not present prior to Indiana's announcement on May 3 that they were moving on with their schedule for 2012-13."

The Wildcats had already scheduled a game for the second Saturday in December, when Indiana and Kentucky traditionally meet. Moving the Portland game from Dec. 8 would have cost Kentucky $100,000.

So Glass offered to play the game on Dec. 5, when Kentucky had scheduled a contest against Samford, or to split the cost of the Portland buyout. Glass also said he would assist in dealing with Samford if necessary and even offered to move Indiana's Dec. 22 game to free up a date for the border-state clash.

When Calipari announced on Twitter that Kentucky was pursuing a new "non-traditional" scheduling philosophy, Glass had his answer.

Glass wrote in the letter that Kentucky spokesman DeWayne Peevy officially rejected the compromise in a phone call May 24.

Both schools have historical arguments on their side.

The games rotated between Freedom Hall in Louisville and the Hoosier/RCA Dome in Indianapolis from 1991 through 2005. That's when the two schools moved their games back to campus sites, where the rivalry's regular-season games were played exclusively from 1976 through 1986