Saturday's Final Four tips off with the much-atnicipated and heated in-state rivalry game between Louisville and Kentucky. As soon as the Wildcats pulled away from Baylor last Sunday, a full week of rivalry discussion commenced. While the fan bases of each school are on less-than-friendly terms, the players for each school have known each other for a long time and tend to have amicable relationships. While the fans may be getting in fights at dialysis clinics, Louisville freshman Chane Behanan, who is friends with Kentucky's Marquis Teague and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, discussed the friendships among both teams with Matt Norlander of CBS:
"We talk about how our schools are, our communities, how the parties are and how hot the girls are," Behanan said of his conversations with UK's guys.
These are just a couple of the many friendships between players on both sides. Anthony Davis and Wayne Blackshear have a pre-existing friendship, and Peyton Siva and Terrence Jones have a relationship going back to their boyhood days in Seattle. It's not exactly the blood feud that exists between the fans that has been highlighted in the run-up to their rematch. John Calipari noted this earlier in the week when he said almost all of his players hailed from out-of-state and were not caught up in the rivalry hype heading into the clash in New Orleans. Obviously, when the ball goes up Saturday evening, those friendships go out the window.
For coverage of the Louisville Cardinals, stop by Card Chronicle. For more on the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville's Final Four foe, check out A Sea of Blue. For all your 2012 March Madness needs, stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated NCAA Tournament hub.
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