Under Archie Miller, could IU-Kentucky rivalry be revived?

BLOOMINGTON – It didn’t take long for Archie Miller to be asked about Indiana’s watered-down nonconference schedule.

In fact, it was the first question Miller received as he was introduced as IU's new men's basketball coach. And anytime the Hoosiers' nonconference schedule comes up, the abandoned rivalry with Kentucky is at the top of the queue.

Miller said he was receptive toward reviving the rivalry, but deferred to the man who hired him — athletic director Fred Glass.

“That’s far removed from where I’ve come from,” Miller said. “So that’s something I think Fred and I will discuss and see how that happens. I know it’s an important piece to the puzzle here with our tradition. But right now we’ll just focus on the day at hand.”

Indiana and Kentucky have not played in the regular season since Christian Watford’s game-winning shot revitalized the IU program in 2011. The programs have met twice since in the NCAA tournament, but former IU coach Tom Crean and Calipari could never come to an agreement for the regular season.

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The disagreement stemmed from the location of the series. Crean and Indiana wanted a home-and-home setting, as it was from 2006-11. Calipari and Kentucky, meanwhile, have been firm on neutral courts, as it was from 1991-2005 in Louisville and Indianapolis.

Following Miller’s first public appearance at Indiana, Glass reiterated the IU sentiment of an on-campus series with Kentucky. This time, though, there was a bit more flexibility to Glass’ statements.

"I’d like to do that,” Glass said of restarting the IU-UK series. “I’m hopeful we do that. That’s just a game that ought to be played. I’d like to play it during the cycle here, but I’ll lead with my chin here a little bit, and not chest my cards, or whatever metaphor you want to put out there: I want to try to play the game, and if we need to play somewhere else, I’m open to doing that."

In the final season of the Crean era, Indiana played one of the nation's weakest nonconference schedules (ranked 312th out of 351). IU’s toughest nonconference home game, beyond the ACC/Big Ten Challenge meeting with North Carolina, was Liberty — ranked 208th by KenPom.

Indiana fans — specifically season-ticket holders and students — have clamored for stronger opponents prior to the Big Ten slate. Rather than scheduling promising mid-majors to bolster postseason resumes and preparation for the road ahead, the Hoosiers scheduled some of the worst teams in college basketball.

Miller’s program at Dayton was clearly in a different sphere of scheduling than his new job. While the Atlantic 10 serves as a stronger mid-major conference, Miller wasn’t able to rely on sheer conference wins to earn at-large NCAA tournament bids. Regardless, Miller put together top-100 nonconference schedules in each of his last three seasons at Dayton.

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“The nonconference scheduling component is probably the second most important thing you do as a coach other than recruit,” Miller said. “Here at Indiana, nonconference scheduling is about finding a way to put yourself in a great position in terms of seeding.

"You have to be the master of creating a nonconference schedule that creates great excitement with your fans and challenges you at the highest level as you enter the Big Ten, and puts you in a nonconference resume that stacks up with the best teams in college basketball.”

Miller’s name alone conjures up another high-major program with his older brother, Sean, holding the reigns at Arizona. While simultaneous series with Kentucky and Arizona is far fetched, the Millers have already began talks of playing one another.

“Home-and-home with Arizona,” Miller began. “I don’t know if Fred is actually going to have the ability to communicate with Sean as easily as me. But I think that’s something that down the line would be really cool. He actually mentioned it to me; We can do that. It’s just got to be right for both places.”