Kentucky and Tennessee is one of the biggest rivalries in college basketball.

Having played each other 241 times, with the Wildcats holding a dominant 163-78 series lead, they have never played for larger stakes than they will on Friday night as they face off in a Sweet Sixteen matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium. It will be the first time the two teams have played one another in the NCAA Tournament.

Not only will the winning team be one step closer to a Final Four, but they will have bragging rights of ending their rival’s season.

As the teams prepare, a photo has surfaced following the Volunteers’ Round of 32 win to beat UCLA in Rupp Arena. Photographer Erin Powers caught a shot of guard Zakai Zeigler flipping off a UK logo.

Per her Instagram post:

Zeigler is 3-6 against the Wildcats in his career, including 0-2 this season. If Kentucky wins on Friday, it will end his career.

Mark Pope has instilled a passion and love for the Kentucky program into each player, and if they needed any more motivation against Tennessee, they certainly have it now.

Thanks for the bulletin board material, Mr. Zeigler.

With a trip to the Elite Eight on the line, Kentucky-Tennessee will tip off at 7:39 PM EST on TBS.

At halftime, Collin Chandler jogged off of the court with only two minutes of playing time to his name and little to no statistically. However, the No. 3 seed Wildcats still held a 35-27 lead over the No. 14 seed Troy Trojans. 

Kentucky fans would have a bit of a scare to start the second half, where Troy would cut the Kentucky lead down to only six points.

An unsung hero, Chandler, checked in for the deflated Wildcats and sparked a 3-pointer just seconds after his substitution. 

Out of the media timeout at the 11:47 mark, Chandler would shoot another three, where he was fouled and would go on to make all three free-throws. 

The very next possession, Chandler would make another three, and this one, had the Wildcats energy at an all-time high on the night. 

The bench and crowd exploded, and thanks to Chandler’s energizing play, Kentucky would continue to pour on the points. The Wildcats went on a 15-0 run after Chandler subbed in up to the 7:34 mark. 

After the game, the freshman admitted to his process of growing throughout the season talking to KY Insider.

“There’s been a lot of time of self reflection and, I don’t want to say soul searching…there’s been times like ‘What am I doing here?’” said Chandler.

He brought up specific moments that stuck out to him where he felt a shift in his confidence. 

“There’s the Vanderbilt game at home, I think I took a huge step forward as well as LSU,” said Chandler. “Not in like skill level, but I think confidence, being on the court is translating to what I’ve been working on into a game.” 

When asked about his thought process, ready to play for BYU and switching to Kentucky after the hiring of Mark Pope, Chandler spoke of his current position and reflected on the past.

”It’s almost been a year since the coaching change happened, so, if you would’ve told me a year ago that this is where I’d be, it would be hard for me to believe you,” said Chandler. “I’m grateful to be here at Kentucky and getting the opportunity to have games like this that you’ll remember forever.”  

In his first March Madness game of his career, Chandler tallied nine points, one rebound, one assist and a steal in just 10 minutes of play. He shot 2-4 from three, and 3-3 from the free-throw line.

Against Illinois, he scored six points, including this three-pointer from the logo.

He really made his impact felt on the defensive end with three steals.

With a newfound confidence and purpose, Chandler is helping Kentucky, and in his words, “I’m right where I need to be.”

Amari Williams had four pieces of toast for breakfast prior to Kentucky’s Round of 64 win over Troy; despite the team winning, according to Mark Pope, that wasn’t good enough.

What followed, in addition to another tournament win for Kentucky, was a textbook showing from Williams. Burying his turn from the previous game, Williams tallied eight points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the bout, leading the ‘Cats to an 84-75 win and an advancement to the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years.

The Secret Ingredient

The secret? A switch-up for the most important meal of the day. The answer? Weetabix, a British cereal that Williams grew up loving. Pope and his staff, stranded in Milwaukee for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, found an international food store in order to provide Williams the early morning meal.

The craze continued on the trip home, with the UK staff buying out a similar Lexington store of the product for the rest of the tournament going forward. And it isn’t only Amari anymore – he’s got teammates and coaches hopping on the trend in a series of reports and videos released online.

It’s a full-on phenomenon, the effects of which have reverberated through the fanbase, too. The big blue nation flocked to online shops in mass to take part in the Weetabix event themselves. Amazon specifically has seen the largest uptick in sales, with the treat topping charts as the best-selling cereal on the platform within mere days of Williams’ comment in the press conference.

Williams even took to X (Twitter) in response to the news, saying, “#BBN y’all are crazy” accompanied by a couple of laughing emojis to boot.

Weetabix has not publicly commented on the situation, but they did respond to a request from KSR.

“With a number of big basketball fans at Post Consumer Brands, word of Amari’s interview started making the rounds Sunday night,” Weetabix’s representative told KSR. “There’s been a fun energy inside the company the last few days as it’s incredibly cool to have Weetabix be included in conversations around something like the NCAA Tournament.”

As serious and gut-wrenching as the NCAA Tournament can be, something like this can serve as a real breath of fresh air for both a team and their fans, although this sort of scale is usually unique to one fanbase: the Kentucky faithful. Never underestimate ‘Cats fans’ ability to involve themselves on a level unlike any other.

It just means more… even if that means something as simple as buying a foreign cereal brand to support your favorite player.