The Battles of the Pitinos may actually become a thing in the near future.
According to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, Louisville -- where dad Rick coaches -- and Minnesota -- where son Richard is now in his second season at the helm -- are in talks to begin a home-and-home series between the two programs.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. Rick and Richard agreed to play a series when Richard was still at Florida International, but after one successful season, the younger Pitino was given the job at Minnesota, creating a mildly-awkward blowout win for Louisville this past season.
This series likely won’t start until the 2015-2016 season as the two programs are already scheduled to play each other in 2014-2015 in a tournament in Puerto Rico.
Rick is an unabashed fan of Minnesota basketball, so much so that he spent all of Minnesota’s run to the NIT title last season coaching from Madison Square Garden’s most expensive seats. I wonder how it will feel coaching on the other sideline.
They’ve played once before, and Louisville beat FIU in a blowout in 2012.
I’ve got an idea for this: loser has to wear the chicken suit to the next family dinner.
