Here in the hoops-addled and hopelessly overstimulated commonwealth of Kentucky, the release of this week's Associated Press poll was the most anticipated voting return since the 2000 Florida presidential vote.

Would Louisville go from unranked in the preseason to being ranked No. 1 for the first time ever?

	Reece Gaines and Marvin Stone are the pillars of Louisville's surprising success.

(Yes, you can win a bar bet with this one: Wichita State, Duquesne, Bradley, Holy Cross, La Salle and St. Louis have all done turns at the top of the AP poll, but never the two-time national champion Cardinals. Not even for a week. A profound disrespect to the old Doctors of Dunk.)

Would Kentucky ride a tidal wave of momentum from its destruction of faux No. 1 Florida and Mississippi past the Cardinals and into the AP top spot for the first time under Tubby Smith?

Turns out neither happened. Turns out Arizona returned to No. 1, with the Cardinals second and Wildcats third.

But the suspense was thicker than Rick Majerus on Monday afternoon. After The (Louisville) Courier-Journal posted the AP Top 25 on its Web site, it garnered 2,000 page views in 25 minutes.

Fact is, these two teams haven't been ranked this high in tandem since the Joe B. Hall/Denny Crum days of 1981, when the Cats were second and Cards third for three weeks behind North Carolina in December. Which is why a state that routinely goes a little nuts over hoops is bordering on a communal nervous breakdown.

Either that, or civil war.

Even here, where the competitive juices flow in torrents year 'round, this could be the best (and most contentious) year of ball since 1975, when both teams made the Final Four -- and both lost to UCLA in John Wooden's swan song.

On one side we have the Cardinals, who entered Wednesday's game against St. Louis with the nation's best record (18-1), longest winning streak (17), largest margin of victory (19.2 points per game), shiniest computer rankings (No. 1 Sagarin Rating, No. 1 RPI) and an undefeated record since center Marvin Stone became eligible (14-0).

Too bad they lost to the Billikens, 59-58.

But the Cardinals won a fairly significant game Dec. 28, which also just happens to be the last time Kentucky lost.

"They're good enough to go all the way," said Houston coach Ray McCallum after Louisville strafed his team by 26 on the road Saturday.

On the other side we have the Wildcats, owners of the nation's third-longest winning streak (13 games after Tuesday's 87-67 thumping of No. 22 Georgia), an undefeated record in what most computers identify as the toughest conference in America (the SEC) and perhaps the one-game Performance of the Year to date: that sadistic beatdown of the Gators last week.

We have Louisville's vibrant offense vs. Kentucky's crushing defense.

"They guard you from the bus to the bathroom to the concession stand," said former Wildcats great Kenny Walker of the current Cats.

We have the full-court, three-shooting Cards vs. half-court, pound-it-in Cats.

Mostly we have the former Kentucky coach, Rick Pitino, and former Kentucky center Stone against the current Kentucky coach, former Pitino assistant and former Stone mentor, Tubby Smith.

February has been Can You Top This Month in the bluegrass.

Feb. 1: Louisville breaks Indiana's will down the stretch, wins 95-76 before a Freedom Hall record crowd of 20,089. Keep pace, Cats.

Feb. 4: Kentucky humiliates Florida 70-55 before a Rupp Arena record crowd of 24,459. Back to you, Cards.

	Keith Bogans (16.7 ppg) is playing a big role in UK's success.

"I haven't seen a team put the fear of God in you, I haven't seen a team dominate like that since the old Vegas teams," said Georgia coach Jim Harrick.

Feb. 5: Louisville beats former nemesis and Conference USA bully Cincinnati. Your turn, Cats.

Feb. 8, afternoon: Kentucky sees your win and raises it with an 18-point pummeling of Ole Miss. Cats lead by 24 at half.

Feb. 8, night: Louisville answers with a 26-point bludgeoning Houston. Cards lead by 24 at half.

Kentucky gets its next turn to raise the bar Tuesday night at home against Georgia. Meanwhile, the scoreboard watching and compare/contrast game is inevitable.

"They have a legit team," said splendid Louisville guard Reece Gaines, "and so do we."

And the arguments are raging 24/7, border to border.

Louisville basketball is so hot that in late January the local Fox affiliate, which has the television contract with the Cardinals, opted to pre-empt ratings smash "American Idol" to show the decidedly un-sexy Louisville-Southern Mississippi game. A 29-point blowout drew a preposterous 26 Nielsen share.

Kentucky fans answer that it's about time that the neighbors begin to approximate their passion.

Louisville fans cannot and will not stop crowing about pasting Kentucky by 18 points in December, Smith's worst loss in 5˝ seasons in Lexington. Kentucky fans wonder if that's because the Cards don't have any other landmark wins to brag on.

Kentucky fans cannot and will not stop impugning the quality of C-USA and its deleterious effect on the Cardinals' strength of schedule -- especially as it relates to the Wildcats' Southeastern Conference grind. Planet Red wonders if Big Blue Nation is simply trying to divert attention from the head-to-head blowout.

The debates won't be settled for several weeks, of course. In the meantime, these two teams and their fan bases can't go anywhere or do anything without having to hear from one another.

We're not just talking about the two of them having to share the same state. They have to share the same nation.

Example: Saturday night the Cardinals had just won their 17th straight, crushing The Program Formerly Known As Houston 81-55 in the Cougars' Hofheinz Pavilion. Onetime Phi Slama Jama was Phi Cya Lata by halftime, down 24.

Yet even here, deep in the heart of Texas, the Cards could not get away from their dear friends in blue.

In the front row of the stands stood a man in a Kentucky hat and Kentucky sweatshirt, with a boy at his side similarly dressed. He was waving a sign at the Cardinals. The sign was promoting a Big Dance rematch -- and these weren't the only Wildcat fans in the house; at least two others were wearing their colors.

It has come to this: Fans stalking the other team on the road.

"I've been here a lot over the years," said New York Daily News college basketball writer Dick "Hoops" Weiss, part of a legion of national media to blanket the bluegrass within the last couple of weeks. "The interest level is as high in both programs as high as I can remember since the first year they played each other (1983, after a 24-year break in the series). ... It's insane. The whole state is going to need therapy by March."

March? Why the wait? As the winning streaks grow and the buzz builds, the two programs race each other to the top of the polls like the U.S. and Soviets racing to the moon (who's who in that comparison depends solely on rooting interest).

There's no question where the rooting interests lie at Tailgaters, a sports bar near the Louisville campus. Attempting to ride the red wave, the bar started a promotion a few weeks back when the Cards were ranked No. 19 in America:

During Louisville games, chicken wings will be sold for the same price as the Cards' ranking.

When Pitino's team took the court Wednesday night at Saint Louis, you could get 50 wings for a dollar -- a better deal than 10-10-220's idea of how to spend a buck.

"We're kind of kicking ourselves in the butt now," said general manager Kevin Denth, who estimates that the bar goes through about 600 pounds of wings on game nights. "But if it gets down to a penny, I think it will pay for itself."

If the rematch takes place -- especially if it takes place in April, in New Orleans, in the Final Four -- Tailgaters won't be able to give the wings away. Because the entire state will have relocated to the Big Easy.

Games of the Week

Louisville at Marquette, Saturday Assuming the games go as anticipated Wednesday, it's all on the line here: the league lead; Player of the Year honors (Reece Gaines vs. Dwyane Wade); the Cardinals' longest-in-the-nation winning streak vs. Eagles' 29-game home winning streak; Tom Crean's three-game winning streak over Rick Pitino. Florida at Tennessee, Saturday The Volunteers beat Georgia last week to sneak into the NCAA Tournament discussion but could use a couple more quality wins in the second half of the league loop. This would be a great addition to the résumé. Auburn at Alabama, Saturday If the Crimson Tide is going to redeem itself over the final seven league games, knocking off the West-leading Tigers is a must.

Rollin' With W1E
Until they provide reason to call them otherwise, weekly punching bag Alabama will hereby be referred to in shorthand as W1E: Worst No. 1 Ever.

The Crimson Tide continued their plummet from December top dog to February mutt with a 19-point loss at Florida, featuring the usual offensive lowlights: 56 points scored, 33 percent overall shooting, 11 percent from 3-point range, nine assists. Point guard Maurice Williams, the team catalyst, has shot 50 percent from the field in just one of his last 11 games and has missed 44 of his last 64 shots -- and he isn't alone on team that ranks 11th in the SEC in many offensive stats.

Throw in an 0-5 road record this year -- including an 11-point loss to truly bad Arkansas - and you have what might be the nation's No. 1 implosion. The good news is that after a season like this, Alabama shouldn't have the slightest fear of losing coach Mark Gottfried to UCLA.

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