BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Western Kentucky men's basketball coach Ray Harper said recently that "you can only have so many rivals."
UAB and Old Dominion are working themselves into the discussion for the second tier, though.
WKU played both teams last week in the Conference USA Tournament, completing two fierce games in what have become spirited renewed series over the last two seasons. The Tops have history with both programs from the Sun Belt Conference.
"It's a game that we definitely wanted," WKU junior center Ben Lawson said of playing UAB last week. "We said from the start that we wanted to play them.