Saturday’s game between UK and the University of North Carolina isn’t one we see too often in modern college basketball.

It doesn’t have huge implications on a national scale, given that neither team is ranked in the top 10.

But for two rivals firmly planted at college basketball’s royal table, the Cats and Tar Heels will be battling for more than just a December victory on Saturday.

UK is first in all-time victories. UNC is third. UK is second in national championships. UNC is third.

These two teams should play on a regular basis, but there has been a change in the manner with which marquee games are approached.

Now, there are too many made-for-television matchups. The State Farm Champions Classic, for example, is a great event, and one that garners a lot of excitement in college basketball’s opening weeks.

But it’s all manufactured. There is no tradition and nothing passionate about it.

“To me, it’s still important,” UNC head coach Roy Williams said of the UK-UNC series.

“But it’s not like it used to be … There’s so many of those matchups that you did not used to have.”

Yet I slightly disagree with Williams. This series is different. There’s history. There’s tradition. And in today’s system of neutral site games and rapidly changing conference landscapes, a home-and-home series between two elite programs is rarely seen.

It’s also a game between two teams with enormous potential. UK, who has fallen 10 spots in the rankings since they topped the list to start the year, is still viewed as a major national title contender. The Cats are young and still learning.

North Carolina, on the other hand, is a much more experienced team. But they have spent much of their first eight games matching the level of their competition.

They beat Michigan State University and the University of Louisville. They also lost to the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Belmont University. They have shown two very identifiable extremes, which comes from their mental approach.

That’s why I think UK will see the very best of UNC on Saturday. The Tar Heels have beaten two of the nation’s best, yet lost to two teams they should physically overmatch.

They mentally prepare for the marquee games and come out flat and disinterested in others.

The Cats will definitely bring out the fire in UNC.

UK ­­­­will have to play 40 minutes of quality, fundamental basketball to get a big road win.

Game analysis aside, Saturday will have implications and pressures that no visiting team can avoid. Freshman forward Julius Randle mentioned Tuesday how excited he was to suit up where the “Greatest to ever play” called home.

Whether Mr. Jordan’s presence will be felt by more than just Randle, playing at North Carolina carries a special stigma, similar to what other teams feel when they run out of the visiting tunnel at Rupp Arena.

The outcome of the game will matter little when we look back in March. But in a college basketball system that has halted so many historic rivalries, Saturday will show why not all hope is lost.