ATLANTA -- Thanks to the numbing agent No. 1 Kentucky used to finally subdue Indiana just past midnight, we are now a combined 80 minutes away from a game never thought possible until now.

Say it with me: Kentucky versus Louisville Kentucky versus Louisville Kentucky versus Louisville

If it happens -- and I'm openly and unapologetically rooting for the matchup -- the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky will need its medication adjusted. It will make the Derby look like Bible study class. One way or another, it will become basketball legend.

"I've worked here since July of 1978," said Louisville Courier-Journal columnist Rick Bozich. "It would be the biggest sporting event that I could remember covering in nearly 34 years."

If two things happen this weekend, UK coach John Calipari will face off with old rival Rick Pitino at the Superdome in New Orleans. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

"It would be ridiculous," said Lexington Herald-Leader columnist John Clay. "Totally ridiculous."

It would be six exits past ridiculous. The state would shut down on Final Four Saturday. You could run naked through downtown Louisville or Lexington and nobody would notice. Fans in the hoops-addicted Commonwealth would be duct-taped to their TVs.

Of course, there's still some heavy lifting to be done in these remaining 80 pre-Final Four minutes. Louisville has to beat Florida in Saturday's West Regional final and UK has to beat Baylor in Sunday's South Regional final.

Neither game is a gimme, but Kentucky, the top overall seed, should slide past Baylor -- that is, if it doesn't suffer permanent retina damage from the Bears' Day-Glo unis. It will be tougher for Louisville to deal with the Gators.

Kentucky wanted revenge against Indiana and it got it. For nearly 3½ months, the Wildcats had lived with the memory of IU's buzzer-beater victory at Assembly Hall -- UK's only regular-season defeat. And just in case they forgot how it ended, ESPN ran a commercial highlighting the Hoosiers' dramatic win about, oh, 400,000 times in the past month.

Friday evening (and into Saturday morning) at the Georgia Dome, Kentucky grinded its way into a third consecutive Elite Eight. It was a terrific game played by two terrific teams. UK won 102-90, but Indiana forced the Wildcats to play hard until nearly the last minute.

When it is was done, IU coach Tom Crean hugged friend and UK coach John Calipari and said, "Make sure you have enough to win this thing."

This thing. The national championship.

Calipari looked so tired after the victory that he actually appeared to nod off during the postgame news conference, which stretched past 1:15 a.m. But he perked up when asked about what was left in the Wildcats' reserve tank.