By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

They're two of the hottest teams in college basketball, each with a 13-game winning streak. The University of Cincinnati is one of four unbeaten teams left in the country. Louisville hasn't lost since dropping a one-point overtime decision to Iowa in the John Wooden Tradition in its season opener.

Louisville (13-1) is ranked eighth nationally. UC (13-0) is 10th. Both are 4-0 in Conference USA, the only unbeaten teams left in the league.

Wednesday night, the two premier programs in the league will play each other at Freedom Hall in Louisville. It will be the first meeting between the two schools since they announced in November that they had accepted invitations to join the Big East Conference in 2005.

More than anything else, this is what the Big East bought when it agreed to invite these schools into its fold. Not only is it getting two nationally prominent programs, it's receiving a built-in rivalry.

Louisville leads the series 46-35, but UC has won 10 of the last 13. The teams are 2-2 since Rick Pitino took over as head coach of the Cardinals in 2001, with each team winning twice at home and losing twice on the road.

"We've been looking forward to this caliber of game for a long time," said UC forward James White.

Maybe that's why forward Armein Kirkland was still in uniform long after the Bearcats had completed their 85-57 victory over Texas Christian on Saturday night. While his teammates were getting dressed and leaving Fifth Third Arena, Kirkland was on the floor firing jump shots, testing his sprained left knee.

Kirkland practiced Sunday night and is expected to play against the Cardinals. Forward Jason Maxiell, who sprained his right ankle Saturday, did not practice but is expected to play Wednesday.

With Louisville up next on the schedule, there's a new sense of urgency for all the UC players.

"We're just looking forward to the challenge," said guard Tony Bobbitt, careful not to say anything to rile up the Louisville players after his comments last week about Marquette guard Travis Diener were blown up on the front page of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sports section.

White, who emerged from a 3-for-21 shooting slump to go 6-for-11 and score 15 points against TCU, knows plenty about the Cardinals' approach to the game from his days at Florida, where he played for Billy Donovan, a disciple of Louisville coach Rick Pitino.

"Billy Donovan runs the same system," White said. "They press exactly the same, and I played under that system for about a year and a half. I understand pretty much what they do, a lot of pick and rolls, penetrate and pitch, just like Florida."

UC and Louisville mirror each other in many respects. Both like to run and press and both have outstanding 3-point shooters.

"They don't press the duration of the game but when they come, they come fast and they come hard," White said. "They're effective in what they do. They're more deliberate in what they do."

UC committed 15 turnovers against TCU, which displayed minimal pressure, and 14 against Marquette, which pressed near the end of the game when it got behind.

"The one thing we can't do, we can't turn the ball over and we can't let them drive the middle because they like to penetrate and pitch and they've got good shooters," said Bobbitt.

GOOD COMPANY: This is the fourth UC team to begin a season with 13 straight wins.

The 1962-63 team started 19-0. The 1998-99 team won its first 15 games. And the 1959-60 team - Oscar Robertson's senior year - began 13-0.

Two of the previous three teams reached the Final Four. The 1962-63 team lost to Loyola (Ill.) in the national championship game. The 1959-60 team lost to California in the national semifinals.

The 1998-99 team went 12-6 after its 15-0 start and lost to Temple in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com