Kentucky–Louisville rivalry explained

Wide:	yes
Kentucky–Louisville rivalry
Team1:	Kentucky Wildcats
Team1logo:	Kentucky Wildcats logo.svg
Team2:	Louisville Cardinals
Team2logo:	Louisville Cardinals wordmark.svg
Sport:	basketball, football, others

! style=""

scope=row	Founded	align=center	1865	align=center	1798
scope=row	Type	align=center		align=center	Public
scope=row	Location	align=center		align=center	Louisville
scope=row	Conference	align=center		align=center	ACC
scope=row	Students	align=center	32,955	align=center	23,043
scope=row	School colors	align=center		align=center
scope=row	Nickname	align=center		align=center	Cardinals
scope=row	Stadium	align=center		align=center	L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium
scope=row	Arena	align=center		align=center	KFC Yum! Center

The Kentucky–Louisville rivalry refers to the rivalry between the University of Kentucky Wildcats (Kentucky) and the University of Louisville Cardinals (Louisville). It is considered one of the most intense and passionate rivalries in the NCAA, especially in men's college basketball. The intensity of the rivalry is captivated by the proximity of the two schools and the commonwealth of Kentucky's interest in college sports.

Men's basketball

See main article: Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball and Louisville Cardinals men's basketball.

Wide:	yes
Kentucky–Louisville men's basketball rivalry
Team1:	Kentucky Wildcats
Team1logo:	Kentucky Wildcats logo.svg
Team2:	Louisville Cardinals
Team2logo:	Louisville Cardinals wordmark.svg
Sport:	Basketball
Firstmeeting:	February 15, 1913 Kentucky 34, Louisville 10
Mostrecent:	December 21, 2023 Kentucky 95, Louisville 76
Nextmeeting:	December 14, 2024 Lexington, Kentucky
Total:	55
Series:	Kentucky leads, 39–17
Largestvictory:	Kentucky: 34 points (1948) Louisville: 22 points (1988)
Currentstreak:	Kentucky, 2 (2022–present)

The Kentucky–Louisville rivalry has been ranked the 2nd best rivalry in college basketball by Bleacher Report and 3rd best rivalry in all of college sports by Basketball Hall of Fame contributor Dick Vitale.^[1] Kentucky and Louisville first played against each other in 1913 but stopped playing each other in the 1920s, playing only twelve times between 1913 and 1983. The rivalry was generally dormant with only occasional matchups until the teams met in the 1983 NCAA tournament. Since then, the two teams have met each year in late December or early January.

Much like the Iron Bowl, the Kentucky–Louisville rivalry is all the more intense because the two schools have consistently been among the nation's elite men's basketball teams for most of the last 50 years. Both schools are also two of the most victorious programs in NCAA men's basketball history; Kentucky is #1 on the list of all-time winningest programs in Division I Men's Basketball and Louisville #30. Kentucky has eight national championships and Louisville three, one having been vacated by the NCAA. Both schools also sit in the top ten of men's basketball teams that have had athletes to be picked in the first round of the NBA draft. Kentucky has had 46 players selected in the first round, while Louisville has had 24.

History

The rivalry was fueled when Rick Pitino was hired as Louisville's head men's basketball coach in 2001. He served in that same role with Kentucky from 1989 to 1997.^[2] In the time that Rick Pitino was the head coach at Louisville from 2001 to 2017, Kentucky has won 12 of its contests and Louisville has won 6 of its contests.^[3] Kentucky leads the all-time series with Louisville 37–17, and Kentucky leads the modern series 28–14.^[4] In six tournament meetings as of 2014, Kentucky leads the series four games to two with their most recent win coming in the 2014 sweet sixteen 74–69. The teams met in the 2012 Final Four, and Kentucky defeated Louisville with a score of 69–61 en route to the national title. This was the deepest ever tournament meeting between the two schools and their first tournament meeting since 1984.

Results

Rankings are from the AP Poll (1936–present)

Notes

^A 1948 USA Olympic Trial Game
^B 1951 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
^C 1959 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
^D 1983 NCAA Elite Eight
^E 1984 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
^F 2012 NCAA Final Four
^G 2014 NCAA Sweet Sixteen

Wins by location

Category	Kentucky	Louisville
align=center		align=center	0	align=center	1
align=center		align=center	1	align=center	0
align=center		align=center	0	align=center	1
align=center		align=center	20	align=center	5
align=center		align=center	13	align=center	8
align=center		align=center	1	align=center	0
align=center		align=center	1	align=center	0
align=center		align=center	1	align=center	0

Game MVP

NOTE: The 2010 game was the inaugural year for the award. The Bluegrass Sports Commission (BSC) names the Most Valuable Player of the men's basketball game between the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.

Date	Player	Team	Position	Statistics
12-31-2010	Josh Harrellson	Kentucky	Center	C	23 Points, 14 Rebounds ^[5]
12-31-2011	Michael Kidd-Gilchrist	Kentucky	Small Forward	F	24 Points, 19 Rebounds^[6]
12-29-2012	Russ Smith	Louisville	Shooting Guard	G	21 points, 7 rebounds
12-28-2013	James Young	Kentucky	Small Forward	F	18 Points, 10 Rebounds^[7]
12-27-2014	Tyler Ulis	Kentucky	Point Guard	G	14 Points, 2 Assists^[8]
12-26-2015	Tyler Ulis	Kentucky	Point Guard	G	21 Points, 8 Assists^[9]
12-21-2016	Quentin Snider	Louisville	Guard	G	22 Points, 6 Rebounds, 5 Assists^[10]
12-29-2017	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Kentucky	Point Guard	G	24 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 3 Steals^[11]
12-29-2018	Tyler Herro	Kentucky	Shooting Guard	G	24 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Steals^[12]
12-28-2019	Tyrese Maxey	Kentucky	Shooting Guard	G	27 Points, 7 Rebounds^[13]
12-26-2020	Carlik Jones & David Johnson	Louisville	Guard	Jones: G Johnson: G	Jones: 20 points, 5 reboundsJohnson: 17 points, 7 rebounds^[14]

Broadcast History

Date	Network	Play-by-play	Analyst(s)
March 26, 1983	CBS	Gary Bender	Billy Packer
November 26, 1983	WTBS	Skip Caray	Joe Dean
March 22, 1984	NCAA Productions/ESPN	Tom Hammond	Larry Conley
December 15, 1984	Lorimar Sports Network	Tom Hammond	Irv Brown
December 28, 1985	CBS	Brent Musburger	Billy Packer
December 27, 1986	CBS	Brent Musburger	Billy Packer
December 22, 1987	CBS	Brent Musburger	Billy Packer
December 31, 1988	CBS	Tim Brant	Billy Packer
January 2, 2001	ESPN	Bob Carpenter	Larry Conley
December 29, 2001	CBS	Jim Nantz	Billy Packer
December 28, 2002	ESPN	Dan Shulman	Dick Vitale
December 27, 2003	CBS	Gus Johnson	Billy Packer
December 18, 2004	ESPN	Dan Shulman	Dick Vitale
December 17, 2005	CBS	Verne Lundquist	Billy Packer
December 16, 2006	CBS	Verne Lundquist	Billy Packer
January 5, 2008	CBS	Verne Lundquist	Billy Packer
January 4, 2009	CBS	Kevin Harlan	Clark Kellogg
January 3, 2010	CBS	Verne Lundquist	Clark Kellogg
December 31, 2010	CBS	Gus Johnson	Clark Kellogg
December 31, 2011	CBS	Ian Eagle	Clark Kellogg
March 31, 2012	CBS	Jim Nantz	Clark Kellogg Steve Kerr
December 29, 2012	CBS	Tim Brando	Greg Anthony Clark Kellogg
December 28, 2013	CBS	Jim Nantz	Greg Anthony
March 28, 2014	CBS	Jim Nantz	Greg Anthony
December 27, 2014	ESPN2	Dan Shulman	Jay Bilas
December 26, 2015	CBS	Tom McCarthy	Bill Raftery
December 21, 2016	ESPN	Dan Shulman	Jay Bilas
December 29, 2017	CBS	Spero Dedes	Bill Raftery
December 29, 2018	ESPN2	Dan Shulman	Jay Bilas
December 28, 2019	CBS	Brad Nessler	Bill Raftery
December 26, 2020	ESPN	Dan Shulman	Dick Vitale
December 31, 2022	CBS	Tom McCarthy	Bill Raftery

Football

See main article: Governor's Cup (Kentucky).

The football rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville started one year earlier than the basketball rivalry but also had a long dormant period. Kentucky and Louisville first played each other in football in 1912. Kentucky dominated six meetings between the teams from 1912 until 1924, holding Louisville scoreless in all six games, after which the teams stopped playing. In 1994, with former Kentucky player Howard Schnellenberger coaching Louisville, the series was revived after a 70-year dormancy. Kentucky leads the series currently 19–15 but Louisville leads the Governors Cup series 15–13.

From 1994 to 2006 the annual matchup was the first game of the season for Kentucky and was the first game for all but two of those years for Louisville. In 2007 the game was moved to the third game of the season when played in Lexington but remained the first game when played in Louisville. Starting in 2014, which marked Louisville's inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Governor's Cup became the last game of the regular season for both teams to coincide with several other ACC-SEC same-state rivalries.

The 2019 game was won by Kentucky 45–13. Kentucky wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. was named MVP of the showdown.

Other sports

• Women's basketball: Kentucky leads the series 34–22 as of the 2019–2020 season. Louisville has currently won 4 in a row. The series dates back to the 1911–12 season, long before Kentucky and Louisville's programs became varsity in 1974–75, from which the series has been continuously active.^[15] Kentucky's program was halted by University Senate because it was viewed as a sport that was "too strenuous for girls". It wouldn't return to the University of Kentucky until 1974.^[16]
• Women's volleyball: Most recently winning 3–0 in Lexington, Kentucky leads the series 30–25 as of 2018 in a series that initially was played every year from 1977 to 2005 except in 1981 and resumed in 2009 after a hiatus.^{[17] [18]}
• Men's soccer: The two men's soccer programs have met 31 times. Kentucky leads 15–14–5. The last meeting between the two was on September 3, 2019, which ended in a 3–0 Louisville win.^[19] On February 21, 2020, it was announced that the two teams would play an exhibition game in the new Lynn Family Stadium. This is the new soccer stadium for Louisville City FC. The match was supposed to be played on April 18, the day of Thunder Over Louisville, however, it was cancelled due to growing concerns of COVID-19.^[20]
• Baseball: As of 2020, Kentucky leads the series 63–46–1 in a series dating back to 1925.^{[21] [22]} UofL is currently 11–2 in the last 13 games. In 2017, Louisville won the season series 3–1, including a sweep of Kentucky in the NCAA tournament Louisville Super Regional.^[22] On April 3, 2018, the Wildcats and Cardinals played their last game at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Cats took that win to a record crowd of 4,798 with an 8–5 win. At the time, both teams were ranked in the top 25 with Louisville being #21 and Kentucky being #10.^[23]

See also

• Kentucky Wildcats
• Louisville Cardinals
• Governor's Cup (Kentucky)
• List of sports rivalries

Notes and References

1. Web site: Dick Vitale picks the best rivalries in college sports. February 10, 2012 . ESPN. February 16, 2012. March 19, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160319094013/http://espn.go.com/espn/dickvitale/story/_/id/7561633/dick-vitale-picks-best-rivalries-college-sports. live.
2. Web site: Louisville Hires Pitino To Spice A Rivalry. March 22, 2001. The New York Times. March 29, 2017. December 1, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201135852/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/22/sports/college-basketball-louisville-hires-pitino-to-spice-a-rivalry.html. live.
3. Web site: See the scores of every Louisville-Kentucky basketball game in history. Lerner. Danielle. The Courier-Journal. en. February 26, 2020. May 10, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510053349/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2018/12/27/louisville-kentucky-rivalry-every-basketball-game-score/2416024002/. live.
4. Web site: Kentucky's Record versus Louisville. Big Blue History. September 16, 2007. October 26, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071026102345/http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Louisville.html. live.
5. Web site: Kentucky Wildcats vs. Louisville Cardinals – Box Score – December 31, 2010 – ESPN. ESPN. December 30, 2013. December 30, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131230232626/http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=303650097. live.
6. Web site: Louisville Cardinals vs. Kentucky Wildcats – Box Score – December 31, 2011 – ESPN. ESPN. December 30, 2013. December 31, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131231001317/http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=313650096. live.
7. Web site: Louisville Cardinals vs. Kentucky Wildcats – Box Score – December 28, 2013 – ESPN. ESPN. December 30, 2013. December 31, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000517/http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400496936. live.
8. Web site: Kentucky Wildcats vs. Louisville Cardinals – Box Score – December 27, 2014 – ESPN. ESPN. December 27, 2014. December 30, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141230084147/http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400587874. live.
9. Web site: Kentucky Wildcats vs. Louisville Cardinals – Box Score – December 26, 2015 – ESPN. ESPN. December 28, 2015. December 27, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151227050328/http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400814249. live.
10. Web site: Kentucky Wildcats vs. Louisville Cardinals – Box Score – December 21, 2016 – ESPN. ESPN. December 22, 2016. December 22, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222160256/http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400910690. live.
11. Web site: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins MVP award; Highlights of his breakout game vs Louisville. aseaofblue.com. December 30, 2017 . January 11, 2018. January 12, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180112155954/https://www.aseaofblue.com/2017/12/30/16833260/shai-gilgeous-alexander-wins-mvp-award-highlights-game-louisville. live.
12. Web site: Tyler Herro named Bluegrass Sports Commission MVP of the Game. kentuckysportsradio.com. December 29, 2018 . December 29, 2018. May 10, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510053537/https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/tyler-herro-named-bluegrass-sports-commission-mvp-of-the-game/. live.
13. Web site: Maxey named MVP of UK/UofL Game By Bluegrass Sports Commission. wymt.com. December 29, 2019 . December 22, 2020. May 10, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510054108/https://www.wymt.com/content/sports/Maxey-named-MVP-of-UKUofL-Game-By-Bluegrass-Sports-Commission-566542581.html. live.
14. Web site: Carlik Jones, David Johnson named Battle of the Bluegrass game MVP. December 26, 2020 . SBNation. January 11, 2021. December 26, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201226215409/https://www.cardchronicle.com/2020/12/26/22200846/carlik-jones-named-battle-of-the-bluegrass-game-mvp. live.
15. Web site: Scores vs. All Opponents. 153. Believe in Blue: 2017–18 Women's Basketball Media Guide. University of Kentucky. 2017. January 30, 2018. August 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210827164250/https://s3.amazonaws.com/ukathletics.com/documents/2017/11/3/2017_18_WBB_Media_Guide_Complete_FNL.pdf. live.
16. Web site: CRAWFORD Louisville-Kentucky women's hoops: A rivalry the state can be proud of. Crawford. Eric. WDRB. December 15, 2019 . en. April 15, 2020. May 10, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510054021/https://www.wdrb.com/sports/crawford-louisville-kentucky-womens-hoops-a-rivalry-the-state-can-be-proud-of/article_4cd1227a-1f49-11ea-9705-c725f3f7e623.html. live.
17. Book: Kentucky Volleyball 2017 Media Guide. 62–63. University of Kentucky. 2017. January 30, 2018. May 10, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510053840/https://s3.amazonaws.com/ukathletics.com/documents/2017/8/23/Online_MEdia_GUide.pdf. live.
18. Web site: No. 12 Kentucky Wins Fifth Straight Over Louisville. Moore, Deb. September 15, 2017. January 29, 2018. January 30, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180130204332/http://ukathletics.com/news/2017/9/15/volleyball-no-12-kentucky-wins-fifth-straight-over-louisville.aspx. live.
19. Web site: Wall. Garrett. Cardinals Shut Out No. 9 Wildcats 3–0. gocards.com. Louisville Cardinals. January 21, 2018. September 5, 2017. September 5, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190905000855/https://gocards.com/news/2019/9/3/mens-soccer-cardinals-shut-out-no-9-wildcats-3-0.aspx. live.
20. Web site: Lou City's Lynn Family Stadium to host U of L vs. UK soccer exhibition on day of Thunder Over Louisville. WDRB. February 21, 2020 . en. April 15, 2020. May 10, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510054025/https://www.wdrb.com/sports/lou-citys-lynn-family-stadium-to-host-u-of-l-vs-uk-soccer-exhibition-on/article_fa29337c-54ff-11ea-a1c8-3369169fc97b.html. live.
21. Web site: Kentucky vs. all opponents. 2017 Kentucky Baseball Media Guide. University of Kentucky. 2017. 108. January 30, 2018. August 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210827155814/https://s3.amazonaws.com/ukathletics.com/documents/2017/8/9/2017_media_guide.pdf. live.
22. Web site: 2017 Baseball Schedule. University of Kentucky Athletics. July 28, 2020. July 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200728145533/https://ukathletics.com/sports/baseball/schedule/2017. live.
23. Web site: Kentucky baseball beats Louisville in front of record crowd at Cliff Hagan Stadium. Hale. Jon. The Courier-Journal. en. April 15, 2020. May 10, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510054102/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/kentucky/2018/04/03/kentucky-louisville-baseball-recap-cliff-hagan-stadium-record-crowd/477140002/. live.