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Kentucky–Louisville football rivalry
	Kentucky Wildcats Louisville Cardinals
Sport	Football
First meeting	October 26, 1912; Kentucky, 41–0
Latest meeting	November 30, 2024; Louisville, 41–14
Next meeting	November 29, 2025; at Louisville
Stadiums	Kentucky – Kroger Field; Louisville – L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium
Trophy	The Governor's Cup
Statistics
Meetings total	36
All-time series	Kentucky leads, 19–16
Largest victory	Kentucky, 73–0 (1922)
Longest win streak	Kentucky, 7 (1912–1994)
Current win streak	Louisville, 1 (2024–present)

75km
50miles

Louisville

Kentucky

Locations of Kentucky and Louisville

The Governor's Cup is a trophy awarded to the victor of the annual college football game between the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville in the commonwealth of Kentucky; it is also used as a reference to the rivalry itself.^[1]

History

Though the teams first played in 1912,^[1] they only played six times until the rivalry was suspended after the 1924 season and wasn't renewed for another 70 years. The rivalry resumed in 1994 with a new Governor's Cup trophy which has been awarded every year since.

Kentucky leads the series 19–16.^[1] Since the modern series started in 1994, Louisville leads 16–13. From 1994 to 2006, the game was played on the opening weekend of the college football season. 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 on Thanksgiving weekend,^[2] which coincided with several other ACC-SEC same-state rivalries.^[3]

Because the Southeastern Conference, of which Kentucky is a member, decided to play a conference-only schedule for 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition of the Governor's Cup game was canceled.^[4] The rivalry will continue until at least the 2030 season with Kentucky hosting in even years and Louisville hosting in odd years.^[5]

Notable games

September 2, 2000: In the only overtime game in series history, Louisville outlasted Kentucky to win 40–34. A walk-off touchdown from running back Tony Stallings would seal the game for the Cardinals.^[6]

November 26, 2016: Kentucky upsets #11 Louisville in a shootout. Kentucky recovered a fumble by Heisman candidate Lamar Jackson with 1:45 to go in the game. Kentucky would kick a field goal to win the game 41–38.^[7] Lamar Jackson would go on to the win the Heisman Trophy.^[8]

November 25, 2023: Kentucky upsets #10 Louisville. Louisville was the 7.5 point favorite. This game extends Kentucky's win streak to 5 in a row and 6 of the last 7 meetings. ^[9]

Game results

Kentucky victories	Louisville victories	Tie games

No.	Date	Location		Score
1	October 26, 1912	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	41–0
2	November 22, 1913	Louisville, KY	Kentucky	20–0
3	November 14, 1914	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	42–0
4	November 6, 1915	Louisville, KY	Kentucky	15–0
5	October 14, 1922	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	73–0
6	October 4, 1924	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	29–0
7	September 3, 1994	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	20–14
8	September 2, 1995	Lexington, KY	Louisville	13–10
9	August 31, 1996	Lexington, KY	Louisville	38–14
10	August 30, 1997	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	38–24
11	September 5, 1998	Louisville, KY	Kentucky	68–34
12	September 4, 1999	Lexington, KY	Louisville	56–28
13	September 2, 2000	Louisville, KY	Louisville	40–34^OT
14	September 1, 2001	Lexington, KY	Louisville	36–10
15	September 1, 2002	Louisville, KY	Kentucky	22–17
16	August 31, 2003	Lexington, KY	Louisville	40–24
17	September 5, 2004	Louisville, KY	Louisville	28–0
18	September 4, 2005	Lexington, KY	#12 Louisville	31–24
19	September 3, 2006	Louisville, KY	#13 Louisville	59–28

No.	Date	Location		Score
20	September 15, 2007	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	40–34
21	August 31, 2008	Louisville, KY	Kentucky	27–2
22	September 19, 2009	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	31–27
23	September 4, 2010	Louisville, KY	Kentucky	23–16
24	September 17, 2011	Lexington, KY	Louisville	24–17
25	September 2, 2012	Louisville, KY	#25 Louisville	32–14
26	September 14, 2013	Lexington, KY	#7 Louisville	27–13
27	November 29, 2014	Louisville, KY	#22 Louisville	44–40
28	November 28, 2015	Lexington, KY	Louisville	38–24
29	November 26, 2016	Louisville, KY	Kentucky	41–38
30	November 25, 2017	Lexington, KY	Louisville	44–17
31	November 24, 2018	Louisville, KY	#15 Kentucky	56–10
32	November 30, 2019	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	45–13
33	November 27, 2021	Louisville, KY	#25 Kentucky	52–21
34	November 26, 2022	Lexington, KY	Kentucky	26–13
35	November 25, 2023	Louisville, KY	Kentucky	38–31
36	November 30, 2024	Lexington, KY	Louisville	41–14
Series: Kentucky leads 19–16^[10]
*Kentucky vacated all 2021 wins in August 2024.^[11]

Howard Schnellenberger Award

The 2010 game was the inaugural year for the award. The award is given to the Most Valuable Player on the winning team by the Louisville Sports Commission. It is named for Howard Schnellenberger, who played under Bear Bryant for Kentucky and was Louisville's head coach when the modern football rivalry began in 1994.

Date	Player	Team	Position	Statistics	References
September 4, 2010	Derrick Locke	Kentucky	RB	23 carries, 104 yards, 2 TDs, 3 receptions, 21 yards; 1 kickoff return, 23 yards	^[12]
September 17, 2011	Dexter Heyman	Louisville	LB	12 tackles & 1 forced fumble	^[13]
September 2, 2012	Teddy Bridgewater	Louisville	QB	19/21, 232 yards	^[14]
September 14, 2013	Teddy Bridgewater	Louisville	QB	16/28, 250 yards, 1 TD
November 29, 2014	DeVante Parker	Louisville	WR	6 catches, 180 yards, 3 TD
November 28, 2015	Lamar Jackson	Louisville	QB	8/21, 130 yards, 1 TD; 17 carries, 186 yards, 2 TDs
November 26, 2016	Stephen Johnson	Kentucky	QB	16/27, 338 yards, 3 TDs; 8 carries, 83 yards	^[15]
November 25, 2017	Lamar Jackson	Louisville	QB	15/21, 216 yards, 2 TDs; 18 carries, 156 yards
November 24, 2018	Terry Wilson	Kentucky	QB	17/23, 261 yards, 3 TDs; 10 carries, 79 yards, 1 TD	^[16]
November 30, 2019	Lynn Bowden	Kentucky	QB	1/2, 4 yards; 22 carries, 284 yards, 4 TDs	^[17]
November 27, 2021	Will Levis	Kentucky	QB	14/18, 149 yards; 14 carries, 113 yards, 4 TDs	^[18]
November 26, 2022	Matt Ruffolo	Kentucky	K	4–4 FG 43 Long, 2–2 PAT
November 25, 2023	J. J. Weaver	Kentucky	LB	2 fumble recoveries, 8 solo tackles, 1 sack	^[19]
November 30, 2024	Isaac Brown	Louisville	RB	26 carries, 178 yards, 2 TDs, 3 receptions, 12 yards	^[20]