Kentucky-Louisville rivalry
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The Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals, athletic programs for the two largest universities in Kentucky, are intense sport rivals. The men's basketball game is called the Battle for the Bluegrass and the football game is called the Governor's Cup.
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[edit] Background
Despite their geographical proximity, the histories of the two schools are radically different. Kentucky was founded in 1865 as the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Kentucky, a public component of the otherwise private Kentucky University (now Transylvania University). Kentucky A&M split from Kentucky University in 1878 and adopted its current name in 1916.
Louisville actually predates UK by several decades. The university traces its roots to a school chartered in 1798, although not opened until 1813. In that era, the school was a municipal institution, closing in 1829. The modern University of Louisville was founded in 1846 explicitly as a municipally supported institution by the combination of two medical schools and a newly established law school. It joined the state university system in 1970 but remained largely a local commuter institution until well into the 1990s. As recently as 1990, almost three-fourths of UofL students were from the school's home county of Jefferson County. In 2000, for the first time, UofL enrolled at least one student from every Kentucky county, and 2005 marked the first year that a majority of students came from outside Jefferson County.
[edit] History
Unlike other team rivalries, the Kentucky Wildcats (UK) and Louisville Cardinals (UofL) rarely competed from the 1930s to the 1980s. They did play frequently from the 1900s to 1920s, with UK dominating in both basketball and football. Since the renewal of the men's basketball rivalry in 1983 and football rivalry in 1994, UK leads basketball (15 of 26 or 58%) and UofL leads football (9 of 14 or 64.3%).
Ironically UK alumni, such as former football coach Howard Schnellenberger, defensive coordinator Mike Cassidy, assistant coach Mike Nord, and Lexington area players such as Eric Shelton, David Akers, Frank Minnifield, and Travis Leffew have helped drive the success of UofL football. And similarly the basketball team has improved since former UK coach Rick Pitino took over, bringing in UK transfer Marvin Stone and assistant coach Steve Masiello, also a former UK player.
In 2004, the two schools began a media war, placing ads in rival home newspapers and advertising on billboards. UK started by posting an ad at the top of the sports page in the Courier-Journal edition. The ad projected results of the 2003 Kentucky-Louisville basketball game, in an effort to "rub in" UK's "win". (UK lost). The ad proclaimed "There's a wildcat loose in Freedom Hall", to advertise UK's upcoming annual non-conference game in Freedom Hall, which wasn't against Louisville. UofL then infuriated University of Kentucky officials and fans by running a statewide billboard campaign with the phrase, "Louisville Football, Kentucky's finest". UofL also countered with ads on the sports page of the online Herald Leader. One billboard along I-64 from Lexington to Louisville displays the Cards' logo and the slogan "Louisville... We're Miles Ahead." And UofL placed a similar billboard on a connecting highway between Frankfort and Versailles, two towns in proximity to Lexington and the University of Kentucky.
The rivalry took another interesting turn in recent years, when each team made in-roads to the respective team's core fan base. UK drew more African-American fans since hiring African-American head coach Tubby Smith[citation needed]. UofL gained more fans outside of the Metro Area, as the school became less "urban, commuter school" and drew more traditional students from across the state[citation needed]. Over 1/3 of Kentucky counties have more students enrolled at UofL than living UofL alumni.[citation needed] In 1990, 74% of UofL students where from Jefferson County, and by 2005 that number had fallen to 50%, while surrounding counties have remained steady.[citation needed]
In 2006, UK President Lee Todd added further fuel to the overheated rivalry when he spoke on July 28 at the annual UK Football Kickoff Luncheon. He told a partisan Cats crowd:
| “ | We need to kick some Cardinals. I'm tired of listening to them. Some places over-market and under-perform, and others under-market and over-perform. You can pick which you want to apply with.[1] | ” |
While accepting the award for athletics director of the year after a banner 06-07 season which including UofL's first BCS Bowl win, Track and Field National Championships, and College World Series appearance, Louisville's Tom Jurich jokingly referenced Todd's statement's by saying:
| “ | I just hope we can underperform like this next year.[2] | ” |
Interestingly, Louisville greatly underperformed the next year. After beginning the season in the top 10 with a record of 2-0, Louisville finished the season at 6-6, and was not invited to a bowl game.
[edit] Basketball
Kentucky leads the all-time basketball series with Louisville, 26 games to 13.[3]
| Date | Site | Winning team | Losing team | Series | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1913-02-15 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky | 34 | Louisville | 10 | UK 1-0 | |
| 1914-02-07 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky | 22 | Louisville | 17 | UK 2-0 | |
| 1914-03-03 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky | 26 | Louisville | 13 | UK 3-0 | |
| 1915-01-23 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky | 18 | Louisville | 14 | UK 4-0 | |
| 1915-02-27 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 26 | Kentucky | 15 | UK 4-1 | |
| 1916-02-12 | Lexington, KY | Louisville | 28 | Kentucky | 22 | UK 4-2 | |
| 1916-02-22 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky | 32 | Louisville | 24 | UK 5-2 | |
| 1922-01-17 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky | 38 | Louisville | 14 | UK 6-2 | |
| 1922-01-21 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky | 29 | Louisville | 22 | UK 7-2 | |
| 1948-03-27 | New York City, NY | Kentucky | 91 | Louisville | 57 | UK 8-2 | |
| 1951-03-20 | Raleigh, NC | Kentucky (1) | 79 | Louisville | 68 | UK 9-2 | NCAA Tournament First Round |
| 1959-03-13 | Evanston, IL | Louisville | 76 | Kentucky (2) | 61 | UK 9-3 | NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen |
| 1983-03-26† | Knoxville, TN | Louisville (2) | 80 | Kentucky (12) | 68 | UK 9-4 | NCAA Tournament Elite Eight |
| 1983-11-26 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky (1) | 65 | Louisville (6) | 44 | UK 10-4 | |
| 1984-03-22 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky (3) | 72 | Louisville | 67 | UK 11-4 | NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen |
| 1984-12-15 | Louisville, KY | Louisville (14) | 71 | Kentucky | 64 | UK 11-5 | |
| 1985-12-28 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky (13) | 69 | Louisville (15) | 64 | UK 12-5 | |
| 1986-12-27 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky (18) | 85 | Louisville | 51 | UK 13-5 | |
| 1987-12-12 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky (1) | 76 | Louisville | 75 | UK 14-5 | |
| 1988-12-31 | Louisville, KY | Louisville (14) | 97 | Kentucky | 75 | UK 14-6 | |
| 1989-12-30 | Lexington, KY | Louisville (8) | 86 | Kentucky | 79 | UK 14-7 | |
| 1990-12-29 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky (18) | 93 | Louisville | 85 | UK 15-7 | |
| 1991-12-28 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky (17) | 103 | Louisville (21) | 89 | UK 16-7 | |
| 1992-12-12 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky (3) | 88 | Louisville (9) | 68 | UK 17-7 | |
| 1993-11-27 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky (2) | 78 | Louisville (7) | 70 | UK 18-7 | |
| 1995-01-01 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 88 | Kentucky (5) | 86 | UK 18-8 | |
| 1995-12-23 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky (4) | 89 | Louisville (25) | 66 | UK 19-8 | |
| 1996-12-31 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky (3) | 74 | Louisville (16) | 54 | UK 20-8 | |
| 1997-12-27 | Lexington, KY | Louisville | 79 | Kentucky (4) | 76 | UK 20-9 | |
| 1998-12-26 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 83 | Kentucky (3) | 74 | UK 20-10 | |
| 1999-12-18 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky | 76 | Louisville | 46 | UK 21-10 | |
| 2001-01-02 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky | 64 | Louisville | 62 | UK 22-10 | |
| 2001-12-29 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky | 82 | Louisville (6) | 62 | UK 23-10 | |
| 2002-12-28 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 81 | Kentucky (14) | 63 | UK 23-11 | |
| 2003-12-27 | Lexington, KY | Louisville (20) | 65 | Kentucky (2) | 56 | UK 23-12 | |
| 2004-12-18 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky (9) | 60 | Louisville (13) | 58 | UK 24-12 | |
| 2005-12-17 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky (23) | 73 | Louisville (4) | 61 | UK 25-12 | |
| 2006-12-16 | Louisville, KY | Kentucky | 61 | Louisville | 49 | UK 26-12 | |
| 2008-01-05 | Lexington, KY | Louisville | 89 | Kentucky | 75 | UK 26-13 | |
Kentucky victories are shaded ██ blue. Louisville victories shaded in ██ red. † indicates overtime. Numbers in parentheses indicate a team's Associated Press Top 25 rank at the time of the games.
[edit] Football
| Kentucky (5) | Louisville (9) |
|---|---|
| 1994 1997 1998 2002 2007 |
1995 1996 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 |
Kentucky leads the all-time football series with Louisville, eleven games to nine.[4] In the modern series, Louisville leads Kentucky, nine games to five.
| Date | Site | Winning team | Losing team | Series | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912-10-28 | Lexington | Kentucky | 41 | Louisville | 0 | UK 1-0 |
| 1913-11-22 | Louisville | Kentucky | 20 | Louisville | 0 | UK 2-0 |
| 1914-11-14 | Lexington | Kentucky | 42 | Louisville | 0 | UK 3-0 |
| 1915-11-06 | Louisville | Kentucky | 15 | Louisville | 0 | UK 4-0 |
| 1922-10-14 | Lexington | Kentucky | 63 | Louisville | 0 | UK 5-0 |
| 1924-10-04 | Lexington | Kentucky | 29 | Louisville | 0 | UK 6-0 |
| 1994-09-03 | Lexington | Kentucky | 20 | Louisville | 14 | UK 7-0 |
| 1995-09-02 | Lexington | Louisville | 13 | Kentucky | 10 | UK 7-1 |
| 1996-08-31 | Lexington | Louisville | 38 | Kentucky | 14 | UK 7-2 |
| 1997-08-30 | Lexington | Kentucky | 38 | Louisville | 24 | UK 8-2 |
| 1998-09-05 | Louisville | Kentucky | 68 | Louisville | 34 | UK 9-2 |
| 1999-09-04 | Lexington | Louisville | 56 | Kentucky | 28 | UK 9-3 |
| 2000-09-02† | Louisville | Louisville | 40 | Kentucky | 34 | UK 9-4 |
| 2001-09-01 | Lexington | Louisville | 36 | Kentucky | 10 | UK 9-5 |
| 2002-09-01 | Louisville | Kentucky | 22 | Louisville (17) | 17 | UK 10-5 |
| 2003-08-31 | Lexington | Louisville | 40 | Kentucky | 24 | UK 10-6 |
| 2004-09-04 | Louisville | Louisville | 28 | Kentucky | 0 | UK 10-7 |
| 2005-09-04 | Lexington | Louisville (12) | 31 | Kentucky | 24 | UK 10-8 |
| 2006-09-03 | Louisville | Louisville (13) | 59 | Kentucky | 28 | UK 10-9 |
| 2007-09-15 | Lexington | Kentucky | 40 | Louisville (9) | 34 | UK 11-9 |
| 2008-08-31 | Louisville | Kentucky at Louisville | ||||
Kentucky victories are shaded ██ blue. Louisville victories shaded in ██ red. † indicates overtime. Numbers in parentheses indicate a team's Associated Press Top 25 rank at the time of the games.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Clay, John. "Trash talk shows Todd's shock-jock side", Lexington Herald-Leader, August 3, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
- ^ Story, Mark. "The year of the Cardinals: Louisville's athletics programs run red hot in 2006-07", Lexington Herald-Leader, August 13, 2006. Retrieved on [[2007-06-10 Interestingly, Louisville greatly underperformed the next year. After beginning the season in the top 10 with a record of 2-0, Louisville finished the season at 6-6, and was not invited to a bowl game.]].
- ^ Kentucky's Record versus Louisville. Big Blue History. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
- ^ DeLassus, David. Kentucky Game by Game against Louisville. College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
