Kentucky–Louisville rivalry

Kentucky Wildcats–Louisville Cardinals

Men's Basketball Regular Season History
First Meeting	February 15, 1913
First Result	Kentucky 34 – Louisville 10
Latest Meeting	December 26, 2015
Latest Result	Kentucky 75 – Louisville 73
Next Meeting	TBA
Total Number of Meetings	49
Largest Victory	Kentucky: 34 points (1948) Louisville: 22 points (1988)
Current Streak	Kentucky 4
All-time Series	Kentucky leads 34–15
Men's Basketball Post Season History
Last Meeting	2014 NCAA
Last Result	Kentucky 74 – Louisville 69
All-Time Postseason Series	Kentucky 4–Louisville 2
Men's Basketball National Success
NCAA Final Fours Kentucky – 17 (Tied 2nd all-time) Louisville – 10 (Tied 6th all-time) NCAA Tournament Championships Kentucky – 8 (2nd all-time) Louisville – 3 (Tied 7th all-time) NCAA Tournament Appearances Kentucky – 54 (1st all-time) Louisville – 41 (5th all-time)

Background

The Kentucky–Louisville rivalry refers to the rivalry between the University of Kentucky Wildcats (Kentucky) and the University of Louisville Cardinals (Louisville). The Kentucky–Louisville rivalry is one of the most passionate rivalries, especially in men's college basketball. It is considered one of the most intense rivalries in all of sports. The intensity of the rivalry is captivated by the proximity of the two schools and the interest in college sports in the state of Kentucky where there are no pro-affiliated sports teams.

Men's basketball

The Kentucky–Louisville rivalry has been ranked the 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. 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 #11. Combining for eight national championships over the last 38 years, Kentucky and Louisville have captured 22% of the national championships, or greater than one every five years.

History

The rivalry was fueled when Rick Pitino was hired as Louisville's head men's basketball coach in 2001, as he had served in that same role with Kentucky from 1989-1997.^[2] Kentucky leads the all-time basketball series with Louisville 32 games to 15, and Kentucky leads the modern series 23 games to 12.^[3] 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

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	1951 NCAA First Round
1959-03-13	Evanston, IL	Louisville	76	Kentucky (2)	61	UK 9-3	1959 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1983-03-26†	Knoxville, TN	Louisville (2)	80	Kentucky (12)	68	UK 9-4	1983 NCAA Elite Eight
1983-11-26	Lexington, KY	Kentucky (1)	65	Louisville (6)	44	UK 10-4
1984-03-22	Lexington, KY	Kentucky (3)	72	Louisville	67	UK 11-4	1984 NCAA 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 (6)	82	Louisville	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
2009-01-04	Louisville, KY	Louisville (18)	74	Kentucky	71	UK 26-14
2010-01-03	Lexington, KY	Kentucky (3)	71	Louisville	62	UK 27-14
2010-12-31	Louisville, KY	Kentucky (11)	78	Louisville (22)	63	UK 28-14
2011-12-31	Lexington, KY	Kentucky (3)	69	Louisville (4)	62	UK 29-14
2012-03-31	New Orleans, LA	Kentucky (1)	69	Louisville (17)	61	UK 30-14	2012 NCAA Final Four
2012-12-29	Louisville, KY	Louisville (4)	80	Kentucky	77	UK 30-15
2013-12-28	Lexington, KY	Kentucky (18)	73	Louisville (6)	66	UK 31-15
2014-03-28	Indianapolis, IN	Kentucky	74	Louisville (5)	69	UK 32-15	2014 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2014-12-27	Louisville, KY	Kentucky (1)	58	Louisville (4)	50	UK 33-15
2015-12-26	Lexington, KY	Kentucky (12)	75	Louisville (16)	73	UK 34-15

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.

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	C	23 Points, 14 Rebounds ^[4]
12-31-2011	Michael Kidd-Gilchrist	Kentucky	F	24 Points, 19 Rebounds^[5]
12-29-2012	Russ Smith	Louisville	G	21 Points, 3 Assists^[6]
12-28-2013	James Young	Kentucky	F	18 Points, 10 Rebounds^[7]
12-27-2014	Tyler Ulis	Kentucky	G	14 Points, 2 Assists^[8]
12-26-2015	Tyler Ulis	Kentucky	G	21 Points, 8 Assists^[9]

Broadcast History

Date	Network	Play-by-play	Analyst(s)
January 2, 2001	ESPN	Bob Carpenter	Jay Bilas
December 29, 2001	CBS	Jim Nantz	Billy Packer
December 28, 2002	ESPN	Dan Schulman	Dick Vitale
December 27, 2003	CBS	Gus Johnson	Billy Packer
December 18, 2004	ESPN	Dan Schulman	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 Schulman	Jay Bilas
December 26, 2015	CBS	Tom McCarthy	Bill Raftery

Notes

Football

The football rivalry is not as traditional as the basketball rivalry, as the modern series started in 1994. 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. Louisville has won 14 of the last 22 meetings with Kentucky on the field. The series is tied 14–14 overall. Louisville has won five straight meetings dating back to the 2011 season.

From 1994 to 2006 the annual matchup was always played in 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 to coincide with several other ACC-SEC same-state rivalries.

References

↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[1] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[2] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[3] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[4] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[5] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[6] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[7] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[8] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[9] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

v t e Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	State College Gymnasium (1903–1914) Buell Armory Gymnasium (1910–1924) Alumni Gymnasium (1924–1950) Memorial Coliseum (1950–1976) Rupp Arena (1976–present) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Centre College (historical) Florida Georgetown College (historical) Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	Basketbowl Champions Classic Fabulous Five "The Shot" The Unforgettables History under Adolph Rupp The Rivalry: Red v. Blue 2011 game vs. Indiana
People	Head coaches Honored players Honorees NBA draftees Players Recruiting history
Seasons	1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics

v t e Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
Venues	Jefferson County Armory (1945–1956) Freedom Hall (1956–2010) KFC Yum! Center (2010–present)
Rivalries	Kentucky Memphis
Culture & lore	History Cardinal Bird The Rivalry: Red v. Blue
People	Head coaches Notable players
Seasons	1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16
NAIA and NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Kentucky–Louisville rivalry

Contents

Background

Men's basketball

History

Results

Game MVP

Broadcast History

Notes

Football

See also

References

Navigation menu

Personal tools

Namespaces

Variants

Views

More

Search

Navigation

Tools