Kentucky–Louisville rivalry

This article is about the Louisville - Kentucky rivalry. For Eastern Kentucky - Western Kentucky football rivalry, see Battle of the Bluegrass.
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

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.

See also

References

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