The Governor's Cup is a trophy awarded to the victor of the annual

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

game between the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

and the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

in the commonwealth of Kentucky; it is also used as a reference to the rivalry itself.

History

Though the teams first played in 1912, 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 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

with a new Governor's Cup trophy which has been awarded every year since. Kentucky leads the series 19–16. 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 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

, the Governor's Cup became the last game of the regular season for both teams on Thanksgiving weekend, which coincided with several other ACC-SEC same-state rivalries. Because the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

, 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. The rivalry will continue until at least the 2030 season with Kentucky hosting in even years and Louisville hosting in odd years. In June 2025, long time Kentucky assistant coach and recruiter Vince Marrow was reported to be leaving the Wildcats to take the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

position at Louisville in an off-field role. Marrow is considered to be one of the top recruiters in the country and was credited with landing 37 blue chip recruits in his time at Kentucky. The position is expected to include overseeing roster management, high school recruiting, and the transfer portal. The move had been rumored twice before, including in December 2024, but both times Marrow stayed with Kentucky.

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. November 26, 2016: Kentucky upset #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. Lamar Jackson would go on to the win the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

. November 25, 2023: Kentucky upset #10 Louisville. Louisville entered the game as 7.5 point favorite. This game extended Kentucky's win streak to 5 in a row and 6 of the last 7 meetings. The win was marked by three Louisville turnovers and a kick returned by Kentucky for a touchdown November 30, 2024: In the 30th game since the series renewal, Louisville dominated Kentucky in a 41–14 win at Kroger Field. The win snapped a 5-game losing streak, giving the Cards their first win in the rivalry since 2017. Louisville forced five turnovers with a fumble returned for a touchdown by Ramon Puryear effectively ending Kentucky's hopes at a comeback.

Game results

Results by location

''As of November 30, 2024''

Summary

''As of November 30, 2024''

Coaching records

''As of November 30, 2024''

Kentucky

Louisville

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 Howard Leslie Schnellenberger (March 16, 1934 – March 27, 2021) was an American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels. He held head coaching positions with the National Football League (NFL)'s Baltimore Co ...

, who played under

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

for Kentucky and was Louisville's head coach when the modern football rivalry began in 1994.

References

{{Southeastern Conference football rivalry navbox College football rivalries in the United States College football rivalry trophies in the United States Kentucky Wildcats football Louisville Cardinals football 1912 establishments in Kentucky American football competitions in Louisville, Kentucky Recurring sporting events established in 1912

History

Notable games

Game results

Results by location

Summary

Coaching records

Kentucky

Louisville

Howard Schnellenberger Award

See also

References