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.
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Men's basketball
The Kentucky-Louisville rivalry has been ranked the 2nd best rivalry in college basketball by Bleacher Report and 3rd best rivalry in all of college sports by Basketball Hall of Fame contributor Dick Vitale. Kentucky and Louisville first played against each other in 1913 but stopped playing each other in the 1920s, playing only twelve times between 1913 and 1983. 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. Kentucky has eight national championships and Louisville three. 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 to 1997. Kentucky leads the all-time basketball series with Louisville 32 games to 15, and Kentucky leads the modern series 23 games to 12. 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
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.
Broadcast History
Notes
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Football
The football rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville started one year earlier than the basketball rivalry but also had a long dormant period. 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. Kentucky leads the series 15-14 overall.
From 1994 to 2006 the annual matchup was the first game of the season for Kentucky and was the first game for all but two of those years for Louisville. 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.
The 2016 game was won by Kentucky on a last second field goal, 41-38. Kentucky quarterback Stephen Johnson II was named MVP of the showdown vs. eventual Heisman trophy winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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