The Governor's Cup Explained: 70 Years of Silence, a 1994 Revival and Why Will Stein Raises the Stakes

Kentucky is 6-1 in Will Stein's first season, and the end of the schedule still has the game that matters most to many fans: Louisville and the Governor's Cup. This year it comes with an extra storyline, because Stein is a Louisville native who played quarterback for the Cardinals. Here's how the rivalry got here.

**A one-sided start and a long silence**
Kentucky and Louisville first played football in 1912, Louisville's first season of football. The early series was all Kentucky. The Wildcats won all six games from 1912 to 1924 and didn't allow a point. Then the series stopped. Louisville tried for decades to restart it, and according to The Courier-Journal, Kentucky showed little interest. The schools didn't play again for 70 years.

**The 1994 revival**
The man who brought it back had ties to both schools. Howard Schnellenberger played for Bear Bryant at Kentucky and was Louisville's head coach when the series resumed in 1994. Kentucky set the terms: the first four games of the renewed series had to be in Lexington. Louisville agreed. The schools introduced a new trophy, the Governor's Cup, and it has been awarded every year since, except 2020, when the SEC's conference-only COVID schedule canceled the game.

**From opener to finale**
From 1994 to 2006, the Governor's Cup opened the season. Starting in 2007, Kentucky moved its home games in the series to the third week, while Louisville's home games stayed in week one. In 2014, Louisville's first season in the ACC, the game moved to the end of the regular season on Thanksgiving weekend, matching other SEC-ACC in-state rivalries. The two schools have committed to keep playing through at least 2030, with Kentucky hosting in even years and Louisville in odd years.

**Games people still talk about**
- **2000:** The series' only overtime game. Louisville won 40-34 on a walk-off touchdown by running back Tony Stallings.
- **2016:** Kentucky upset No. 11 Louisville 41-38. The Cats recovered a fumble by Heisman candidate Lamar Jackson with 1:45 left and kicked the winning field goal. Jackson won the Heisman anyway.
- **2023:** Kentucky upset No. 10 Louisville as a 7.5-point underdog. It was the Cats' fifth straight win in the series.
- **2024:** Louisville won 41-14 at Kroger Field, forcing five turnovers and ending its losing streak in the series.
- **2025:** Louisville won 41-0. Kentucky fired Mark Stoops afterward.

**The Stein twist**
Kentucky replaced Stoops with Will Stein from Oregon in December 2025. Stein grew up in Louisville, played quarterback for the Cardinals from 2008 to 2012 and was a Louisville assistant in 2013 and 2014. He also hired longtime Louisville recruiting director Pete Nochta, six months after Louisville hired longtime Kentucky recruiter Vince Marrow as general manager. Staff moves in both directions have made the rivalry hotter off the field.

**Recruiting is part of the rivalry**
Marrow's move mattered because he was considered one of the best recruiters in the country. He was credited with signing 37 blue-chip prospects at Kentucky, and his move to Louisville had been rumored twice before he finally made it in June 2025. In the new role he oversees roster management, high school recruiting and the transfer portal. So the rivalry now plays out in living rooms and on the portal as much as on the field. There's also an asterisk in the record book: Kentucky vacated all of its 2021 wins in August 2024, including that season's Governor's Cup.

**What the 2023 upset looked like**
The 2023 win shows how Kentucky can beat a better Louisville team. The Cats forced three turnovers and returned a kick for a touchdown, extending their streak to five straight wins and six of seven meetings.

**The MVP award**
Since 2010, the Louisville Sports Commission has named an MVP from the winning team. The award is named for Schnellenberger, who connects both programs.

**Our Take:** Stein's 6-1 start has reset expectations in Lexington, but the season's final grade will depend heavily on the Governor's Cup. After a 41-0 loss in Stoops' final game, beating his hometown school in year one would be the strongest statement yet that the program has turned around.

Sources: Wikipedia, Governor's Cup (Kentucky)) · Wikipedia, Kentucky-Louisville rivalry (football section) · ESPN, Kentucky Wildcats team page (6-1 record, checked Oct. 23, 2026)