Streaks busted. A star's revenge. In 2017-18, UK-U of L rivalry has been a dilly

In a school year when scandal and turmoil within University of Louisville athletics has been our state's predominant sports story, the rivalry between U of L and the University of Kentucky ended in a dead heat.

U of L baseball's 8-2 victory over UK on Tuesday night, the final regular-season head-to-head meeting this school year between the intrastate rivals, meant the Wildcats and Cardinals finished 5-5-1 against each other in all sports in 2017-18.

Given the tumult this year at U of L — the FBI implicating the Cardinals in the men's basketball corruption scandal and the subsequent dismissals of longtime Athletics Director Tom Jurich and men's basketball coach Rick Pitino — Cards backers should consider breaking even in our state's defining sports rivalry a boon.

As has been the pattern in recent years, Louisville had the upper hand over Kentucky in men's sports in 2017-18, while UK's women's teams got the better of U of L.

In men's sports, Louisville went 3-2-1 vs. UK. The Cardinals beat Kentucky in football and swimming and split two games with the Wildcats in baseball. The two schools played to a 2-2 draw in soccer, while UK decisively won in basketball.

Counting postseason meetings, U of L men's teams have had an overall winning record against UK four years in a row.

In women's sports, Kentucky produced a 3-2 edge over U of L this school year. The Wildcats beat Louisville in volleyball, swimming and softball, while the Cardinals prevailed in soccer and basketball.

Over the past five seasons, UK women's teams have had winning overall marks against U of L every year..

This year's rivalry MVPs

If superlatives were awarded to the athletes and coaches who produced the top performances in this year's Kentucky-Louisville head-to-head meetings, these would be the winners:

Kentucky rivalry Coach of the Year: Lars Jorgensen. When the UK women's swim team defeated U of L 161-139 on Jan. 20, it marked the Wildcats' first victory over the Cardinals in that sport since 2009.

Louisville rivalry Coach of the Year: Karen Ferguson-Dayes. U of L's 3-1 women's soccer victory at Kentucky on Sept. 20 ended a six-year Wildcats winning streak over the Cardinals.

Kentucky's men's sports rivalry MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The latest in a long line of John Calipari-era Kentucky freshmen to star against Louisville, UK's point guard went for 24 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals as the Wildcats obliterated U of L 90-61 in Rupp Arena.

Louisville men's sports rivalry MVP: Lamar Jackson. A season after the Louisville quarterback committed four turnovers to help UK score a stunning 2016 upset of U of L, Jackson came to Lexington Nov. 25 with a point to prove. The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner proved it, running for 156 yards and completing 15 of 21 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns as Bobby Petrino's Cards put a 44-17 beat down on Mark Stoops and the Wildcats.

Kentucky women's sports rivalry MVP: Asia Seidt. In UK's breakthrough swimming win at Louisville, the ex-Sacred Heart star lit up her hometown by winning three individual events, the 100 backstroke, the 100 butterfly and the 200 IM.

Louisville women's sports rivalry MVP: Asia Durr. On Dec. 17, Louisville's star guard showed Kentucky her All-America form by hitting 12 of 22 shots en route to 32 points as Jeff Walz and the Cards routed Matthew Mitchell and the Cats 87-63 in Memorial Coliseum.

The big picture

Louisville has not finished ahead of Kentucky in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings — a measure of the overall strength of athletics departments based on how teams in all sports fare in NCAA postseason competition plus football bowl games — since 2010-11 (U of L 34th, UK 36th).

The highest U of L has ever finished in the Directors' Cup was 26th last year.

In a coup for UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart, Kentucky finished 10th last year in the Directors' Cup, its best finish ever. Kentucky has finished in the top 25 in four of the past five school years..

In the most recent Directors' Cup standings, Louisville ranked 18th while Kentucky stood 21st.

Given the relative strength of UK's spring sports teams, it will be difficult for U of L to finish ahead of Kentucky when the final Directors' Cup standings are compiled.

After all the upheaval at Louisville this year, the fact that the Cardinals have essentially fought UK to a draw in 2017-18 is a final reminder of how strong an athletics department Jurich built before the succession of U of L men's hoops scandals took him down.

Mark Story: 859-231-3230, Twitter: @markcstory

This story was originally published April 19, 2018 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Streaks busted. A star's revenge. In 2017-18, UK-U of L rivalry has been a dilly."