In the 2024-25 UK-U of L sports rivalry, there were two major reversals in form
The highlight of the Kentucky-Louisville all-sports rivalry during the 2024-25 school year was two major reversals of fortune among the three most-visible sports.
In Jeff Brohm’s second coaching matchup against Mark Stoops, the football Cardinals reclaimed the Governor’s Cup for the first time since 2017 with a 41-14 pasting of the Wildcats at Kroger Field.
Kenny Brooks made his coaching debut in the Kentucky-Louisville women’s basketball rivalry by leading the No. 20 Wildcats to a 71-61 overtime victory over Jeff Walz and the No. 18 Cardinals. The win snapped a seven-game UK losing streak vs. U of L.
Only in men’s basketball, where Mark Pope directed Kentucky to a 93-85 win over Pat Kelsey and Louisville at Rupp Arena in a matchup of first-year head coaches, did “rivalry form” hold. The men’s hoops Cats have now bested the Cards in 14 of their past 17 meetings.
While Kentucky went 2-1 vs. Louisville in the most high-profile sports, the Cardinals rode a narrow overall advantage in men’s sports to 6-5 edge over the Wildcats in head-to-head contests during the current school year.
UK and U of L women’s teams broke even, 2-2, in 2024-25 with Kentucky winning in basketball and softball and Louisville victorious in swimming and volleyball.
The Cards edged the Cats 4-3 in men’s sports. The two teams split two baseball games, with Louisville winning in football, soccer and swimming while Kentucky prevailed in hoops and tennis.
This is the third time in the past four school years that Louisville has achieved a one-win overall advantage over Kentucky in head-to-head games.
Over the last eight years, Kentucky leads the combined head-to-head competition against Louisville 40-36-1.
Rivalry MVPs
The players and coaches who made the most dramatic impact on our state’s marquee college sports rivalry in 2024-25 were:
▪ Kentucky’s men’s sports rivalry MVP: Lamont Butler, basketball. In his only career appearance in the Cats-Cards grudge fest, the ex-San Diego State point guard played the game of his life. In UK’s 93-85 win over U of L, Butler hit 10 of 10 shots, all six of his 3-point tries, and scored a career-high 33 points.
▪ Louisville men’s sports rivalry MVP: Isaac Brown, football. The freshman running back carried the ball 26 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns as the Cardinals smoked Kentucky 41-14.
▪ Kentucky women’s sports rivalry MVP: Emory Donaldson, softball. Against her hometown school, the UK sophomore from Ballard High School scorched a bases-clearing, 3-run triple to left center field as Kentucky batted around in the seventh inning to turn a 3-3 tie into an 8-3 win over U of L.
▪ Louisville women’s sports rivalry MVP: Anna DeBeer, volleyball. The super-senior outside hitter produced 13 kills and 12 digs as U of L won in its debut appearance in the renovated Memorial Coliseum 3-1 over Kentucky.
▪ Kentucky rivalry coach of the year: Kenny Brooks. In his first UK-U of L meeting, Brooks led the No. 20 Wildcats to a 71-61 overtime victory over the No. 18 Cardinals before a sellout crowd in Memorial Coliseum. For Kentucky, it snapped a seven-game losing skid vs. Louisville.
▪ Louisville rivalry coach of the year: Jeff Brohm. The second-year Cardinals head man directed the Cardinals to a 41-14 spanking of Kentucky, a win that snapped a five-game losing streak for the Cards vs. the Cats.
Tracking the trends in men’s sports
▪ Baseball: Louisville has won 14 of the past 19 meetings vs. Kentucky, although the Cardinals’ advantage is only 4-3 over the past five seasons.
▪ Basketball: Kentucky has won 14 of 17.
▪ Football: Even with this season’s loss, UK has won six of the past eight.
▪ Soccer: After Louisville’s 1-0 win at Kentucky on Sept. 9, the most competitively balanced series in all of the UK-U of L rivalry is 6-6-1 over the past 13 meetings.
▪ Swimming: Louisville has won 16 of the past 17 head-to-head meets with Kentucky.
▪ Tennis: Kentucky has won 31 matches in a row against Louisville.
Tracking the trends in women’s sports
▪ Basketball: Even with this season’s loss, Louisville has beaten Kentucky seven times in the past eight meetings.
▪ Soccer: U of L has won the past two meetings with UK, although the teams have now inexplicably gone six years without playing.
▪ Softball: Kentucky has won 12 of the past 14.
▪ Swimming: UK has won five of the past eight head-to-head meets with U of L, but the Cardinals have won the past two.
▪ Volleyball: Louisville has won four straight over Kentucky.
The rivalry’s big questions
Looking forward to 2025-26 in the Cats-Cards rivalry, here are four things to watch:
▪ Will new Louisville women’s volleyball coach Dan Meske continue the Cardinals’ recent mastery over Kentucky?
▪ Can Brohm and U of L football back up their streak-busting win over UK this past season by defeating the Wildcats at the venue now known as L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium for the first time since 2015?
▪ In women’s basketball, can Brooks and UK make it two in a row over Louisville by besting the Cardinals at the KFC Yum Center for the first time since Dec. 7, 2014?
▪ Will U of L men’s basketball get Kelsey on the board in the Kentucky-Louisville series by beating UK at the Yum Center — or will Pope seize immediate control of the rivalry by winning in his first try as Kentucky head man on Louisville’s home floor?
