No Governor’s Cup? Kentucky-Louisville football game might not happen this season.
The Big Ten made big news Thursday. The conference announced it is canceling non-conference football games this fall, if there is football this fall. In all, that’s 42 cancellations.
The Pac-12 is expected to follow suit. The ACC soon after. If so, that puts the annual Governor’s Cup game between Kentucky and Louisville in jeopardy. Scheduled for Nov. 28 in Louisville, the annual rivalry is a staple of both teams’ seasons. It has been played every year since 1994. And yet, the way things are going, there is a real possibility it won’t be played this year.
Or will it? Jeff Schultz of The Athletic tweeted that just because the ACC is expected to cancel non-conference games that did not mean that Georgia (SEC) vs. Georgia Tech (ACC) was out the window this year. Schultz said he was hearing that exceptions might be made for one game per team. We’ll see.
What about the SEC? There were reports Thursday that the league was blindsided by the Big Ten news. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey released a statement basically saying the conference was continuing on its current path of attempting to play all games. Sankey’s philosophy appears to be wait, wait, wait, delay, delay, delay until the conference faces its moment of truth and has to make a decision on fall football for 2020.
The statement: “The Southeastern Conference will continue to meet regularly with our campus leaders in the coming weeks, guided by medical advisors, to make the important decisions necessary to determine the best path forward related to SE Fall sports. We recognize the challenges ahead and know the well-being of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans must remain at the forefront of those decisions.”
Sports Illustrated reported Thursday night that the SEC had asked league athletic directors to meet in Birmingham on Monday to discuss the situation.
[Paul Finebaum: ‘Non-conference games are in serious jeopardy’]
The losers in the conference-only scenario are the Group of Five schools who had games scheduled against Power Five conference schools. Take Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are scheduled to play both Louisville and Indiana. That’s a pair of fat checks the WKU possibly won’t be getting, or at best the school won’t be getting the full amount.
Ohio State is canceling games with Bowling Green and Buffalo. Bowling Green was to be paid $1.2 million by the Buckeyes for the trip to Columbus. Buffalo was to cash a $1.8 million check. Ohio State AD Gene Smith said Thursday he has already been in contact with both schools, as well as Oregon, to talk about future dates.
“Our interest was in playing a full schedule,” Mid-American Conference Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said. “We know everybody is examining all sorts of things, but I did not expect this decision quite so soon.”
Two MAC teams are on Kentucky’s schedule this fall. Eastern Michigan is to visit Kroger Field for the season opener on Sept. 3. Kent State is to play at UK on Sept. 19.
So what about Notre Dame? The Irish remain a stubborn independent. But the South Bend school does have a scheduling agreement with ACC schools, playing around five ACC teams per year. ACC Commissioner John Swofford has said that if the conference did play a conference-only schedule, Notre Dame would be included in a mix. You would assume the Irish could play other independents to fill out its schedule.
The Ivy League got this ball rolling on Wednesday, announcing that it was canceling its fall schedule, including football. There will be no Ivy League sports before Jan. 1. And that could end up being the case for all schools and all sports this fall.
“I can’t reiterate enough the fact that we might not play,” Ohio State’s Smith said Thursday during a teleconference. “We just might not. And I think that people need to understand that.”
Update from Matt Hayes, senior writer for Bleacher Report:
2020 UK football schedule
Home games in all capital letters. Kickoff times to be announced later.
Sept. 3: EASTERN MICHIGAN
Sept. 12: At Florida
Sept. 19: KENT STATE
Sept. 26: SOUTH CAROLINA
Oct. 3: At Auburn
Oct. 10: EASTERN ILLINOIS
Oct. 17: VANDERBILT
Oct. 24: At Missouri
Oct. 31: Open
Nov. 7: At Tennessee
Nov. 14: MISSISSIPPI STATE
Nov. 21: GEORGIA
Nov. 28: At Louisville
2020 Louisville football schedule
(Home games in capital letters; Times, TV TBA)
Sept. 2: N.C. STATE
Sept. 12: At Clemson
Sept. 19: MURRAY STATE
Sept. 26: WESTERN KENTUCKY
Oct. 3: At Syracuse
Oct. 10: At Boston College
Oct. 24: FLORIDA STATE
Oct. 31: VIRGINIA TECH
Nov. 7: At Virginia
Nov. 14: WAKE FOREST
Nov. 21: At Notre Dame
Nov. 28: KENTUCKY
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 8:02 AM.
