Mark Stoops hoping to keep Governor's Cup trophy in Kentucky with win vs. Louisville

As this season has progressed, Louisville has been hot while Kentucky has not. Even so, with the Governor’s Cup up for grabs again this weekend, Mark Stoops wants to throw all the records out the window in hopes of keeping the trophy in Lexington.

Stoops spoke about the Wildcats’ next matchup with the Cardinals during his press conference on Monday. After winning four straight and five of the last six, Stoops would prefer to keep that run going in order to keep the cup in their own trophy case.

“I’m looking forward to Saturday’s game. I would desperately like to keep that trophy here,” Stoops said. “It has been here for a while and I hope it stays here.”

Even so, Louisville is 10-1 and a Top-10 team in the nation this season for a reason. At least going into the game, this doesn’t look like the version of the Cardinals that have lost the last four in this series by an average of 30.5 points.

Stoops realizes that as well and needs Kentucky, who has dropped five of their past six, to forget what they think they know about Louisville from the past few years.

“This is one heck of a football team,” said Stoops.

“This is a new year. You also know how I feel about years past, records, and all that crap. It’s like this year? Let’s worry about this game this year,” Stoops said. “It’s a brand new game and it’s an important one to both teams.”

Again, from 2017 to now, this has been a fairly uncompetitive matchup on both sides. Now, with Jeff Brohm at the helm, this rivalry looks as though it could be renewed in a big way on Saturday which, regardless of who comes out of this weekend victorious, is a win for their state as a whole.

“It’s good, I think, for the state. Hopefully, we’ll have a little bit better record the next go around. But when both teams are playing good? It’s important,” said Stoops. “So, hopefully, we can bring our A-game and play up to our potential.”

Louisville vs. Kentucky odds: Early point spread released on Cardinals, Wildcats

Rivalry week will feature in-state battle between Louisville and Kentucky.

It’s expected to be a hard-fought battle either way, though, with Louisville opening as a 6.5-point favorite according to FanDuel. The over/under is currently at 48.5 points.

Louisville enters this contest on a four-game losing streak against Kentucky. The Cardinals most recently suffered a 26-13 loss last season in Lexington. Still, the way they have played this season provides hope that they can get back on the right side of the rivalry.