Kentucky-Louisville football game sold out, Cardinals early favorite

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kentucky-louisville-football-game-sold-out-cardinals-early-favorite — Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

This year’s Governor’s Cup is going to feature a packed L&N Stadium.

On Friday morning, the University of Louisville announced that next weekend’s gridiron showdown between the No. 10 Cardinals (9-1) and Kentucky Wildcats (6-4) has officially sold out. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 25, although the game time and TV designation won’t be announced until sometime this coming weekend.

This will be the second sellout of the season for Louisville and the first time since 2016 that the school has had multiple sellouts in one season. The first sellout of 2023 came on Oct. 7 in a 33-20 win over then-No. 10 Notre Dame, which drew the largest crowd in program history at just over 59,000.

Aside from the COVID-impacted 2020 season, Kentucky and Louisville have met every year since 1994. UK leads the all-time series with a 19-15 record against UL, including four straight wins by an average of 30.5 points. Verified resale tickets are still available for purchase on Ticketmaster if you’re willing to cough up a pretty penny.

The Battle of the Bluegrass is SOLD OUT.

More Info: https://t.co/Mt2yl8BvrN #GoCards x #ForTheVille pic.twitter.com/uOEoWZ52aT
— Louisville Athletics (@GoCards) November 17, 2023

Louisville the early betting favorite

Despite the last four years of domination by Kentucky, it’s Louisville that has opened as the early betting favorite in this year’s Battle of the Bluegrass. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, UL is a 5.5-point favorite against UK. A total has not yet been set.

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During the 2023 season, Kentucky is 5-5-0 against the spread and 2-1-0 as the road team. Meanwhile, Louisville is just 5-4-1 against the spread but holds an impressive 5-1-0 mark as the home team.

ESPN’s Matchup Predictor is also high on Louisville’s chances, giving the Cardinals a 73.2 percent chance to come away with the win. UL has lost just one game this season, a 38-21 defeat to unranked Pittsburgh. All four of Kentucly’s losses this season have come against teams slotted among the Top 20 in the College Football Playoff Rankings.