Mark Stoops wants to keep Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry even if SEC moves to 9 conference games

The SEC will stay at eight conference games for the 2025 season but after that, there’s a very good chance the schedule could add another as the College Football Playoff continues to expand. A nine-game conference schedule will surely be on the list of topics coaches and athletic directors discuss at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin in May. One of the drawbacks? It puts some non-conference rivalries, like the Governor’s Cup, at risk as teams try to keep their schedules as manageable as possible.

During an interview on KSR, Mark Stoops made it clear that he wants to keep the Louisville game on Kentucky’s schedule even if the league moves to nine conference games.

“Yes, but it’s gonna be tough,” Stoops said.

The topic of Louisville came up when Jones asked Stoops how the same team that beat Ole Miss on the road made so many errors in the next game out vs. Vanderbilt and completely collapsed in the season finale vs. Louisville, a 41-14 drubbing at Kroger Field. Stoops said both are good examples of how his team hit a wall due to a lack of discipline and the wear and tear of a long season.

“Fair criticism,” Stoops said. “I’ve said this for years. I think people sometimes latch on to it, sometimes you don’t. When you play people in this league, you see weird stuff all the time. It is extremely taxing on our players, mentally and physically. Where you hit something, where you’re playing, where you’re at right there, what your head space is, what you’re like physically factor into it. I can’t always see that coming. You try to head things off. You try to make sure you’re ahead of things.

“You look at Vandy, and they had a really good year. They brought in a quarterback who had a great spark. They brought in some players that were used to that system. They played extremely hard. That is a game that we brought up earlier, discipline and the problems. I mean, I had remarkable players for me making incredible mistakes early in that game. There’s no excuse for it. I mean, we should have scored the first three times we had the ball.

“And then the Louisville game, I think by that time, I don’t know. Again, it’s indefensible. We’ve had a really good run. Our players understand the importance of it. We embrace it. We embrace that challenge.”

Stoops said his staff was in the office the day after the Louisville game to regroup. They’ll have another shot at the Cards at L&N Stadium on November 29. It’s nice to hear that even if the road in the SEC gets tougher with another conference game after that, Stoops wants to keep the rivalry on the schedule.