Kentucky
Louisville vs Kentucky score today: Governor’s Cup football game live updates, highlights
Louisville-Kentucky preview for 2024 Governor’s Cup football game
The 7-4 Cardinals visit the 4-7 Wildcats at Kroger Field in Lexington Saturday. Here’s a few things to know and how to watch and hear the game.
LEXINGTON — Louisville football is set to play at Kentucky for the 30th installment of the Governor’s Cup.
Kentucky has maintained possession of the trophy since 2017. The Cardinals came close to taking it back last year and had a 24-14 lead over the Wildcats late in the third quarter. But UK outscored U of L, 17-7, in the fourth quarter to keep its winning streak alive.
The regular-season finale will be the last game of the year for the Wildcats, who aren’t bowl eligible for the first time since 2015. After deploying three quarterbacks throughout the season, freshman Cutter Boley will get his first start in UK’s final contest of the year.
Louisville, which will appear in a fourth straight bowl game next month, comes into the contest after winning three of its last four games. The Cardinals rallied for a win at Boston College, 31-27, and rebounded from a 38-35 loss at Stanford by beating Pitt, 37-9, in Week 13.
Stay tuned here for Governor’s Cup updates from Commonwealth Stadium.
Watch Kentucky football vs Louisville live on ESPN+ (subscribe today)
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 30
- Time: Noon
- Location: Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington
- TV channel: SEC Network
- Streaming: ESPN+
- Radio: Louisville Sports Network; Kentucky Sports Radio
Louisville vs. Kentucky will be broadcast nationally on the SEC Network. Aaron Murray and Dave Neal will call the game from the booth at Commonwealth Stadium, with Ashley Shah Ahmadi reporting from the sidelines.
- Series record: Kentucky leads, 20-15
- Kentucky’s last win: 2023 (38-31)
- Louisville’s last win: 2017 (44-17)
Alexis Cubit, Louisville football writer: Louisville 38, Kentucky 17. Despite a hiccup at Stanford, the Cardinals have adjusted and made enough improvements on both sides of the ball throughout the year to take the Governor’s Cup back for the first time since 2017.
Kentucky beat writer Ryan Black: Kentucky 27, Louisville 24. The Wildcats’ season, by an measure, has been a disappointment. But they’ve hung tough with some of the best teams the SEC (and the nation) has to offer. They won’t be overwhelmed by what the Cardinals have to offer, ending the 2024 campaign with yet another Governor’s Cup triumph.
Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of today:
- Spread: 3 1/2
- Over/under: 48 1/2
- Moneyline: 175
The high in Lexington is 41 with considerable cloudiness.
- Aug. 31: Kentucky 31, Southern Miss 0
- Sept. 7: South Carolina 31, Kentucky 6*
- Sept. 14: Georgia 13, Kentucky 12*
- Sept. 21: Kentucky 41, Ohio 6
- Sept. 28: Kentucky 20, Ole Miss 17*
- Oct: 5: BYE
- Oct. 12: Vanderbilt 20, Kentucky 13*
- Oct. 19: Florida 48, Kentucky 20*
- Oct. 26: Auburn 24, Kentucky 10*
- Nov. 2: Tennessee 28, Kentucky 18*
- Nov. 9: BYE
- Nov. 16: Kentucky 48, Murray State 6
- Nov. 23: Texas 31, Kentucky 14*
- Nov. 30: Louisville ∣ Noon
*SEC game
- Saturday, Aug. 31: Louisville 62, Austin Peay 0
- Saturday, Sept. 7: Louisville 49, Jacksonville State 14
- Saturday, Sept. 14: BYE
- Saturday, Sept. 21: Louisville 31, Georgia Tech 19*
- Saturday, Sept. 28: Notre Dame 31, Louisville 24
- Saturday, Oct. 5: SMU 34, Louisville 27*
- Saturday, Oct. 12: Louisville 24, Virginia 20*
- Saturday, Oct. 19: Miami 52, Louisville 45*
- Friday, Oct. 25: Louisville 31, Boston College 27*
- Saturday, Nov. 2: Louisville 33, Clemson 21*
- Saturday, Nov. 9: BYE
- Saturday, Nov. 16: Stanford 38, Louisville 35*
- Saturday, Nov. 23: Louisville 36, Pitt 9*
- Saturday, Nov. 30: Louisville at Kentucky
*ACC game
C.L. Brown: Louisville football has been haunted by mistakes. Beating UK could erase them all
Governor’s Cup ‘Game One’: How Louisville and Kentucky unified to revive football rivalry
Column from C.L. Brown: Kentucky football ‘looked down’ on Louisville. The ’95 Governor’s Cup changed that
‘A big loss’: Future of Governor’s Cup a point of concern for those who have lived Louisville-UK rivalry
First look: Odds, players to watch and more in 2024 Governor’s Cup
Remembering Trent DiGiuro: How UK continues to honor fallen teammate on 30th anniversary of Governor’s Cup
Memorable matchups: Louisville, Kentucky celebrate 30 years of Governor’s Cup games. Here are the closest ones
Cutter Boley: Freshman QB to start for UK in Governor’s Cup
End of UK’s run?: Cards well-positioned to win Governor’s Cup for first time since 2017
U of L football news: DB Tayon Holloway makes first court appearance following arrest
Going bowling: Here’s where U of L football could play final game of season, who it might face
3 keys for Cardinals: Louisville’s offense continues soaring with young stars
It’s over: Kentucky’s eight-year bowl streak has ended. What to know about run Mark Stoops had with Cats
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Entering the weekend, Vanderbilt baseball had gotten swept in its only SEC series in which it hadn’t won the first game.
So the Commodores had a tough task in a series they badly needed after dropping the opener 5-2 on a walk-off grand slam after Vanderbilt’s best healthy starter, Connor Fennell, pitched well.
But the Commodores (24-17, 9-9 SEC) rebounded to take the series with an 8-7 win in the second game and a 13-6 win in the finale April 19. They did that despite not having any pitcher go more than three innings in either game. Though the pitching was still shaky at times — they issued more free passes than strikeouts in both of the wins — they worked out of enough jams to let the offense go to work.
Here’s what we learned from the series.
Will Hampton proves an unlikely hero for the offense
Vanderbilt got strong performances from a few of its typical top performers, including Braden Holcomb (6-for-13, four doubles) and Brodie Johnston (4-for-12, two home runs, three walks). But one of the biggest hits of the series came from the unlikeliest of sources.
Logan Johnstone was held out of the finale after colliding with Mike Mancini in Game 2, and in his place coach Tim Corbin opted to go with redshirt freshman Will Hampton in left field. Hampton had recorded just six college plate appearances, all of which were in nonconference games.
But Hampton reached in all three of his plate appearances against Kentucky, first on a single, then a walk. In the sixth inning, with the score tied, he came up with the bases loaded and two outs and blasted a grand slam, giving Vanderbilt its first lead.
Tyler Baird learns the ups and downs of being a closer
Freshman Tyler Baird has been Vanderbilt’s closer for the past three weeks, recording his first save April 2 against Texas A&M. But he learned the pitfalls that can come with that role in Game 1 against Kentucky. Summoned for an eight-out save with the Commodores leading 2-1, he retired the first five batters, but loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth. He struck out the next two batters but then gave up the walk-off grand slam.
Baird returned for Game 3, this time attempting a five-out save and coming in with runners on first and second and one out with a three-run lead in the eighth inning. He allowed both inherited runners to score, but kept the lead and then had a scoreless ninth inning after Vanderbilt scored three runs in the top of the inning.
Baird’s emergence has been key for the Commodores, and the Game 3 bounce-back was especially important.
Vanderbilt’s RPI shows improvement
On April 15, Vanderbilt was 95th in RPI, a mark that wasn’t going to cut it for NCAA Tournament selection. But with a road series win against a Kentucky team that started the week in the top 20 of RPI, the Commodores moved all the way up to 75th, according to Warren Nolan.
While Vanderbilt will need to keep moving up — a top-50 mark would be ideal — the series win did a lot. In the next two weeks, it will face two top-five RPI teams in Alabama and Texas, giving more opportunity to improve its standing.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
Power forward has been one of the positions that Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have to fill with Andrija Jelavic and Mo Dioubate gone. The two players that Pope has had on campus at the power forward position are Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman and Colorado’s Sebastian Rancik. Both are really good players, but Freeman is better by a wide margin.
It has felt that entire time that Kentucky wanted Rancik as the backup to Freeman or a backup plan if they weren’t able to land Freeman. Well, Rancik just picked Florida State, so perhaps this is a sign that the Wildcats will land Freeman.
Big Blue Nation was torn on Rancik, but I do believe he would have been a really solid backup power forward. I personally didn’t want him to be the starting four for this team. It is clear that he wanted to go somewhere where he could be the guy at the four, so he will be heading to the ACC to play for FSU.
Now that Kentucky has missed on Rancik, it is very important that the Wildcats land Freeman soon. The problem with waiting on some of these players is the fact that the portal isn’t slowing down. If Pope targets two power forwards and misses on both of them, most of the good fours in the portal will be gone.
There will be some panic in Lexington if the Wildcats are not able to land Freeman, but I do believe the Wildcats are in a good spot to land the elite power forward. From the beginning, Freeman has been my top player for Kentucky in the portal, as he, plus Malachi Moreno, will give the Wildcats an elite frontcourt.
If Pope is able to land Freeman and Tyran Stokes to pair with Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Moreno, and Kam Williams, this could be the start of a really good team in Lexington. Hopefully, an announcement for where Freeman will transfer comes soon, and hopefully, this will be to play for Pope at Kentucky.
Fans of rival teams will say Pope “whiffed” on Rancik, but if this whiff was because the Wildcats are set to land Freeman soon, then it was more than worth it for Kentucky. If the Wildcats are able to land Freeman, it will officially be time for Big Blue Nation to start getting excited about the 2026-27 season. I expect a decision from Freeman to come within the next day or two.
Rancik would have been a solid backup four in Lexington but Freeman has been the guy from the beggining for this staff so if Kentucky lands him all is well. If the staff misses on Freeman not landing Rancik will look bad.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
Kentucky
Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report
Jones posted on Twitter that “Kentucky will have (absent a major change) either Freeman or Rancik by tomorrow,” while also noting the Wildcats still need to add another shooter and another big to round out the roster.
One of the top targets is Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore forward transferring from Syracuse. Freeman arrived in Lexington on Tuesday night and began his visit on Wednesday before leaving without a commitment. While there was concern he could land at UConn, that visit has since been canceled, leaving Kentucky and St. John’s as the top teams.
Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game last season, while adding nearly a block and a steal per contest. He shot 47.4% from the field but 30.2% from 3-point range across 23 games.
The other option is Sebastian Rancik, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore forward transferring from Colorado. Rancik visited Kentucky starting Wednesday through Thursday and brings a versatile skill set, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 33.1% from 3.
Either Freeman or Rancik would provide a significant boost at the power forward position for head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has already added guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins in the portal.
-
Hawaii6 minutes agoA Deep Dive into Hawai‘i’s Shell Jewelry Industry – Hawaii Business Magazine
-
Idaho12 minutes ago
Idaho Lottery results: See winning numbers for Pick 3, Pick 4 on April 19, 2026
-
Illinois18 minutes agoMultiple people shot in Centralia, Illinois: REPORT
-
Indiana23 minutes agoIndiana mother charged with neglect after baby’s co-sleeping death
-
Iowa30 minutes agoFormer Iowa State star, All-American Audi Crooks announces transfer destination
-
Kansas36 minutes agoTyler Reddick needs OT at Kansas to claim fifth win of NASCAR season
-
Kentucky42 minutes agoVanderbilt baseball’s series win vs Kentucky revelatory
-
Louisiana48 minutes agoLouisiana shooter Shamar Elkins made chilling remarks about ‘demons’ weeks before killing his 7 kids and their cousin