Louisville AD Josh Heird Mulling Moving Governor's Cup Back to Season Opener

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - While the future of the Governor's Cup is still up in the air, there's a very real possibility that if it does stick around, it could move back to its original date on the calendar.

In an interview with 93.9 The Ville on Wednesday morning, Louisville athletic director Josh Heird revealed that there have been conversations revolving around moving the annual rivalry showdown between the Louisville and Kentucky football programs back to the beginning of the season.

"ESPN, they've got a big say in when these games take place, and they're going to do what they think is best from a viewership standpoint. But there still are a handful of those rivalry games at the beginning of the year," Heird said. "I do think it creates more excitement, because everybody has hope at the beginning of the year.

"I think that's one where, let's continue to have those conversations as far as where it makes the most sense for Louisville-Kentucky to be, as opposed just, "Well, that's rivalry week. Everybody plays on the last week of the year." Continue to explore everything. Fortunately, we're at a time in this industry where we can just rethink everything that we're doing."

Not only is Heird looking to move the matchup between the Cardinals and Wildcats back to week one, he expressed his desire of playing the game on Labor Day.

"I would tell you, we've had some conversations," he said. "We want to play on that Sunday."

When the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry was renewed back in 1994, it originally had served as the season opener for both teams. However, it moved to week three of the season when played in Lexington while Rich Brooks was the head coach of the Wildcats, and when the Cardinals joined the ACC for the 2014 season, the game was moved to the final weekend of the season.

Of course, there's no guarantee that the Governor's Cup will last for very much longer. As part of ongoing discussions that the SEC could move to a nine-game conference schedule, the annual rivalry showdown could be put on the cutting room floor as a result.

While the SEC has yet to officially move to a nine-game conference schedule, many teams in the conference have adjusted future non-conference schedule in recent months. As it currently stands, the final Governor's Cup showdown is set for the 2030 season.

“I want to see where we go with that deal,” Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart told The Courier-Journal back in 2022. “That certainly makes our schedule way different. We’ve done a really good job of managing the eight and the four nonconference games. With Louisville, that gives you nine (Power 5) games.”

Louisville won the most recent matchup, winning 41-14 back on Nov. 30, 2024 at Kroger Field to snap a five-game losing streak in the series. They lead the modern series 16-14, while Kentucky leads the all-time series 20-16.

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