Louisville football fans have been wanting one game at the start of the season, and that is the Governor's Cup. The Cardinals and the Kentucky Wildcats have met in November for 11 straight seasons since 2014, but the game used to be at the beginning of the season, and the fans of both programs loved it there.
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The beginning had just more juice to the game, gave the fans something to root for, and allowed the rivalry to really hit the max as the two in-state rivals went back and forth all offseason. Well, it isn’t just the fans who want this game at the beginning of the season; Kentucky’s newest head coach, and former Louisville Cardinal, Will Stein, admitted he loved it when it was at the beginning of the season.
Will Stein says exactly what Louisville and Kentucky fans wanted to hear
The first sigh of relief from the fanbases is that Stein made it clear in the interview that he wants to keep the Governor's Cup and believes it is good for college football and the state of Kentucky.
“I love the game, why would you not?” stated Stein, according to On3 Sports. “It’s the home-state rival, it gives people something to cheer about, regardless of what’s happening during the season.”
UK head coach @CoachWillStein tells @justthecatradio that he never plans to drop the UofL series and wants to move it to the beginning of the season (where it belongs).
— T.J. Walker (@TJWalkerRadio) May 12, 2026
But then, later on,, he didn’t just give Cardinals and Wildcats fans hope that this series is here to stay; he also made it clear he thinks this game should be moved to the front of the season.
“I used to love it when we played it first,” he stated. “That’s what I would do, I would move it up to the opening weekend or early in the season. But you have to play it. If you don’t, that would be not good for the state of Kentucky as a whole.”
When the game was at the front of the season, the two fans and the two programs truly embraced the rivalry. This game doesn’t get pushed over by other rivalry games, and it gets the bigger spotlight that it truly deserves.
With it at the beginning, it also allows the winner to then hit the ground running and build off a major rivalry win. It was something the fans truly looked forward to and circled at the beginning of the year, and while Louisville has a tough early schedule this year, not many Power Four programs schedule a big game in the first couple of weeks, and this gave Louisville a chance to earn a major win to start the year.
So, it is good to hear Kentucky’s head coach not only confirm he wants the series to continue, but also make it clear he wants to answer the 'fans' prayers and try to get this moved to the start of the season.
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