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Go 'Cats!
The University of Kentucky
Location: Lexington, KY
Nickname: Wildcats
Type of School: Public Land Grant Research University
Mascot: “Blue” (Lynx Rufus – Bobcat) “Wildcat” & “Scratch”
Total student body: 32,703 (Fall 2024)
University Established: 1865
Football Stadium: Kroger Field at Commonwealth Stadium
Capacity: 61,000
Team Colors: Wildcat Blue, White, and Black
Kentucky Annual Opponents 2026-2029
Florida Gators – Florida and Kentucky first played each other on the gridiron in 1917 and began playing fairly regularly in 1926. In those early days they were both members of the Southern Conference and later in the newly formed Southeastern Conference.
The Wildcats and Gators have played 75 times to date with Florida leading the series 54-21.
In recent years the Gators have been dominant, but this has not always been the case. Man, how times have changed. From 1987 to 2017, Florida enjoyed a 31 game winning streak. Kentucky was finally able to slay their dragon in 2018 when they beat the Gators at “The Swamp”, 27-16.
It will take some doing to get this game first, to rivalry status, and then even more to get it to bitter rivalry status. In football at least. I feel like it probably is an elite, bitter rivalry in men’s basketball right now. But that’s not what we’re talking about today.
This year the game between the Wildcats and Gators will happen on November 11th in Lexington, KY.
Tennessee Volunteers – The states of Kentucky and Tennessee share a border that’s 425 miles long. That , coupled with the fact that they have been playing each other since 1893, make this a legit, passionate, rivalry. But if that wasn’t enough, in 1953 there was an incident involving a “keg-napping” and a retaliatory “dog-napping” that just made everything worse. I plan to write a piece about mascots and trophies where I will will shine more light on this madness.
This rivalry has one trait that I absolutely love and feel is a nod to those fans that feel the rivalry most strongly. Over the 131 years in the series, this game has never been played at a neutral site. In the even numbered years, it’s played in Knoxville and in the odd numbered years, it’s played in Lexington. Like so many of these “old” rivalries, the balance of power sometimes shifts. Kentucky held it’s own with the Vols for the first 25 years or so, but then Tennessee took over in a big way.
They matchup has been played 120 times with the Volunteers winning 84 times to the Wildcat’s 26. The teams have tied 9 times and one of Tennessee’s victories was vacated.
This season, the game will be played in Lexington, KY on October 25.
South Carolina Gamecocks – In preparing to write this blurb, I read many articles regarding this annual matchup. Most rivalries are geographical (border wars like Florida/Georgia), geopolitical (like Missouri/Arkansas), or ideological (Ole Miss/MS State). However, the “bad blood” between Kentucky and South Carolina seems to have begun because Kentucky Head Coach Mark Stoops, said something mocking South Carolina Head Coach, Shane Beamer, in 2022.
This feels awfully benign for the fuse to ignite a rivalry, but alas, here we are. The authors of the articles I read, wrote that they would be surprised if this game was not included in the annual rivalry games for both Kentucky and South Carolina, so we’ll just take their word for it!
The nuts and bolts of this rivalry are, the ‘Cats and ‘Cocks have played one another 37 times since 1937. South Carolina has the upper hand in the series, 22-13 with 1 tie that happened in their second meeting in 1978. Just to be thorough, the Gamecocks have won the last four meetings, all of which followed the Stoop’s comment. Shane Beamer may want to wear sunglasses after every game from now on. If you know, you know. Just sayin’!