(Source: Lexington Herald-Leader)

It’s no secret that Louisville heads into this week’s Governor’s Cup Bourbon Bowl game as significant underdogs. At this moment, Vegas currently has UK listed as 17-point favorites. If this line holds, it would beat out Kentucky’s 2009 -13½ line and be the largest spread UK has ever been favored in the modern series.

Since the modern series began in 1994, the favorite has won outright 15 out of 24 times. As favorites, UofL boasts a 11-5 record, whereas UK holds a mellow .500 record at 4-4. Double-digit favorites in this series have only lost twice in the ten times that a team has been given such a spread. UofL will have its work cut out this weekend and will need some heroics to pull off the upset.

But this wouldn’t be the first time the underdog has prevailed. Let’s rank the 5 Biggest Upsets in Bourbon Bowl History.

#5 – 2000: Louisville 40, Kentucky 34

After UofL routed UK 56-28 the year before, the Cats were favored 5½ points over the Cards. In the 3rd quarter Jared Lorenzen’s UK squad led 19-14 before the game was delayed for almost an hour and 15 minutes, due to a lightning storm (hence the game’s name, “The Lightning Game”). After the wild storm waned, the game resumed at 10:30 PM where things got even wilder on the field. With the score knotted up at 34-34, UK lined up on UofL’s 1-yard line for a chip-shot field goal for the win. But UofL’s Curry Burns was able to jump just high enough to get a hand on the ball and send the game into overtime. After Lorenzen’s pass was intercepted in UK’s overtime series, UofL’s Tony Stallings took the ball on the first play and ran 25 yards almost touched for the electric finish.

#4 – 2011: Louisville 24, Kentucky 7

UK would see its 4-year winning streak over the 5½ point underdog Cards snapped before a crowd of 68,170 fans in Commonwealth Stadium. A true freshman by the name of Teddy Bridgewater, would replace injured starter, Will “Sunny” Stein, and throw 2 much needed touchdowns to give Louisville its first victory over Kentucky since 2006. This would serve as a sign that UofL football would be just fine under the leadership of Strong and Bridgewater for years to come.

#3 – 2007: Kentucky 40, Louisville 34

With the Cardinals coming off their highly successful 2006 Orange Bowl campaign, and with the Wildcats being led by Andre Woodsen, this game would deliver on one of the most hyped up games in the history series. With 28 seconds to go and UofL leading 34-33, Woodsen would find wide receiver Steven Johnson for a stunning 57-yard game-winning touchdown that would end the Cards 4-year winning streak over the Cats. Things would not get better for the Cards as they would go on to lose to UK 2 more times under the guidance of Steve Kragthorpe. This is what the kids call, “foreshadowing.”

#2 – 2002: Kentucky 22, Louisville 17

The 17th-ranked, Dave Ragone-led Cardinals, were favored by 12 points, which at the time was the largest spread in the history of the series. Ragone would only complete 14 of his 39 passes, and his usually unstoppable offense would be held to just 248 yards by future first-rounder Dewayne Robertson’s defense. This game would stand as the largest upset in the short history of the series for 14 years until…

#1 – 2016: Kentucky 41, Louisville 38

Yep.

The Wildcats would take down the 27-point favored Cardinals in what is by far the biggest upset in the series’ history. We don’t need to say much more about this game.

So while UofL will be in an unfamiliar position as underdogs, especially with UK bringing a national ranking into the game for the first time in the history of the Bourbon Bowl, it would not by the first, nor the biggest upset that this series has seen. Let’s hope we see some rivalry magic under the lights this Saturday. Go Cards. Beat Kentucky.

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