Sport Football | Meetings total 53 | |
First meeting October 2, 1929
Cincinnati 7, Louisville 0 Latest meeting December 5, 2013
Louisville 31, Cincinnati 24 All-time series Cincinnati leads, 30–22–1 (.575) Largest victory Louisville, 70–7 (2004) | ||
The Keg of Nails is a traveling trophy in college football, awarded since 1929 to the winner of games between the Universities of Louisville (U of L) and Cincinnati (UC), cities now connected by Interstate 71.
Known more for an intense basketball rivalry and tradition, U of L and UC have a football rivalry that has stretched over the span of four conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference, to the Metro Conference to Conference USA, and more recently in the Big East Conference, which in 2013 was renamed to the American Athletic Conference. It is believed to be the oldest rivalry for the Louisville football team and the second oldest for Cincinnati, only behind the annual game with the Miami RedHawks.
The trophy is a replica of a keg used to ship nails. The exchange is believed to have been initiated by fraternity chapters on the UC and U of L campuses, signifying that the winning players in the game were "tough as nails."
The present keg is actually a replacement for the original award, which was misplaced by Louisville, lost during some construction of office facilities. It is adorned with the logos of both schools and the scores of the series games.
The rivalry went on hiatus following the 2013 season, as Louisville moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2014.