Cincinnati vs. Kentucky

Cincinnati and Kentucky have 24 meetings on file, the first in 1915; Kentucky leads the series 19–⁠4–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Kentucky 7–⁠2.

Cincinnati wins
4
Kentucky wins
19
Ties
1
Earliest on file
1915
Longest streak
6 Kentucky
Current streak
1 Cincinnati
Last 10 meetings
Kentucky 7–⁠2
Most recent
1996

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1910s1–⁠2
1920s0–⁠3
1930s0–⁠2
1940s1–⁠5
1950s0–⁠2
1980s0–⁠3–⁠1
1990s2–⁠2
Average margin
15 points; 8 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Cincinnati
4–⁠8 Cincinnati’s record at home
At Kentucky
11–⁠0–⁠1 Kentucky’s record at home
Shutouts
8

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Cincinnati’s biggest win1996: Cincinnati 24, Kentucky 3by 21 points
  2. Kentucky’s biggest win1950: Kentucky 41, Cincinnati 7by 34 points
  3. Upset1919: Cincinnati 7, Kentucky 0Cincinnati had a 22% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsCincinnatiSeriesKentucky
1946–⁠1948Ray Nolting0–⁠3Bear Bryant
1949–⁠1952Sid Gillman0–⁠3Bear Bryant

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Cincinnati’s side (Nolting 0–⁠3 against Bryant). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Cincinnati and Kentucky, 1915 on130015001700192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

From the newspapers

  • The The Sunday telegram's story of the 1915 game: KENTUCKY STATE Scores 27 to s Victory Over the University Of Cincinnati Team.

    1915 · The Sunday telegram, Clarksburg, W. Va., Oct 31, 1915

  • The The Birmingham age-herald's story of the 1923 game: KENTUCKY DOWNS CINCINNATI14 TO 0

    1923 · The Birmingham age-herald, Alabama, Oct 7, 1923

  • The Evening star's story of the 1933 game: FOOT BALL RESULTS Local Teams.

    1933 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 15, 1933

  • The The Wilmington morning star's story of the 1946 game

    1946 · The Wilmington morning star, North Carolina, Sep 30, 1946

  • The Evening star's story of the 1949 game: Coaches Jobs Are in Jeopardy AT Eastern, Southern Colleges

    1949 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Nov 1, 1949

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Sep 7, 1996Cincinnati 24, Kentucky 3at Cincinnati
Nov 11, 1995Kentucky 33, Cincinnati 14at Kentucky
Nov 14, 1992Cincinnati 17, Kentucky 13at Cincinnati
Nov 2, 1991Kentucky 20, Cincinnati 17at Kentucky
Nov 4, 1989Kentucky 31, Cincinnati 0at Kentucky
Sep 27, 1986Kentucky 37, Cincinnati 20at Cincinnati
Sep 28, 1985Kentucky 27, Cincinnati 7at Kentucky
Oct 29, 1983Kentucky 13, Cincinnati 13at Kentucky
Oct 25, 1952Kentucky 14, Cincinnati 6at Cincinnati
Oct 14, 19505Kentucky 41, Cincinnati 7at Kentucky
Oct 29, 194914Kentucky 14, Cincinnati 7at Kentucky
Oct 30, 1948Kentucky 28, Cincinnati 7at Cincinnati
Sep 27, 1947Kentucky 20, Cincinnati 0at Kentucky
Sep 28, 1946Kentucky 26, Cincinnati 7at Cincinnati
Oct 27, 1945Cincinnati 16, Kentucky 7at Cincinnati
Sep 29, 1945Kentucky 13, Cincinnati 7at Kentucky
Oct 6, 1934Kentucky 27, Cincinnati 0at Cincinnati
Oct 14, 1933Kentucky 3, Cincinnati 0at Cincinnati
Oct 6, 1923Kentucky 14, Cincinnati 0at Cincinnati
Oct 7, 1922Kentucky 15, Cincinnati 0at Kentucky
Nov 6, 1920Kentucky 7, Cincinnati 6at Kentucky
Nov 8, 1919Cincinnati 7, Kentucky 0at Cincinnati
Oct 28, 1916Kentucky 32, Cincinnati 0at Cincinnati
Oct 30, 1915Kentucky 27, Cincinnati 6at Kentucky

Every game is listed as played on the field.