The Keg of Nails
Encyclopedia
Keg of Nails | |
Teams | Cincinnati Bearcats Cincinnati Bearcats football The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in a college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the Big East Conference. The Bearcat football program is one of the nation's oldest, having fielded a team as... Louisville Cardinals Louisville Cardinals football The Louisville Cardinals football team represents the University of Louisville in college football as a member of the Big East Conference. Howard Schnellenberger started the program's rise to relevancy after winning the Miami Hurricanes' first national championship... |
Originated | 1929 |
Trophy Series | Cincinnati leads, 30-20-1 |
Longest UC Win Streak | 12 (1929–1969) |
Longest UL Win Streak | 5 (2003–2007) |
Current Holder | Cincinnati |
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The Keg of Nails is a traveling trophy in college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
, awarded to the winner of the Universities of Louisville and Cincinnati (which are now connected by Interstate 71
Interstate 71
Interstate 71 is an Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes/Midwestern and Southeastern region of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64 and Interstate 65 in Louisville, Kentucky. Its northern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 90 in Cleveland,...
) since 1929.
Known more for an intense basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
rivalry and tradition, the Universities of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
and Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
have a football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
rivalry that has stretched over the span of 3 conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States...
, to Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...
, and more recently in the Big East Conference
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
. It is believed to be the oldest rivalry for the University of Louisville football team and the second oldest for Cincinnati, only behind the annual game with the Miami RedHawks
Miami RedHawks
Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, features 18 different varsity level sports teams for men and women, all of which are known as 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 UofL 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, ironically lost during some construction of office facilities. It is adorned with the logos of both schools and the scores of the series games.
Game results
Cincinnati victories are shaded ██ black. Louisville victories are shaded ██ red. Ties are unshaded.# | Date | Site | Winning team | Losing team | Series | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | October 2, 1929 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 7 | Louisville | 0 | UC 1-0 |
2 | September 24, 1938 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 19 | Louisville | 0 | UC 2-0 |
3 | September 28, 1940 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 7 | Louisville | 0 | UC 3-0 |
4 | September 27, 1941 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 28 | Louisville | 7 | UC 4-0 |
5 | September 26, 1942 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 51 | Louisville | 0 | UC 5-0 |
6 | October 7, 1950 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 28 | Louisville | 20 | UC 6-0 |
7 | October 13, 1951 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 38 | Louisville | 0 | UC 7-0 |
8 | November 7, 1953 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 41 | Louisville | 0 | UC 8-0 |
9 | November 12, 1966 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 17 | Louisville | 3 | UC 9-0 |
10 | November 11, 1967 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 13 | Louisville | 7 | UC 10-0 |
11 | November 9, 1968 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 37 | Louisville | 7 | UC 11-0 |
12 | November 8, 1969 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 31 | Louisville | 21 | UC 12-0 |
13 | November 14, 1970 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 28 | Cincinnati | 14 | UC 12-1 |
14 | November 27, 1971 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 19 | Louisville | 16 | UC 13-1 |
15 | October 28, 1972 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 38 | Cincinnati | 13 | UC 13-2 |
16 | October 27, 1973 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 10 | Cincinnati | 8 | UC 13-3 |
17 | September 28, 1974 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 7 | Louisville | 6 | UC 14-3 |
18 | September 27, 1975 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 46 | Louisville | 27 | UC 15-3 |
19 | November 27, 1976 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 20 | Louisville | 6 | UC 16-3 |
20 | September 17, 1977 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 17 | Louisville | 17 | UC 16-3-1 |
21 | September 23, 1978 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 28 | Cincinnati | 14 | UC 16-4-1 |
22 | September 22, 1979 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 22 | Cincinnati | 19 | UC 16-5-1 |
23 | November 15, 1980 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 20 | Cincinnati | 0 | UC 16-6-1 |
24 | November 14, 1981 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 24 | Louisville | 0 | UC 17-6-1 |
25 | September 11, 1982 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 38 | Louisville | 16 | UC 18-6-1 |
26 | September 24, 1983 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 31 | Cincinnati | 23 | UC 18-7-1 |
27 | October 27, 1984 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 40 | Louisville | 21 | UC 19-7-1 |
28 | October 19, 1985 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 31 | Louisville | 9 | UC 20-7-1 |
29 | October 4, 1986 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 24 | Louisville | 17 | UC 21-7-1 |
30 | September 12, 1987 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 25 | Louisville | 0 | UC 22-7-1 |
31 | October 29, 1988 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 21 | Cincinnati | 6 | UC 22-8-1 |
32 | September 30, 1989 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 37 | Cincinnati | 17 | UC 22-9-1 |
33 | November 3, 1990 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 41 | Cincinnati | 16 | UC 22-10-1 |
34 | October 5, 1991 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 30 | Louisville | 7 | UC 23-10-1 |
35 | October 31, 1992 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 27 | Cincinnati | 17 | UC 23-11-1 |
36 | October 26, 1996 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 10 | Louisville | 7 | UC 24-11-1 |
37 | November 8, 1997 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 28 | Louisville | 9 | UC 25-11-1 |
38 | October 3, 1998 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 62 | Cincinnati | 19 | UC 25-12-1 |
39 | November 6, 1999 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 23 | Cincinnati | 13 | UC 25-13-1 |
40 | October 14, 2000 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 38 | Cincinnati | 24 | UC 25-14-1 |
41 | October 27, 2001 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 28 | Cincinnati | 13 | UC 25-15-1 |
42 | November 7, 2002 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 24 | Louisville | 14 | UC 26-15-1 |
43 | November 28, 2003 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 43 | Cincinnati | 40 | UC 26-16-1 |
44 | November 27, 2004 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 70 | Cincinnati | 7 | UC 26-17-1 |
45 | October 22, 2005 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 46 | Cincinnati | 22 | UC 26-18-1 |
46 | October 14, 2006 | Louisville, KY | Louisville | 23 | Cincinnati | 17 | UC 26-19-1 |
47 | October 13, 2007 | Cincinnati, OH | Louisville | 28 | Cincinnati | 24 | UC 26-20-1 |
48 | November 14, 2008 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 28 | Louisville | 20 | UC 27-20-1 |
49 | November 24, 2009 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 41 | Louisville | 10 | UC 28-20-1 |
50 | October 15, 2010 | Louisville, KY | Cincinnati | 35 | Louisville | 27 | UC 29-20-1 |
51 | October 15, 2011 | Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati | 25 | Louisville | 16 | UC 30-20-1 |