I buy our (Kentucky fans') mantra that U of L built its program since 1994, at least in part, with the Kentucky game/Governor's Cup.
But since joining the ACC, the Cards have had two solid shots to make a NYD6 Bowl, in 2016 and 2023, both seasons being ranked in the Top 12, until the final weekend of the regular season, when they lost at home to UK. And the whole point of being ranked in the Top 12 late in the season takes on a whole lot more significance with an expended play off next season.
Kentucky fans can look back to 2021, and 2018, and speculate that "we came, oh so close" to being Top 12 at the end . . . just as Card fans can look back to 2016 and 2023 in the same light.
The difference being that our U of L victories moved us up a tad in our two best years, and U of L's losses essentially knocked them just below the mark in their two best years.
Will Louisville regret the end of the Governor's Cup should that come to pass with SEC expansion?
Oh, they'll howl, but if I were them, I think I would seriously be very happy to shed this game, as for a decade, it has not been to their advantage to play it, when highly ranked.