Battle of the Bluegrass

This article is about the Eastern Kentucky–Western Kentucky football rivalry. For the Kentucky–Louisville rivalry, see Kentucky–Louisville rivalry.

The Battle of the Bluegrass is the name given to the Eastern Kentucky–Western Kentucky football rivalry. Both schools were formerly members of the Ohio Valley Conference, and played against each other regularly until Western Kentucky's transition from the NCAA's FCS to FBS in 2008. The two teams have met 86 times on the football field, with Western Kentucky currently holding a 48–35–3 edge in the all-time series.^[1][2] The series resumed again in 2017, when Western Kentucky hosted Eastern Kentucky in a game played at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium.^[3] The two teams met again on September 7, 2024.^[4]

Battle of the Bluegrass

Eastern Kentucky Colonels Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Sport	Football
First meeting	October 23, 1914 Eastern Kentucky, 34–6
Latest meeting	September 7, 2024 Western Kentucky, 31–0
Trophy	None
Statistics
Meetings total	86
All-time series	Western Kentucky leads, 48–35–3
Largest victory	Western Kentucky, 50–0 (1930)
Longest win streak	Western Kentucky, 13 (1921–1941)
Current win streak	Western Kentucky, 4 (2007–present)

60km
37miles

Eastern Kentucky

Western Kentucky

   

Locations of EKU and WKU

Game results

Eastern Kentucky victories

Western Kentucky victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 23, 1914 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 34–6 2 November 26, 1914 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 18–0 3 November 1, 1915 Richmond, KY Tie 0–0 4 November 15, 1915 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 6–0 5 November 4, 1916 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 13–12 6 November 30, 1916 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 16–0 7 November 5, 1921 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 21–0 8 November 10, 1922 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 47–6 9 November 24, 1927 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 12–0 10 November 28, 1929 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 36–0 11 November 22, 1930 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 50–0 12 November 21, 1931 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 42–7 13 November 10, 1934 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 47–9 14 November 23, 1935 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 40–6 15 November 14, 1936 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 7–0 16 November 6, 1937 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 23–0 17 November 5, 1938 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 32–7 18 November 11, 1939 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 26–0 19 October 25, 1941 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 27–20 20 October 31, 1942 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 18–0 21 November 16, 1946 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 6–0 22 November 15, 1947 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 27–7 23 November 13, 1948 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 14–13 24 November 12, 1949 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 20–7 25 November 11, 1950 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 14–13 26 November 10, 1951 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 31–7 27 November 8, 1952 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 48–6 28 November 7, 1953 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 13–7 29 November 6, 1954 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 21–0 30 November 5, 1955 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 7–0 31 October 20, 1956 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 14–6 32 November 2, 1957 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 28–0 33 November 1, 1958 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 21–14 34 October 31, 1959 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 14–7 35 October 29, 1960 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 17–7 36 October 28, 1961 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 16–15 37 October 27, 1962 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 6–5 38 November 2, 1963 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 29–6 39 October 31, 1964 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 24–0 40 October 30, 1965 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 28–12 41 October 29, 1966 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 24–12 42 October 21, 1967 Richmond, KY Tie 14–14 43 October 26, 1968 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 16–7 44 October 25, 1969 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 27–26 No. Date Location Winner Score 45 October 24, 1970 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 19–7 46 October 23, 1971 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 16–7 47 October 21, 1972 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 10–0 48 October 20, 1973 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 35–0 49 October 26, 1974 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 34–24 50 October 25, 1975 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 13–7 51 October 23, 1976 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 10–6 52 October 22, 1977 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 35–10 53 October 21, 1978 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 17–16 54 October 20, 1979 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 8–6 55 October 25, 1980 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 13–10 56 October 24, 1981 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 19–11 57 October 23, 1982 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 35–21 58 October 22, 1983 Richmond, KY Tie 10–10 59 October 20, 1984 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 17–10 60 October 26, 1985 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 51–21 61 October 4, 1986 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 24–10 62 October 3, 1987 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 20–10 63 November 28, 1987 † Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 40–17 64 September 24, 1988 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 16–14 65 December 3, 1988 † Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 41–24 66 September 23, 1989 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 24–3 67 September 29, 1990 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 35–12 68 October 12, 1991 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 37–22 69 September 5, 1992 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 21–7 70 September 2, 1993 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 15–10 71 September 1, 1994 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 24–21 72 September 9, 1995 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 38–14 73 September 14, 1996 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 14–7 74 September 13, 1997 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 37–21 75 November 29, 1997 † Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 42–14 76 September 19, 1998 Bowling Green, KY Eastern Kentucky 27–16 77 October 9, 1999 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 30–10 78 October 7, 2000 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 6–3 79 September 20, 2003 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 36–3 80 September 18, 2004 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 21–8 81 September 10, 2005 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 23–21 82 September 9, 2006 Richmond, KY Eastern Kentucky 26–21 83 September 15, 2007 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 26–6 84 September 6, 2008 Richmond, KY Western Kentucky 37–13 85 September 2, 2017 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 31–17 86 September 7, 2024 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 31–0 Series: Western Kentucky leads 48–35–3 † = FCS postseason game

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games