For Kentucky fans, Thursday’s tipoff of what used to be called the Dream Game feels like a non-event. Yes, Kentucky and Louisville will play each other. But this isn’t your big brother or your dad’s Louisville Cardinals. In fact, the whole UK/UofL rivalry is on life support. And it’s not looking good. Which is certainly good news for Kentucky fans.

Merry Christmas, Big Blue Nation. You’ve officially earned the right to ask, “What rivalry?”

Once upon a time, things were different. The Dream Game. Joe B and Denny. Rick and Denny. The upset in Knoxville, Cedric Jenkins’s tip-in, Rex’s throwdown slam in front of Ali, The Passion of Pitino (either the Louisville return or the scandal version), Patrick Sparks’ free throws, Aaron Harrison’s dagger. This rivalry meant something. Don’t ask me — ask the publisher who let me write a book about it (shameless plug here). But a funny thing happened somewhere along the way.

Kentucky has always been big brother in the rivalry. But that didn’t mean Louisville wasn’t a fearsome enemy. With the hiring of Pitino, Louisville threatened to run away with the rivalry. Or at least bring the mutual loathing to another level. But maybe Big Blue Nation had suffered enough with Pitino’s traitorous move, per the basketball gods. Because it’d be hard to construct a fictional Hell as severe as the one Louisville landed in. Sure, Kentucky has had its own recent struggles. John Calipari hasn’t been to a Final Four since 2015, and the COVID season and a first-round upset to St. Peter’s aren’t exactly banner moments. But don’t think Louisville wouldn’t trade places in 15 seconds or less (sorry, Rick).

Here’s how we got here: Pitino Scandals I and II, which leave Louisville with 1 unvacated NCAA Tournament victory since 2009. A bit of a boost with the Chris Mack years. But then the hiring of Kenny Payne, just maybe in part designed to inflict a little more mayhem on upset UK fans who still revere the work Payne did as an assistant under John Calipari in Lexington. Don’t forget that Payne’s hiring was guaranteed (by some) to bring in heralded recruit DJ Wagner, whose grandfather, Milt,  played with Payne at Louisville and was promptly hired by Payne to work for the University. Well, DJ Wagner’s in Lexington, and Payne won’t be in Louisville much longer.

Payne — a first-time head coach now in Year 2 — has proved remarkably tone-deaf in dealing with his alma mater and with a group of players who increasingly look as if they’d rather be just about anywhere else. Consider the Koron Davis saga — anytime you have an on-roster player showing up and sitting in the stands to watch games, before engaging in a he-said-they-said with UofL about whether he wanted to be on the team — well, it’s not great. Not a great piece of timing with the transfer portal, either, as Payne’s 9-34 record guarantees him that any decent player won’t want to be anywhere near his program.

But about that losing. Seriously, 9-34? Pitino took over a 12-19 team when he came to Louisville and lost 35 games total in his first 4 years, with the 35th being in the Final Four. This year, his second, Payne will best last season’s 4-28 mark, but Louisville — with actual crowds dwindling to a good high school attendance total — can’t afford to wait that long. Maybe Payne should give Koron Davis credit — after all, he did sit in the Yum! Center and watch a Louisville game. Louisville basketball tickets — with the exception of Thursday’s game — almost can’t be given away. An evening at the nearby Whitney Performing Arts Center will feature a bigger crowd and a better outcome.

Even in football, the place where Kentucky is most vulnerable, the Wildcats have both tamed the Cardinals and made them afterthoughts. Kentucky limped into this season’s matchup at 6-5, while Louisville prepared for an ACC Championship. The Wildcats won the game — their 5th in a row in the series — and demonstrated why Louisville’s future is worse than UK’s. Given the realignment of conferences, another 9-3 UK season (UK managed that feat twice in recent years) might land the Wildcats in the CFP. Meanwhile, FSU and Clemson want out of the ACC. Louisville might need to go 13-0 in a post-Florida State and Clemson ACC to earn a spot … and let’s be honest, an ACC without Florida State and Clemson is basically a glorified, southern MAC.

Kentucky won this hoops game by 23 points a year ago and Louisville might be doing well to hang that close Thursday. There’s just not much here for UofL to hang its hat on in terms of a rivalry. Wait til baseball season? Women’s basketball (where Jeff Walz’s team is light years ahead of UK)?

For the biggest annual basketball game in the state of Kentucky, the Wildcats can walk in asking, “What rivalry?” And unless UofL pulls off a shocker to make them reconsider, things are unlikely to shift anytime soon.