All U of L teams have higher goals than beating LPT that are drilled into their heads. I enumerated these athletic departmental priorities awhile back, and winning the LPT basketball game was like ninth on the list--and behind winning, for example, an ACC championship in just about any sport. The LPT games for the U of L coaches involved have become a distraction, and I think most U of L coaches would tell you that the "rivalry" has outlived its usefulness in their sport from U of L's standpoint. The only exception would probably be Petrino because of the difference between the two programs.
What has changed is a good question... U of L's program evolution as a national power is probably the biggest. And I think within the State, it's a bigger deal for most kids and teams to go up against U of L. People wanna beat LPT because of old history and arrogance; they wanna beat U of L because they're the trend-setter in most sports, at least locally.
And to reiterate my prior point, there's no other rational way to explain, for example, the performance of either of LPT's basketball teams against U of L. Even the LPT football team does better against U of L than it should. U of L has clearly had the better team the last two years AND Petrino on the sidelines. Yet, both games were competitive into the 4th quarter. Again, don't tell me your NIT team was legitimately three points worse than U of L's championship team ON THE ROAD. That dog don't hunt.
At least I have eyes, a nose, and a SMART mouth.
"Elite program", my a$$...