Feb. 25, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -
The BIG EAST Conference released the 2008 football schedule for its eight member schools on Monday. The Cardinals will have a school record eight home games under head coach second-year head coach Steve Kragthorpe and will play seven schools that went to bowl games in 2007.
The Cardinals, annually one of college football's top television ratings draws, have four games already scheduled for national telecast.
The seven bowl teams are: Kentucky (Music City), Connecticut (CarCare),
Memphis (New Orleans), South Florida (Sun Bowl), Cincinnati, (Papa
John's) West Virginia (Fiesta) and Rutgers (International).
The Cardinals kickoff the 2008 season at home against in-state rival
Kentucky on a date that should be finalized in the upcoming days.
After opening the season versus the Wildcats, the Cardinals will host
Tennessee Tech just six days later at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. It
will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1961.
After an 11-day layoff, the Cardinals will host Big 12 foe Kansas State
on Wednesday, September 17 on ESPN2. The game was moved to Wednesday
because of the 2008 Ryder Cup, which will be hosted at Valhalla Country
Club. The Cardinals defeated the Wildcats, 24-6, in 2006.
Louisville opens its fourth season in BIG EAST at home on September 27
with a visit from Connecticut. It's the fourth straight home contest for
the Cardinals to begin the 2008 season.
The Cardinals hit the road for the first time in 2008 when they resume
their long-standing rivalry with former league foe Memphis at the
Liberty Bowl on Friday, October 10 in a nationally-televised game. It
will be the first meeting since the 2004 season -- their last in
Conference USA.
Louisville will return home on Saturday, October 18 to host Middle
Tennessee and will resume BIG EAST action on Saturday, October 25 when
the Bulls of South Florida visit Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
After playing six of their first seven games at home, the Cardinals
will play two straight BIG EAST Conference games on the road. Louisville
plays at Syracuse on Saturday, November 1 and at Pittsburgh on Saturday,
November 8.
Louisville will have a short turnaround the following week, as the
Cardinals return home to face Cincinnati on Friday, November 14 on
ESPN2. The Cardinals stay home the following weekend on Saturday,
November 22 to face Fiesta Bowl champion West Virginia.
After a 12-day layoff, the Cardinals close out the regular season with
a Thursday night ESPN performance on December 4 against Rutgers.
The Cardinals, 6-6 last season, will open spring practice on Wednesday,
March 19. The Spring Game is scheduled for Friday, April 18 at 7:30
p.m.
2008 Louisville Football Schedule
| Date |
Opponent |
Location |
TV |
Time |
TBA |
KENTUCKY |
PJCS |
TBA |
TBA |
Sat., Sept. 6 |
TENNESSEE TECH |
PJCS |
TBA |
TBA |
Wed., Sept. 17 |
KANSAS STATE |
PJCS |
ESPN2 |
8:00 p.m. |
Sat., Sept. 27 |
CONNECTICUT |
PJCS |
TBA |
TBA |
Fri., Oct. 10 |
at Memphis |
Memphis, Tenn. |
ESPN |
8:00 p.m. |
Sat., Oct. 18 |
MIDDLE TENNESSEE |
PJCS |
TBA |
TBA |
Sat., Oct. 25 |
USF |
PJCS |
TBA |
TBA |
Sat., Nov. 1 |
at Syracuse |
Syracuse, N.Y. |
TBA |
TBA |
Sat., Nov. 8 |
at Pittsburgh |
Pittsburgh, Pa. |
TBA |
TBA |
Fri., Nov. 14 |
CINCINNATI |
PJCS |
ESPN2 |
8:00 p.m. |
Sat., Nov. 22 |
WEST VIRGINIA |
at PJCS |
TBA |
TBA |
Thurs., Dec. 4 |
at Rutgers |
Piscataway, N.J. |
ESPN |
TBA |
All times and dates subject to change for TV
More times and TV information will be added at a later date