Louisville Cardinals

Louisville Cardinals
The Louisville Cardinals is an athletic team that is also known as the Cards. This team represents the University of Louisville. It is a member of the Big East Conference, and it plays nationally as a traditional force in men's basketball and women's volleyball.

Recent years have seen the football team gaining national recognition as well. It has a 32-5 record since 2004. It has also recently finished in the top 6 of the final Bowl Championship Series and AP polls. The Cardinals were the 2006 champions of the Big East Conference as well as the 2007 Orange Bowl.

The Louisville Cardinals fanbase is huge in the Louisville area and Western Kentucky. The fanbase is particularly immense in cities such as Paducah, Bowling Green, and Owensboro. This fanbase has spread to other parts of state in recent years as well, particularly in Northern Kentucky and the Lexington/Frankfort regions. The Louisville Cardinals also has cable tv and radio affiliates statewide.Gross sales of The Louisville Cardinals merchandise is 3 times more that it was in 2001. Its sales now rank 32nd nationally. The institution has spent more than $150 million [complete private funding] to upgrade its sports facilities. Since 2004, it has taken conference titles in 8 sports. It presently fields 13 women's teams and 10 men's teams.

Football:
With head coaches John L. Smith [1998-2002] and Bobby Petrino [2003-2007], the Louisville football program has seen nine successive bowl games. With Coach Smith, the Cardinals had 11 weeks in the AP Top 25. This included a number 17 final finish in 2000.With Coach Petrino, the team was ranked in all weekly AP polls [except 3] since the start of the 2004 season. This also encompasses a number 6 final finish to seasons 2004 and 2006. It also had a number 19 final finish in 2005.The Cardinals won the Conference USA Championship in the 2004 season 11-1. In the Liberty Bowl, it beat number 10-ranked and undefeated Boise State. The Cardinals finished 9-3 after losing to Virginia Tech in 2005 in the Gator Bowl. It ranked 19 that season in the AP Poll and 20 according to the Coaches' Poll.

In the 2006 season, the Cardinals started the season off at rank number 13 in the AP poll. It wound up the season with a 12-1 record. This was the team's first Big East Conference title, and it ended with securing a 24-13 victory over the Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest Demon Deacons. This took place in the FedEx Orange Bowl. The team ended the 2006 season at rank number 6 in the AP Poll. It ranked number 7 in the Coaches Poll, while in the Bowl Championship Series Poll it stood at number 6.

Volleyball:
Volleyball has for a long time been a UofL successful program. It is headed by coach Leonid Yelin, who has one of the best career winning percentages [9]. In the 2005 season, UofL ranked at number 6 and the team went to a 30-3 record. The team also had to its credit an average attendance of 1,215 per match. This was at the team's 840 seat Cardinal Arena, and many fans could not be permitted for several games due to overcrowding.

The UofL is in the process of seeking state funding to enlarge their arena for the sake of accommodating their fans. The UofL also held both the 2005 Big East Volleyball tournament, as well as the first two rounds of the NCAA volleyball tournament at.