Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals ( also known as the Cards ) are the athletic teams representing the University of Louisville . Since becoming a member of the Big East Conference in 2005 , the Cardinals have captured 17 regular season Big East titles and 33 Big East Tournament titles totaling 50 Big East Championships across all sports . With their 2013 Sugar Bowl appearance against the Florida Gators , the Cardinal football team will become the only football team in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to have appeared in two Bowl Championship Series bowls , having defeated Wake Forest 24 - 13 in the 2007 Orange Bowl and Florida 33 - 23 in the 2013 Allstate Sugar Bowl . On November 28 , 2012 , Louisville received and accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference and will become a participating member in all sports in 2014 . Since 2000 the Cardinals are the only NCAA team to win a BCS bowl game ; to appear in the Men ' s basketball Final Four , the College Baseball World Series , and the women ' s basketball Final Four ; and to finish as runner - up in the Men ' s soccer College Cup . Under the guidance of Director of Athletics Tom Jurich , the Cardinals have seen substantial athletic and institutional growth , spending more than $ 150 million for sporting facility upgrades while maintaining strong fan support and Title IX compliance . U of L currently fields 13 women ' s teams and 10 men ' s teams . The total sales of U of L merchandise , tripling since 2001 , now rank 32nd nationally . U of L finished the 2010 - 11 year ranked 34th in the NACDA Learfield Sports Directors ' Cup . The 2011 - 12 season began with Louisville ranked 11th through the final fall standings . Louisville team sports . Baseball . The Louisville Cardinals Baseball team had a dream season in the 2007 season under the guidance of first year Head Coach Dan McDonnell . The Cardinals finished 47 – 24 and finished the season ranked as high as 6th in some major polls while advancing to the College World Series for the first time in school history . Throughout the NCAA Tournament the Cardinals were considered the Cinderella of the tournament and made national headlines for their powerful offensive play . Louisville also hosted an NCAA Super Regional for the first time in school history at Jim Patterson Stadium . Men ' s Basketball . UofL ' s basketball tradition was established by Muhlenberg County native , Coach Bernard " Peck " Hickman . The Cards never had a losing season in Hickman ' s 23 years , prior to his arrival the team had only had 11 winning seasons . In 1956 , Hickman ' s team won the NIT , then considered a national championship on a par with the NCAA tournament . After retiring he became the school ' s A . D . and hired , then John Wooden assistant and future Hall of Famer Denny Crum , who led the team to two NCAA ' s Division I basketball championships in 1980 and 1986 and six Final Fours . The men ' s basketball team currently ranks fifth in all - time NCAA Tournament wins and has been in the top five in average attendance each year since the 1982 – 83 season . Perennial rivals include the University of Kentucky , University of Cincinnati , and the University of Memphis . Over the past 12 years , Marquette University has also become a heated rival . The Cardinals ' hired Rick Pitino in 2001 . In the 2004 – 2005 season and 2011 – 2012 season Pitino led the Cardinals to the " Final Four " . Cheerleading . The cheerleading squads are a national powerhouse with the large co - ed squad winning 15 National Cheerleaders Association Collegiate National championships ( 1985 - 86 , 1989 , 1992 , 1994 , 1996 , 1998 - 99 , 2003 - 05 , 2007 - 09 , 2011 ) , the all girl squad winning 9 championships ( 1998 - 99 , 2001 - 05 , 2009 , 2011 ) and the small co - ed cheerleading squad winning 7 championships ( 2005 - 11 ) . The University of Louisville Spirit Groups hold more national titles than any other sport offered at the University . The teams are coached by James Speed , Todd Sharp , Misty Hodges . The Cardinal Bird Mascot also falls under the jurisdiction of the University of Louisville Spirit Groups . The " Bird " also competes with the cheerleaders in national competitions and makes regular appearances in the Louisville Metro Area . Cross Country . Men ' s CC 2006 : Finished 15th at NCAA Championships 2007 : Finished 9th at NCAA Championships Field hockey . The UofL women ' s field hockey team received the NFHCA Division I National Academic Team Award for their 3 . 65 GPA , which was the highest in the nation . The team also won two MAC tourney titles in 2003 and 2004 and finished one game back in their first Big East season . Football . Under the guidance of head coaches John L . Smith ( 1998 – 2002 ) and Bobby Petrino ( 2003 – 2007 ) , the Louisville football program went to nine consecutive bowl games , a streak that ended in the 2007 season . Under Coach Smith , the Cardinals spent 11 weeks in the AP Top 25 , including a # 17 final finish in 2000 . Under Coach Petrino , the Cardinals were ranked in all but three of the weekly AP polls since the beginning of the 2004 season . This includes a # 6 final finish in both 2004 and 2006 , as well as a # 19 final finish in 2005 . In the 2004 season , the Cardinals went 11 – 1 and won the Conference USA Championship ; their only loss was against third - ranked Miami , a game in which the Cardinals led by 17 in the third quarter before falling . The Cardinals went to the Liberty Bowl , where they defeated # 10 - ranked and previously - undefeated Boise State . In 2005 , the Cardinals finished 9 – 3 after falling to Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl and completed the season ranked # 19 in the AP Poll and # 20 in the Coaches ' Poll . In 2006 , the Cardinals began the season ranked # 13 in the AP poll and finished the season with a 12 – 1 record , their first Big East Conference title and completed the season with a 24 - 13 victory over the Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl . The Cards finished the 2006 season ranked # 6 in the AP Poll and # 7 in the Coaches Poll , while being ranked # 6 in the Bowl Championship Series Poll . On January 9 , 2007 , Steve Kragthorpe was introduced as the new head coach of the Cardinals , within 48 hours after Bobby Petrino announced his departure to take the head coaching position with the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League . The Cardinals went 6 – 6 in Kragthorpe ' s first season and the second season 5 – 7 . He was fired after his third season ( 2009 ) ended with a disappointing 4 - 8 record . Kragthorpe ' s replacement is Charlie Strong , formerly the defensive coordinator at Florida , and the second African American to head the Cardinals program . None of the football program ' s recent success would have been possible without the vision and efforts of former Kentucky All - American and national champion coach ( at the University of Miami ) Howard Schnellenberger , who was the head coach from 1985 – 1994 . His greatest achievement at U of L was a 34 – 7 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl ( Alabama finished 7 - 5 ) , which culminated in U of L ' s first national ranking ( 11th ) and a 10 – 1 – 1 record . The University of Louisville football program ' s home is Papa John ' s Cardinal Stadium . Soccer . Men ' s . Louisville Finishes Historic Season as NCAA Runner - Up The top - ranked Louisville men ' s soccer team fell 1 - 0 to Akron in the 2010 NCAA national championship game in front of 9 , 672 in Santa Barbara , Calif . The Cardinals , who appeared in the College Cup for the first time in program history , finished the season with a 20 - 1 - 3 overall record . Prior to reaching the NCAA Tournament , Louisville won the BIG EAST Red Division regular - season title and captured the BIG EAST Tournament title . < http : / / www . uoflsports . com / sports / m - soccer / lou - m - soccer - body . html > On February 21 , 2013 , U of L announced that it would build a new soccer - only stadium on campus . The new stadium , with a capacity of 5 , 300 , is set to open for the 2014 season , and will be known as Dr . Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium , after the married couple who donated $ 5 million toward the $ 17 . 5 million project . Volleyball . Volleyball has traditionally been one of UofL ' s most successful programs , led for 15 years by head coach Leonid Yelin , whose . 772 career winning percentage ranked 9th among active coaches prior to his retirement after the 2010 season . He was replaced by former U of L player Anne Kordes , who had spent the previous seven seasons as head coach at Saint Louis . During the 2005 season , UofL was ranked as high as # 6 en route to a 30 - 3 record , a regular season tie for the Big East title , and a second straight trip to the Sweet 16 . In the most recent 2012 season , the team averaged 2 , 341 fans while playing mainly at the KFC Yum ! Center . Their traditional home of Cardinal Arena , with 840 seats , has become too small for the team ' s current popularity , with fans turned away at several games . While U of L has sought state funding to expand Cardinal Arena to better meet fan demands and prevent unsafe " standing room only " crowds , it has more recently opted to move full - time into the KFC Yum ! Center ; of its 19 home matches in the 2012 season , 15 were scheduled for that facility . U of L also hosted both the 2005 Big East Volleyball tournament and the first two rounds of NCAA volleyball tournament at the Kentucky International Expo Center in Downtown Louisville , and will host the Women ' s Final Four in 2012 at the KFC Yum ! Center . In 2005 , two Cardinals , seniors Lena Ustymenko and Jennifer Hoffman , were named second team All - American . Previously only one Big East volleyball player had been named an All - American . Ustymenko was also named the 2005 Big East player of the year and Hoffman led the nation in hitting percentage in the Card ' s 6 - 2 offense . The program has won 15 of its last 16 conference titles ( with another in 1983 ) and has been to the NCAA tourney 17 times since 1982 , with 47 players making their all - conference team . The team has a 157 – 19 all - time record at Cardinal Arena , and is 17 – 6 at the KFC Yum ! Center . Director ' s Cup . The University of Louisville has risen from 174th in the Director ' s Cup standings in 1999 - 2000 to 28th in 2006 - 2007 . U of L finished the 2010 - 2011 year ranked 34th in the NACDA Learfield Sports Directors ' Cup . The 2011 - 12 season began with Louisville ranked 11th through the final fall standings . Fan Support . Attendance ranks are based on average per home game . Radio affiliates . see : List of Louisville Cardinals radio affiliates The broadcast team for Louisville men ' s basketball is Paul Rogers ( play - by - play ) and Bob Valvano or Doug Ormay ( color analyst ) . The broadcast team for Louisville football is Paul Rogers ( play - by - play ) ; Joe Tronzo ( color analyst ) and Doug Ormay ( sideline reporter ) . U of L games are broadcast in Lexington KY on WWRW 105 . 5 FM and WKRD 790 AM & 101 . 7 - Louisville , KY ( Flagship Station ) For Women ' s basketball , Women ' s Play by play is provided by Jim Kelch , with Adrienne Johnson as the color analyst . All Women ' s Basketball games are heard on WKRD 790 AM or on FM 101 . 7 in Louisville . SIRIUS Satellite Radio Louisville Broadcasts . SIRIUS Satellite Radio , Nelligan Sports Marketing , the University of Louisville and CSTV : College Sports Television announced an agreement on Jan . 10 , 2005 , making SIRIUS the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the University of Louisville . SIRIUS will broadcast select play - by - play sports of Louisville ' s nationally ranked college basketball and football teams Rivalries . The Louisville Cardinals rivalry with the Kentucky Wildcats is widely considered one of the most intense college rivalries in the United States . It is also one of the few rivalries to be equally intense in basketball and football , and practically every other sport as well . The men ' s basketball game is called the Battle for the Bluegrass ; the football game is officially called the Governor ' s Cup . In the early years after the rivalry resumed whoever would win the football game would go on to lose the basketball game . In 2003 Louisville broke that tradition by winning both the football and basketball game . Since then , Kentucky has completed the double twice , in the 2009 - 2010 and the 2010 - 2011 seasons . Unlike many in - state rivalries that have been played continuously for many decades , these two schools went through a long period from the 1930s to the 1980s of rarely facing each other . They did play frequently from the 1900s to 1920 ' s . Since the renewal of the men ' s basketball rivalry in 1983 – 84 UK leads the modern rivalry 18 - 11 and 27 - 14 overall . Since the two teams resumed playing football in 1994 , U of L leads 11 - 8 but UK leads overall 14 - 11 . Louisville ' s other rivals include the University of Cincinnati , Marquette University .