College Basketball - Big East Conference
Louisville Cardinals
| Location: Louisville, KY University Founded: 1798 Enrollment: 21,841  Nickname: Cardinals Mascot: Cardinal School Colors: Red and black Joined the Big East: 2005 Varsity Sports: 20 U. President: Dr. James R. Ramsey Director of Athletics: Lisa Crespo Basketball Head Coach: Rick Pitino Basketball Arena: Freedom Hall Current Capacity: 18,865 |
Louisville has made 35 NCAA Tournament appearances. This alone ranks them 5th all-time among Division I programs. The Cardinals have reached the NCAA Tournament 24 of the last 31 years, what's even more, they have played in March Madness in six of the previous nine seasons. The Cards have reached the Sweet 16 on 23 occasions. Louisville has reached the Final Four eight times.
The Battle for the Bluegrass is an annual game played between the Cardinals and their main rival the University of Kentucky; other rivals are West Virginia, and Marquette.
Eighteen Cardinal players have earned the All-America status and 57 players have been drafted in the NBA annual draft. The team’s arena Freedom Hall has been named as the Best Playing Floor in the nation, the arena has been the scenario of six NCAA Final Fours, four additional NCAA events and ten conference tournaments
The Louisville Cardinals fans are among the most devoted to any basketball team. They have been in the Top 5 nationally in average home game attendance during the last 22 seasons. This many fans have made the Cardinals the most profitable college basketball program in the nation for three straight years.
Valued at $24.4 million, Louisville's basketball team is ranked third on Forbes.com's The Most Valuable College Basketball Teams list. The Cardinals went 31-6 overall and held a 16-2 mark in conference games for 2008-2009 season. They made it all the way up the Elite Eigh in March Madness. As of mid February 2010 the Cardinals are 9-5 in conference play in the Big East Conference.
Louisville 2009/2010 Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Time/Result |
| 17-Nov | vs. Arkansas | W 96-66 |
| 21-Nov | East Tennessee State | W 69-56 |
| 22-Nov | Morgan State | W 90-81 |
| 23-Nov | Appalachian State | W 80-53 |
| 28-Nov | at UNLV | L 76-71 |
| 2-Dec | Stetson | W 80-48 |
| 5-Dec | Charlotte | L 87-65 |
| 12-Dec | Western Carolina | L 91-83 |
| 16-Dec | Oral Roberts | W 94-57 |
| 19-Dec | Western Kentucky | W 102-75 |
| 23-Dec | Louisiana-Lafayette | W 84-69 |
| 27-Dec | Radford | W 79-53 |
| 30-Dec | South Florida | W 73-52 |
| 2-Jan | at No. 3 Kentucky | L 71-62 |
| 6-Jan | at Providence | W 92-70 |
| 9-Jan | St. John's | W 75-68 |
| 11-Jan | No. 4 Villanova | L 92-84 |
| 16-Jan | at No. 20 Pittsburgh | L 82-77 |
| 21-Jan | at Seton Hall | L 80-77 |
| 24-Jan | Cincinnati | W 68-60 |
| 30-Jan | at No. 9 West Virginia | L 77-74 |
| 1-Feb | Connecticut | W 82-69 |
| 6-Feb | Rutgers | W 76-60 |
| 11-Feb | at St. John's | 7:00 PM ET |
| 14-Feb | at No. 3 Syracuse | 1:00 PM ET |
| 17-Feb | Notre Dame | 7:00 PM ET |
| 20-Feb | at DePaul | 2:00 PM ET |
| 23-Feb | No. 8 Georgetown | 7:00 PM ET |
| 28-Feb | at Connecticut | 2:00 PM ET CBS |
| 2-Mar | at Marquette | 9:30 PM ET |
| 6-Mar | No. 3 Syracuse | 2:00 PM ET |