The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville in 21 varsity sports. The Cardinals are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Louisville previously competed in Conference USA from 1995 through 2005, and the Big East Conference from 2005 through 2013. The Cardinals captured 17 regular season Big East titles and 33 Big East Tournament titles totaling 50 Big East Championships across all sports. On November 28, 2012, Louisville received and accepted an invitation to join the ACC and became a participating member in all sports in 2014. Since joining the ACC, the Cards have won 17 regular season ACC Championships and 2 ACC Tournament Championships across all sports.
Since 2000, Louisville is the only NCAA team to win a BCS bowl game; to appear in the NCAA Division I men's basketball Final Four, the College World Series, and the NCAA Division I women's basketball Final Four; and to finish as runner-up in the Men's soccer College Cup. It is one of only six schools that has appeared more than once in each of the following events—a BCS bowl game, the men's and women's basketball Final Fours, and the College World Series—and Louisville's span of seven school years (2006–07 to 2012–13) is the shortest among these schools. Also, it is the first school ever to win a BCS bowl game, appear in the men's and women's basketball Final Fours, and appear in the College World Series in the same school year, doing so in 2012–13. In 2016, Lamar Jackson won the Heisman Trophy, distinguishing him as the nation's best college football player, becoming the first Louisville player to win the award.
Louisville finished in the top 30 in the NACDA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup every year from 2014 to 2018 and earned its highest ever finish of 26th in 2017.
Varsity teams
Louisville competes in 21 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball.
Men's sports Women's sports Baseball Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Field hockey Football Golf Golf Lacrosse Soccer Rowing Swimming & diving Soccer Tennis Softball Track and field Swimming & diving Tennis Track and field Volleyball
Baseball
Team Established: 1909 All Time Record: 2,113–1,624–11 Playing Facility: Jim Patterson Stadium (2005) Head Coach: Dan McDonnell NCAA Tournament Appearances: 15 Last NCAA Appearance: 2025 College World Series Appearances: 5 (2007, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2025) Super Regional Appearances: 8 (2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2025) Conference Titles: 10 Conference Tournament Titles: 2 Drafted Players: 105 (as of 2025) Players In The MLB system: 24 (as of 2025)
The Louisville Cardinals baseball team was established in 1909. The program made its first NCAA tournament appearance in 2002 under Coach Lelo Prado.
In 2007, Louisville hired Dan McDonnell who immediately brought the program success. In his first season, the Cardinals won the first NCAA tournament game in program history, won an NCAA Regional, hosted its first Louisville Super Regional, and made its first College World Series appearance.
In Coach McDonnell's 19 seasons, Louisville has won two conference tournament championships, nine regular season conference championships, reached the NCAA tournament 15 times, won 10 NCAA regionals, and made six College World Series appearances.
The 2006 Baseball Cardinals broke the Big East Conference Tournament record with a .409 batting average.
In 2007, the Cardinals finished the season with a 47–24 record and ranked as high as 6th in some major polls while advancing to the College World Series for the first time in school history.
Men's basketball
National Championships 1980, 1986, 2013* Final Four Years 1959, 1972, 1975, 1980, 1982 1983, 1986, 2005, 2012*, 2013*
Team Established: 1911 All Time Record: 1,825–915 (66.6%) Playing Facility: KFC Yum! Center (2010) Court: Denny Crum Court (2007) Head Coach: NCAA Men's Basketball Championships: 2 (1980, 1986, 2013*) NCAA Final Fours: 10 NCAA tournament Appearances: 43 Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2019 Conference regular season Championships: 23 (7 Missouri Valley Conference, 12 Metro Conference, 1 Conference USA, 2 Big East, 1 American Athletic Conference) Conference Tournament Champions: 19 (2 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, 11 Metro Conference, 2 Conference USA, 3 Big East, 1 American Athletic Conference) NIT Appearances: 15 (Won 1956 NIT Championship) All-Americans: 21 Drafted Players: 70 Players In The NBA: 6 (Gorgui Dieng, Montrezl Harrell, Damion Lee, Donovan Mitchell, Terry Rozier, Ray Spalding)
Louisville'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, Hickman became the school's Athletics Director and hired then John Wooden assistant and future Hall of Famer Denny Crum, who led the team to two NCAA Division I basketball championships (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.
Women's basketball
The team was established in 1975. All Time Record : 876–491 (64.1%) Playing facility: KFC Yum! Center (2010) Head coach: Jeff Walz (401–108 in fifteen seasons) Conference titles: 10 (1983–84, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21) Conference Tournament titles: 8 (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1993, 2018) NCAA appearances: 24 Last NCAA appearance: 2022 All-Americans: 6 Drafted players: 19 (including 2009 #1 pick Angel McCoughtry 2014 first-rounder Shoni Schimmel and 2019 #2 pick Asia Durr) Final Four appearances: 4 (2009,2013,2018,2022)
Cheerleading
The cheerleading squads have won multiple championships with the large co-ed squad coached by James Speed winning 18 National Cheerleaders Association Collegiate National championships (1985–86, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998–99, 2003–09, 2011, 2016, 2018), the all-girl squad coached by Misty Hodges winning 18 championships (2001–05, 2007–09, 2011–12, 2014–2019, no competition 2020, 2021–22) and the small co-ed cheerleading squad winning 12 championships (2005–06, 2008–09, 2011, 2013–17, 2021–22). The University of Louisville Spirit Groups hold more national titles than any other sport offered at the university.
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 2006: Finished 15th at NCAA Championships 2007: Finished 9th at NCAA Championships Conference titles: 2 (2007, 2013)
Women's Conference titles: 1 (1996)
Field hockey Team Established: 1927 All Time Record: 334–373–16 (.462) Fall 2016 record: 15–6 Playing Facility: Trager Stadium (2000) Head Coach: Justine Sowry Conference Titles: 6 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013) Conference Tournament Titles: 4 (1977, 1978, 2003, 2004) NCAA Appearances: 6 Last NCAA Appearance: 2016 All-Americans: 7
The Louisville 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. Between 2015 and 2017 Ayeisha McFerran was named three times as an NFHCA All-American while playing for the women's field hockey team. She was also a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final and was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
Football
Team Established: 1912 All Time Record: 568–504–17 (.529) 2025 record: 9–4 Playing Facility: L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium (1998) Head Coach: Jeff Brohm Conference titles: 9 Bowl appearances: 28 Last bowl appearance: 2025 All-Americans: 29 Drafted players: 169 Players in the NFL: 34 Heisman Trophy winners: 1
1957 Sun Bowl Drake W 34–20 1970 Pasadena Bowl Long Beach State T 24–24 1977 Independence Bowl Louisiana Tech L 14–24 1990 Fiesta Bowl Alabama W 34–7 1993 Liberty Bowl Michigan State W 18–7 1998 Motor City Bowl Marshall L 29–48 1999 Humanitarian Bowl Boise State L 31–34 2000 Liberty Bowl Colorado State L 17–22 2001 Liberty Bowl BYU W 28–10 2002 GMAC Bowl Marshall L 15–38 2003 GMAC Bowl Miami (OH) L 28–49 2004 Liberty Bowl Boise State W 44–40 2005 Gator Bowl Virginia Tech L 24–35 2006 Orange Bowl (BCS) Wake Forest W 24–13 2010 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl Southern Miss W 31–28 2011 Belk Bowl NC State L 24–31 2012 Sugar Bowl (BCS) Florida W 33–23 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl Miami (FL) W 36–9 2014 Belk Bowl Georgia L 14–37 2015 Music City Bowl Texas A&M W 27–21 2016 Citrus Bowl LSU L 9–29 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl Mississippi State L 27–31 2019 Music City Bowl Mississippi State W 38–28 2021 First Responder Bowl Air Force L 28–31 2022 Fenway Bowl Cincinnati W 24–7 2023 Holiday Bowl USC L 28–42 2024 Sun Bowl Washington W 35–34 2025 Boca Raton Bowl Toledo W 27–22
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. After a three-year hiatus under Coach Kragthorpe from 2007 to 2009 Louisville has been to eight consecutive bowl games under Coaches Charlie Strong and Bobby Petrino.
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.