Where Do Early 2024 Bowl Projections Have Louisville Playing?
![Dec 27, 2023; San Diego, CA, USA; A detailed view of a Louisville Cardinals player wearing a Holiday Bowl patch during the second half against the USC Trojans at Petco Park. Dec 27, 2023; San Diego, CA, USA; A detailed view of a Louisville Cardinals player wearing a Holiday Bowl patch during the second half against the USC Trojans at Petco Park.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5028,h_2828,x_0,y_524/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/louisville_report/01j3ng8nw4ks1qsnh49f.jpg)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - We might still another month until the start of of the 2024 college football season, but even still, way-too-early bowl projections are beginning to surface.
Louisville is coming off of an incredibly successful first season under head coach Jeff Brohm, going 10-4 and making their first ever appearance in the ACC Championship Game. With the players they are brining back, and how well they navigated the transfer portal, they're positioning themselves to potentially make another run at Charlotte.
So with that in mind, where are some of these preseason bowl projections penciling in the Cardinals? Well, three different outlets have produced three different bowl draws.
Late last month, The Sporting News projected that Louisville would square off against Maryland in the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28. The Cardinals have never played in the Pinstripe Bowl, which takes place at Yankee Stadium in New York City, and are 1-3 all-time against the Terrapins. However, Louisville holds the last win in the series - a 31-0 shutout at Old Cardinal Stadium on Oct. 28, 1995.
When the calendar flipped to July, 247Sports published their preseason bowl projections, and they have the Cards facing TCU in the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve. Louisville's first every bowl appearance came in the Sun Bowl, which is held in El Paso, Tex., taking down Drake 34-20 on New Year's Day 1958. Like with Maryland, the Cardinals are also 1-3 against the Horned Frogs but have the last win in the all-time series, taking them down 55-28 on Nov. 10, 2004 from then-Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Most recently, Athlon Sports released their projections roughly two weeks ago, and have Louisville taking on Rutgers in the Duke's Mayo Bowl on Friday, Jan. 3. Taking place at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., Louisville has twice played in the Duke's Mayo Bowl when it was known as the Belk Bowl, losing 31-24 to NC State in 2011 and 37-14 to Georgia in 2014. Being former Big East conference cohorts, the Cardinals have a 6-7 all-time record against the Scarlet Knights.
The Cardinals will kick off their 2024 season against Austin Peay on Saturday, Aug. 31 from L&N Stadium.
(Photo via Orlando Ramirez - USA TODAY Sports)
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