As we count down the minutes to signing day and wade through Chubba Watch 2.0, we thought we’d do something a little lighter before all the craziness hits later tonight and tomorrow. Let’s rank all 22 of Louisville’s bowl games.
#22 1970 Pasadena Bowl
Louisville 24 – Long Beach State 24
There’s a reason ties aren’t a thing in college football anymore. They’re awful. Tying with a school that doesn’t have a football team anymore? Even worse. While I’m sure Louisville’s second ever bowl game was an exciting one, the Lee Corso-led Missouri Valley champions traveled across the country and back to achieve the same result that they would have had they stayed home. Because of this, it ranks last.
#21 2016 Citrus Bowl
LSU 29 – Louisville 9
This game was the final game of the collapse. What better way to cap off a three-game skid that included a humiliating road loss to Houston and a massive upset to Kentucky than seeing the Louisville exposed Louisville o-line get their teeth get kicked in one last time? While the game was awful in itself, the sting of seeing what had been some of the highest of highs the program had ever seen come crashing down in such bizarre fashion was certainly worse. Everything pre-Houston was incredible. Everything until Scott Satterfield arrived on campus, not so much.
#20 2002 GMAC Bowl
Marshall 38 – Louisville 15
Byron Leftwich murdered us. The score should have been 38-7, but with 13 seconds left Dave Ragone connected with Tiger Jones for a touchdown. Louisville then converted the saddest 2-point conversion imaginable to make the final score 38-15. 23-points remains tied for the largest bowl defeat in school history.
#19 2014 Belk Bowl
Georgia 37 – Louisville 14
“Who tied the record?” you ask? Why that would be Nick Chubb and the Georgia Bulldogs. UGA rolled over Louisville to the tune of 291 yards. Chubb’s 269 rushing yards was a career-high, SEC bowl record, marked his eighth-straight 100-yard rushing game, and was the second-highest single game rushing total in Georgia history. Fun times.
#18 2003 GMAC Bowl
Miami (OH) 49 – Louisville 28
Ben Roethlisberger was a real jerk. Like a 376 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs kind of jerk.
#17 1998 Motor City Bowl
Marshall 48 – Louisville 29
Chad Pennington was a real jerk. Like a 411 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs kind of jerk. I would have ranked this game lower if it weren’t for John L. Smith’s massive turnaround job after Ron Cooper and the Cardinals hit rock bottom the year before.
#16 2011 Belk Bowl
N.C. State 31 – Louisville 24
This game was a frustrating one for many reasons including questionable officiating and a 31-10 hole Louisville had to try to climb out of. But the real reason this game sucked was because of the guy sitting next to me who wore a cartoon wolf on his head and screamed ‘WOOOOOOOOOOLFFFF PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCK” in my ear the entire game. I hate that guy, this game, and the city of Charlotte.
#15 1977 Independence Bowl
Louisiana Tech 21 – Louisville 14
I honestly had no idea where to put this game.
#14 2001 Liberty Bowl
Colorado State 22 – Louisville 17
Same goes for this one.
#13 2017 Gator Bowl
Mississippi State 31 – Louisville 27
Seeing Mississippi State enjoy being on the better end of Sirmon v. Grantham was not fun. Seeing Lamar throw four interceptions and look human for one of the only times I can remember was also not fun.
#12 2006 Gator Bowl
Virginia Tech 35 – Louisville 24
This game had all the makings of a rivalry being born. Even without Brian Brohm, Louisville led the entire game until VT took the lead for good with six minutes left in the game. The exciting game was marred by Virginia Tech’s 97 yards in penalties and multiple personal foul penalties between the teams. Although it was not called a penalty in the game, the most memorable moment of the game came when Marcus Vick intentionally stomped on the back of Elvis Dumervil’s leg. Marcus Vick would be dismissed from the team weeks later after multiple incidents, including the Dumervil stomp. Vick claimed he apologized after the game, but Dumervil denies this ever happened. After joining the ACC, the conference gave Louisville Virginia as its permanent crossover opponent, not VT, which is lame.
#11 1999 Humanitarian Bowl
Boise State 34 – Louisville 31
For some reason whenever Boise State and Louisville meet in post-season football, it’s an instant classic. While this game doesn’t quite touch the 2004 Liberty Bowl, it was still exciting, nonetheless. Neither team led by more than four points throughout the entire game, and Boise took the lead for good with a Davy Malaythong five yard touchdown run with five minutes left in the game. This would be Boise’s first D-I bowl win, but Louisville would exact their revenge only a few years later.
#10 2001 Liberty Bowl
Louisville 28 – BYU 10
22nd-ranked Louisville cruised to victory after slowing down #17 BYU’s Brandon Doman and Dave Ragone threw for 3 TDs. The Cardinal’s 11th victory marked the programs most wins in a single season at the time.
#9 1958 Sun Bowl
Louisville 34 – Drake 20
Even with star running back Lenny Lyles' game-ending injury on the first play, Louisville won the game handily behind Ken Porco’s 119 rushing yards and TD in the program’s first bowl appearance.
#8 1993 Liberty Bowl
Louisville 18 – Michigan State 7
After two quick scores in the first eight minutes of the game, Michigan State led 7-3 for most of the game. Neither team scored points again until Jeff Brohm connected with Reggie Ferguson with twelve minutes left in the game. This score would spark a 15-0 run to end the game and secure Louisville’s third ever bowl win.
#7 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl
Louisville 36 – Miami (FL) 9
The Cardinals’ G5 curtain call was a fun one as Teddy Bridgewater and Devante Parker lit up the scoreboard one last time together. While the win was an exciting one, as was the ACC debut against Miami 8 months later, one can’t help but think “what could have been?” had Louisville beaten UCF a few games earlier.
#6 2015 Music City Bowl
Louisville 27 – Texas A&M 21
This game put Lamar Jackson on the map and laid the foundation for his Heisman year the following season. The Cards were able to hold off A&M's offense who were threatening to score on the last drive of the game. Lamar became the third quarterback to throw and rush for over 200 yards in a game, Joining Vince Young (2006) and Johnny Manziel (2012).
#5 2010 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl
Louisville 31 – Southern Mississippi 28
While this certainly was not the most newsworthy or high-profile game Louisville’s ever played in, it is certainly one of the most beloved games among Louisville fans. Seeing first year head coach Charlie Strong and his rag-tag group of players scrape together six wins and a bowl win after three hellish seasons with Kragthorpe was nothing short of exhilarating. While the roster didn’t boast Heisman Trophy winners or All-Americans, winning this game indoors, on shag carpet, in Florida was one Louisville fans won’t soon forget.
#4 1991 Fiesta Bowl
Louisville 34 – Alabama 7
While Alabama certainly was a shell of its former self and did not have a gaudy record entering the game, they should not have been beaten, let alone dominated on national television, by the small D-I independent basketball school Louisville was at the time. This marked a huge turning point for the program as Louisville began to invest more and more into its football program with Howard Schnellenberger at the helm.
#3 2007 Orange Bowl
Louisville 24 - Wake Forest 13
The 2006-07 Louisville Cardinals certainly have their seat at the table with the 2013-14 and 2004-05 teams as the best teams in school history. If it weren’t for a disastrous loss in Piscataway a few weeks earlier, the Cardinals may have been playing for the national championship that year. Instead, Louisville faced the ACC’s champion, which oddly/disappointingly enough was Wake Forest. The game was Louisville’s first BCS game and win, but the game itself was not terribly exciting.
#2 2004 Liberty Bowl
Louisville 44 – Boise State 40
While winning a Liberty Bowl does not carry the weight that a Fiesta Bowl or Orange Bowl win does, this game arguably featured better teams due to it being the highest ranked non-BCS game that year and it featured two top-10 teams. The game lived up to its hype as both teams traded blows for all four quarters. The game was finally sealed after Kerry Rhodes secured the game-winning interception. Louisville would finish the season with its highest final AP ranking in school history, #6.
#1 2013 Sugar Bowl
Louisville 33 – Florida 23
Heading into this game it appeared Louisville had no business being there. Louisville was ranked #21 in the BCS poll and were the champions of the declining Big East. Meanwhile, Florida was ranked #3 and felt that they’d been snubbed from playing in the BCS National Championship game. There weren't many who believed Louisville had a chance to be there as Kirk Herbstreit and David Pollack famously claimed the Cardinals had “no shot” at winning the game during the pre-game festivities. What happened over the next four quarters was pure magic and the final score didn’t even reflect the level of dominance Louisville asserted. This was Louisville’s biggest win on the biggest stage in the program’s history at the time, and it deservedly sits atop this list.
