It is finally here! July 1, 2014. The University of Louisville is an official member of the Atlantic Coast Conference! Not the Big East. Not the American Athletic Conference. This is the ACC! Back in November of 2012, it was announced that this move would happen. The date seemed so far away. We would have to endure a season in the American Athletic Conference, but we did it. The schedules were less than stellar, but we made it. Now we enter a whole new ballpark.
In basketball, Louisville joins what could possibly be the best basketball conference ever assembled. The Big East had some awesome years and was consistently the best basketball conference. This version of the ACC could be even better. With Louisville, you will also have Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Virginia, and more.
Gone are the football seasons where our biggest conference opponents at home are Memphis, Houston, and South Florida. Now the Cards will face teams like Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, and more. It will be unlike any football schedule we have seen at Louisville. There were some good schedules when we were Independent, and the Big East even had a very good year in 2006 when Louisville, West Virginia, and Rutgers were all at their peak. But this will be the best conference the Cards have been in top to bottom.
Even baseball and all of the other sports at UofL are entering a very good league. We just saw Virginia make it to the finals of the College World Series. Notre Dame women’s basketball is one of the top programs in the country. (Side note, we are finally escaping UConn’s women’s basketball team!) Every other Olympic Sport at the University will have competitive schedules.
Every time I look at the football schedule for 2014, I just can’t believe it. In recent years, we have had 1 or 2 marquee-type games. Sometimes we hyped a team up to be better than they really were, just so we think we had a big opponent. That won’t be the case anymore. We play Miami and Florida State at home. We go on the road to face Clemson and Notre Dame. These are programs with rich tradition and prestige. This won’t be like going on the road to face UConn or Temple.
Just check this out…
It is a new era in Louisville Cardinals athletics. And today is just the beginning. Enjoy it Cards fans. You’ve earned it!
