How Successful Has Louisville Been in Bowl Games?

With the regular season and conference championships now in the rear view mirror, bowl season will soon be in full swing, and the Louisville football program will be getting in on the postseason action.

In just a couple weeks, the Cardinals will make the trip to South Florida, where a matchup against Toledo in the Boca Raton Bowl is waiting for them. Kickoff between the Cardinals and Rockets is set for Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

This will be Louisville's 28th bowl game in their 107-year history, sporting a 13-13-1 record in the postseason. It's the Cardinals' first ever appearance in the Boca Raton Bowl, but their seventh appearance in bowl game located in Florida, sporting a 3-3 record in such games.

The majority of Louisville's 28 bowl game appearances have come in the last three decades, as 23 of them - including this year's - have come in the last 28 seasons. UofL is currently riding a five-year bowl streak.

Since 2010, the Cardinals have missed out on going bowling just twice: in 2018 during Bobby Petrino's final year, and during the 2020 COVID season under Scott Satterfield. Before Steve Kragthorpe's three-year tenure from 2007 to 2009, Louisville made it to nine straight bowls from 1998 to 2006 under John L. Smith and Petrino's first tenure.

While Louisville has made to bowl games with somewhat regularity since the turn of the millennium, sustained postseason success has been hard to come by. In fact, the Cards have won bowl games in back-to-back seasons just once in their program's history: the 2012 Sugar Bowl and 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl.

Louisville's last bowl win came just last season, when they took down Washington 35-34 in the Sun Bowl. Their first ever bowl appearance also came in the Sun Bowl, defeating Drake 34-20 back on Jan. 1, 1958.

Louisville's Complete Bowl History