It was announced today that the Louisville Cardinals and Purdue Boilermakers, will play in the season opener of the 2017 season at Lucas Oil Stadium. This is the 2nd meeting all time between the two programs. The news was broken by ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy earlier today.
The first meeting between the programs ended in a 22-22 tie in 1987. The Boilermakers aren’t known as a football school, but it’s great to see in the area. This is the 2nd of four non-conference games always scheduled for the 2017 Louisville team. Louisville plays Auburn to open the season in 2016 for the Chick-Fil-A kickoff game.
Last season, the Cardinals finished with a 9-4 record but fell to Georgia in their bowl game. The Boilermakers finished out the year with a disappointing 3-9 record and didn't earn a bowl bid. Purdue will have higher expectations for the upcoming season, but a bowl bid still might be a longshot. If Louisville doesn't make a bowl this season, it will be a huge problem for the program.
Louisville was even recently named to ESPN’s “Too-Early Top 25 Preseason poll”, they clocked in at the 25th position. Both Purdue and Louisville will benefit from playing this game. Neither team is too far from each other, so expect tons of fans from both teams packing up Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.