- Football Cards defeat Wake Forest 24-13 in U of L’s first Bowl College Series game and first appearance in the Orange Bowl, finishing the season with a 12-1 won-lost record, ranked sixth in the final Associated Press poll.
- Baseball Cards advance to the Final Four of the College World Series for the first time ever, rekindling a long lost love for the game of baseball for many local fans. U of L posted a 47-25 won-lost record while finishing among the top 10 in the major polls.
- Ground is broken for $450 million-plus downtown arena for U of L men’s and women’s basketball teams. Completion is expected in time for the 2010-2011 season.
- Football expansion committee approves design for 23,000-seat addition to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
- Bobby Petrino accepts head coaching position with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, after indicating for the fourth straight year that Louisville is where he wants to be.
- Quarterback Brian Brohm announces he will return to play his senior year of football at U of L, foregoing a certain first-round draft pick.
- Tulsa’s Steve Kragthorpe is hired as head football coach
- Jeff Walz is hired as Lady Cards basketball coach, succeeding Tom Collen who departs for Arkansas.
- Angel McCoughtry of the Lady Cards is the leading scorer as the United States captures the Gold Medal in the Pan American Games.
- Men’s track and field team finishes seventh in NCAA championship competition.
- Tom Jurich is named Athletic Director of the Year by Street & Smith Magazine.
- Michael Bush makes it official, will forego senior year for the NFL draft.
- David Padgett re-injures knee, putting basketball career in doubt.
- Juan Palacios incurs still another injury, to miss several basketball games.
- Basketball team steamrolls Stanford in first round of NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena; loses squeaker to a Billy Gillispie-coached team in the second round.
- Women’s volleyball team loses to Middle Tennessee in the first round of NCAA Tournament for a second straight year.
- Wide receiver Harry Douglas plays his final football game at U of L, teaming up with Brian Brohm to spark a dramatic come-from-behind win over Rutgers.
- Samardo Samuels, one of America’s top high school prospects, commits to play basketball at U of L.
- Men’s soccer team advances to NCAA Tournament, defeating Duke before losing to Ohio State in Coach Ken Lolla’s first season.
- Women’s golf team finishes among top 10 in the NCAA Tournament.
- Men’s golf team finishes 27th in NCAA Tournament.
- Mario Urrutia declares he will skip his senior football season, hoping to beat the odds for an NFL career.
By Charlie Springer
Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.
2 thoughts on “Top U of L Sports Stories in 2007”
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2007 started off nice for UL football with the victory over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl. The Cardinals then went on to the NCAA’s in basketball, on the behalf of beating my Mountaineers in the Big East Tournament Second Round. The latter part of 2007 wasn’t too kind to UL football or basketball, but starting tonight there’s always New Years Resolutions. Good Luck in 08 Cards!
Very nice analysis of the year past. Can’t forget about Peanut Whitehead though. He was supposed to be the lineman of the future and has possibly suffered a career ending injury. It also seems that the list looks like it is in order of importance, so the Kragthorpe hire should probably be higher up on the list. Not for good reasons though. He is important because he might have set the football program back many years or maybe even decades. I hope he turns it around with a new OC and DC.