The Louisville Cardinals are also known as the Cards, and are the athletic teams representing the University of Louisville, and are members of the Big East Conference since 2005. The football team has also gained national attention with a 38-11 record since 2004 and finishes in the top 6 in both the final Bowl Championship Series and AP polls in two of the last four seasons. On the gridiron, the Cardinals were the 2006 champions of the Big East Conference and the 2007 Orange Bowl. Their official uniform colors are red and black and the mascot is Cardinal Bird. The Louisville football program went to nine consecutive bowl games, under the guidance of head coaches John L. Smith from 1998 to 2002 and Bobby Petrino from 2003 to 2007. They spent 11 weeks in the AP Top 25, including a #17 final finish in 2000 under Coach Smith, and under Coach Petrino, they were ranked in all but three of the weekly AP polls since the beginning of the 2004 season. >> More