Louisville Head Coach Charlie Strong has yet to return the football program to the powerhouse status it enjoyed under Bobby Petrino; however, he has posted 14 wins in his first two seasons on the sidelines. Strong also guided the Cardinals to a 5-2 league record last year, which has the odds makers anticipating a possible Big East title for the team in 2012. Louisville Cardinals 2012 Season Odds have the school listed at 12-5 odds ($10 to win $240) to win the conference, but it is still drawing long odds on the BCS title front. The Cardinals are a 325-1 pick to win the BCS National Championship and they are also favored to win fewer than 9 games at -155 odds ($155 to win $100).

When Steve Kragthorpe took over the Louisville football program in 2007, the team was coming off a 12-1 season which featured an Orange Bowl win over Wake Forest. Kragthorpe did not leave Louisville in the condition he found it, though, as Charlie Strong inherited a 4-8 squad when took over the head coaching position in 2010. 

Strong guided the team to a 7-6 record and Beef ‘O’ Brady’s bowl win in his first season; he duplicated that number last season, despite a bowl loss to NC State. This year’s team appears poised to garner anywhere from eight to 10 wins with 15 starters and 47 lettermen back on campus.

Louisville’s 2012 schedule would seemingly lend itself to more than seven victories with its biggest challenges coming in the form of North Carolina, South Florida, and Cincinnati. Fortunately for the Cardinals, they face all three of those teams at home. 

The odds makers have only lined one Louisville game thus far; Strong’s troops are listed as an 11.5 point favorite in their season opener opposite in-state rival Kentucky.

Louisville Cardinals 2012 Schedule: 9/2 Kentucky (-11.5), 9/8 Missouri State, 9/15 North Carolina, 9/22 at FIU, 9/29 at Southern Miss, 10/13 at Pittsburgh, 10/20 USF, 10/26 Cincinnati, 11/3 Temple, 11/10 at Syracuse, 11/24 Connecticut, 11/29 at Rutgers

Louisville Cardinals 2012 Season Odds and Schedule:

Odds to Win the BCS National Championship 325-1 ($100 to win $32500)
Odds to Win the Big East Championship 12-5 ($100 to win $240)
Regular Season Win Total: Over 9 wins (+135), Under 9 wins (-155)