The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Louisville Cardinals will open the 2018 season in Orlando, Florida Citrus Sports and ESPN Events officially announced today.
The game was first reported last week by Brett McMurphy of ESPN.
Alabama and Louisville will meet on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018 at Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game will be televised to a national audience on an ESPN network.
“The 2018 game will mark the seventh consecutive neutral-site season opener for the Crimson Tide,” said Director of Athletics Bill Battle. “Neutral-site games have been good for Alabama in national exposure as well as financially under Coach Saban’s leadership. Our first regular-season neutral-site game in Orlando will provide another great matchup of national interest against an excellent Louisville program, but is also a new venue that I believe our fans will enjoy.”
Alabama and Louisville have met three times on the gridiron and the Tide lead the series 2-1. In their last meeting on Jan. 1, 1991 in the Fiesta Bowl, Louisville won 34-7.
“Kicking off the 2018 season with a great opponent like Alabama is a tremendous way to start the season,” said Louisville Athletics Director Tom Jurich. “We continually want to play highly respected opponents each year, and adding a traditional power like Alabama in the opener will certainly be an outstanding challenge. We have a vision to be the best we can be, and to do that, we have to play the best. We are also thrilled to be headed back to a destination city like Orlando. I know our fan base will respond for this tremendous match-up.”
Alabama now has neutral-site games scheduled for the next four seasons, while Louisville has one in three of the next four.
Future Alabama Neutral-Site Games
- 2015 – vs. Wisconsin (at Arlington, TX)
- 2016 – vs. USC (at Arlington, TX)
- 2017 – vs. Florida State (at Atlanta, GA)
- 2018 – vs. Louisville (at Orlando, FL)
Future Louisville Neutral Site Games
- 2015 – vs. Auburn (at Atlanta, GA)
- 2017 – vs. Purdue (at Indianapolis, IN)
- 2018 – vs. Alabama (at Orlando, FL)
Football Schedules