The Louisville Cardinals find themselves in a familiar place as the heart of college football’s bowl season approaches, with a marquee matchup against a Power Five team awaiting. First-year coach Jeff Brohm’s team is in a bowl game for the 10th time since 2011, with this year’s DirecTV Holiday Bowl being the latest stop. The San Diego staple is the program’s first bowl game in California since the 1970 Pasadena Bowl, when Louisville was led by coach Lee Corso. BetKentucky.com has your full Cardinals bowl preview here.
Fast forward more than a half-century, and Louisville is slated to make its return to the Golden State on Dec. 27, this time as the Kentucky sports betting favorite against a spiraling USC team that lost four of its final five games to close out the regular season.
The Cardinals enter the 2023 Holiday Bowl as a 7.5-point favorite on ESPN BET Kentucky with a moneyline of -290. Ahead of that game, BetKentucky.com broke down how Louisville has performed against the spread in its last 10 bowl trips.
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Louisville Cardinals ATS in Bowl Games
| Year | Game | Result | Spread |
| 2023 | Holiday Bowl | TBA | Louisville -7.5 |
| 2022 | Fenway Bowl | Louisville 24, Cincinnati 7 | Louisville -2.5 |
| 2021 | First Responder Bowl | Air Force 31, Louisville 28 | Louisville +1 |
| 2019 | Music City Bowl | Louisville 38, Mississippi State 28 | Louisville +4.5 |
| 2017 | TaxSlayer Bowl | Mississippi State 31, Louisville 27 | Louisville -6.5 |
| 2016 | Citrus Bowl | LSU 29, Louisville 9 | Louisville +3 |
| 2015 | Music City Bowl | Louisville 27, Texas A&M 21 | Louisville -3 |
| 2014 | Belk Bowl | Georgia 37, Louisville 14 | Louisville +7 |
| 2013 | Russell Athletic Bowl | Louisville 36, Miami 9 | Louisville -5.5 |
| 2012 | Sugar Bowl | Louisville 33, Florida 23 | Louisville +14 |
| 2011 | Belk Bowl | NC State 31, Louisville 24 | Louisville +1.5 |
Kentucky betting apps list Michigan (+185) as a slight national championship favorite over Alabama (+200). Michigan is a 2-point favorite over the Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl.
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Cardinals Have Mixed Bowl Success
In its last 10 bowl games, Louisville has an even 5-5 mark outright and ATS, with the program riding high after shellacking neighboring Cincinnati in the 2022 Wasabi Fenway Bowl. Prior to that 17-point win in Boston, Louisville had gone 1-3 in its four bowl games between 2016 and 2021, including a 31-28 loss to Air Force in the 2021 First Responder Bowl.
Caesars Sportsbook Kentucky lists the over/under in the Holiday Bowl at 57.5. The Trojans 2022 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams, who threw for 3,633 yards and 30 touchdowns this season, has announced he won’t be playing in the game.
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