On November 28, 2012, Louisville received and accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference and became a participating member in all sports in 2014.

[7] In 2007, the Cardinals finished the season with a 47–24 record and ranked as high as 6th in some major polls while advancing to the College World Series for the first time in school history.

[8][9] Louisville's basketball tradition was established by Muhlenberg County native, Coach Bernard "Peck" Hickman.

After retiring, Hickman became the school's Athletics Director and hired then John Wooden assistant and future Hall of Famer Denny Crum, who led the team to two NCAA Division I basketball championships (1980 and 1986) and six Final Fours.

The men's basketball team currently ranks fifth in all-time NCAA tournament wins and has been in the top-five in average attendance each year since the 1982–83 season.

The "Bird" also competes with the cheerleaders in national competitions and makes regular appearances in the Louisville Metro Area.

Between 2015 and 2017 Ayeisha McFerran was named three times as an NFHCA All-American while playing for the women's field hockey team.

She was also a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final and was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.

[13][14] [15] Under the guidance of head coaches John L. Smith (1998–2002) and Bobby Petrino (2003–2007), the Louisville football program went to nine consecutive bowl games, a streak that ended in the 2007 season.

Kragthorpe's replacement is Charlie Strong, formerly the defensive coordinator at Florida, and the second African American to head the Cardinals program.

The film The Replacements was rumored to be based on former Cardinal quarterback Ed Rubbert (played by Keanu Reeves), who led the Washington Redskins' 1987 strike team to a 3–0 record en route to the franchise's Super Bowl XXII championship.

[citation needed] Louisville has retired the jerseys, although not their numbers, of the following former Cardinal football players: Bruce Armstrong, Ray Buchanan, Doug Buffone, Ernie Green, Tom Jackson, Joe Jacoby, Otto Knop, Lenny Lyles, Sam Madison, Frank Minnifield, Chris Redman, Otis Wilson, Roman Oben, Dwayne Woodruff, and Jeff Brohm.

He was replaced by former Louisville player Anne Kordes, who had spent the previous seven seasons as head coach at Saint Louis.

Their traditional home of Cardinal Arena, with 840 seats, has become too small for the team's current popularity, with fans turned away at several games.

While Louisville has sought state funding to expand Cardinal Arena to better meet fan demands and prevent unsafe "standing room only" crowds, it has more recently opted to move full-time into the KFC Yum!

[21] Ustymenko was also named the 2005 Big East player of the year and Hoffman led the nation in hitting percentage in the Card's 6–2 offense.

[21] The program has won 15 of its last 16 conference titles (with another in 1983) and has been to the NCAA tourney 17 times since 1982, with 47 players making their all-conference team.

The Cardinal volleyball team has won conference championships 19 times, from Metro, C-USA, Big East, American Athletic, and ACC.

In the years 2016–18 the Ladybirds won a double title, placing first in both the team performance and hip hop categories.

In 2005, Louisville was among only a handful of schools to average better than 97 percent attendance to capacity in volleyball, men's basketball, and football.

[citation needed] The broadcast team for Louisville men's basketball is Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano or Doug Ormay (color analyst).

The broadcast team for Louisville football is Paul Rogers (play-by-play); Craig Swabek (color analyst) and Doug Ormay (sideline reporter).

Unlike many in-state rivalries that have been played continuously for many decades, these two schools went through a long period from the 1930s to the 1980s of rarely facing one another.

On the gridiron, the two teams compete for the Keg of Nails, currently held by Louisville as winner of the most recent game in the 2022 season.