Getty Image
Based on their records, you’d think Louisville would be sizeable favorites against Miami in their showdown on November 18th, but sportsbooks predict it will actually be a pretty tight contest. That may have something to do with the fact that the Hurricanes are hosting the Cardinals, and the school is going to great lengths to try to firm up home-field advantage with a very thirsty ticket promo.
The Miami Hurricanes are currently sitting at 6-4, while the Louisville Cardinals are ranked as the ninth-best team in the country thanks to their 9-1 record (their only loss of the season was somehow to a Pitt squad that’s gone 2-8).
The University of Miami is basically playing for pride at this point, but Louisville has the opportunity to face off against Florida State in the ACC Championship Game and an (admittedly slim) chance to sneak into the College Football Playoff by winning the remainder of its games.
With that said, the Cardinals are only favored to win by 1.5 points when they head down to Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, and Miami needs all of the help it can get to gain an edge on its opponent.
In recent years, The U has had a bit of trouble packing the stadium it calls home, as it’s struggled to convince many fans to make the trek to a venue located 30 minutes away from campus to watch a team that’s failed to live up to the expectations its historically been surrounded by.
However, it’s given its supporters some extra incentive to head to Hard Rock for the tilt with Louisville, as the school rolled out a “Buy One, Get Two Free” ticket promotion for a game that still seems to have plenty of seats available as of this writing.
At this point, it’s hard to blame the Hurricanes for doing everything in their power to fill the stadium, and I guess we’ll have to wait and see if those efforts pay off.