Report: Louisville and Alabama to open 2018 in Orlando
Alabama will be involved in another marquee season-opening game.
According to ESPN, the Crimson Tide will play Louisville to start the 2018 season in Orlando.
Alabama is starting the 2015 season at Wisconsin in AT&T Stadium in Dallas. It plays in 2016 at the same site against USC. And in 2017 the Tide are playing Florida State at the Georgia Dome. The game against Louisville will be the Tide's seventh-straight neutral site game to open the season.
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Louisville hasn't been a slouch when it comes to scheduling big games to open the season either. The Cardinals are playing Auburn in Atlanta to start the 2015 season and are playing Purdue in Indianapolis in 2017. The 2019 season also begins a with the first game of a home-and-home series with Notre Dame. The Irish have a scheduling affiliation with the ACC.
Orlando is getting into the neutral-site season-opener game next year with a matchup between Florida State and Ole Miss.
Both Alabama and Louisville will likely receive a multi-million dollar guarantee to play in the game. Florida State and Alabama are expected to receive a payout of $4-5 million for playing in Atlanta.
The Cardinals and Crimson Tide have played three times. Alabama won meetings in 1976 and 1977 while Louisville won in 1991 in the Fiesta Bowl.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
