By Gavin Lapaille

When the University of Louisville football team takes the field against the Murray State University Racers Thursday, it will end one long-standing tradition.

This will be the first time since 2001 U of L will not open their season against the University of Kentucky and just the second time since the series was renewed between the two schools in 1994.

After the agreement that will shift the U of L-UK game to the third week of the season, U of L Athletic Director Tom Jurich was left to find another opponent to begin 2007.

Enter Murray State.

“We pretty much exhausted all of our efforts around the country,” Jurich said. “Murray State was so kind and generous to play us. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have 12 games.”

While Louisville has become a fixture on ESPN, the same cannot be said for the Racers. The match-up with the Cards, which will be televised by ESPNU, is the only national televised game on Murray’s schedule this season.

Murray State head coach Matt Griffin said that kind of exposure could help his program reach new levels.

“You get recognition, you are seen,” Griffin said “People learn a little more about Murray State no matter what happens on the field.”

While Jurich said this is a one-year contract between the schools, this will be the fifth season in a row and sixth of the last seven the Racers will take on a BCS opponent. Murray is 0-6 in those games, being outscored by a combined margin of 223-47.

So why continue playing these seemingly impossible match ups?

“You get in financial deficits in so many different spots for different reasons,” Griffin said. “This money [from the U of L game] helps our whole athletic department.”

U of L has three non-conference home games this season, none of which come against an opponent from a BCS conference. The Cards do have away dates with the University of Kentucky and North Carolina State University.

Some Cardinal fans have grown to like playing these “easy win” games.

“I think it is good U of L plays against teams that are weaker,” freshman marketing major Matt Hibbs said. “Louisville is in the Big East and it gives other local schools the chance to compete with a better team.”

Players don’t mind playing so-called inferior opponents.

“We could be playing Murray or USC. We are all going to treat them the same,” junior running back Sergio Spencer said. “We are going to prepare for them, watch a lot of film on them and treat it like it’s the championship game.”

A number of fans however, prefer match ups with more prestigious programs.

“Playing Murray State in the first game of the season is a let down as a fan, but I don’t blame it on Jurich,” senior nursing major Ryne Bruner said.

“Jurich has continually tried to schedule good out-of-conference competition, but usually talks stop when we mention we want a home and home. It is sad when Cincinnati can muster a home and home with the likes of an Oklahoma and U of L can’t.”

Several schools have broken deals with Louisville in the last few seasons. According to Jurich, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt university, Duke University and Boston College have all canceled contracts, with several more falling apart at the last second.

“Scheduling is very difficult for us right now,” Jurich said.

When the Cards and Racers kick off at 7:30 p.m., Jurich said he will just be happy that the team has a full schedule this season.

“That is so important for us,” Jurich said. “Those kids practice awful hard. They want to play something that counts, that goes into the win-loss record.”

While Murray bailed U of L out this year, Cards fans could see other BCS opponents on the schedule in the future as the NCAA’s new 12th game policy continues to grow.

Jurich mentioned Ohio State University as a dream game, but quickly changed his mind to Indiana University.

“No doubt about Indiana, but they wont play us,” Jurich said. “[Indiana has] location, name recognition. We would take a lot of fans and they would bring some here. It’s just a no brainer.”