Auburn will make a return visit to the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in 2015 when they face off against the Louisville Cardinals, giving Auburn a strong non-conference opponent for the 2015 season.
"We are really looking forward to playing in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game to open the 2015 season," said Auburn Head Coach Gus Malzahn. "It will be a great opportunity for us to play on a national stage to kick off the college football season against a very good Louisville program. We love playing in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome in front of our fans who live in the area or who can make the short drive to see Auburn play in a first-class event."
This will be the second time Auburn has played in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game after losing to Clemson 26-19 in 2012.
Louisville will be making its first trip to the high profile game. Going into the 2013 season Louisville is ranked 9th in the AP top 25 rankings, and has won its last three games against SEC opponents including a dominant victory over Florida in the Sugar Bowl last season.
"The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game has an outstanding tradition of putting together great match-ups, and facing Auburn in this type of event is great for our program and university," said Louisville Head Coach Charlie Strong. "We look forward to opening the 2015 season against a great SEC opponent like Auburn. I'm very excited for our fans that will get the opportunity to be a part of a great game and an exciting atmosphere. The exposure our football players and our program will get from a match-up like this is tremendous as we continue to build this program, and it is going to be a great experience for our fans."
This will be the second time Auburn and Louisville have played with the last time being in 1974 when the Tigers won 16-3 at Legion Field in Birmingham.
"Louisville and Auburn represent two great football brands with incredible fan bases and a tradition of winning," said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. "The ACC vs. SEC is a tremendous rivalry that has proven to be a recipe for sellouts, high TV ratings and close, competitive games."
Tickets for the game will be evenly split between the two teams and can be bought through the universities' athletic departments.
"The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game has established itself as one of the best neutral-site games in the country to kick off the college football season, and we can't wait to get back to Atlanta and the Georgia Dome," said Auburn Director of Athletics Jay Jacobs. "A match-up with an outstanding program like Louisville will give us a challenging contest to start the 2015 season. We are excited about the chance to return to Atlanta and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, which has become a first-class event thanks to the vision of Gary Stokan and his staff. With more than 20,000 Auburn alumni in the Atlanta region, it will be a great way to kick off the college football season for Auburn University."
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