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Auburn football: Tigers to meet Louisville in 2015 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game

The Tigers and Cardinals are set for a high-profile matchup in Atlanta.

By Chris Fuhrmeister

Auburn will play Louisville in the 2015 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Atlanta's Georgia Dome, the schools and bowl officials announced Friday. It will be the second appearance in the annual event for the Tigers.

More on Louisville: Card Chronicle

"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," said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said in a school release. "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."

The Tigers were originally scheduled to play Virginia in the 2015 game, but the Cavaliers apparently backed out of the Sept. 5 game. Auburn last played Virginia in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl, winning in a runaway, 43-24.

If everything works out according to plan, Malzahn should have the Tigers up and running as an SEC contender. If Louisville still has Charlie Strong as its head coach -- and based on his decision to spurn interest from several other schools this past offseason, there's a good chance he'll still be there -- the Cardinals could easily be a top-10 program. All in all, it should be a big-time matchup, better than the originally planned game against Virginia.

Auburn has played Louisville once before, a 16-3 victory on Sept. 14, 1974.

"A match-up with an outstanding program like Louisville will give us a challenging contest to start the 2015 season," athletics director Jay Jacobs said in the release. "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."

What do you think of the game? Will you be looking forward to making the trip to Atlanta?

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