Purdue-Louisville to Open 2017 Football Season at Lucas Oil Stadium

If Darrell Hazel is still round in 2017, it is because he has built a pretty solid football team from nothing. That team will now face a very difficult schedule, as it was recently announced that the Boilers will open the 2017 season at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis against the Louisville Cardinals:

Louisville, Purdue will open 2017 season at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, sources told @ESPN

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) May 6, 2015

If this is true, it will be the first meeting between the schools since September 19, 1987, where they settled for a 22-22 tie in Ross-Ade Stadium. That has been the only match-up between the two, but Louisville has come a long, long way since then with loads of Papa John's money and is now one of the top teams in the ACC with multiple BCS bowl appearances.

Here is your full 2017 schedule (CAPS = Home game):

Sept. 2 - Louisville (Lucas Oil Stadium)
Sept. 9 - OHIO
Sept. 16 - at Missouri
Sept. 23 - MICHIGAN
Oct. 7 - MINNESOTA
Oct. 14 - at Wisconsin
Oct. 21 - at Rutgers
Oct. 28 - NEBRASKA
Nov. 4 - ILLINOIS
Nov. 11 - at Northwestern
Nov. 18 - at Iowa
Nov. 25 - INDIANA

The addition of Ohio, from the MAC, is also a newly announced game. The 2017 season will be the second of the 9-game Big Ten schedule which also features Purdue's first ever trip to Rutgers. It is the first time in many years there will only be six home games, though Lucas Oil isn't exactly a long road trip. It will be the second game Purdue plays at Lucas Oil (unless we make the 2015 or 2016 B1G Championship game)

Also of note, that 1987 game was the first Purdue football game I ever attended.