The College Football Rankings were released on Tuesday afternoon and the Cardinals could be the one team that was highly disappointed with the news of where they stood.
Louisville comes in at No. 7, due to the fact two of their last three games against under .500 programs in the ACC (Duke and Virginia) have been less than impressive.
The Cardinals sit at 7-1 on the season and should win the rest of their games (at least they will be favored in them), as they could finish the season at 11-1 overall. However, Boston College, Wake Forest, and Kentucky combine to be 14-10 and their one hope of owning another Top 25 win was against Houston, but they have fallen out and sit at 7-2 on the season.
There just isn’t enough opportunities left for the Cardinals and teams ahead of them and behind them have more certainly have time to impress the committee. Let’s just take a look at a few scenarios:
SEC
Alabama: Even if they lose one game, their schedule has been way more impressive and would easily jump the Cardinals
Texas A&M: Have faced four ranked teams already and still play against Ole Miss and LSU. Can’t lose though.
Auburn: Riding high right now, with road games against Georgia and also a date on the road with No. 1 Alabama
LSU: Could be a sneaky watch, but with No. 1 Alabama, No. 11 Florida, and No. 4 Texas A&M, they will certainly be up there above Louisville if they win out
PAC-12
Washington: They really do control their own destiny. Win out and they are in IMO. Think only team with a chance to get into the playoffs from the Pac-12
Big Ten
Ohio State: Nebraska is up next, with a date also with No. 3 Michigan. Win out, will for sure be ahead of the Cardinals
Wisconsin: Badgers don’t face another Top 25 team the rest of the season, so it will be hard to see them making any big leaps unless teams ahead of them lose. Would keep them behind Louisville if the Cardinals are impressive in their wins.
Nebraska: Can really take a jump above Louisville if they take down the Buckeyes. Still control own destiny though for the Big Ten
What becomes interesting if teams like Clemson stumble (but they would still have the edge for the ACC Championship with the win over Cardinals), if the Big Ten beats up on each other in the next four weeks, if Washington falls, and the battle in the SEC with a couple of two-loss teams.
But on paper right now, the Cardinals look to be a team on the outside and with minimal opportunities to impress the committee down the stretch.
