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In what came as a bit of a surprise to most Cardinal fans, Louisville popped up at No. 25 in the first installment of the new College Football Playoff Rankings, which were released Tuesday night. U of L's Thursday opponent, Florida State, checked in at No. 2.
Here are the full rankings:
| Rank | Team | Record |
| 1 | Mississippi State | 7-0 |
| 2 | Florida State | 7-0 |
| 3 | Auburn | 6-1 |
| 4 | Mississippi | 7-1 |
| 5 | Oregon | 7-1 |
| 6 | Alabama | 7-1 |
| 7 | TCU | 6-1 |
| 8 | Michigan State | 7-1 |
| 9 | Kansas State | 6-1 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 6-1 |
| 11 | Georgia | 6-1 |
| 12 | Arizona | 6-1 |
| 13 | Baylor | 6-1 |
| 14 | Arizona State | 6-1 |
| 15 | Nebraska | 7-1 |
| 16 | Ohio State | 6-1 |
| 17 | Utah | 6-1 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | 5-2 |
| 19 | LSU | 7-2 |
| 20 | West Virginia | 6-2 |
| 21 | Clemson | 6-2 |
| 22 | UCLA | 6-2 |
| 23 | East Carolina | 6-1 |
| 24 | Duke | 6-1 |
| 25 | Louisville | 6-2 |
On one hand, this should make all of us feel even better about life in a Big 5 conference. On the other, this almost most makes the fact that the Cards are two plays away from being 8-0 sting even more.
Regardless, it would be very interesting to see just how far U of L would climb if it was able to pull off an upset win on Thursday.