By the time you’re reading this I hope you still have a smile on your face from the insane win we had on Friday night. With today being the last day of summer, it’s time we look ahead to autumn, as well as FSU. And with the win over SP+ 25th ranked UCF, we also get to look ahead to one of my favorite things: BOWL GAMES!
But before we get into the bowl projections, one of my favorite things from Friday night has been hearing all of the funny stories of where people were and what they did when “The Play” happened. I was with my family on the flight deck (proud flight deck members) and after Malik’s pass got batted and picked off on an insanely athletic effort by UCF’s Tre’mon Morris-Brash, I couldn’t bear watching UCF get in field goal range and win the game. So, I decided to head down to the men’s room.
I was standing on one end of the bathroom while a twelve-year-old or so kid was standing on the other end. We both hear the crowd erupt and I scream at the poor kid “WHAT HAPPENED?!” as if he had any way of knowing. The frightened child jumped and with his voice shaking said, “I don’t know!” I sprinted out of the men’s room and up through the tunnel where I found two older gentlemen. I repeated my question to them and they both yell, “pick six! pick six! pick six!” We all hugged. It was magic.
I’m sure many of you have hilarious stories of waking up your entire neighborhood, dumping a beer on someone, etc. We’d would love to see them in the comments.
Alright, now onto more fun stuff. Following the EKU win I believe ESPN’s FPI was projecting Louisville to go 4-8 (I know you’re reading this, ESPN. Please update your site so I can see how the projections change week to week. Cheers.). But after the win on Friday FPI now has Louisville finishing 6-6 and has us favored in five of our remaining nine games.
Louisville surprisingly didn’t move at all in SP+ as they stayed put at 58th overall. However, it is worth noting that it takes roughly seven games for SP+ to phase out preseason projections and rate teams solely based on their season’s performances. There was also a ton of movement this week with all of the upsets and poor performances (i.e. Kentucky dropping from #51 to #61 after barely escaping FCS Chattanooga), which could explain why Louisville stayed right in the middle.
The Cards also received a single Top 25 vote from Dayton Daily News’ David Jablonski, who ranked the cards at #25. With this single vote Louisville ranks #43 among all those who receive votes.
Jablonski isn’t the only media member feeling the Cardinal buzz, however. Let’s see what the bowl prognosticators have to say:
ESPN:
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Schlabach) – Louisville vs. Tennessee
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Dec. 27, 7PM, ESPN
(Louisville Omitted) (Bonagura)
Action Network (Brett McMurphy):
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl – Louisville vs. West Virginia
Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas
Dec. 22, 8 p.m., ESPN
CBS (Jerry Palm):
New Era Pinstripe Bowl – Louisville vs. Indiana
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Dec. 29, 2:15PM. ESPN
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl – Louisville vs. Texas Tech
Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas, Texas
Dec. 28, 3:15PM, ESPN
Fenway Bowl – Louisville vs. Memphis
Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Dec. 29, 11AM, ESPN
(Louisville Omitted)
SB Nation:
(no projections at this time)
Sporting News:
(no projections at this time)
Sports Illustrated:
(no projections at this time)
Athlon:
(no projections at this time)
Bleacher Report:
(no projections at this time)
Quite a few sites aren’t publishing predictions this early in the season, but the only snubs I was able to find thus far were ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and USA Today. Not too shabby.
Only way I get to continue writing this piece is if Louisville keeps winning, so let’s all hope that happens.
2 wins down. 4 to go.