Bowl Projections for Louisville Football After Week 8

After Saturday night’s exciting win over the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Cardinals have put themselves within two wins to get to bowl eligibility, and they have five more tries to get there. As you can imagine, the computers and human prognosticators are liking Louisville’s prospects of making a bowl game more and more.

Even though the Cards are just two wins away from bowling, it still won’t be easy as four of the remaining five games are against ranked opponents, including #10 Wake Forest visiting this weekend. The only unranked opponent that remains is a formidable James Madison team, who are enjoying a bye week ahead of what many have circled as a trap game for the Cards next Saturday.

Louisville’s win over PItt has helped improve ESPN’s FPI projections for them as their projected record for Louisville has improved from a 5.8-6.2 record to 6.4-5.6, which equates to roughly an 80% chance of reaching bowl eligibility. And here’s how FPI projects Louisville’s chances winning each of their remaining games:

#13 Wake Forest - 51.2% (51.6% last week)

James Madison - 75.2% (67.9% last week)

#5 Clemson - 14.9% (12.9% last week)

#23 N.C. State - 54.8% (54% last week)

#19 Kentucky - 40% (36.4% last week)

So even if Louisville takes care of business against JMU, where their sixth win comes from is anyone’s guess.

For now, let’s seeing where the humans think we’ll be spending the holidays:

ESPN:

Wasabi Fenway Bowl (Bonagura) – Louisville vs. Houston

Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Dec. 17, 11:00AM, ESPN

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl (Schlabach) – Louisville vs. Oregon State

Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas

Dec. 30, 2:00PM, CBS

Action Network (Brett McMurphy):

Wasabi Fenway Bowl – Louisville vs. East Carolina

Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Dec. 17, 11:00AM, ESPN

CBS (Jerry Palm):

Wasabi Fenway Bowl – Louisville vs. Memphis

Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Dec. 17, 11:00AM, ESPN

USA Today:

Military Bowl Presented by Peraton – Louisville vs. East Carolina

Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Maryland

Dec. 2

247 Sports:

Military Bowl Presented by Peraton – Louisville vs. Houston

Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Maryland

Dec. 28, 2:00PM, ESPN

Athlon:

Wasabi Fenway Bowl – Louisville vs. Houston

Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Dec. 17, 11:00AM, ESPN8, 2:00PM, ESPN

Bleacher Report:

Military Bowl Presented by Peraton – Louisville vs. Central Florida Golden Knights

Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Maryland

Dec. 28, 2:00PM, ESPN

Pro Football Network:

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl – Louisville vs. Rutgers

Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Dec. 29, 2:00PM, ESPN

Yahoo!:

Louisville Not Projected (Projected last week? Whatever)

Sporting News:

Louisville Not Projected (Not Projected Last Week)

College Football News:

Louisville Not Projected (Not Projected Last Week)

Tally: Fenway(4), Military (3), Pinstripe (1), Sun (1)

While our dreams of vacationing in Detroit the day after Christmas may have been gashed, at least we can imagine the warm sunshine at Fenway Park on December 17th. Or at least the wasabi will keep us warm.