Bowl Projections for Louisville Football After Week 2

With two games down and two wins already under Louisville’s belt, the Cardinals prospects of going bowling are quite good. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to most, of course, but the bowl projections themselves and the win totals adjustments provide some intrigue.

Louisville’s preseason ranking of #40 in Bill Connelly’s SP+ fell to #51 after the wild Georgia Tech game but soared to #27 after exceeding expectations in their blow out of Murray State. And Louisville’s wins over Georgia Tech and Murray State have helped improve ESPN’s FPI projections for them as their projected record for the Cards improved from a 6.9-5.2 (7-5 in the real world) record to 8.3-3.9 (8-4), which equates to roughly an 95.1% chance of reaching bowl eligibility. And here’s how FPI projects the Cardinals’ chances winning each of their remaining games:

Indiana - 74.4% (71.2% preseason)

Boston College - 92.1% (78.6%)

N.C. State - 56.4% (32.2%)

#9 Notre Dame - 24.7% (21.2%)

Pittsburgh - 44.3% (29.2%)

#21 Duke - 67% (67.6%)

Virginia Tech - 81.4% (71.5%)

Virginia - 78.5 (90.9%)

#22 Miami - 26.7% (29.1%)

Kentucky - 65.6% (41.4%)

Nothing too shocking here. With N.C. State, Pitt, and Kentucky all looking more vulnerable than originally expected, those win probability numbers have shifted quite a bit with the biggest one being Louisville now projected to beat Kentucky (me likey). And with Miami’s upset of Texas A&M last week, their win probability was the only one that went up against the Cards.

Now for the fun stuff…

ESPN:

Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl (Bonagura) – Louisville vs. Washington State

Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas

Dec. 29, 2:00PM, ESPN

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Schlabach) – Louisville vs. Texas A&M

TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, Florida

Dec. 29, 12:00PM. ESPN

Action Network (Brett McMurphy):

Pop-Tarts Bowl – Louisville vs. Central Florida Golden Knights

Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida

Dec. 28, 5:45PM. ESPN

CBS (Jerry Palm):

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl – Louisville vs. Maryland

Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Dec. 28, 2:15PM. ESPN

College Football News:

Military Bowl Presented by Peraton – Louisville vs. UTSA

Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Maryland

Dec. 27, 2:00PM, ESPN

247 Sports:

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl – Louisville vs. Rutgers

Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Dec. 28, 2:15PM. ESPN

Athlon:

Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl – Louisville vs. Oregon State

Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas

Dec. 29, 2:00PM, ESPN

College Football Network:

Duke’s Mayo Bowl – Louisville vs. MIssissippi State

Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

Dec. 27, 5:30PM, ESPN

Yahoo!

Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl – Louisville vs. Utah

Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas

Dec. 29, 2:00PM, ESPN

Totals Tally: Sun Bowl (3), Pinstripe Bowl (2), Gator Bowl, Pop-Tarts Bowl (brown sugar cinnamon are the best), Mayonnaise Bowl, Military Bowl.

Entering Week 3 the Sun Bowl is still the favorite with the Pinstripe Bowl right behind them. I’m not even going to try and get excited about spending my holidays on the border in El Paso because like the last two years it’s going to get ripped out from under me.

Safe travels to all those who are heading up to the most exciting city in America this weekend.