LOUISVILLE, (KY) – Chances are that the University of
Louisville football team will not play for the Bowl Championship Series title –
even if the Cards go 12-0.
The Cards (8-0) don't have the strength of schedule. They
don't have enough juice in the computer rankings. They haven't been beating
even bad teams badly enough to impress voters in the human polls. The next three teams that U of L plays -- Temple, Syracuse, UConn -- all lack winning records.
But Charlie Strong's team is in the race for another piece
of recognition:
Last unbeaten team standing. There are only a half-dozen:
Alabama, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Louisville and Ohio State.
It was a rough, rough weekend at Hotel Unbeaten. The rates
went up substantially as five teams checked out: Florida (Georgia), Oregon
State (Washington), Rutgers (Kent State), Ohio University (Miami Ohio) and
Mississippi State (Alabama) all went down.
Louisville was ranked 16th last week in the BCS
rankings. Seven teams ranked ahead of the Cards – Florida (2), Oregon State
(7), Oklahoma (8), USC (9), Mississippi State (11), Texas Tech (14) and Rutgers
(15) – all lost.
How many spots will the Cards gain?
Likely a pair. Perhaps three, although Louisville could be
passed by Stanford or Clemson.
The only insight available this morning is not encouraging:
Louisville lost four spots (sliding from 21 to 25) in Jeff Sagarin's BCS
computer numbers after defeating Cincinnati. (Sagarin, bless him, is the only
BCS computer guy who releases his rankings Sunday morning.)
That's only one of six components in the computer formula,
but it's tough to advance while moving backwards.
Here is Sagarin's BCS Top 10: 1. Kansas State; 2. Notre
Dame; 3. Florida; 4. LSU; 5. Oklahoma; 6. Georgia; 7. Alabama; 8. Oregon; 9.
South Carolina; 10. Texas Tech.
Before you blow a fuse, remember those are his ratings that
do not include margin of victory – as dictated by the BCS. In his preferred
Predictor ratings, Sagarin's top five are:
- Alabama
- Notre Dame
- Kansas State
- Oregon
- Oklahoma
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
After a tough weekend, Louisville is one of six unbeaten FBS programs.
