The University of Louisville football program has lost to Syracuse only once in six games since the Cardinals joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2015.

Louisville, for a long time, looked at Florida State’s program aspirationally. It was where Louisville wanted to go.

Defensively, the Cardinals played reasonably well. Offensively, they did not.

The Cards slipped to 1-1 while losing their Atlantic Coast Conference opener — and their spot in the ACC pecking order among the teams trying to join Clemson in the league title push.

With Miami ranked 17th in the AP college football poll and the Cardinals ranked 18th, it is the only meeting of ranked teams in the nation this weekend.

There is one more week for the Atlantic Coast Conference to dominate the spotlight in college football.

On Saturday night, everybody on both teams should take a minute to recognize Howard Schnellenberger. He’s certainly earned it.

Football season is fast approaching at the University of Louisville, but it won’t look like any season the school has had before.

The team will play a 10-game ACC schedule with one non-conference game, to be played Saturday at 8 p.m. against Western Kentucky.