Louisville Football Bowl Projections 11-9

Mark BlankenbakerNovember 9, 2015

The Cards are above .500 for the first time this year. At 5-4 with 3 games remaining Louisville needs just 1 more win to gain bowl eligibility for the 2015 season. We’re going to stick with Jason Kirk, Jerry Palm, Brett McMurphy and Mark Schalbach for now until the Cards are fully eligible.

Jason Kirk: Military Bowl vs. Navy 12/28

Jerry Palm: Sun Bowl vs. Washington State 12/26

Brett McMurphy: Independence Bowl vs. Ohio 12/26

Mark Schalbach: Sun Bowl vs. Washington State 12/26

Despite the big win over Syracuse the Cards didn’t make much movement this week in the bowl projections. If anything UofL is more solid to play a 12/26 game (that we’d all like to avoid) than a week ago. Louisville vs. Kentucky are set to square off in Rupp Arena on 12/26 and the day after Christmas is a tough sell.

I still believe that UofL can aspite to the Gator/Music City spot. We have gotten some clarity in the Coast Division as North Carolina now owns wins over Duke and Pitt and clobbered Duke this past weekend. There is a lot to still be determined, but below is how the games are selected and my best guesses. Personally at this moment I don’t think Louisville falls down into the Tier 2.

ACC Bowl Tie-Ins

(My best guess currently in parenthesis at end)

-Notre Dame receives an ACC’s tie-in bowl if it is not chosen for New Year’s Six

Orange Bowl (12/31, 4 or 8 p.m.) is a College Football Playoff Destination in 2015. -> (Clemson)

Peach Bowl (12/31, Noon) & Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1, 1 p.m.): If the ACC Champion is not in the playoff they will appear in either the Peach or Fiesta Bowls. If an ACC Champion is in the CFB Playoff the next highest ranked team appears in one of these two games. -> (Florida State)

Russell Athletic Bowl (12/29, 5:30 p.m.): The RAB gets the 1st selection after the NY6 bowls. Set to play the #3 team from the Big XII -> (North Carolina….Notre Dame will make NY6)

Tier 1 bowls (or Pool 1 Bowls):

The Tier 1 games get the first picks of ACC Teams after the NY6 and RAB teams are slotted. Generally these games are selected with geography & match-up in mind and are looked at as equal bowl spots.

Music City Bowl (12/30, 7 p.m.) and Tax Slayer Gator Bowl (1/2 at noon): ACC will appear in one bowl, but not both. They will play an SEC team in either bowl. Last year, ACC was represented by Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl. This is a 6-year deal and the two bowls must have an 3 ACC schools during the term of the agreement. The Gator Bowl gets to select between a Big XII school or an ACC school and the Music City Bowl gets to pick after the Gator Bowl. -> (Miami if Gator goes ACC)

Belk Bowl (12/30, 3:30 p.m.) vs. SEC -> (Duke)

Pinstripe Bowl (12/26, 3:30 p.m.) vs. Big Ten -> (Pitt)

Sun Bowl (12/26, 2 p.m.) vs. Pac-12 -> (Louisville)