Louisville Football Bowl Projections

Mark BlankenbakerOctober 26, 2015

The Cards are 3-4 and not yet bowl eligible here in late October but that hasn’t stopped several publications from projecting the Cards into the post-season. We’ll roll out more of these as we move into November and include reasoning for each as the Tiers come more into focus. For now, we’re going to stick to Jason Kirk, Jerry Palm, Brett McMurphy and Mark Schalbach.

Jason Kirk: Sun Bowl – Louisville vs. Cal 12/26

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

Brett McMurphy: Independence Bowl – Louisville vs. UTEP 12/26

Mark Schalbach: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl – Louisville vs. Mississippi State 1/2/2016

There are a TON of bowl games on 12/26, the day after Christmas and the same day that Louisville & Kentucky square off in basketball in Lexington. It’s a fair assessment that most programs would like to avoid the 12/26 date as a tough sell for long distances for most schools.

Right now, Louisville is likely ASPIRING for the Gator/Music City spot. UNC/Duke/Pitt are the class of the Coastal Division, but have all yet to play one another. There is a lot of football left to play and the Cards will have to earn their way to bowl eligibility. But the Gator/Music City spot seems to be the ceiling. Obviously missing bowl is still a very real possibility.

ACC Bowl Tie-Ins

(My best guess currently)

-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 -> (PITT)

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 Bowl (1/2 at noon): ACC will appear in one bowl, but not both. They will play an SEC team. 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. -> (Duke)

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

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

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