Cardinal Fans 2013 Sugar Bowl Louisville vs. Florida Photo by Mike Lindsay

Who Louisville Fans Are Cheering for in Week 12

Mark BlankenbakerNovember 15, 2013

Louisville Fans really want conference leaders to lay waste to the rest of their leagues. So that means UofL fans really want Alabama, Florida State, Ohio St., Baylor, and Ohio State to keep winning. For UCF Card fans will need to take a ‘wait & see’ approach, either UCF needs to win two games OR they need to win the rest of their games. Either way, watching them is a waste of time this week because they play Temple. Things do get interesting moving forward, however.

Here are the games that matter this week to Cards fans.

#24 Texas vs. #11 Oklahoma St: The Longhorns are just playing great right now and they’ll host the Cowboys, who I have felt has been overrated all season. Unfortunately for UT, they are banged up and had two key pieces go down for this week. Both of these teams must play Baylor and Louisville gains regardless of the result. But a Texas win might help Cards more, but I could go either way.

Indiana @ #22 Wisconsin: The Hoosiers could seriously help Louisville this week. Wisconsin is a team on the move and College Football just needs a reason to put two Big Ten teams into the BCS. But the Hoosiers could do WISCONSIN a favor by beating them and saving the Badgers from a 4th consecutive BCS Loss.

Nebraska @ #16 Michigan State: Big gains could be made with a Nebraska win. Michigan St is likely to get a loss vs. Ohio State in the BIG 10 Title game, BUT Michigan State is in the way NOW. Nebraska all of the sudden took some CPU advantages over the Cards and Nebraska may be the luckiest team in America but they have tough games coming as well.

Washington @ #13 UCLA: This is a whale of a game. I really like the brand of football from both of these teams and it could go either way, but the Cards would benefit most from a UW loss. Gains should be made either way, but the PAC-12 is a two-bid league so any team in the Top 20 from the PAC other than Oregon or Stanford really isn’t a big deal for the Cards.

Oregon State @ #19 Arizona State: The computers LOVE the Sun Devils and ASU is also the next hurdle by a narrow margin in the BCS. If Arizona State falls Louisville can inherit a big jump in the ratings.

Duke vs. #23 Miami: The Blue Devils are playing good football in 2013 and could definitely take down the Hurricanes. Either result helps Louisville, but the Cards could gain a lot of positive momentum in the computer polls as the “U” holds an advantage in 5 of 6 computer polls.

Iowa St vs. #18 Oklahoma: It might sound crazy to say considering that the Cyclones are 1-8, but they can win this game. ISU however, isn’t a likely winner away from home against a pretty shaky OU team. I don’t think a lot of Oklahoma this season, but they are well positioned at the moment.

#7 Auburn vs. #25 Georgia: The Bulldogs have 3 losses but are still strong in the computer rankings. That needs to change. Auburn would slide with a loss, but UGA is wounded and it might just be time to put them out of their misery for 2013. The SEC is a two bid league so it doesn’t really make much difference who the other team is.

Florida vs. #10 South Carolina: Florida is DESPERATE for some good vibes. But they are also almost out of bodies. If the Gators can win this game it would be a HUGE help for the Cards to snag some spots up the polls.

Maryland @ Virginia Tech: The Hokies aren’t rated in the BCS or the human polls, but VT is STRONG in the computers, an area the Cards are lacking. Maryland is capable, but I wouldn’t expect the Terrapins to do much in Blacksburg…..it would be helpful.

Troy @ Ole Miss: The Rebels are very strong in the computer rankings and Louisville really needs those spots. Losing to Troy would give the computer’s the data enough to slide Mississippi and rise the Cards. Not likely.

North Carolina @ Pitt: The Panthers are ahead of the Cards in the Massey Ratings by 3 spots. Otherwise this game doesn’t really matter.

Northwestern vs. Michigan: The Wildcats have COLLAPSED since hosting Ohio State and ESPN’s College GameDay, but they have been losing to good football teams. Michigan isn’t a good football team, yet somehow Anderson & Hester still has the Wolverines ahead of the Cards. NW is capable….more than capable to beat Michigan. But this is a minimal gain for the Cards.

Washington St @ Arizona: Again the Massey Ratings have Arizona ahead of the Cards.