After some great MACtion to hold us over on Tuesday and Wednesday Football fans are finally ready for the main course tonight.  If you are a Cardinal fan this week should provide some fireworks from around the country.  I went through  and found the games (and the teams) that matter for Cardinal Football this week.

Thursday Night

#6 Baylor vs. #10 Oklahoma:  The Cards want Baylor to run the table in the Big XII.  On paper this is a great game, but I don’t think the Sooners can run with the Bears and we will all be flipping over to Stanford vs. Oregon once Baylor puts Oklahoma away.

#3 Oregon @ #5 Stanford:  To me the Ducks are a title contender and I have been very disappointed with Stanford based on my expectations for them this season.  I think Oregon wins this one pretty easily, but the Cardinal have had plenty of time to game plan for this one.  Stanford may be too forwardly placed to fall too far, but if the Cardinal lose Thursday night and find it in their hearts to drop another maybe the PAC-10 becomes a one-bid league. Not likely.  But the positive here is that if Stanford does find a way to win, Florida State (ACC) becomes the solid choice for the BCS National Championship and frees up an Orange Bowl spot.

Saturday

Houston @ #21 UCF:  This is now the game of the year for your Louisville Cardinals.  If UCF wins the Cards really pray for two miracles on the Knights remaining schedule OR fight tooth and nail to gain an at-large spot.  GO COUGARS!!!

#1 Bama vs. #13 LSU:  A loss to Bama isn’t likely help the Cards much in the polls.  But a bad loss would.  Plus LSU being 7-3 isn’t a good look when the BCS requires at least a 9-win season and the Tigers still have A&M on the schedule.  Louisville really needs the teams at the top to act like teams at the top.  The Top 5 won’t be hurting Louisville.  Numbers 6-16 is where the damage to an at-large BCS berth will happen.

Wyoming vs. #16 Fresno State:  Wyoming is a sneaky good team.  Especially at home. I’m not big on Fresno State and they will lose a game this season.  The question is:  Which One?  Might as well be the Cowboys to be the ones to do it.  The Bulldogs are wearing a Bullseye they aren’t ready for.

Tennessee vs. #9 Auburn: Auburn has been skating through this year, but I things are about to get tough.  If UT can pull off the victory Auburn will close out the season with Georgia & Bama and that could be enough of a slide to knock the Tigers out of BCS at-large contention.

Kentucky vs. #8 Missouri: Want a boost in the computers?  Louisville would certainly get one with a Cats win over the Tigers.  It would also go a long way to making the SEC more likely to be a one bid league.  Right now the SEC is basically a lock to put a 2nd team in the Sugar Bowl so some craziness needs to happen to stop that from happening.

Miss St @ #15 Texas A&M:  Is anyone going to be upset with a 3rd loss to Texas A&M?  The Aggies are two losses away from being eliminated from an at-large spot and of course losses to teams in this position would help the Cards climb the polls.  A&M isn’t likely to lose this one, but the porous defense makes anything possible. Go Bulldogs.

Arizona vs. #19 UCLA: This is an either way scenario, but the biggest impact will be Arizona winning this game.  Arizona has plenty of losing left to do this year, UCLA may skate clean through the rest.  If the Wildcats can pull off this win I’ll be surprised and I hope I am.

Utah vs. #22 Arizona State:  Utah has a very tough home field advantage and I don’t think the Sun Devils will fare well in the Mountains this November.  The Utes winning this one would be a big deal.

Pitt vs. #23 Notre Dame:  Who doesn’t like seeing the Irish go down?  In this case ND is solidly ahead of the Cards in the Computer Polls and a loss (and the other losses coming) will help correct this imbalance.

BYU @ #24 Wisconsin: Louisville benefits no matter who wins this game.  But the biggest benefit would be if Wisconsin loses.  BYU has the horses to do it, but this will be a good game down to the wire.  Wisconsin has a few tough ones ahead and is threatening to make a run for an at-large.  A loss to the Badgers would also help the cause of getting Houston ranked before next week’s game.

Kansas State @ #25 Texas Tech:  The Red Raiders have been sliding lately and K-State has won two in a row.  More than likely TT wins this one, but giving Tech their 3rd loss in a row would help Houston vault up the rankings and give the Cards the edge in another CPU poll.

Virginia Tech @ #11 Miami:  Louisville benefits either way here, but the biggest benefit would come with a Miami loss.  VT is only ahead of the Cards in two CPU polls, while the “U” is about 4-5 spots ahead across the board.  Go Hokies.

Kansas @ #14 Oklahoma State:  The Cowboys will lose some games, but the Jayhawks aren’t the team to pull it off.  We won’t get our hopes up.

West Virginia vs. Texas:  Texas coming to town is what the Mountaineers dreamed about when they joined the Big 12 conference.  You want ’em, you got ’em.  The Longhorns have been playing very good football lately and WVU has been playing…..well…..not good football.  A West Virginia win would definitely help a few computer rankings for UofL.

Arkansas @ Ole Miss:  The Razorbacks have been brutalized by playing 5 ranked teams in a row during their current 6-game slide.  It hasn’t been pretty and Ole Miss looks like the real deal.  But this is a rivalry and anything can happen.  Ole Miss is a major road block in the computer rankings and besides their upcoming game against Missouri I don’t see them losing.  Still Soooie!

Nebraska @ Michigan: Inexplicably Michigan has a few computer spots ahead of the Cards, so Go Huskers!

Penn State @ Minnesota:  The Gophers hold one CPU poll over Louisville and Penn State doesn’t register.  So while this game doesn’t matter much, it will help the Cards climb up the ladder if Penn State can win.

Vandy @ Florida:  Somehow the Gators still are ranked higher than Louisville in the Massey Ratings. Go Commodores.

Colorado @ Washington:  Colorado isn’t beating Washington in Seattle, but that won’t stop fans of the Cardinals from wishing the Buffs well. UW has a few CPU rankings ahead of the Cards, the area in which UofL has the most to gain.

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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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