While the Louisville Cardinals can win the ACC next week when they face the Florida State Seminoles, they have officially been eliminated from College Football Playoff contention.
Jeff Brohm's team finished the regular season with an impressive 10-2 (7-1) record, but a loss to the in-state rival Kentucky Wildcats for the Governor's Cup will knock them down too far in the rankings to get in.
It was close, but no cigar for Louisville. The Cardinals surrendered 17 fourth-quarter points to ultimately lose by seven, 38-31. Kentucky may have had a down 7-5 season for Mark Stoops era standards, but his team continues to dominate this in-state rivalry. The Wildcats have won the last five meetings between them and the Cardinals. It is a huge advantage he has had in recent seasons.
Entering play on Saturday morning, Louisville was one of nine teams still in the mix to make the College Football Playoff, albeit the least likely to make it in any way. This had everything to do with the other loss Louisville suffered on the year, which was to an atrocious Pittsburgh Panthers team. No other playoff contender could have suffered a loss anywhere as bad as what Louisville sustained.
Regardless, this was a sensational year for Louisville, one likely ending with a New Year's Six bowl bid.
Louisville's luck runs out vs. Kentucky, eliminated from CFP contention
I think what this season under Brohm meant for Louisville bordered on, well, everything. This is the best the Cardinals have played since we went to the current postseason format. Although Lamar Jackson was the best player to ever play at Louisville, he never played on a team as good as what Brohm inherited. Once again, Louisville's success is a bad look for his predecessor, Scott Satterfield.
Because Satterfield left Louisville willingly for the Cincinnati vacancy, the Cardinals did not have to pay a buyout to their formerly underperforming head coach. By hiring Brohm away from Purdue to bring him back to his alma mater, Louisville finally has something really great to cheer and rally behind from a national perspective. His hire was perfectly wholesome, something the fanbase really needed.
Although they may not win a game the rest of the way, as they will be underdogs to Florida State for the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, as well as presumably in the Orange Bowl to someone like Ohio State down in Miami, this year was a massive success for the Cardinals program. It is nothing to sneeze at. They once again could be contenders in the ACC next year, but they cannot beat Kentucky.
The outcome of the Governor's Cup is the latest example of why rivalry weekend is simply the best.
