Written by Rick Bozich at WDRB.com
Don’t howl at the College Football Playoff committee if you disagree with the Number 5 ranking they assigned the University of Louisville football team Tuesday night.
Don’t tweet your displeasure the way quarterback Lamar Jackson did shortly after 9:30 p.m.
Blame Jimbo Fisher and Florida State.
Blame David Cutcliffe and Duke.
Blame Dave Doeren and North Carolina State.
Blame the ACC office for not matching U of L against better teams than Duke and Virginia from the Atlantic Division.
Next week you might be able to add Tom Herman and Houston to the list of issues.
There’s plenty of debate about whether Bobby Petrino’s 9-1 U of L team should be ranked among the four teams considered playoff worthy (with 3 weekends to go, I must remind you).
There is no debate about why the Cardinals are tucked behind Ohio State (No. 2), Michigan (No. 3) and Clemson (No. 4), the three one-loss teams between top-ranked Alabama and Louisville.
It’s strength of schedule.
The teams Louisville has played this season simply don’t provide the Cardinals with enough reflected glory.
Ohio State has two wins against teams ranked in the Top 10 by the committee. That would be Wisconsin and Oklahoma.
Michigan has three of those victories — Wisconsin, Penn State and Colorado.
Clemson has three wins against Top 17 teams — Louisville (head-to-head really matters here), Auburn (15) and Florida State (17).
Louisville has one. It was that spectacular 63-20 victory against Florida State in mid-September that made local football fans believe that anything was possible for Jackson, Brandon Radcliff, Keith Kelsey, Jaire Alexander and the rest of the Cardinals.
But it was only one win.
Then, Florida State backed that up with losses to North Carolina and Clemson and tumbled out of the national conversation. Louisville really didn’t need that.
Louisville has added one victory against a team with a winning record — Wake Forest, the team the Cardinals pounded in the fourth quarter Saturday night.
The voters in the Associated Press Top 25 are not bothered by that. They ranked the Cardinals third this week.
The coaches who vote in the USA Today Top 25 are not bothered by that. They also ranked the Cardinals third this week.
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit is not bothered by that. He has touted the Cardinals all season. Herbstreit did it again Tuesday night, sharing his opinion that he believes that Cardinals are one of three teams that could compete with Alabama.
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