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Will Louisville crash the 2016 College Football Playoff?

By Derek Snyder

Nov 14, 2015; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals offensive lineman Lukayus McNeil (72) and running back Corvin Lamb (4) lead the team to the field before the first half against the Virginia Cavaliers at Papa John
Nov 14, 2015; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals offensive lineman Lukayus McNeil (72) and running back Corvin Lamb (4) lead the team to the field before the first half against the Virginia Cavaliers at Papa John /
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This year’s Louisville football team has extremely high expectations after coming of last season, winning 8 of their last 10 games.

Louisville has to feel good about themselves going into the 2016 season. Star quarterback Lamar Jackson has had a full offseason to develop and former Big-12 Defensive player of the year Devonte Fields returns for his senior year. Although Louisville may have high expectations going into this season, they are going to have to play at an extremely high level, all year long, to break through into college football’s elite.

So the question is here is not whether Louisville is capable of crashing the four team playoff. The real question is will Louisville crash the 2016 College Football Playoff? Well, I believe they can, but it is going to take a couple of different things happening, in Louisville’s favor, to propel them into the big dance:

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Louisville has to beat Clemson down in South Carolina to win the Atlantic.

Louisville’s biggest challenge will be going to Clemson this season and facing 2015 Heisman Trophy Finalist, Deshaun Watson. The last two years Louisville has come extremely close to beating the Tigers, as both games have come down to the wire. Clemson returns a solid squad to the field this season and Louisville absolutely has to beat Clemson to win the ACC.

Clemson has an extremely favorable schedule this year as Louisville, Auburn, and Florida State look to be their toughest games. Therefore, even if the Cards only lose one ACC game, it cannot be to Clemson. The Tigers will roll through the rest of the ACC and more than likely will knock off Florida State down in Tallahassee. This will put pressure on the Cardinals to beat Florida State, avoiding a 3-way tie, and go down to Clemson and win.

If Louisville can finish their ACC schedule beating Clemson, I believe they will be well on their way to the ACC Championship game and hopefully crashing the College Football Playoff.

Louisville has to win the ACC Conference Championship game and have the best overall record in the ACC regular season.

This is the number one, biggest goal Louisville has to accomplish in order to make the playoff. So far, the playoff committee has been pretty strict on who they will let play for the National Championship. I have absolutely zero problem with that, however Louisville has to give the committee zero doubt that they deserve to be there.

Unfortunately for Louisville, they play in the Atlantic division within the ACC that is extremely top-heavy with Florida State, Clemson, and Louisville. Therefore, Louisville cannot crash the dance unless they go through Florida State and Clemson. To put that into perspective, Clemson and Florida State each have made an appearance in the College Football Playoff since it was created 2 years ago.

Lamar Jackson has to be a Heisman Trophy Finalist.

Let’s face it, this guy is going to have to have a phenomenal year for Louisville to be in a position to make the playoff. We have seen how important guys like Jameis Winston and Deshaun Watson have been to their respective schools and what kind of bowl games they have made because of their performances.

Jackson cannot afford to have games like last year where he threw some questionable interceptions for the Cards. If this offseason has proved anything, it’s that he has improved as a passer and hopefully as a decision-maker. For a program like Louisville to make the playoff, I do believe he has to be representing Louisville in the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

It doesn’t mean that he will win the Heisman or that the committee only chooses those player’s schools for the playoff, but it does mean that the Louisville football team will have had a great year. For Jackson to be sitting there, it would mean that Louisville’s offense would be one of the top offenses in the nation, giving the Cards a solid opportunity to win in every single game. Also, it would mean that, more than likely, Jackson outperformed highly-talented quarterback Deshaun Watson.

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So will Louisville make the 2016 College Football Playoff? If they can accomplish these three things mentioned in the article, I believe they will. This could be a very special year for Louisville football and their fans.

College Football Playoff or not, this is going to be one wild ride!

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