Louisville football: Initial thoughts on ACC schedule

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - OCTOBER 19: Micale Cunningham #6 of the Louisville Cardinals runs with the ball while defended by Isaiah Simmons #11 of the Clemson Tigers at Cardinal Stadium on October 19, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - OCTOBER 19: Micale Cunningham #6 of the Louisville Cardinals runs with the ball while defended by Isaiah Simmons #11 of the Clemson Tigers at Cardinal Stadium on October 19, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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BLACKSBURG, VA – OCTOBER 19: Team captains Dominique Ross #3, Sam Howell #7, Antonio Williams #24, and Myles Dorn #1 of the University of North Carolina walk out for the coin flip during a game between North Carolina and Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium on October 19, 2019 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Andy Mead/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
BLACKSBURG, VA – OCTOBER 19: Team captains Dominique Ross #3, Sam Howell #7, Antonio Williams #24, and Myles Dorn #1 of the University of North Carolina walk out for the coin flip during a game between North Carolina and Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium on October 19, 2019 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Andy Mead/ISI Photos/Getty Images) /

ACC Schedule favors Louisville, North Carolina, and Clemson

This is the headliner. The topic of the day around the city surrounds the fact that Louisville football will not face Clemson this season.

What may go a bit overlooked, beyond just Louisville talking points, is the fact that Clemson, North Carolina, and Louisville don’t play each other at all this season.

It’s hard to tell what to make of that, but the ACC clearly saw this as a money grab opportunity. That means, to me, one of two things:

  1. Either the ACC is dense as a bag of rocks to not pit these teams against each other in the regular season OR
  2. The ACC sees Clemson, North Carolina, and Louisville as the top three teams and wants to create an exciting ACC Championship game match-up between two of those three schools.

Even furthering this notion, then, is the prevailing question: What about Notre Dame? Screw ’em, says the ACC. They have played cat and mouse with the league for years with their hand up the puppet’s arse taking advantage of what conference play offers in other sports but maintaining their independence in football.

So, now that they are relying on the ACC to even have a season this year, why cut them any breaks? Why give the Fighting Irish an equal chance to make an appearance in the conference championship game of a conference that they don’t want to even play in?

Notre Dame plays Clemson, North Carolina, Pitt, Florida State, and Louisville- Five of the six teams with the best odds to win the ACC according to the Action Network.

Meanwhile, Louisville replaces NC State and Clemson (picked 4th and 1st in the ACC Atlantic) with Miami, Pitt, and Georgia Tech (1st, 4th, and 6th in the ACC Coastal). Not a bad break for the Cardinals.