3. No guarantee the ACC will be this open in future years
The final reason this season should frustrate Louisville fans is how wide open the ACC was. Miami, Clemson, and Florida State were early favorites, yet the ACC Championship Game ended up being Virginia vs. Duke — and Duke won it. A 7–5 Duke team claiming the ACC title is something no one predicted and is sure to influence future discussions about tiebreakers and automatic playoff bids.
On November 1, Louisville sat at 7–1 overall and 4–1 in the ACC. They had already beaten Miami and still had chances to boost their résumé with games against SMU and Clemson. Virginia was essentially locked into one championship spot, but the second spot was wide open — and Louisville was in prime position to grab it. Had the Cards taken care of business, stayed healthy, and avoided the late-season collapse, they could have earned a rematch with Virginia and potentially punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff.
Instead, the loss at Cal sent everything spiraling. The defeats to Clemson and SMU wiped away any remaining hope for even a respectable bowl destination, let alone something meaningful. It’s aggravating to know that Louisville’s ceiling was as high — or higher — than several teams in the playoff, yet they never came close to earning a spot. And it’s even more aggravating knowing that Duke, a 7–5 team, is the ACC Champion in 2025 while Louisville stayed home on championship weekend.