Louisville football missed out on the Week 3 AP Poll rankings, but the Cardinals fans shouldn't worry. The AP rankings revealed that Louisville has a prime opportunity to prove itself sooner rather than later.
All season long, the Cardinals have eyed their Week 8 matchup with the Miami Hurricanes. However, there is a big-time matchup three weeks earlier in Week 5 from Acrisure Stadium against the Pitt Panthers.
The Cardinals might have fallen outside of these AP rankings, but they revealed that Louisville will have an opportunity in three weeks, on September 27, to enter the AP rankings for the first time this season.
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The Cardinals are ranked No. 32 in the nation as they earned 49 receiving votes in the AP Polls. Louisville comes in ranked as the fifth-best ACC team, as Miami is ranked No. 5, Florida State is ranked No. 10, Clemson is ranked No. 12, and Georgia Tech earned the third-most receiving votes with 78.
However, the Pitt Panthers earned three receiving votes and won their second game of the season by 35 points or more, and are proving to be a spoiler team in the ACC. The Cardinals and the Panthers will face off against each other in Week 5, and this season won't make or break the Cardinals' season, but it certainly will define it.
Louisville must leave Pittsburgh with a win and try to enter that Week 8 showdown in Miami with an undefeated record. The Cardinals' path to the College Football Playoffs is by returning to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game, meaning they must finish in the top two of the ACC.
If Louisville wants to achieve this goal, it must beat Pitt and make a statement in its first conference game. A loss at Pitt in Week 5 would make Louisville have its toughest games still ahead, as they have Miami, SMU, and Virginia Tech on the road and Clemson at home.
The AP rankings having Pitt and Louisville in the receiving votes sets that September 27 game up for a big-time ACC showdown in Week 5 and gives the Cardinals a massive opportunity to send a message to the ACC.
Related: The biggest problem that Louisville will face vs. Pitt in Week 5