Louisville wasn’t perfect in its 51-17 Week 1 win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, but Jeff Brohm’s team was pretty close. The Cardinals scored 21 points in the first quarter, star sophomore running back Isaac Brown dashed for 126 yards and two touchdowns on six carries, and Miller Moss acclimated well to Brohm’s offense in the veteran transfer’s debut.
However, all those positive signs weren’t enough to convince enough AP Poll voters to include the Cardinals in their top 25 for Week 2. The Week 2 AP Poll was unveiled on Tuesday, and much to the chagrin of Cardinals fans, Louisville was left out, finishing fifth-highest among the “others receiving votes” category.
Jeff Brohm has now won 20 games since returning to his alma mater, and while the program doesn’t exactly have the richest history, it’s time for Louisville to get more respect from the national media as a consistent winner and annual ACC contender.
Louisville remains as “others receiving votes” in Week 2 AP Poll
The early-season AP polls can be frustrating because they’re based on hypothetical assessments of these teams and then reconfigured based on those, largely incorrect, preconceived notions. Alabama, which was bullied by an unranked Florida State team that won two games last season in Tallahassee on Saturday, slid 13 spots from No. 8 to No. 21, but remained in the poll.
I’m not willing to say Alabama is not one of the best 25 teams in the country, but the only thing on its resume at this point is a two-score loss. Louisville, along with other teams like Auburn, BYU, and even Utah, which did crack the poll at No. 25, won their season-openers and did so impressively, either by a large margin or against a competitive team.
The Cardinals could have an opportunity to make the top 25 coming up on Friday, as they host James Madison, which received four votes in the Week 2 poll. The Dukes have been considered a contender for the Group of Six’s bid into the College Football Playoff and are the favorites in the Sun Belt. A win could vault Louisville into the top 25.
Elsewhere in the ACC, and only Louisville’s schedule, Miami moved up five spots to No. 5 in the country after beating then No. 6 Notre Dame on Sunday night. The Hurricanes are now the highest-ranked team on the Cardinals’ schedule, surpassing Clemson, which fell to LSU at home on Saturday night and slid from No. 4 to No. 8. SMU also moved down one spot after beating East Texas A&M 42-13.
At some point, Jeff Brohm will get the national respect he deserves, and there are plenty of chances to earn it with Louisville’s difficult schedule this season.