Louisville football officially enters CFP conversation after massive win over SMU

Louisville just pulled off a huge win over SMU, and it's grabbing national media attention. The Cardinals are emerging as a real threat in the ACC to challenge the Hurricanes for the ACC Title, while also cementing themselves as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender.

Latest AP Poll has Louisville football in prime position for a CFP run

The Cardinals showed in Week 1 they can compete with the best by taking now No. 4 Ole Miss to the final seconds, where they defeated Louisville on a last-second field goal, 41-38. Now, on Saturday, Louisville just knocked off No. 16 SMU, 41-31, improving the Cardinals to 2-1.

The Cardinals' two games against ranked opponents have everyone invested in this team, including On3 Sports Andy Staples, who just updated his College Football Playoff bracket, proving the Cardinals are on a path to make history.

Louisville football making a lot of CFP noise after its big win

Now, it is obviously still very early in the season, but the Cardinals sitting at 2-1 is massive. They have a very favorable schedule for the rest of the season, and defeating SMU put them in a great position to go on a run toward their first-ever CFP appearance.

Staples just updated his CFP predictions, and Cardinals fans will love seeing Louisville in the bracket as the No. 11 seed. Staples has the Cardinals as the last at-large bid to make the CFP, with Louisville facing No. 6 Notre Dame in the first round.

The Cardinals definitely deserve this spotlight, especially after Saturday. Not only did Louisville beating SMU soar the Cardinals into the bracket, but Ole Miss defeating LSU also helped Louisville’s case. Ole Miss now sits at No. 4 in the AP Polls, making Louisville’s 3-point loss eye-opening.

The Cardinals currently have the second-highest odds in the ACC to make the playoffs, with FanDuel giving Louisville +380. Now, while Louisville has passed the eye test early on with a huge win and a good loss, they just need to finish the season strong.

The Cardinals fans saw Louisville lose two games in November last year to two teams they definitley should have beaten. ESPN Analytics favors Louisville in every game the rest of the season and gives the Cardinals a 60 percent chance or higher of winning every game. But now Louisville has to make sure they show up, don’t overlook any game, and focus on going 1-0 each week.

Brohm has something special with this Cardinals team, and with Staples putting Louisville in his playoff bracket, it is clear this Cardinals team is here to stay and gaining major CFP momentum.

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