It's a brand-new year in college football. Today is the day that many programs around the country are starting Fall camp. It's a chance for new successes with new rosters. For the Louisville football team, that sentiment is in full force as they are on the cusp of starting a new season.
In Jeff Brohm's first season, the Cardinals had an impressive 10-4 record. The problem is that they lost their last three games of the season, including the ACC Championship. Had they won that game, they had a shot to shock the college football world and make the College Football Playoff if some other crazy things had happened.
Brohm clearly has this Louisville football program going in the right direction. The media in the ACC thinks so too, but doesn't think they can repeat their success of a year ago. In the preseason ACC poll, the media picked the Cardinals to finish fifth out of 17.
The Louisville football team is predicted to finish fifth in the ACC
Despite running through the conference last season, the Cardinals aren't getting the same respect to start this year. Picked ahead of them are Florida State, Clemson, Miami, and NC State. It's a bit surprising that the Cardinals aren't picked ahead of the Wolfpack.
It's clear that the media doesn't think that Tyler Shough is going to be better than Jack Plummer was. Shough is now in his sixth year of college and hasn't been able to stick as a starter, so perhaps that thought isn't wrong. What is wrong is how narrow the margin in voting was between Louisville and Virginia Tech for fifth.
The margin between Louisville and Virginia Tech for fifth and sixth was just 16 votes. That's the closest margin between any other team. The Cardinals think they are much better than that though. They think they can compete for the ACC title once again this year.
Based on Brohm's track record as a coach, it's hard to argue that they won't.