Louisville football team is unranked to start the season in the AP Poll

The Louisville football program won ten games in Jeff Brohm's first season as a head coach. That's a big deal for the Cardinals. For a while, they were in the College Football Playoff conversation. You would think that after a season like that, they would be able to get some respect.

Instead, it seems like no one likes the Louisville Cardinals enough. After being unranked in the preseason Coaches Poll, the AP Poll came out on Monday afternoon. The Cardinals were absent from that poll as well and will start the 2024 season as an unranked squad.

In the Coaches Poll, Louisville was at least the second team listed who received other votes. Only Washington was ahead of them in that regard. In the AP Poll, they were actually listed as the first team who received other votes. They are essentially the 26th-ranked team in the country.

The Louisville football team starts the 2024 season unranked

It doesn't seem like the media respects the ACC as a whole very much. There is only one team in the top ten of the poll, and that's Florida State at tenth. Clemson is ranked 14th, Miami is 19th, and NC State is 24th. Of the power conferences, the ACC has the fewest number of teams ranked.

Looking at the preseason ACC media vote, this makes sense. Louisville was voted to finish fifth in the conference and they are the fifth team when it comes to the rankings in the top 25. The Cardinals could find themselves in the top 25 relatively early in the season as long as they win their easy games.

Of course, they have bigger goals on their minds than just being in the top 25. They want to be in the top 12 in that final CFP ranking at the end of the year. That gives them a shot to play for a national championship. The Cardinals know that it's not where you start the season, but where you finish.