2018 Schedule-related Thoughts

BamaHoosier

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Jan 17, 2011
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I don't know if they will suck, but last season they lost to Wake Forest, Boston College, NC St, Miss St, and got smashed by Clemson. Plus they lose Lamar Jackson QB.

Certainly, Bama better be ready to play, but you have to admit, Louisville hardly has the look of a giant killer.
To take that further: Since they’ve been in the ACC, they’ve gone 9-4, 8-5, 9-4, and 8-5. They’ve only finished the season ranked twice, at 21 and 24. They are 1-10 against ranked opponents and are 1-4 against SEC teams not named Kentucky. Their track record isn’t great.

They only gained some credibility because of Jackson’s Heisman and their upset of FSU two years ago. Based on track record though, they are a mid level power 5 team at best.


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selmaborntidefan

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Mar 31, 2000
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They're losing their whole OL and several pieces off the DL. That was the core of their team in 2018. I think they take a big step back and potentially get upset by Washington in the opener. Washington has their own OL problems though they get their starting backfield back.
I don't disagree with you but to further make my point........

Look at where publications are ranking them......

The Sporting News - 8
SI - 5
Athlon - 9
Yahoo - 9
ESPN - 12
USA Today - 13
CBS - 15

I think they'll have another 8-5 year with a bowl loss in a game they should probably win. But I AM saying that folks THINK they'll contend. Granted, I'm going off history, which has no direct bearing, but there's a reason why you are who you are (with apologies to Dennis Green).
 

BamaHoosier

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Wasn't Louisville top 10 when we scheduled this?
Potentially. As I said in my above post, non-conference scheduling is a crapshoot. Louisville had a brief run in '16 where they knocked off FSU and came darn near knocking off Clemson. They shot up the rankings and then tanked to end the season. That was the run that locked up the Heisman for Jackson, not his video game like stats against inferior opponents. I don't remember if it was then or a bit before then that we finalized the 2018 schedule. Either way, there's nothing wrong with scheduling a team like Louisville. It's better than playing Maryland as your big non-conference matchup, (Looking at you UCF...) but it's a definite step back from most of the teams we've scheduled.

Edit: Not to keep beating a dead horse, but I looked it up out of curiosity. We finalized the scheduling of LVille in Aug. of 2015. Louisville was coming off of a 9-4 season with a loss to Georgia in the Belk Bowl. They finished the season prior at #21 and began the 2015 season unranked in either poll. So roughly comparable to where they are now. Granted that's where they were when we finalized it, not where they were when we were negotiating it.
 
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Quicksilver

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Mar 13, 2010
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This is my opinion, and you are welcome to disagree ...
Lastly, it's not like teams have been backing away from big matchups. Heck, we'll open against Miami in 2020. There are big matchups littering the college football landscape in the first couple of weeks of next season. The big boys aren't backing away from the big games, and I don't think we should either. Louisville will be an okay matchup. Heck, maybe they shock people and are hiding a qb who continues in the tradition of Brohm, Bridgewater, and Jackson. I guarantee you that we won't overlook them, and I'll be dying for that game all summer. However I don't think there's anything wrong with admitting that at face value it seems like an underwhelming matchup, and a step back from where we've been.
Well said. This is a good articulation of why I started this thread.
 

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