Louisville Report

Louisville Named One of Six Unranked Teams to Watch for in 2024 CFP Race

The Cardinals are heading into year two of the Jeff Brohm era.

Matthew McGavic

Louisville's Jeff Brohm comes out onto the field against Notre Dame at L&N Stadium.
Louisville's Jeff Brohm comes out onto the field against Notre Dame at L&N Stadium. / Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program finds themselves on the precipice of being ranked entering the upcoming 2024 season. When the preseason Associated Press Top 25 Poll dropped earlier this week, the Cardinals found themselves as the top team in the "receiving votes" category.

But just because Louisville is starting the year unranked doesn't mean they don't have a chance to make the new 12-team College Football Playoff. In fact, the last three seasons have each featured one unranked team finish inside the top-10 of the final CFP rankings - with TCU making the four-team CFP in 2022.

In fact, with this in mind, the folks over at The Athletic compiled a list of the six unranked to most watch out for in this upcoming season's College Football Playoff race. Louisville was among the half dozen teams listed, with Virginia Tech, Iowa State, UCF, Memphis and Boise State rounding out the list.

"The Cards schedule isn’t easy," The Athletic's Bruce Feldman wrote. "They have road trips to South Bend and Clemson and play Miami sandwiched in between two other road games. But if (Tyler) Shough stays healthy, this team has the pieces on both sides of the ball to make a run at 10 wins.

Louisville is coming off of a very successful inaugural season under head coach Jeff Brohm. They went 10-4 for their first 10-win season in a decade, and earned their first ever berth in the ACC Championship Game. Additionally, they bring back multiple impact playmakers from last season, and bolster the roster with the No. 1 transfer portal class in the nation.

The Cardinals are set to kick off their 2024 season against Austin Peay on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 12:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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Matthew McGavic

MATTHEW MCGAVIC

McGavic is a 2016 Sport Administration graduate of the University of Louisville, and a native of the Derby City. He has been covering the Cardinals in various capacities since 2017, with a brief stop in Atlanta, Ga. on the Georgia Tech beat. He is also a co-host of the 'From The Pink Seats' podcast on the State of Louisville network. Video gamer, bourbon drinker and dog lover. Find him on Twitter at @Matt_McGavic

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