College football’s first month has already started sorting out the ACC, and Louisville took the kind of hit that changes the conversation fast. After looking like a real contender following its win over SMU, the Cardinals slipped in a 30-27 loss to Wake Forest on Saturday and dropped all the way out of the AP Poll.
That result helped sharpen the picture at the top. Miami and SMU still sit as the conference’s clear front-runners, while the rest of the league is bunched together behind them. With Week 5 on deck, only two ACC teams are ranked nationally, and the separation between contenders and everyone else is getting harder to ignore.
The latest ACC power rankings reflect that shakeup:
- Miami Hurricanes
- SMU Mustangs
- Virginia Tech Hokies
- Duke Blue Devils
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Louisville Cardinals
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Clemson Tigers
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- California Golden Bears
- North Carolina State Wolfpack
- Syracuse Orange
- Boston College Eagles
- Stanford Cardinal
- Florida State Seminoles
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Wake Forest’s rise is one of the biggest storylines coming out of the weekend, but Louisville’s drop is the one with the most pressure attached to it. At 2-2, the Cardinals are not out of the ACC race, and their schedule still gives them a lane back toward the top. But the margin for error has thinned quickly.
Jeff Brohm’s team has to tighten things up in a hurry. The Cardinals need to cut down on penalties, clean up the defensive busts that lead to explosive plays, and get more stability on offense.
Louisville’s health situation also remains worth watching. On Monday, Brohm didn’t offer much detail on Lincoln Kienholz, but he did say, “He has something.”
The road back is still there. Louisville does not play Miami, Clemson, Duke or Virginia, and it has five games left against teams ranked in the bottom six of these power rankings. That keeps the door open for a return to Charlotte and a shot at a second ACC Championship Game appearance.
For now, though, the pressure is squarely on Brohm and the Cardinals. Fans have already seen enough of the losses to teams Louisville is expected to beat, and that frustration is starting to matter as much as the standings.
The next chance to reset comes Saturday against NC State. Louisville and the Wolfpack kick off at 3:30 p.m. local time.
In Other News...
Louisvilles Loss Exposed A Problem Fans Wont Want To Ignore
Wake Forest left Louisville with a loss that was built on balance, not just one hot phase. The Deacons were effective on both sides of the ball and got enough from special teams to keep the Cardinals from finding a rhythm, while Louisvilles offense ran into real resistance at the line of scrimmage. The defense was particularly sturdy against the run, and several players on that unit earned strong marks for what they did between the tackles.
On the other side, the blocking picture offered some clues about where Louisville still has work to do. The interior of the offensive line held up well in pass protection, and Drayden Dickmann showed up as a useful piece in run blocking, but the edge of that protection remains a point to watch. For a team trying to establish more consistency week to week, the difference between the inside and outside of the line may end up mattering more than the final score suggested. [Read more 🡒]
Louisvilles Playoff Dream Just Took A Brutal Turn
Louisville spent the first part of the season looking like a real ACC and College Football Playoff threat, building momentum with a strong start and stacking up wins that put the Cardinals firmly in the conversation. The loss to Wake Forest changed the math in a hurry, but it did not erase the fact that Louisville still has a route back into the picture if it can keep winning and push its way to the ACC title game.
ESPNs Allstate Playoff Predictor made the setback feel even more severe, dropping Louisville from 22% to 4% after the defeat. With little margin for error now, the next road game at North Carolina State takes on added weight, because the Cardinals can still chase the same ceiling they had before, but every step from here has to come with a sense of urgency. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Suddenly Has An ACC Problem Fans Cant Ignore
A surprising home loss to Wake Forest has put Louisville in a rougher spot than anyone around the program expected a week ago. The defeat knocked the Cardinals out of the national rankings and took away some of the momentum they had built as ACC frontrunners, leaving the margin for error suddenly much thinner as the race toward Charlotte tightens up.
Now the focus shifts quickly to NC State, and quarterback Lincoln Kienholz is a game-time decision that could shape how Louisville responds. The bigger issue, though, may be self-inflicted: the Cardinals have been fighting discipline problems all season, and the penalty yardage has become hard to overlook for a team still trying to stay on track for the ACC Championship game. [Read more 🡒]