Louisville football among top 10 in latest rankings ahead of its ACC finale at Miami
Louisville broke into the top 10 of the rankings ahead of its ACC finale at Miami.
The Cardinals are No. 9 in the latest US LBM coaches poll and AP Top 25, released Sunday. They are one of three ACC teams in the rankings, along with Florida State (No. 4) and North Carolina (No. 20 in coaches poll, No. 22 in AP poll).
U of L’s last top-10 ranking in the polls came during the 2016 season. That year, the Cardinals reached their highest ranking in program history at No. 3 after going 9-1 to start the season.
While Louisville rose in the rankings it fell to No. 21 in ESPN’s Football Power Index following its comeback win over Virginia.
The Cavaliers (2-8, 1-5 ACC) threatened to end Louisville’s 10-game winning streak at home by scoring 21 unanswered points in the third quarter. But U of L (9-1, 6-1) used a final push in the last half of the fourth quarter to beat Virginia, 31-24. The Cardinals are one game away from making the ACC championship game, having to beat Miami (6-4, 2-4) on the road Saturday to secure their first-ever appearance.
Miami leads the all-time series with Louisville, 11-3-1, and is 6-0-1 at home against the Cardinals. The last time U of L played at Miami, the Cardinals lost, 52-27, on Nov. 9, 2019. Louisville's last win over the Hurricanes came at home, 31-13, on Sept. 1, 2014.
Florida State (10-0, 8-0) has already clinched its spot in the ACC championship game and ESPN's FPI gives the Seminoles a 76.7% chance of winning the league following their 27-20 win over Miami on Saturday.
Louisville has never won an ACC championship while Florida State has 15, most of which came during the Seminoles’ college football dominance in the 1990s. The last time FSU won the league was 2014. Louisville’s last conference championship was in 2012 when it won the Big East in the league's final season.
Over a decade later, the Cardinals will try to lay claim to another league title in a different conference.
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Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football ranking? UofL in latest AP Top 25 and coaches poll
