Does Louisville Football deserve to be in the top four?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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We look at if the Louisville football team deserves to be ranked in the top four of the College Football Playoff poll on Tuesday.

The second College Football Playoff poll will be released on Tuesday evening, therefore we take a look at if the Louisville football team deserves to be ranked inside of the top four. It may be a stretch, but the Cardinals may be closer than you think.

Here are the two teams that will surely be in front of the Cards in week 11:

#5 Washington Huskies:

The Huskies are undefeated and are not slowing down. They absolutely destroyed California on Saturday night while we were all falling asleep watching. The bad news is that they are the best team in the Pac-12, the good news is that they have a tough schedule remaining.

Yes, Washington is undefeated and they should get credit for that. Do I believe that the Cards could beat them this season? Heck yes.

Does Louisville football deserve to be ranked higher than the Huskies? Probably not.

The biggest reason why is because they are still undefeated and have been inside of the top ten pretty much all season. They have won nine straight games in 2016, while having the pressure of living up to the hype.

It’s extremely tough to get everyone’s greatest effort every single week. While I do believe they will fall before the season is over, they do deserve to be ranked higher than Louisville right now.

#6 Ohio State Buckeyes:

If you would have asked last week when the first poll was revealed, I would told you that Louisville should 100 percent be ranked over the Buckeyes. However, after a blow-out win against Nebraska last weekend, it doesn’t look like the Cards should be ranked over Ohio State.

Even though Louisville’s only loss was to Clemson, the Cards don’t have as many quality wins as the Buckeyes. Ohio State has beaten #14 Oklahoma on the road, #8 Wisconsin on the road, and #10 Nebraska at home.

Not to mention, they have beaten those opponents by a total of 137-50. Obviously, the Buckeyes 62-3 win over the Cornhuskers severely impacts those numbers, however it gives you an idea of how they are playing against top competition.

The bad news for Louisville is that their only quality win is over Florida State. Even though I believe the Cards are better than the Buckeyes, they do not deserve to be ranked over them right now.

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The Good News:

I say all that to say this: The Louisville football team still has an incredible shot of sneaking into the top four teams before this season is over.

Literally everything that needs to happen is in front of them and it’s not all that crazy to think it will happen.

If Michigan beats Ohio State, then Louisville moves to five.

If Washington drops a game in the regular season or loses in the conference championship, then the Cards very well could be sneaking into the fourth spot.

Thanks to Mississippi State, the loss to the Clemson Tigers may not hurt the Cardinals after all.

Hang in there Louisville football fans, there is still legitimate hope for the Cards in 2016.