Louisville Cardinals

Louisville football: 3 teams that should be ranked lower than the Cards

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

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Sep 1, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals wide receiver Traveon Samuel (1) runs the ball against the Charlotte 49ers during the second half at Papa John

After the first weekend of the College Football season, who are the three teams that Louisville football should be ranked higher than heading into week two?

What a great weekend of college football. There were numerous upsets and close-calls on the first weekend of the 2016 season. Louisville football was one of a few top 25 teams that didn’t have a crucial matchup to start the year. The Cardinals clobbered the Charlotte 49ers 70-14 last Thursday evening in Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium.

Sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson had a stellar final two games of the 2015 season. He brought the Cardinals back from a three touchdown hole against arch-rival Kentucky and led them to a Music City Bowl win over Texas A&M. While Louisville was only playing Charlotte in week one, the expectations were still sky-high for the impact Sophomore.

Jackson soared above everyone’s expectations for how he would perform against the 49ers. He was able to lead Louisville to a 56-0 lead at halftime, while scoring a total of eight touchdowns in the first half.

With that being said, Louisville annihilated an opponent that they were supposed to beat. At the end of the day, Louisville was able to get a win to start the season. It doesn’t matter how it happened, all that matters is that it happened. That is more than some top ten teams could say about their own week one performances.

This brings up the discussion of where Louisville should be ranked heading into week two of the college football season. There were teams who lost, teams who won, and other teams who won ugly.

Who are the three teams that Louisville football should be ranked higher than heading into week two?

Sep 3, 2016; Fort Worth, TX, USA; TCU Horned Frogs running back Kyle Hicks (21) rushes against South Dakota State Jackrabbits defensive lineman Jared Blum (43) during the second half on an NCAA football game at Amon G. Carter Stadium. TCU won 59-41. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

No. 3: TCU Horned Frogs (Beat South Dakota State 59-41)

This is actually one of the easiest choices out of the three teams. TCU was able to finally beat the Jackrabbits by scoring 59 points in their first game. At the same time, the Horned Frogs gave up a surprising 41 points at home. That is extremely concerning.

There have been some members of the media who have been all over defending the ability of TCU’s defense coming into this season. It is very hard to believe that a team who gives up eight receptions, 196 yards, and two touchdowns to one receiver deserves to be the number 13 team in the country.

That type of defense is going to get your team eaten alive in the BIG-12.

There is no doubt TCU quarterback Kenny Hill can play. He threw for over 439 yards in this contest at home. he has great weapons around him that should help TCU compete among the best teams in the conference, but their defense will hold them back.

At the end of the day, most of the time, defense wins championships. Simply put, Louisville’s defense is so far ahead of TCU’s that is isn’t even funny. The Cardinals wouldn’t give up 41 points to any team from South Dakota.

With that being said, Louisville should be rated higher than TCU. Their defense needs to shows improvement to be considered a top 13 team.

Sep 3, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight (8) goes in for the one-yard touchdown run in overtime against the UCLA Bruins. Texas A&M won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

No. 2: UCLA Bruins (Lost in OT to Texas A&M 31-24)

This was definitely a tough game for UCLA to lose right out of the gate in 2016. Going on the road to Texas A&M is never easy, as they have one of the best environments in all of college football. UCLA was ranked by the Associated Press as the 16th best team in the country and that will be changing after this weekend.

While it was a close game that UCLA was able to make close at the end, they still lost a game they should have won to an unranked opponent. Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen threw three interceptions in their overtime loss to the Aggies.

Rosen, however, does need to get some credit for his play to get UCLA back in the game. He made some big-time throws at the end of the game to get UCLA within striking distance and ultimately forcing overtime. At the end of the day, the Bruin football team didn’t come out with the win.

After watching this game, UCLA is a team that Louisville football is clearly more talented than. That doesn’t mean that Louisville should be ranked number one in the country based off of a win versus Charlotte, but it does mean that they should be ranked higher than the Bruins.

Louisville won and UCLA lost. These teams are too close to each other in the polls for Louisville not to jump the Bruins at the beginning of week two.

Sep 3, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers running back Corey Clement (6) tries to get past LSU Tigers defensive end Tashawn Bower (46) and linebacker Kendell Beckwith (52) in the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

No. 1: LSU Tigers (Lost to Wisconsin 16-14)

This is surely going to be the team that people are going to disagree with, but that’s okay. It’s a long way between Louisville at number 19 in the country and LSU at number five. There will surely be some reshuffling this week and don’t be surprised if LSU finds themselves behind a popular Louisville football team.

This was one of the biggest games on College Football Saturday, as the Wisconsin Badgers were able to come away with the close win over the Tigers. While this is surely going to be one of the Badger’s biggest wins of 2016, it definitely wasn’t the prettiest game on television.

If there was one thing that everyone learned on the first weekend, it was that good teams find a way to win in tough spots and bad teams don’t. Unfortunately for LSU, they weren’t able to find a way to win at the end of this game on the road.

It just seems as though LSU quarterback Brandon Harris isn’t ready to play at a high level for the Tigers. He finished the day throwing for 131 yards, one touchdowns, and two interceptions. Ultimately that was not enough to bring his team to victory, even with Leonard Fournette’s 138 rushing yards..

To put that even more in perspective, LSU lost a close game to a team that had a quarterback throwing for two interceptions and zero touchdowns. It’s not like Wisconsin is one of the best teams in the country. Wisconsin was able to find the will to win and LSU did not.

Should LSU be ranked lower than Louisville? Yes. Will they? We will find out soon enough.