Louisville Cardinals

Louisville Football: 5 games that will impact the playoffs on Saturday

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

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We take a look at the five different games that could help the Louisville football team in terms of the College Football Playoff.

I think it’s safe to say that every Louisville football fan was pretty discouraged by the fact the playoff committee ranked the Cards at number seven on Tuesday night. The Cardinals have been at number five in the country for a few weeks, but that didn’t come into consideration when determining who is worthy of the playoffs.

The one thing that the Louisville football team cannot do is worry about everyone else. However, as fans, we are able to do that all week long. It can seem like torture, but this is what being a fan is all about.

There is still a lot of football left to be played this season, so don’t be too upset that Louisville isn’t in the top four right now. They have four winnable games in-a-row, therefore anything could happen down the stretch of the season.

Boston College is the first team standing in their way and looking to shut down Lamar Jackson. They did a pretty solid job of containing him last season, but I don’t expect that to happen two years running. The Cardinals should be able to beat the Eagles fairly easy on Saturday.

There are however, five games that will impact the College Football Playoff on Saturday and Louisville fans need to be paying attention to each game.

Oct 29, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Curtis Samuel (4) celebrates with offensive linemen Pat Elflein (65) and Jamarco Jones (74) and wide receiver K.J. Hill (14) after scoring the final touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 24-20. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

#10 Nebraska at #6 Ohio State: 8:00pm (ABC)

I don’t even want to remember how we all felt when Ohio State was ranked over Louisville on Tuesday. The committee obviously feels as though the Buckeyes are better than the Cardinals right now, but that may be coming to an end on Saturday night.

Ohio State barely beat Northwestern last weekend, but that apparently isn’t the same thing as almost beating Virginia. The Buckeyes will need to play much better if they want to stay in the College Football Playoff picture after this weekend.

Both teams come in with 7-1 records and 4-1 records in the Big Ten. It’s really hard to say who the Cards need to lose in this game because Nebraska doesn’t have to play Michigan in the regular season, whereas the Buckeyes do at the end of the year.

The way things have played out so far, if Nebraska wins, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Huskers jump over Louisville in the polls.

Sep 24, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide tight end O.J. Howard (88) scores a touchdown against the Kent State Golden Flashes at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

#1 Alabama at #13 LSU: 8:00pm (CBS)

This very well may be the most intriguing game of the entire weekend. If the LSU Tigers can figure out a way to knock off the Crimson Tide, then we might as well go ahead and decide there will be two SEC teams in the College Football Playoff.

The committee loves the Southeastern Conference and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a one-loss Alabama getting the fourth spot. Not to mention, a win for LSU could bump the Cardinals down another spot the in playoff poll.

However, it would be interesting to see what would happen if Alabama did lose. The Tide still has to play Auburn and LSU still has to play Florida and Texas A&M.

As I like to remind everyone, there is still a lot of football left to be played this season.

Oct 29, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Washington Huskies running back Lavon Coleman (22) and defensive back Austin Joyner (4) and running back Kendyl Taylor (13) celebrate wide receiver Dante Pettis

#5 Washington at California: 10:30pm (ESPN)

This could be a dangerous game for Washington if they come in unfocused after being let-down by the playoff committee on Tuesday. It’s absolutely ridiculous at Texas A&M came in over an unbeaten Washington Huskies football team. They deserved that fourth spot, but they will have to go out and prove it, yet again, on Saturday night.

Louisville definitely needs Washington to lose before the season is over and lose in their conference championship game. Could this be the night when the Huskies finally fall? Well, it doesn’t look like it, but that’s why they play the game.

California has a solid quarterback in Davis Webb who already had 29 touchdowns this season. It’s college football and sometimes teams come out on fire.

It could get interesting in the 10:30 match-up between the Huskies and Golden Bears.

Oct 29, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies players celebrate their win over the New Mexico State Aggies at Kyle Field. Texas A&M Aggies won 52-10. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

#4 Texas A&M at Mississippi State: 12:00pm (SECN)

Oh how the Aggies are on every Louisville fans radar now that they have moved into the fourth spot in the country. Do we need to remind everyone that they were blown out by Alabama this year? I don’t think that qualifies that loss as legit.

Sorry Texas A&M fans, losing by 6 to the second ranked team on the road and getting blown out at home by the number one team are two totally different kind of losses.

Mississippi State is not very good this season, but that doesn’t mean that the Aggies are susceptible to getting beat on any weekend. Even if they don’t play as well as expected, they should still be held to the same standard as everyone else the committee decides to be tough on.

Every single Louisville Cardinal football fan should also be a huge Bulldog fan on Saturday.

Oct 22, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Chris Godwin (12) reacts following his touchdown catch against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second quarter at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Iowa at #12 Penn State: 7:30pm (BTN)

I am not completely sure why the committee has fallen in love with the Big Ten this season, but one thing is for sure-it doesn’t bold well for Louisville football. Penn State’s only big win of the season was over Ohio State at home, however that was apparently good enough to place them at number 12 in the country.

This means that Ohio State’s unranked loss to the Nittany Lions is now not a bad loss at all- thanks a lot college playoff committee.

Iowa presents a tough match-up for Penn State and this is one that they could lose at home. If they do, it would be a huge boost for the Cardinals as it would hurt Ohio State.

Not only would it hurt the Buckeyes, but it would also hurt the credibility of the conference. However, the way the committee grades teams, Iowa could be in the top ten after this week.

I’m only kidding, but there is something to be said about the Big Ten bias this season.