Louisville Football: Does a New Year's Six bowl mean that 2016 was a failure?

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

foxsports

We take a look at if making it only to a New Year’s Six bowl game would be a failure for the Louisville football team in 2016.

This is something that needs to be addressed among the Louisville football fanbase. You may not agree with this and that’s okay, but hear me out.

There are a lot of unhappy people, and rightfully so, after the Cardinals came up just short of beating the Clemson Tigers a couple of Saturday’s ago. That loss hurt Louisville’s chances of making the College Football Playoff big time, but it doesn’t mean they can’t still crash the party. It just means that it will take a lot going in their favor.

Yes, every Louisville football fan will be scoreboard watching for the rest of the season to see if their Cards can make it into the playoff, but that leads us to the main question. If Louisville doesn’t make the playoff this year, will 2016 then be a disappointment?

There are two words that come to mind when answering that question: Absolutely not.

For a team who finished 8-5 in 2015 to potentially go 11-1 the next season and make a New Year’s Six bowl game, with a potential Heisman Trophy winner is a huge success. Yes, it would be disappointing not to make the playoff, but it definitely wouldn’t be a failure.

This Louisville football program has risen to a different level this season and it just may be the beginning. Recruiting is going to skyrocket and Lamar Jackson still has another year and a half left as Louisville Cardinal.

Yes, scoreboard watch. Yes, root against every team in front of Louisville. However, don’t let yourself be disappointed in a New Year’s Six bowl because it would be a huge accomplishment for this year’s team.