Louisville Football ranked No. 20 in ESPN's 2020 preseason FPI

ESPN's Football Power Index is extremely high on Louisville in 2020, particularly the offense.

When returning eight starters on both sides of the football on a team that already exceeded expectations, it's no wonder that there is a lot of offseason buzz surrounding the Louisville Footballl program heading into the 2020 season.

One metric that seems to buy into the hype is ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI). For those unfamiliar, FPI is a "predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward."

So how high is FPI on the Cards? With a rating of 12.9, they come in at No. 20 in all of FBS, and are No. 3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference behind only Clemson (32.6) and Virginia Tech (13.0).

The main reason? The offensive. Because of the tweaks made to FPI this offseason, it recognizes how efficient they were when Micale Cunningham was at the helm. As a result, FPI has Louisville's offense as the fourth-best in the nation.

Using FPI's Expected Points Added:

Clemson has the top-ranked defense in the country by more than two points.

Ohio State boasts the top offense, more than three points better than the closest competition. pic.twitter.com/VWnNM0QX5J

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 1, 2020

Louisville's 2020 Schedule with FPI Rating & Rankings

Date	Team	FPI Rating	FPI Ranking
Sept. 3	NC State	-1.5	77th
Sept. 12	@ Clemson	32.6	1st
Sept. 19	Murray State	N/A	N/A
Sept. 26	Western Kentucky	-2.2	81st
Oct. 3	@ Syracuse	-4.2	88th
Oct. 10	@ Boston College	2.5	54th
Oct. 24	Florida State	10.8	26th
Oct. 31	Virginia Tech	13.0	18th
Nov. 7	@ Virginia	-0.6	71st
Nov. 14	Wake Forest	0.5	65th
Nov. 21	@ Notre Dame	15.4	16th
Nov. 28	Kentucky	8.1	53th

Under first year head coach Scott Satterfield, Louisville finished the 2019 season with an 8-5 record including a Music City Bowl win over Mississippi State. The Cardinals finished second in the Atlantic Division with a 5-3 record, and Satterfield was named the ACC Coach of the Year.

Full 2020 preseason FPI ratings

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