Louisville Ranked No. 42 in ESPN's 2021 Preseason FPI
(Photo of Louie: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Going 8-5 in 2019 during his first year at the helm, including a bowl win, head coach Scott Satterfield and the rest of the Louisville football program saw a drastic difference in the win column in year two. Powered primarily by their horrific turnover margin, the Cardinals finished just 4-7 in 2020, including 3-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
ESPN released the preseason iteration of their Football Power Index rankings on Tuesday, and unsurprisingly, it is not as high on the Cardinals as it was last season. For those unfamiliar, FPI is a "predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward."
Where does FPI palace the Cards? With a rating of 6.3 - less than half of their 2020 preseason rating of 12.9 - they come in at No. 42 in all of FBS. As it pertains to the Atlantic Coast Conference, they rank No. 9 in the league and 5th in the Atlantic Division - ahead of only Boston College and Syracuse.
If it's any condolence to Louisville fans, there is some good news. FPI projects Louisville's win/loss record at 6.5-5.5, or 7-5 if we're rounding. In fact, it gives the Cardinals a 74.6% chance to reach six wins - the normal requirement to reach a bowl game.
Louisville's 2021 Schedule with FPI Rating & Rankings
| Date | Team | FPI Rating | FPI Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
Sept. 6 | Ole Miss (Atlanta) | 11.5 | 22nd |
Sept. 11 | Eastern Kentucky | N/A | N/A |
Sept. 17 | UCF | 0.5 | 70th |
Sept. 15 | at Florida State | 6.4 | 41st |
Oct. 2 | at Wake Forest | 7.5 | 37th |
Oct. 9 | Virginia | 8.8 | 32nd |
Oct 23 | Boston College | 4.4 | 54th |
Oct. 30 | at NC State | 8.1 | 33rd |
Nov. 6 | Clemson | 23.5 | 3rd |
Nov. 13 | Syracuse | -2.7 | 80th |
Nov. 18 | at Duke | -1.0 | 74th |
Nov. 27 | Kentucky | 7.3 | 39th |
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