The Louisville football program might have fallen in spectacular fashion to Kentucky to close out the 2021 regular season, but, there is still one more game left to be played.
The Cardinals are at an even 6-6 (4-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) on the year, meaning they are eligible to go to a bowl game. Louisville clinched bowl eligibility when they throttled Duke in Durham, N.C two weeks ago. It is the second time going bowling under head coach Scott Satterfield
Unlike in years past, where the ACC organized bowls with conference tie-ins into tiers, that is not the case this time around. This bowl season, the league and their respective bowl partners "will make team selections based on several factors, including geographic proximity, avoiding repeat appearances and matchups, and regular-season won-loss records," according to the ACC's official website
Long story short, there are a lot of bowls in which Louisville could go to. Removing the obvious ones where the Cardinals won't be selected - the College Football Playoff and the remainder of the New Year's Six - there are eleven bowls that Louisville
The Cardinals will officially learn their postseason draw on Sunday, Dec. 5, following the end of conference championship weekend. The College Football Playoff selection show begins at 12:00 p.m. that day, and Louisville will likely learn their bowl shortly after.
With the regular season in the rear view mirror, here are some bowl projections for Louisville across various publications:
ESPN
Projector: Kyle Bonagura
Bowl: TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl
Location: Protective Life Stadium in Birmingham Ala.
Date/Time: Tuesday, Dec. 28 at 12:00 p.m. EST
Matchup: Louisville vs. Missouri
Projector: Mark Schlabach
Bowl: Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
Location: Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Tex.
Date/Time: Friday, Dec. 31 at 12;30 p.m. EST
Matchup: Louisville vs. Washington State
CBS
Projector: Jerry Palm
Bowl: New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Location: Yankee Stadium in New York City, N.Y.
Date/Time: Wednesday, Dec. 29
Matchup: Louisville vs. Maryland
Sports Illustrated
Projector: Richard Johnson
Bowl: Cheez-It Bowl
Location: Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
Date/Time: Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 5:45 p.m. EST
Matchup: Louisville vs. Oklahoma
247Sports
Projector: Brad Crawford
Bowl: Wasabi Fenway Bowl
Location: Fenway Park in Boston, Mass.
Date/Time: Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 11:00 a.m. EST
Matchup: Louisville vs. SMU
Athlon Sports
Projector: Steven Lassan
Bowl: Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Location: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
Date/Time: Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Matchup: Louisville vs. Florida
The Athletic
Projector: Stewart Mandel
Bowl: Military Bowl presented by Peraton
Location: Navy-Marin Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Mary.
Date/Time: Monday, Dec. 27 at 2:30 p.m. EST
Matchup: Louisville vs. East Carolina
College Football News
Projector: Staff Pick
Bowl: TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl
Location: Protective Life Stadium in Birmingham Ala.
Date/Time: Tuesday, Dec. 28 at 12:00 p.m. EST
Matchup: Louisville vs. LSU
Action Network
Projector: Brett McMurphy
Bowl: TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl
Location: Protective Life Stadium in Birmingham Ala.
Date/Time: Tuesday, Dec. 28 at 12:00 p.m. EST
Matchup: Louisville vs. Auburn
(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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