Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Bridgewater Rising ... Not So Louisville

Teddy Bridgewater certainly put on a show and launched his Heisman campaign in style. But for his team, it was but the first in a series of low-impact, low-return matchups.

Louisville is stuck at No. 14 in the simulated BCS standings after the first week, and don't look for the Cardinals to make much of a move either in the polls or the computers anytime soon. They face FCS Eastern Kentucky next, and then Kentucky and Florida International before opening American Athletic Conference play against Temple.

Only one of Louisville's opponents is ranked above No. 55 in the Massey Ratings, which has Louisville at No. 40 currently. In the other two BCS computer rankings currently available, the Cardinals are No. 29 in Jeff Sagarin and No. 12 in Richard Billingsley. But the high ranking in Billingsley is nearly meaningless because of its high frequency of being discarded by the BCS formula.

Another national title contender facing considerable headwind early in the season is Ohio State, which despite being ranked No. 2 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the AP Poll finds itself only No. 6 in the simulated BCS standings. The Buckeyes also have an impact-free nonconference schedule that features FCS Florida A&M and San Diego State, which was trounced in its opener by FCS Eastern Illinois.

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