The ACC is expanded and open enough that many of the league’s top teams can imagine themselves hoisting up the championship trophy come December.
One of those teams is the Louisville Cardinals, who don’t have to wonder what it’s like to play for the ACC title, since they did so last season. In head coach Jeff Brohm’s first year, with a completely revamped roster, the Cards surged through the regular season with an 8-1 mark in league play to match up vs. Florida State in the title. The Seminoles won a hard-fought battle, but now, Louisville enters 2024 with some expectations.
But when it comes to running it back for another ACC title run, ESPN’s Greg McElroy commented that Louisville is one of about six teams realistically vying for the ‘ship. He examined their claim as a contender in a recent episode of his YouTube show, Always College Football.
“The Louisville Cardinals played for the ACC Championship last year. They’ve had to plug and play a lot of pieces via the portal. Will they have enough to ascend back up?” asks McElroy.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “But much like we talked about with Virginia Tech, much like we talked about with NC State, I think the big three are established there in the ACC right now.”
Those would be the usual suspects: Clemson, Florida State and Miami — at least for the preseason. But there’s another rung of contenders — Louisville, NC State and Virginia Tech — just below them, per McElroy.
“But that next collection of teams, if the stars can align, can they be dangerous enough to upset a few teams along the way, find their way in the conference title game, then ultimately win that one-game championship for a place in the college football playoff?”
Well, Louisville lived out that plot just last season, minus the championship victory. Perhaps they can reach glory in 2024, marking their first-ever ACC title.
“Louisville can certainly be there,” says Greg McElroy. “And, it would end a drought since 2012, since they’ve won the AAC. Of course, at that point, it was the Big East.”
Times and conferences have certainly changed since that 2012 conference title. But 2024 presents perhaps the best opportunity yet for the Cardinals to actually win the ACC. Obviously, they were close last year, but Louisville fans were pleasantly surprised by the run to the title rather than expecting it.
In 2024, the expectation may not be a title, but everyone in the Derby City has dreams of a potential playoff appearance after how close they came in 2023.
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