Washington State Cougars

Louisville didn't play a game in Week 6 but still lost

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:28 p.m. ET

Dieter Kurtenbach

Louisville is one of the best teams in the nation, but after a tough road loss to Clemson last week, they are on the outside of the College Football Playoff field.

That's OK — there's plenty of time left in the season for the Cardinals to climb back into the field of four.

But that path to the playoff became a lot tougher to navigate Saturday.

The Cardinals didn't play a game in Week 6 — they had a bye — but Navy and Houston did, and Louisville was a big loser in that contest.

Houston's 46-40 loss to Navy effectively eliminated the Cougars from the College Football Playoff race, which was important for Louisville because the two teams will meet Nov. 17.

That game looked like a de-facto play-in game for the CFP, but with Houston out of the running, a win by Louisville would be good, but probably not a springboard into the top four.

Now, Louisville's best hope to make the playoff is for Clemson to falter and cede the ACC Atlantic. It's not out of the realm of possibility, but it's not a great bet, either.

In short, Louisville is no longer in control of its own playoff destiny, something they could have claimed before Houston lost.

The Cardinals don't have any other chances for marquee victories to go along with their win over Florida State (which looks less impressive by the week) — the Cardinals play Duke, North Carolina State, Boston College, Virginia and Wake Forest between now and that date with Houston. Those are not resume-building games.

The Cardinals can blow all those teams out (or not) and it likely won't matter — Louisville's best win might end up being a close loss to Clemson.

It's awfully hard to take a loss when you don't play a game, but that's exactly what happened to Louisville Saturday.