Another new year, halfway through the first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
What this observer realized in the moments following the University of Louisville football team’s loss to Georgia in the Belk Bowl, a 37-14 blowout, was that the defeat was a bump in the road. That UofL had exceeded expectations the past season, with a new coaching staff, injuries to two starting quarterbacks, and seven games without DeVante Parker.
Competitive with such programs as Notre Dame, Clemson and Florida State, confirming that Louisville’s previous successes, which included wins in two BCS bowls, were not aberrations, anomalies, departures from reality.
In the past, an embarrassing loss to a team like Georgia would have been devastating, a major setback in the overall progress of UofL’s athletic program, making it more difficult to schedule programs with perceived stronger traditions, a hindrance to Louisville’s efforts to join a better conference. But those are no longer concerns with Louisville in the ACC, which guarantees the schedule will continue to be respectable and offer opportunities for UofL to compete for national championships.
It could be argued that with Louisville’s new conference affiliation the win meant much more for Georgia. A win over an ACC team instead of a Big East program. Not that that makes any easier for the ACC to digest, especially with Clemson’s 40-6 rout of Oklahoma, Georgia Tech’s 49-34 win over Mississippi State, and Notre Dame beating LSU 31-28.
Don’t get me wrong. The loss to Georgia, especially by such a lopsided margin, was depressing, suggesting that UofL football still has a long way to go and could get off to an embarrassing start in the opening game against Auburn next season. But having an ACC schedule assures that Louisville will not be locked out of the process as in the past.