Ranking UofL's 2024 games in order of difficulty

We're almost there. Or are we? I guess it depends on how you look at it. Either way, football season will be here before we know it, and fall camp preparations will commence.

The content slow period will begin to dissipate and we will be back to talking ball. July 16th seems like an appropriate day to kick off the football content: team, schedule, opponents, the whole nine yards.

Today, we look at Louisville's toughest games, in order, from easiest to hardest.

On paper.

Louisville fans have gotten somewhat accustomed to sweating out season openers. Most recently, last year's season opener in Atlanta against Georgia Tech. This year offers a break, as the first game of the season is likely the easiest game of the season. The Govs went 9-3 a year ago, and showed resolve against Tennessee in week two.

Most Louisville fans should have some familiarity with this Jacksonville State football program in that former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez is at the helm. Rich Rod had it rolling at WVU in the Big East days, and went bowling after an 8-4 year in his second season at JSU.

Pat Narduzzi and company knocked off Louisville last year in a rainy, gloomy night in the Steel City. There weren't many other highlights of the 2023 season which saw Pitt go 3-9. In a revenge game, Louisville gets Pitt at home in 2024.

Tony Elliott looked to be a decent hire by Virginia, but has just managed six wins in two years. Games in Charlottesville never seem to go to plan. Remember when a report came out that Scott Satterfield would be fired if he lost at Virginia, and his team played their best game? Either way, Virginia looks like a bad ACC team once again.

Louisville travels out West in Stanford's inaugural year in the ACC. The Cardinal went 3-9 last season, but may have found one of the best receivers in the country while doing so in Elic Ayomanor. He became a household name after catching 13 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns against Colorado.

Jeff Hafley left for the Packers, leaving Boston College in a tumultuous situation, having to hire a new coach in February. Enter Bill O'Brien. After stops at the Patriots and Texans, O'Brien resurrected his career under Nick Saban. O'Brien briefly accepted the Ohio State OC job this off-season, and lands in Chestnut Hill. He does have a dynamic QB in Thomas Castellanos.

I can't see any scenario in which Louisville takes this game lightly. Not after the first half of last year's game, and especially not after seeing what Haynes King did down the stretch of the season. You can bet this game will be closer than Louisville fans want it to be.

SMU is an addition to the conference that slid under the radar in my opinion. They got lumped into the threesome of Cal and Stanford, but make no mistake about it: this is a program that has the resources to win at a high level. If Louisville wants to have a special season, taking care of SMU at home is a must.

Miami is getting tons of preseason hype. Also, grass is green. The Hurricanes are loaded, landed arguably the most sought after quarterback in the portal, and will have no shortage of blue-chip talent, but can they win games. Mario Cristobal will be feeling the heat if he can't stack some Ws in his third year.

New coach or not, until Louisville proves they can beat Kentucky, you have to proceed with caution. The gap was definitely closed last year in a game where Louisville probably should have won. But there can't be any more ifs in this series.

Louisville got the best of the Irish in a memorable game at L&N a season ago, but Marcus Freeman has re-tooled the roster heading into a pivotal year. Riley Leonard comes over from Duke, and with this game being in South Bend, it's a tall task.

Winning in Death Valley, regardless of what Clemson has, seems impossible. We have seen Louisville go down there and get objectively hosed year after year, so this probably won't be any different. Dabo still isn't taking any transfers, but it's Death Valley.