How would Louisville fare against a Top 25 team? Quite well. The Cardinals upset the No. 3 Florida Gators 33-23 in the Sugar Bowl. A late special teams touchdown made that score more flattering. Teddy Bridgewater completed 20/32 for 266 yards and two touchdowns, amplifying the Heisman 2013 buzz. SEC defenders will resort to “motivation” or “we’d love to see Charlie Strong do it week-in, week-out” against an SEC schedule.

Biggest BCS upset ever? The two most often cited are Utah over Alabama in the Orange Bowl after the 2008 season and Boise State over Oklahoma after the 2006 season. Both those teams went 13-0 and finished in the Top 10 in SRS. Louisville entered this game outside the Top 50. They were 38th in FEI. They lost to UConn at home. Louisville had an AQ bid, but, by some measures, this was a bigger upset than Northern Illinois over Florida State would have been.