NFL.com– Russell Athletic Bowl. No. 5

Sports On Earth– Russell Athletic Bowl No. 10

SB Nation– Russell Athletic Bowl No. 8

CBSSports.com– Russell Athletic Bowl No. 9

Crystal Ball Run– Russell Athletic Bowl No. 11

ESPN– Russell Athletic Bowl No. 12

Lost Letterman– Russell Athletic Bowl No. 10

Yahoo– Russell Athletic Bowl No. 13

Athlon Sports-Russell Athletic Bowl No. 9

Composite Average results–Russell Athletic Bowl No. 9.7

The Russell Athletic Bowl also checks in as one of the ten best bowl games this season. Louisville is headed to the ACC next season and many view this matchup of future ACC foes as a good dry run for Louisville to see what ACC football is all about. . The high praise for this game is based on various reasons including matchup intrigue, story lines, “watchability”, and overall competitiveness.

“Let’s go ahead and look at this as Louisville’s inaugural ACC game. The Cardinals head to the ACC after this season so this will be a good early test,” said Graham Watson of Dr. Saturday.

Miami also heads to a bowl game for the first time in three years and look to sustain the momentum that they have gained this season going into next season.

“Coach Al Golden has Miami on the right track, and a win over Louisville would give the Hurricanes double-digit victories for the first time since 2003,” wrote Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports. 

A final story line is Cardinal quarterback Teddy Bridgewater going up against his hometown team in what could be his final game. Bridgewater originally committed to Miami in high school before changing his mind and heading to Louisville. Five of Bridgewater’s high school teammates, four for Louisville and Artie Burns from Miami, will also be on the field for what could be Bridgewater’s final game at the helm of the Cardinals. Bridgewater has gone 27-7 as a starter and is projected as a top five pick in this springs NFL Draft by some experts.