Louisville’s win against Wake Forest was a big deal for the program, which is ahead of schedule in its rebuild.

The Cardinals (4-2, 2-1 ACC) picked up their first ranked win since 2016, but the win also moved them one game closer to bowl eligibility. That seemed like a foreign concept at the beginning of the season, but needing to win just two of their next six games, it’s looking likely that the Cardinals will make a bowl in Scott Satterfield’s first year.

Defending-champion Clemson comes to town on Saturday, which is expected to be a loss. The Tigers have won 21 straight games, and the Cardinals are 23.5-point underdogs.

After Clemson, Louisville will host Virginia and Syracuse and play Kentucky, NC State and Miami on the road. There’s a real chance the Cardinals get to six wins, potentially more if they stay healthy.

In that case, let’s break down where they might land if they do reach the six-win threshold.

More Cards:Win over Wake Forest shows rebuilding project is ahead of schedule

Off the board

College Football Playoff

Louisville is not making the College Football Playoff, but whether Clemson makes the playoff will have an impact on where the Cardinals land. The Tigers, ranked No. 2 in the Amway Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the AP Poll, would be in the playoff if the season ended today. They play Louisville on Saturday and are likely to be large favorites the rest of the season. Let’s pencil them into the College Football Playoff.

Orange Bowl

The highest-ranked ACC team not in the College Football Playoff will earn the conference’s Orange Bowl spot. As of now that looks to be Virginia or Wake Forest.

Cotton Bowl

It’s unlikely the ACC earns an at-large New Year’s Six Bowl spot, but if it did, it is designated to be in the Cotton Bowl.

Citrus Bowl

The only way an ACC team can make the Citrus Bowl is if the ACC team playing in the Orange Bowl plays an opponent from the Big Ten. If that happens, the Citrus Bowl gets the next ACC pick, which as of now would be Virginia or Wake, whichever wasn’t in the New Year’s Six Bowl.

Read more:Louisville quarterback Conley is a competitor first, freshman second

The most likely options

“Additional bowls”

Working against Louisville is the fact that outside of Clemson there seems to be great parity in the conference. Seven teams have at least four wins already, meaning the ACC will fill many of its bids. After the Citrus Bowl, the Camping World Bowl gets its pick followed by four of the “Tier One" bowls.

The three likely spots for Louisville land under what the ACC calls “additional bowls” — the Military Bowl, Independence Bowl or Quick Lane Bowl. These are the three I’ve seen the most predictions for, and if the Cardinals finish 6-6, this is likely where they will land.

The question remains where in this grouping will they fall? The Military Bowl gets first pick of additional bowls and I’d predict Louisville lands there if they finish 6-6. The Military Bowl is played on Dec. 26 in Annapolis, Maryland. I saw a prediction with Louisville in the Independence Bowl, which gets the second pick, and is in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Dec. 27. Finally there is the Quick Lane, which is held in Detroit on Dec. 26.

The most likely of the three, I think, is the Military Bowl if Louisville finishes in the middle of the pack in the ACC.

See also:After historic win over Wake Forest, two Louisville players earn ACC honors

Also possible

Tier One bowls:

It’s unlikely Louisville gets to the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina. That’s probably going to be North Carolina if it continues at the pace it is going. After that, there are a host of teams competing for spots in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl and Gator Bowl or Music City Bowl.

These bowl games all have an equal selection process, so they bid on who they prefer based on location and matchup. Of these games, the Pinstripe Bowl and the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl have been the only predictions I’ve seen. If Louisville were to make one of those, it would likely have to win at least seven games and hope a few other teams lose.

Cameron Teague Robinson CTeagueRob@gannett.com; Twitter: @cj_teague; Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.