2. Another season they lost games should have won
Beating two CFP teams is an impressive accomplishment. On the other hand, losing to Cal, Clemson, and SMU is the kind of inconsistency that prevented Louisville from capitalizing on its potential. Some fans will point to injuries or questionable coaching decisions as explanations for Louisville’s longest losing streak under Jeff Brohm, but the truth is this pattern isn’t new. Brohm’s Louisville teams have consistently had signature wins followed by head-scratching losses that prevent them from maximizing their ceiling.
In 2023, Brohm’s first season, a brutal loss at Pittsburgh came between two wins over top-20 teams in Notre Dame and Duke. That Pitt loss could have been chalked up as a bump in the road, but late-season losses to Kentucky and Florida State (with a backup QB in the ACC Championship) showed the team simply wasn’t ready yet.
In 2024, expectations rose again, but losses against nearly every quality opponent on the schedule showed Louisville was still a step behind the top level. Their defeats to Notre Dame, SMU, and Miami were all one-possession games, which gave the fanbase hope that the gap was closing. When Brohm then led Louisville to its first-ever win over Clemson — who also made the CFP that year — the program seemed ready for the next step. But that progress was undone by a stunning collapse against Stanford, a loss still hard for fans to rationalize.
Then came 2025. In a season where Louisville beat two playoff teams, they also lost three straight games to opponents they should be competitive with. The loss at Cal was the start of the downfall, and even with the injuries, there was no excuse for the lack of execution. After that, effort and attention to detail slipped, which showed in losses to Clemson and then a blowout loss at SMU. The snowball effect of “bad losses following big wins” continues to loom over this program, and until Louisville shakes that trend, playoff appearances will remain out of reach.