The city of Louisville is buzzing with excitement right now for the Louisville football program. Jeff Brohm has created one of the best rosters since he arrived at Louisville, and has this team ranked as high as No. 14 in ESPN’s way-too-early rankings.
Thanks to the Cardinals' massive offseason, this team is positioned to contend for the program's first-ever ACC Title. It is hard not to get excited about the 2026 season, as the Cardinals have elite players returning in Isaac Brown, AJ Green, Clev Lubin, Keyjuan Brown, Antonio Watts, and many others. But Louisville also hit the portal hard, landing players like Tre Richardson, Lincoln Kienholz, Marquise Davis, Brody Foley, Tyler Thompson, Eryx Daugherty, and more.
Louisville enters the offseason with the fifth-highest odds from an ACC program to win the 2026 National Title with +15000 odds. So, with the Cardinals having early expectations to compete for their first ACC Title, here are Louisville’s three way-too-early biggest threats to their 2026 ACC Title dreams.
Related: 10 key players who will play for Louisville football in the 2026 season
3 way-too-early biggest threats to Louisville football's 2026 ACC Title dreams
3. Clemson
One team to always keep an eye on is Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers. The Tigers are coming off one of their most disappointing seasons under Swinney, as they were a favorite to win the College Football Playoffs but finished 7-6, marking the second-worst season in Swinney’s 17 seasons.
With tons of motivation for a massive comeback season, the Tigers had the third-best offseason in the ACC, according to On3 Sports. Clemson will have Christopher Vizzina starting at QB, who ranked one spot ahead of Lincoln Kienholz in the 2023 quarterback rankings. The Tigers are ranked as high as No. 19 in USA Today’s way-too-early rankings, and are tied with the second-highest odds from an ACC team to win the National Title at +10000.
2. SMU
SMU has made an immediate impact in the ACC since joining the conference a couple of seasons ago. The Cardinals are 0-2 against SMU across the past two seasons, and the Mustangs are generating some early buzz heading into 2026. The Mustangs are the third-highest-ranked ACC team in ESPN’s way-too-early rankings at No. 17 and are tied with Clemson for the second-highest odds from an ACC program to win the 2026 National Title at +10000.
SMU will have Kevin Jennings return after throwing 3,641 yards on a 66 percent completion percentage and adding 16 passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns. The Mustangs will play at Louisville in 2026 and have a fairly reasonable schedule as they play six of the seven worst teams from the 2025 season, and don’t have to play Miami, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Pitt, or Duke.
1. Miami
The Cardinals' biggest threat to win their first ACC Title is, of course, the 2025-26 College Football Playoffs runner-ups, the Miami Hurricanes. Louisville won’t have to play Miami next season, but the Hurricanes are in a good position to not only contend for the ACC Title but also make a CFP run. Miami will replace Carson Beck with likely Duke transfer Darian Mensah (pending lawsuit), who threw 3,973 yards with 34 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.
Miami is the early dominant favorite to win the ACC next season as the Hurricanes have +1900 odds to win the National Title, and come in ranked No. 9 in ESPN’s way-too-early rankings. Miami will lose a lot on its defensive line, but will have key pieces returning like Mark Fletcher Jr. and Malachi Toney on offense.