Louisville football fans already know who the Cardinals are playing in the 2026 season, but they don’t know when. The ACC will release the entire conference schedule tonight, and the Louisville fans will be looking closely for a few things surrounding their schedule.
The Cards already know their 12 opponents for next season, but Louisville doesn’t know when 10 of those dates are. As of now, the only two games Louisville fans know the dates for are its home matchup with Villanova on Friday, Sept. 11, and its rivalry game on the road against Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 11. Besides that Louisville fans know the Cardinals they will play face Florida State, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, and Wake Forest inside L&N Stadium, and will face Georgia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Syracuse on the road. Louisville will also face Ole Miss in Week 1 in Nashville, but the date hasn’t been announced yet.
So, with the schedule coming out tonight, and the Cardinals having a much more manageable schedule this year than last year, let's break down the five biggest questions surrounding Louisville football's 2026 schedule release
Related: An early look at Louisville’s schedule quietly opens the door to an ACC breakthrough
5. When is the Ole Miss game?
The Cardinals were supposed to play the Georgia Bulldogs in a home-and-home series, but after Kirby Smart and Georgia backed away from the ACC/SEC showdown, Louisville quickly got a replacement with Ole Miss. Cardinals fans know this matchup will take place in Week 1 and on Labor Day Weekend, but they don’t know whether they will be watching their Cardinals on Saturday, Sept. 5, or Sunday, Sept. 6.
What they do know is this game will be played in Nashville, Tenn., and inside the Nissan Stadium. Louisville is 0-1 against the Rebels as the last time they played each other was in 2021 for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.
4. When will Louisville get its first bye-week?
Louisville got an early bye last year, as its first bye was in Week 3 after playing Eastern Kentucky and James Madison. Jeff Brohm made it clear he didn’t like the way their byes were set up, as both of his byes were in the first seven weeks of the season, meaning Louisville had to play its last seven games straight, including against its toughest opponents like Miami, Clemson, and SMU.
So when Cardinals fans look at the schedule tonight, they'll pay close attention to their bye weeks, hoping it isn’t similar to last year's and much more spread out through the 11-week window.
3. When is Louisville heading to Atlanta?
The Cardinals' biggest road game of the season will be against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are, without question, the best team in the ACC that Louisville will face on the road this season, and it is one game the Cardinals fans will want to circle on their schedule. Other than the Yellow Jackets, the Cards have a manageable road schedule with North Carolina State, Syracuse, and North Carolina.
The Wolfpack can be a tricky road game, but looking at this schedule at the end of January, that Yellow Jackets game in Atlanta will be a big-time test and the Cards' toughest road challenge in 2026.
2. What does Louisville's second half of schedule look like?
Louisville’s back half of their schedule last season was a gauntlet, as in a six-week window, the Cardinals had to play Miami, Clemson, and SMU, including Clemson and SMU in back-to-back weeks. The Cardinals had a collapse in the second half of the season, losing three straight games, which put them out of the ACC Title and College Football Playoff races.
When looking at their schedule tonight, Louisville fans hope their tough games against Georgia Tech, SMU, and Pitt are spaced out a bit more, and aren’t just all in a close window that might burn the Cards out like last season.
1. When does SMU come into town?
Louisville’s biggest game in their ACC schedule will be their marquee matchup with the SMU Mustangs. SMU has had Louisville’s number since the Mustangs joined the conference a couple of seasons ago, as the Mustangs are 2-0 against the Cardinals, including the dominant 38-6 win over the Cardinals last season in Dallas.
SMU is the only ACC team Louisville is playing in 2026 that is in ESPN’s way-too-early rankings, as they are ranked No. 17, with Louisville being ranked No. 14. This is the Cardinals' biggest home game of the season, and the fans will want to make sure this date is circled so they can already clear their Saturday for this huge ACC showdown.