Louisville football’s first game of the 2026-27 season is under 50 days away, and the Cardinals' fans are eagerly excited. Louisville’s squad is going to look much different this upcoming season, as Jeff Brohm has had to rebuild the majority of his offense and secondary.
However, Brohm did a phenomenal job this offseason at rebuilding, landing the No. 5 overall portal class, according to On3 Sports, after Louisville added over 32 transfers. The Cardinals are trending as a preseason top 25 team, but Louisville fans have their eyes set on the ACC Title and the College Football Playoffs.
While some believe Louisville’s schedule is favorable for them this season and the Cardinals are a dark horse for the College Football Playoffs, CBS Sports just poured rain on any Louisville fan’s CFP dream.
CBS Sports predicts Louisville's regular season
The Cardinals have been getting a lot of attention this offseason from some media outlets, trending as a major College Football Playoff sleeper team. Louisville has never made it to the playoffs, and with the Cardinals not having to play Miami, Clemson, Duke and Virginia, a lot are talking about Louisville possibly making some noise this year.
Well, CBS Sports just shut that dream down, as they predicted Louisville’s 2026 schedule. While they have Brohm and Louisville finishing the regular season with nine wins, they don’t have Louisville winning the ACC Title or making it to the College Football Playoffs, which is ultimately the main goal this season.
“The way that I got it laid out, it really does hit on the concerns that we hit on this segment. The idea that playing Ole Miss and SMU is a rough start for a defense that is really being worked on the back end,” stated CBS Sports analyst Chip Patterson.
The Cards open the season against the Ole Miss Rebels, which is set to be a huge night game on Sept. 6, as Louisville will face Ole Miss in Week 1 after the Rebels' historic season of winning 13 games in a year, beating Georgia in the quarterfinals, and making it to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Then in Week 3, Louisville will get a home game against SMU, which is the Cardinals' clear toughest ACC game. Louisville has yet to defeat SMU since the Mustangs joined the ACC. It will be a thrilling first three weeks, but Patterson has Louisville dropping both games against Ole Miss and SMU, which would be absolutely crushing for the Cardinals and their fans.
Later in the season, Louisville travels to Georgia Tech, and Patterson has the Cardinals dropping a third game before finishing 9-3 and missing the playoffs.
The first three weeks are going to be massive for the Cardinals and their CFP dreams. Louisville must start 2-1 if the Cardinals want a path to the CFP. They can’t drop both games to Ole Miss and SMU, and Patterson’s prediction is a great example of why.
It is going to be a challenging first few weeks for the Cardinals, but Patterson’s predictions for Louisville are just another example of how crucial the first three weeks are going to be for the Cardinals and their CFP dreams.
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