Louisville football enters the 2025 season ranked No. 20 in ESPN's way-to-early rankings, and their win total is set to 8.5.
Cardinals will have a tough road ahead in their 2025 season, as if they want to make history and win their first ACC Championship game they will have to get past some of the ACC blue bloods. Louisville will have to kickoff with Miami, Clemson and SMU next season, and if they want to make some noise and improve their eight wins or more in a season to four consecutive seasons, then they most likely will have to upset one of those teams.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals they are on the road for two of those games as on October 17 they are at Hard Rock Stadium against Miami Hurricanes, and November 22 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium against SMU.
So, with with those three games, it is going to be hard which one is labeled as "season-defining game", but ESPN was able to pinpoint which one stands out and they are probably right.
ESPN unveils 'season-defining game' for Louisville football
ESPN put out an article a couple days ago that labeled their way-to-early top 25 "season-defining game", and with Louisville football being ranked No. 20 in that ranking they got a sneak peak of experts opinion on which game will make or break their season.
Jeff Brohm and UofL "season-defining game" for their upcoming season is October 17, when Cardinals travel to Hard Rock Stadium to go up against the Miami Hurricanes.
The Cardinals travel to the Hurricanes for their sixth game of the season, and the their third game of ACC play. This mid-season game will have a lot at stake for the ACC and their College Football Playoff hopes. The loser of this game most likely will fall well behind the winner, and then SMU and Clemson.
Cardinals have not played well against Miami in the two programs history, as Miami holds the head-to-head record of 4-12-1, and the Hurricanes have won six of the last 10. Louisville joined the ACC back in 2014, and since then the Cardinals have only been able to win one game against Miami in conference play, as they are 1-3 against Miami in ACC gameplay.
Louisville and Miami game last season was one of the most entertaining ACC games all year long, as the Hurricanes edged out Louisville, 52-45 in an absolute shootout. Tyler Shough threw for 342 yards, and four touchdowns, and the two teams combined for 97 points and 986 yards.
If Jeff Brohm can go into their seventh game undefeated with wins over Pitt and Miami, it would prove that this Louisville football team is the real deal in 2025.