Louisville football remains one of the most underrated programs in college football. The Cardinals continue to fly under the radar in college football, as Jeff Brohm and this program often don’t get the respect or the attention they deserve.
ESPN recently ranked each Power Four program's offseason by conference, and when thinking about Louisville’s offseason, Cardinals fans would assume Brohm and Louisville would be No. 3 at the lowest in the ACC. However, that wouldn’t be the case.
ESPN ranked Louisville’s offseason No. 4, which is another head-scratcher for these Cardinals fans, as it's hard to understand how Louisville fell so low given the criteria.
Jeff Brohm and Louisville football get no respect in latest ESPN offseason rankings
ESPN putting Louisville at No. 4 proves just how underrated this program really is. On3 Sports ranked this Cardinals offseason as high as No. 4 in the nation, and 247Sports ranked Louisville No. 18, but ESPN has them No. 4 in the ACC.
ESPN has the Cards' offseason ranked behind Miami, SMU, and Cal. They explain that they graded each program in three areas: roster additions, Retention of top players, and coaching staff changes or upgrades.
When looking at Louisville’s offseason, they rank No. 4 from On3 Sports for their roster additions. They added five 4-star players by their rankings, including Tre Richardson, Brody Foley, Marquise Davis, and Lawayne McCoy. They added experience to the line with Cason Henry and Eryx Daugherty, and on defense, they added Tyler Thompson up front, along with Koen Entringer from Iowa at the safety position.
As for bringing players back, they found a way to bring Isaac Brown back, who ranked No. 1 among running backs when he entered the portal, and will have key defensive stars back on their line in AJ Green and Clev Lubin, along with veteran linebackers in Antonio Watts, Stanquan Clark, and TJ Capers.
So, Louisville added 31 players from the portal, including multiple 4-stars, and former Ohio State 4-star Lincoln Kienholz, and kept elite players like Brown, Lubin, Green, Watts, and others. As for the last crieria, and maybe the most important one, they avoided Jeff Brohm leaving Louisville for Michigan, LSU, Penn State, Florida, or anyone else this offseason.
It’s a head scratcher why Louisville ranked so low, but they will have chances to prove many doubters wrong early in the year, as the Cardinals will face Ole Miss after their semifinal fun in the CFP this past season. Then they will get SMU week 3 at home. So, the Cardinals have two major games that have College Football Playoff implications early on in the season.
The Cardinals will have plenty of motivation for 2026, and right now, Louisville will look to not just take a step forward next year but to try to make the College Football Playoffs for the first time.
Also Read: 10 biggest Transfer Portal commitments for Louisville football this offseason
For all the latest recruiting news and updates for Louisville football, stay tuned.
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