Louisville football fans saw earlier this week that ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranked the Cardinals a potential next first-time college football national champion, and now ESPN’s Jessee Palmer just backed that up.
Yesterday was the official start of the 2026 college football season, as Week 0 kicked off. Louisville fans tuned in to a few ACC games, where they saw North Carolina beat TCU and Virginia dominate North Carolina State. With the season officially here, ESPN, of course, held a preview show, and on the College Football Countdown show were Kevin Neganhdi, Greg McElroy, Booger McFarland, and Jesse Palmer.
Leading up to the team making their Week 0 predictions, they were asked to pick who would be this year’s Indiana, and Cardinals fans absolutely loved it when they saw Palmer pick Louisville.
ESPN is starting to believe Louisville football can crash the party
This time last year, Indiana was ranked No. 20 in the country. The Hoosiers then went on a historic run, finishing 16-0, including a Big 10 Championship win and their first-ever College Football National Title. Now, Negahdi asked McElroy, McFarland, and Palmer to try to predict this year's Indiana, and Palmer gave Cardinals fans a reason to dream extremely big.
“I think Louisville is a dark horse team that can crash the party,” stated Palmer on choosing Louisville to be this year's Indiana. “Remember last year they started so fast, 7-1, beat Miami. You know they are going to run the ball—Brown and Brown, the law firm of running backs, Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown. Lincoln Kienholz, the transfer coming in at quarterback from Ohio State, is the X-factor. They don’t play Miami. They don’t play Clemson. There is a path to the ACC Championship game and a huge statement game against Ole Miss in Week 1."
The Cardinals have a real chance to surprise a lot of college football fans and crash the CFP this year. Brohm landed a top-five portal class after bringing in two 4-star wide receivers, Lawayne McCoy and Tre Richardson, 4-star tight end Brody Foley, and nearly rebuilding his entire offensive line and secondary.
As for key returners, as Palmer stated, they have one of the best running back rooms in Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown, and on defense they have a loaded defensive line with Clev Lubin and AJ Green, along with veteran linebackers in TJ Capers, Stanquan Clark, and Antonio Watts.
But what really makes Louisville stand out is their schedule. They don’t play Miami, Clemson, Virginia, or Duke, and while they play SMU, it is at least at home. The Cardinals' schedule is very favorable this year and gives them a real chance to make a run not only to the ACC Championship game, but also to their first CFP.
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