June is upon us, which means the college football regular season is quickly approaching us. Louisville football is set to open their 2025 season up against Eastern Kentucky from L&N Stadium on Aug. 30.
The Cardinals have the third-best odds to win the ACC and are emerging as one of the favorites to win the conference. Jeff Brohm returned to his alma mater two years ago and quickly elevated this program to the next level.
Louisville has won nine games for two straight seasons under Brohm, and the Cardinals look to make it three as their win total is 8.5, according to FanDuel. However, while we are high on Louisville's offseason additions, it appears ESPN's Football Power Index is not.
Related: Louisville football 2025 game-by-game predictions
Latest rankings pours cold water on Louisville football's ACC Title hype train
The Cardinals are ranked in the majority of experts' way-too-early Top 25 rankings, including ESPN's, which recently listed Louisville at No. 25. Louisville has all the tools and pieces to compete with Clemson, Miami, and SMU next season, but it appears the FPI system thinks less of the Cardinals then most.
Brohm and his Cardinals come in ranked No. 41 in ESPN's FPI rankings, which puts them behind Clemson, Miami, SMU, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech. Yes, that is correct; the FPI system values the Cardinals less than the Hokies and Yellow Jackets.
ESPN's FPI system predicts a drastic collapse for the Cardinals next season, forecasting a record of 6.7-5.3 for Louisville. The system gives the Cardinals a 75.4 percent chance of winning six games or more but views Louisville as having an extremely low chance, as they are given just a 1.7 percent chance of winning the ACC.
Clemson has the highest chance of winning the ACC, with a 34 percent chance. Following the Tigers are Miami with 30.5 percent, SMU with 10.8 percent, Virginia Tech with 7.3 percent, and Georgia Tech with 6.1 percent.
This is an eye-opener, to say the least, for Louisville Cardinals fans, but this Brohm squad deserves to be ranked way higher than 41. This may appear disrespectful, but it's all just numbers, calculations, and predictions. It's something not worth overlooking. Analysts on ESPN often make fun of this system, so don't dwell on it for too long; just laugh and trust Brohm and this elite offense.
The Cardinals will have one of the most explosive offenses in the nation, led by preseason All-American Isaac Brown. On the defensive side, their two leading tacklers are Stanquan Clark and TJ Quinn. This team's ceiling is way higher than a 7-5 record, and the fans know this ranking is comical, so just laugh and then laugh some more.
Related: ACC football power rankings after spring portal closes: Did Cardinals get better?
For all the latest on Louisville football's offseason, stay tuned.