Louisville football’s 2026 season is quickly approaching as the Cardinals are just 19 days away from their massive Week 1 showdown with the Ole Miss Rebels. The Cardinals are expected to be a real threat in the ACC this season after adding over 33 transfers from the Transfer Portal, including multiple 4-stars.
Jeff Brohm and Louisville are coming off their third straight nine-win season, and now the Cardinals have some high expectations entering his fourth year with Louisville. Yesterday, the AP Polls were released for the 2026 season, and Louisville football fans saw the Cardinals get the respect they deserved and snap a long drought.
The Cardinals will enter the season in the AP Polls ranked No. 24, marking Louisville’s first time ranked in the preseason poll since 2017.
No. 24 Louisville is ranked in the preseason AP poll for the first time since 2017, when reigning Heisman winner Lamar Jackson was the starting QB.
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) August 17, 2026
The Cardinals open the season Sept. 9 in Nashville against No. 9 Ole Miss (7:30 ET, ABC) đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/zSUrtD1hm3
Louisville football is ranked in preseason poll for first time since 2017
The Cardinals usually fly under the radar and are consistently underrated. However, after Brohm landed a top-five Transfer Portal class and brought back stars on offense and defense, it helped UofL snap this 8-year drought.
Brohm continues to put this program in the right direction, as now the Cardinals fans are hoping Brohm can snap a few more droughts. Louisville entering the season ranked is a good start, but now the Cardinals need to put together a full season, win their first ACC Title, and secure a spot in their first College Football Playoff.
Louisville returns stars on offense in their elite running back room, as preseason All-American Isaac Brown and 2025 star Keyjuan Brown will be one of the best running back duos in the league. The Cardinals' running back room has ranked inside the top five in multiple analysts' top five RB rooms, and they will likely be the star of the offense.
Coming in from the Transfer Portal is a bunch of 4-stars: Lincoln Kienholz, Tre Richardson, Lawayne McCoy, and Brody Foley. The Cardinals have a lot of weapons on the outside and a new quarterback who has high potential coming from Ohio State.
As for the defense, Louisville’s defensive line looks dominant again, returning Clev Lubin and AJ Green and adding UNC transfer Tyler Thompson, who had 7.5 sacks this past season.
This Cardinals team has a lot of talent, and the fans are happy to see their squad ranked in the preseason again for the first time since 2017. Now, Louisville fans hope the Cardinals can pull off a major upset over No. 9 Ole Miss and climb up those rankings and try to earn a spot in the ACC Championship Game and CFP.
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