Louisville football improved to 4-3 after the Cardinals defeated the Syracuse Orange 34- 26. It was a tale of two halves, as both offenses traded blows in the first half, with Louisville leading Syracuse 28-23. However, the second half was a defensive battle, with no points being scored in the third, and Louisville outscoring Syracuse 6-3 in the fourth.
Louisville’s Lincoln Kienholz just did something no Cardinals quarterback has done before
Jeff Brohm now sits 3-2 in the ACC and is sixth in the conference. Louisville is trying to make a run in the second half of the season, while the Cardinals look to rebound after an early skid that included losses to Wake Forest and North Carolina State.
However, it was just made clear that Louisville needs major help to reach the ACC Championship Game after this weekend, and it is an uphill battle to leap Wake Forest.
Louisville fans need to keep an eye on Wake Forest
Entering the season, everyone circled two games: Ole Miss and SMU. The Cardinals showdown with SMU felt like an early matchup that whoever won would go on a run and become Miami's biggest threat. However, that might not have been the case.
The Cardinals defeated SMU, then dropped the next week to Wake Forest, and now it looks like a major uphill battle to leap the Demon Deacons. According to Kelly Dickey, if Louisville wins out and finishes 7-2 in conference play, but Wake Forest wins the games it is favored in, then UofL would finish third.
That means Louisville needs Wake Forest to lose two games, and the Cardinals must win out.
If Louisville finishes 7-2 in the ACC and favorites win all other games, UofL will finish third, tied with Southern Methodist.
— Kelly Dickey (@RealCardGame) October 17, 2026
Wake Forest must be upset twice in its remaining five games or Miami upset three times in six games for UofL to make the ACC Championship game at 7-2.
When looking at Wake Forest's schedule, one game stands out as a potential loss, but it is hard to circle another. Right now, Wake Forest has a 75 percent or higher chance of winning every game but one, and they are favored in every game.
The Demon Deacons play at home against UVA, where they have an 82.7 percent chance of winning, according to ESPN; then they play Merrimack, and then they have a three-game slate where UofL will need them to drop two of three somehow.
First, they travel to Dallas to face SMU, which appears to be their toughest matchup, with ESPN giving them a 57 percent chance of winning. Then they go to Atlanta, where they have a dominant 83 percent chance of beating Georgia Tech, and finish their season at home against Duke with a 76 percent chance of winning.
As for the Cardinals' schedule, they are favored in all ACC games and have a 68 percent chance or higher of winning in all but one game. Louisville hosts Stanford, then heads to Georgia Tech, where UofL is the dominant favorite in both games. Then, like Wake Forest, the Cards' toughest remaining games come in November: UNC on the road, Pitt at home, and Kentucky in Lexington.
Right now, at UNC is their toughest remaining conference game, with ESPN giving Brohm and Louisville just a 58 percent chance to win.
So, Louisville, of course, has to take care of business and win each week. But they don’t control their own destiny, and looking at Wake Forest’s remaining schedule, the Cardinals will need some chaos, and at least two teams to knock off Wake Forest, for Louisville to even have a chance at the ACC Title.
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