Top 25 in 25: Louisville Football Season Preview

Photo via 247sports.com

We’re counting down the final 25 days before the college football season by previewing every one of our preseason top 25 teams! With 22 days left until week zero, we continue our previews with my No. 22 team in the country – the Louisville Cardinals.

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Projected Record: 9-3 (5-3)

Ceiling/Floor: 10-2/7-5

Projected Wins: Eastern Kentucky, James Madison, Bowling Green, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Boston College, California, Clemson, Kentucky

Projected Losses: Miami, Virginia Tech, SMU

Most Intriguing Game: at Miami (Week 8)

All signs point to Louisville having another great year under head coach Jeff Brohm, who has built the program into one of the most consistent in the ACC in just a few years. With a backloaded schedule, the Cards should be able to get off to a good start to the season too, as I have them taking their first loss on the road at Miami in week eight. But with five of their final six games against teams in my preseason top 35, they’ll have to stay healthy and be playing good ball down the stretch of the season to have any chance of contending for an ACC title.

Brohm has done a great job developing quarterbacks in his short tenure so far with Louisville, and the sky’s the limit for USC transfer Miller Moss who steps into the starting QB job for the Cards in 2025. If Brohm can unlock Moss’s full potential, the offense may be one of the best in the country this fall. The Cardinals’ skill positions are loaded once again too, but the biggest question will be whether the revamped offensive line can hold up consistently.

On defense, the secondary has to improve from a year ago if Louisville is going to take the next step as a program, as they were towards the bottom in all of college football in big plays given up. But the front seven should be good once again, and the linebacker room is loaded with great returning talent who should hopefully anchor that side of the ball.

I think Louisville will be in kind of the second tier of the ACC again, good enough to beat anyone on any Saturday (hence why I have them upsetting Clemson), but not good/consistent enough to contend for a conference title, especially with its loaded back-half of a schedule. But Brohm is a great coach, and if he can unlock Moss, the Cardinals could be special in 2025.

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