Louisville Cardinals

Louisville is No. 32 of 138 in the model after week 6 (3-3, 2-2 in conference play). Its projected final record is 6.7-5.3, with a 7% chance to win out and a 2% chance to make the playoff.

Updated · See Louisville in the full rankings

2026 at a glance

  • #32in the model (▲8 from last week)
  • 6.7-5.3projected final record
  • +7.9points vs. an average FBS team, neutral field
  • 2%chance to make the playoff

Scouting report: Louisville's best unit is its rush offense (No. 6 in FBS); its weakest is its pass defense (No. 94). Overall, the offense ranks No. 20 and the defense No. 70, adjusted for opponents. These ranks rest on 6 games, so expect them to move week to week.

Résumé: No. 75, by wins above what a typical top-25 team would expect against Louisville's schedule. That measures what the record is worth; the power rank (No. 32) measures how good the team is.

Deserved wins: playing the way it has, Louisville would usually have won 3.6 games; it has won 3.

Postseason odds: 2% to win the ACC, 2% to make the 12-team playoff, 0% to earn a first-round bye and 0% to win the national title. 84% to reach 6 wins. (Model estimates; how the playoff odds work.)

Rank by week: Wk 1: 33 → Wk 2: 33 → Wk 3: 17 → Wk 4: 33 → Wk 5: 40 → Wk 6: 32
Week 1: No. 33Week 2: No. 33Week 3: No. 17Week 4: No. 33Week 5: No. 40Week 6: No. 32

Rankings for weeks 1-6 were rebuilt after launch from games through each week; later weeks are published live.

Season stats

  • 39.5points per game
  • 27.7points allowed per game
  • 49%offensive success rate
  • 42%success rate allowed

Success rate: share of plays that keep an offense on schedule (half the yards needed on first down, 70% on second, all of it on third or fourth). Garbage time excluded.

Leaders

  • Passing: Lincoln Kienholz, 1,534 yards, 9 TD, 1 INT
  • Rushing: Isaac Brown, 557 yards on 74 carries, 4 TD
  • Receiving: Tre Richardson, 29 catches, 445 yards, 2 TD

Schedule and win odds

WeekOpponentResult or win chancePlayed like
1vs No. 18 Ole MissL 38-4134% win
2vs VillanovaW 59-1399% win
3vs SMUW 41-31100% win
4vs No. 22 Wake ForestL 27-307% win
5at NC StateL 28-3117% win
6vs Florida StateW 44-20100% win
7at Syracuse66% to win
9vs Stanford89% to win
10at Georgia Tech70% to win
11at North Carolina50% to win
12vs Pittsburgh58% to win
13at Kentucky41% to win

Win chances come from the model's current ratings, including home field. Played like: how often a team wins a game it played the way it played this one, based on the box score. Rankings shown are the model's.

ACC in the model

#TeamRecordConf.Projected
4Miami5-03-010.6-1.4
22Wake Forest5-13-19.5-2.5
36Pittsburgh5-12-18.5-3.5
39Duke4-11-17.8-4.2
43North Carolina3-21-16.7-5.3
44Florida State3-31-26.1-5.9
50SMU4-12-17.7-4.3
52Clemson3-22-17.0-5.0
53Virginia Tech4-21-27.1-4.9
59Virginia4-22-16.6-5.4
72Syracuse2-30-34.7-7.3
79California3-32-15.4-6.6
84Georgia Tech2-31-14.1-7.9
91NC State3-31-25.4-6.6
110Boston College2-30-23.3-8.7
112Stanford2-41-34.2-7.8

This week's picks and rankings

Every week's top 25, game of the week and picks are in the weekly breakdown. Latest: Week 7 college football picks and power rankings: the model's case for LSU.

How the model works: each team starts from a preseason rating (last season, returning production, roster talent), and every game moves it using the final margin and play-by-play efficiency, adjusted for opponents. Projections simulate the rest of the season 10,000 times. More on the method. Data from CollegeFootballData.com.