Louisville Cracks Multiple 2026 Way-Too-Early Top 25 Polls

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - We're less than 24 hours removed from Indiana's 27-21 win over Miami in the national championship. But that doesn't mean it's too early to start looking towards next season.

As soon as last night's championship game went final, multiple outlets began to publish their Way-Too-Early Top 25 polls for the 2026 season. In fact, so far, there have been 12 different national publications release these early polls - and the Louisville football program has been featured on eight of them.

ESPN is the highest on Louisville heading into the 2026 season, placing them at No. 14 overall. CBS Sports was right behind them at No. 16, The Athletic placed the Cardinals at No. 17, Pro Football Focus tabbed them at No. 18, while both Yahoo! Sports and the Sporting News have UofL at 19th.

Athlon Sports and Bleacher Report have them just inside their respective polls, putting Louisville at No. 23 and 24, respectively. Fox Sports, On3, Sports Illustrated and USA TODAY did not have the Cardinals in their Way-Too-Early Top 25 polls.

"Jeff Brohm will be back for a fourth season at his alma mater after his name was linked to seemingly every big-time coaching search," ESPN's Mark Schlabach wrote. "Brohm's teams went 28-12 in the first three seasons, and it seems like the Cardinals are slowly building to make a big move in the ACC."

There's a reason why so many outlets are high on Louisville heading into next season. For starters, the Cardinals did a great job in the talent retention department. Despite losing guys like Chris Bell, Caullin Lacy and T.J. Quinn due to graduation, Brohm and Co are bringing back running back Isaac Brown, edge rusher Clev Lubin, linebackers Stanquan Clark and Antonio Watts, plus multiple other impact playmakers.

Louisville has also done a fantastic job in the portal this cycle, as they currently rank No. 4 in On3's transfer portal team rankings. While UofL lost 24 players in the 14-day window, they countered that with a 30-player haul thus far, bringing in several impact players. This includes Ohio State quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, Vanderbilt wide receiver Tre Richardson, UNC edge rusher Tyler Thompson and Tulsa tight end Brody Foley.

In their third season under head coach Jeff Brohm, Louisville went 9-4 overall, including a 4-4 mark in ACC play and a 27-22 win over Toledo in the Boca Raton Bowl. The Cardinals have won at least nine games in all three seasons under Brohm, doing so for the first time since 2012-14.

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