Kickoff Time, TV Designation Announced for Louisville's Season Opener vs. Ole Miss

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program's 2026 season-opener against Ole Miss has finally been assigned a kickoff time, and the two teams will have the full gaze of the nation upon them when they play.

The neutral site matchup between the Cardinals and the Rebels will kickoff on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m. EST, it was announced Thursday. It was also announced that the game, which will take place at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, will be televised on ABC.

Louisville-Ole Miss will be one of just two games that are set to take place on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, with Notre Dame-Wisconsin at Lambeau Field being the other.

Preseason rankings are still several months away from being officially released, but this will most likely be a matchup between a pair of top-25 teams to open up the season.

Despite then-head coach Lane Kiffin leaving for LSU following the end of the 2025 regular season, that didn't stop Ole Miss from making a run in the College Football Playoff without him. The Rebels took down Tulane in the first round and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl before falling to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, ending with a 13-2 overall record.

Ole Miss, now led by Pete Golding, has a great chance to have another successful season in 2026. Second-Team All-SEC quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is running it back for one final season, and the Rebels boast the No. 18 portal class in the college football.

In their third season under head coach Jeff Brohm last season, 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.

The Cardinals did a great job in the talent retention department, bringing back running back Isaac Brown, edge rusher Clev Lubin, linebackers Stanquan Clark and Antonio Watts, plus multiple other impact playmakers. They're also welcoming the No. 4 portal class in the sport, bringing in several impact players like Vanderbilt wide receiver Tre Richardson, UNC edge rusher Tyler Thompson and Tulsa tight end Brody Foley.

Louisville and Ole Miss have previously faced each other just once, also coming in a neutral site matchup. The Rebels took down the Cardinals, 43-24, in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game back on Sept. 6, 2021 from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

More Cardinals Stories