Simulating Louisville's 2026 Season 25 Times in College Football 27

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Earlier this week, I wrapped up my 'Louisville Preseason CFB26 Preview Series.' I CPU simulated each of the Cardinals' games for their upcoming 2026 season using the video game 'EA Sports College Football 27,' and it produced some interesting results.

Louisville finished the series going 9-3 overall, including an 8-1 mark in ACC play. The Cardinals dropped the opener against Ole Miss, proceeded to fire off a nine-game win streak, only to lose the final two games of the season against Pitt and at Kentucky.

Below: Complete Preseason CFB27 Preview Series

In a vacuum, going 9-3 is not the worst thing ever. But given the real-world buzz that Louisville has as a potential ACC and College Football Playoff contender, I wanted to take it up a notch.

I decided to CPU simulate Louisville's entire 2026 season not once, not twice, but 25 times using CFB27's dynasty mode. It produced a wide range of results, from supremely disappointing years to some of the best seasons in program history - with one season even ending with the Cards winning it all.

Below are the various results from the simulations, including year-to-year finishes, how Louisville did against each team, and bowl results. I even included each sim's ACC winner, national champion and Heisman Trophy winners.

Record for Each Simulation with ACC Record and Final Ranking

Sim 1: 11-3 (8-1) - No. 6
Sim 2: 12-4 (8-1) - No. 6
Sim 3: 9-4 (6-3)
Sim 4: 7-5 (5-4)
Sim 5: 10-3 (6-3) - No. 23
Sim 6: 10-3 (7-2) - No. 16
Sim 7: 12-3 (7-2) - No. 5
Sim 8: 8-5 (6-3)
Sim 9: 9-5 (7-2)
Sim 10: 15-2 (9-0) - No. 1
Sim 11: 13-3 (9-0) - No. 4
Sim 12: 9-4 (6-3) - No. 17
Sim 13: 10-4 (7-2) - No. 8
Sim 14: 9-4 (7-2)
Sim 15: 13-3 (8-1) - No. 2
Sim 16: 7-6 (5-4)
Sim 17: 9-4 (7-2) - No. 20
Sim 18: 8-5 (5-4)
Sim 19: 10-3 (6-3) - No. 10
Sim 20: 6-6 (4-5)
Sim 21: 8-5 (5-4)
Sim 22: 5-7 (3-6)
Sim 23: 11-3 (8-1) - No. 9
Sim 24: 13-1 (9-0) - No. 3
Sim 25: 8-5 (6-3)

Average win/loss record: 9.68-4
Average ACC win/loss record: 6.56-2.44
Ranked Finishes: 14 (Highest - No. 1)

Win/Loss Records vs. Each Team with Average Scores

vs Ole Miss: 7-18 (24.1-33.8)
FCS SE (Villanova): 25-0 (47.3-9.0)
SMU: 9-16 (27.0-31.3)
Wake Forest: 18-7 (30.2-21.5)
at NC State: 21-4 (36.0-22.4)
Florida State: 19-6 (32.4-20.9)
at Syracuse: 19-6 (33.6-23.5)
Stanford: 21-4 (31.9-18.3)
at Georgia Tech: 21-4 (33.6-19.0)
at North Carolina: 21-4 (37.9-22.6)
Pitt: 15-10 (27.8-20.8)
at Kentucky: 19-6 (31.5-21.3)

Average Offense (with bowls): 32.42 PPG
Average Defense (with bowls): 22.28 PPG

Total Occurrences of Final Season Records

15-2 (1)
13-1 (1)
13-3 (2)
12-3 (1)
12-4 (1)
11-3 (2)
10-3 (3)
10-4 (1)
9-4 (4)
9-5 (1)
8-5 (4)
7-5 (1)
7-6 (1)
6-6 (1)
5-7 (1)

Total Occurrences of ACC Records

9-0 (3)
8-1 (4)
7-2 (6)
6-3 (6)
5-4 (4)
4-5 (1)
3-6 (1)

ACC Championship Game Appearances

Sim 1: 21-20 loss vs. Miami
Sim 2: 36-34 loss vs. Miami
Sim 7: 38-30 win vs. Miami
Sim 9: 38-13 win vs. Virginia
Sim 10: 35-7 loss vs. Miami
Sim 11: 48-26 loss vs. Miami
Sim 13: 35-17 win vs. Virginia
Sim 15: 24-17 win vs. Miami
Sim 23: 33-27 win vs. Miami
Sim 24: 28-20 win vs. Virginia

Bowl Performances

Overall Bowl Record: 22-10
College Football Playoff Appearances: 9 (Sim 1, 2, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 23, 24)
CFP Bowl Record: 1st Round (3-2), Cotton (0-1), Fiesta (4-0), Orange (1-1), Peach (1-1) Sugar (1-2), National Championship (1-1)
Other Bowl Appearances: Duke's Mayo (3-1), Gasparilla (1-0), Holiday (3-0), Pop-Tarts (1-0), Sun (2-1)

Sim 1: Cotton, 52-35 loss vs. Miami
Sim 2: CFP 1st Round, 52-24 win at Houston; Fiesta, 28-14 win vs. BYU; Sugar, 24-14 loss vs. Oregon
Sim 3: Sun, 26-23 win vs. Fresno State
Sim 4: N/A
Sim 5: Gasparilla, 39-37 win vs. Texas
Sim 6: Holiday, 55-13 win vs. Texas State
Sim 7: Fiesta, 41-16 win vs. USC; Sugar, 20-17 loss vs. Oregon
Sim 8: Sun, 44-3 win vs. New Mexico
Sim 9: Pop-Tarts, 35-31 win vs. Oklahoma State
Sim 10: CFP 1st Round, 27-25 win vs. Iowa State; Peach, 23-17 win vs. Miami; Orange, 28-22 win vs. Georgia; National Championship, 33-19 win vs. Texas
Sim 11: CFP 1st Round, 59-14 win vs. Penn State; Fiesta, 27-14 win vs. Miami; Orange, 30-0 loss vs. Oklahoma
Sim 12: Holiday, 59-3 win vs. Texas State
Sim 13: CFP 1st Round, 27-17 loss vs. Notre Dame
Sim 14: Holiday, 33-28 win vs. San Diego State
Sim 15: Fiesta, 45-20 win vs. Clemson; Sugar, 33-30 win vs. Texas A&M; National Championship, 28-10 loss vs. Ohio State
Sim 16: Duke's Mayo, 28-24 loss vs. Washington
Sim 17: Sun, 21-10 loss vs. Boise State
Sim 18: Duke's Mayo, 28-23 win vs. Oregon
Sim 19: Sun, 28-3 win vs. Washington
Sim 20: N/A
Sim 21: Duke's Mayo, 45-9 win vs. Iowa
Sim 22: N/A
Sim 23: CFP 1st Round, 28-20 loss at Boise State
Sim 24: Peach, 34-25 loss vs. Notre Dame
Sim 25: Duke's Mayo, 35-30 win vs. Oregon

ACC Champions (total occurrences)

Miami (11)
Louisville (5)
SMU (4)
Pitt (3)
Virginia (2)

National Champions (total occurrences if multiple)

Ohio State (6)
Georgia (4)
Miami (4)
Ole Miss (3)
Indiana
Louisville
LSU
Oklahoma
Oregon
Texas A&M
UCLA
USC

Heisman Trophy Winners (total occurrences if multiple)

Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss (7)
USC QB Jayden Maiava (4)
Oklahoma QB John Mateer (3)
Auburn QB Byrum Brown (2)
Missouri RB Ahmad Hardy (2)
Texas QB Arch Manning (2)
Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed (2)
Utah QB Devon Dampier (2)
LSU QB Sam Leavitt

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