Louisville Fan's Viewing Guide to College Football Week One

Week Zero and the opening weeknight slate of college football has come and gone & we have seen many of Louisville’s future opponents already in action. Going forward, this is going to be a weekly check-in of those squads.

Ole Miss (0-0) vs Louisville (0-0) (Ole Miss -6.5) Nissan Stadium 7:30 pm EST Sunday 9/6

The Cards head to Nashville this weekend to get it going in the Music City against the Rebels. Sunday night’s game will be the first of the college football season to feature two ranked teams. The No. 24 Cards are looking for their first AP ranked win in a season opener (0-7 all time) as they take on the No. 9 Rebels. The last time these two teams met was the 2021 season opener when the Rebels beat the Cards 43-24 in Atlanta.

Ole Miss returns 10 starters from a team that made it to the College Football Playoff semifinals a year ago. It will be a blistering hot day in Nashville, with plenty of firepower at the skill positions for each team. If the Louisville offensive line can give first time starter Lincoln Kienholz enough time in the pocket to find hiss weapons, the Cards have a defense that should keep them in most every game.

Pick: Louisville ML

Villanova (0-1) @ Bucknell (0-1) (Villanova -26.5) 6 pm EST

Villanova had one of the more impressive meltdowns in the history of the sport in week zero as they blew a 32-22 lead to William & Mary in the final minute to fall 35-32. Bucknell lost by three touchdowns in their opener to Richmond. Nova was led on the ground by junior Isaiah Ragland last week who carried the ball 14 times for 94 yard and a score.

Pick: Villanova -26.5

SMU (0-0) @ Florida State (1-0) (SMU -3) 7:30 pm EST Monday 9/7

We get a bit of aa two-for-one preview here as both of these squads are future opponents for Louisville. SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings is one of the most electrifying players in college football and will get a tough opening week test in Tallahassee. A line of three points on the road in a primetime game has “trap” written all over it.

Florida State looked rather pedestrian in their opening week win over New Mexico St. It was a one score game late into the third quarter before the Seminoles pulled away for a 34-17 win. Transfer quarterback Ashton Daniels was 17/27 for 202 yards, adding a touchdown and an interception. The Noles offense outgained NMSU 419-319, with 217 of those being on the ground.

SMU has a solid offensive line and bolstered their defensive with high level transfers. The Mustangs are 22-2 in ACC play during their first three seasons in the league. They have a favorable schedule, only playing two preseason Top 25 opponents (Louisville and Notre Dame). They will take full opportunity of the primetime spotlight on Labor Day night and put Mike Norvell’s seat on nuclear.

Pick: SMU -3

Wake Forest (1-0) 38 Akron (0-1) 16

The Demon Deacons got their 2026 season underway on Thursday night in Winston-Salem. They made quick work of the visiting Zips, taking a 28-3 lead to the half. Southpaw UNC transfer QB Gio Lopez threw for 350 yards, even finding Louisville transfer Antonio Meeks for a 72-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. The Deacs will head to West Lafayette next Saturday to take on the Purdue Boilermakers.

NC State (0-1) BYE

The Wolfpack football team is regrouping this week after a brutal trip to Charlottesville last weekend to face Virginia. The Cavs made easy work of NC State winning 34-8. It was total domination in all aspects of the game from Virginia, even putting together a 23 play, 12-minute scoring drive to put the nail in the coffin in the second half. Dave Doeren’s squad was a trendy pick as a dark horse in the ACC, but quarterback CJ Bailey looked rattled and could get nothing going in week one.

UVA outgained NC State 413-168 in total yards and 39 minutes to 21 minutes in time of possession. Virginia quarterback Beau Pribula had 155 yards through the air & 2 scores as well as 15 carries for 110 yards. The Wolfpack have their home-opener this coming Friday as they host the Richmond Spiders.

Syracuse (0-0) vs New Hampshire (0-1) (Syracuse -32.5) 12 pm EST

The Fran Brown era in Syracuse hit a bit of a speed bump in the 2025 season, going 3-9 after a 10-3 2024 campaign. Syracuse opened last season 3-1 with an upset win at Clemson, but quarterback Steve Angeli went down & the Cuse lost out with a margin of loss 27.5 points. Angeli is back and healthy and the bring in new defensive coordinator Vince Kehres.

Syracuse will host Louisville, SMU, Clemson and Notre Dame and might only be favored in 2-3 games this season. They should make easy work of New Hampshire, who fell by two scores to Albany in their opener last weekend.

Pick: Cuse -32.5

Stanford (1-1) 6 Miami (1-0) 45

A depleted Stanford team took the field last night in Palo Alto against the defending national runners-up & it was not pretty. Down four offensive lineman and with no answers for the dynamic duo of Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney, the Cardinal was demolished. The Canes outgained Stanford 549-299, Mensah threw for 400 yards and Toney had 234 receiving yards and three scores.

The Cardinal held off a comeback bid from Hawaii in week zero to hold on 37-27. Stanford has a bye next week.

Georgia Tech (0-1) 13 Colorado (1-0) 14

Indiana transfer Alberto Mendoza took the reigns from Hanes Kings for 2026 and couldn’t quite muster up enough to get past Deion Sanders and Colorado. A defensive battle, the Jackets held a 13-7 lead until Colorado QB Julian Lewis hit tight end Charlie Williams for a go-ahead 20 yard touchdown with 42 seconds left. Head coach Brent Key was disappointed in the nine penalties the Jackets committed and the offense was lackluster only mustering up 288 yards.

The Jackets need a short-term memory approach after Thursday, Tennessee rolls to Atlanta next weekend.

North Carolina (1-0) BYE

The Tar Heels and Bill Belichick have a mess on their hands in the locker room. GM Mike Lombardi resigned this week and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick faces a drug investigation. But don’t worry, on the field the Tar Heels took care of TCU as a near ten-point dog in the season opener in Ireland last week. First year OC Bobby Petrino was able to press just the right buttons as the Heels prevailed 15-10.

The Heels are off this weekend before they host ETSU next Saturday. The big story is, what will come from the allegations against UNC? Stay tuned!

Pittsburgh (0-0) vs Miami (OH) (0-0) (Pitt -16.5) 12:30 pm EST

The Panthers open up with the Miami (OH) Redhawks Saturday afternoon. Pitt went 8-5 last season and found a quarterback in freshman Mason Heintschel. Heintschel led the Panthers on a five-game winning streak in 2025 and even pushed them into the rankings in November. This year, they have a veteran offensive line and Louisville transfer Cataurus Hicks is their best returning receiver.

Their defense lost seven of the top ten tacklers from a unit that gave up 24.8 points per game a season ago. They add starters from Purdue and Memphis in a linebacker room that saw sacks drop off last year. Never count Pat Narduzzi out, this is an 8-9 win football team this season.

Pick: Pitt -16.5

Kentucky (0-0) vs Youngstown St (1-0) (Kentucky -23.5) 1 pm EST

Louisville alum Will Stein takes the reigns for arch-rival Kentucky this season. He brings in a transfer QB in Kenny Minchey from Notre Dame & a top running back prospect in CJ Baxter from Texas. Stein has his word cut out for him with one of the toughest schedules in the country. Youngstown comes in off a 43-10 win over Mercyhurst last week.

Pick: Youngstown State +23.5

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