The calendar may still say July, but around college football, that’s when the noise really starts. Projections begin to roll out, preseason opinions get louder, and the annual conference media events put a shape to the season before a snap has been played.
For Louisville, that means Charlotte and the ACC Kickoff on July 16. The three-day event at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown will once again draw heavy attention, and Louisville will be part of the mix as the Cardinals’ storyline unfolds alongside the rest of the league.
Jeff Brohm will be there with three players: quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, defensive lineman Clev Lubin and offensive lineman Lance Robinson. It’s a packed day for the group once they arrive, with the usual run of main stage interviews, breakout sessions, ACC Network appearances, green room photo shoots, social media obligations with the league and a stop on radio row.
The event also doubles as a voting exercise for the media in attendance. Those ballots help set the preseason order of finish and the preseason All-ACC team, which means the guesses start becoming public very quickly.
Last year’s preseason picks had Clemson first, followed by Miami, SMU, Georgia Tech and Louisville. Virginia, which went on to lead the league in the regular season, was picked 14th, while Duke, the ACC Championship winner, was projected sixth.
This year’s outside view is already taking shape. CBS Sports has Louisville at No. 24 in its too-early poll, one of three ACC teams included along with Miami and SMU.
The Athletic also has the Cardinals at No. 24 in its post-spring rankings. Miami, coming off a season that ended with a trip to the College Football Championship, is the clear preseason favorite across those early projections, while Louisville and SMU keep trading places in the conversation behind the Hurricanes.
As for where the ACC media will land when the votes are cast in Charlotte, the most likely answer looks like Miami first, then SMU and Louisville. Still, 2025 offered a reminder that the league can flip the script in a hurry.
My own expectations for Louisville stayed high after spring practice, and the schedule adds an interesting wrinkle: the Cardinals won’t face Miami in 2026. That makes the ACC opener against SMU at L&N Stadium on Sept. 19 a chance to separate early from another team expected to sit near the top of the league.
Coverage from Charlotte will run throughout the three days, with live notes, breakout-session takeaways, one-on-one interviews, photos and more. Storylines to watch will be added as the ACC Kickoff gets closer.
In Other News...
Louisvilles Preseason Buzz Just Got Another Major ESPN Stamp
ESPNs latest Way-Too-Early Top 25 kept Louisville sitting at No. 13 for the second straight month, another sign that the preseason buzz around Pat Kelseys program is sticking. The Cardinals are one of five ACC teams in the rankings, and the profile behind that spot is easy to see: the nations top-rated transfer portal class, plus a Top 15 high school haul that has given the roster real depth and a fresh look.
Kelsey has already pointed to the momentum building around the program, and the ranking only adds to the sense that Louisville is becoming one of the more closely watched teams in the league before a game is even played. The expectations are clearly rising, but so is the attention on how all those new pieces will come together once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
National Analyst Just Threw Cold Water On Louisvilles Final Four Hype
Louisville spent the offseason remaking its roster almost from scratch, bringing in six transfer additions and three members of the 2026 recruiting class as it tries to turn a major overhaul into an immediate contender. The group includes the No. 1 overall transfer and a 5-star recruit, the kind of talent haul that has naturally fueled talk of a rapid climb back toward the top of college basketball.
Not everyone is buying the Final Four buzz just yet. College basketball insider Jeff Goodman has poured some cold water on the optimism, saying the portal class was not as impressive as it looks on paper and questioning whether this new mix is ready to carry Louisville that far in March. Even with FanDuel listing the Cardinals among the better national title bets for 2026, the real test will be whether all that new talent can come together quickly enough to match the expectations now following the program. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Just Missed On Another Massive 2027 Defensive Back Target
Louisvilles 2027 recruiting board took another hit over the weekend, this time in the secondary. After the Cardinals lost top 2027 commitment Allen Evans to Vanderbilt, they pushed into the chase for Monsanna Torbert Jr., a highly regarded Ohio cornerback who had reopened his recruitment after backing off an earlier Indiana pledge and quickly become one of the more sought-after defensive backs in the class.
Torberts list had drawn major attention well before Louisville got involved, with official visits to Ohio State and Michigan already in the books before the Cardinals entered the race in late June. The late push gave Louisville a chance to stay in the conversation, but it also underscored how difficult the uphill climb can be when elite 2027 defenders are already deep into a national recruiting battle. [Read more 🡒]