Louisville Football Bowl/Playoff Predictions And Odds

With the 38-24 victory over Boston College this past weekend, The Cards moved to 6-1 on their season making them Bowl eligible. With that comes much speculation if the Cards can or will make the College Football Playoffs. And if they are left out of the playoffs, what Bowl game will be the most likely for the Cards?

Playoffs

Let’s start with the Playoffs. Ultimately, this is the goal. To reach the goal, The Cards basically have to win out… but winning out doesn’t guarantee a playoff spot. My opinion is the committee won’t let FOUR ACC teams in so The Cards absolutely need to win out and get some help. My opinion is that only TWO ACC teams make the playoffs. My best guess is it will be Miami and the ACC champion. I believe Louisville will be ranked 16th when the first CFP poll comes out next week.

Currently, according to Playoffstatus.com, The Cards currently have a 30% chance to make the playoffs. Here is the chances of the top ACC teams to make the playoffs.

As you can see, it’s imperative the Cards win out just to have a chance. The fact that one of these teams will lose in the ACC Championship game certainly helps the chances for The Cards. However, if things workout and Louisville makes it to the ACC title game, they must win.

Bowl Games

Louisville fans want a really good Bowl game if The Cards happen to miss the playoffs. When I posted my last Bowl Projections, many fans responded asking why can’t we get a better Bowl game than The Pop Tart or Mayo Bowl. Well, it’s pretty simple. The ACC can only play in certain Bowl games due to tie-ins. Here are the ACC Bowl tie-ins,

ACC Bowl Game Affiliations – Game Times and TV Designations
 
Saturday, December 13
LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk (Los Angeles, California) – 9 p.m. ET | ESPN

Friday, December 19
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, Florida) – 3:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
 
Saturday, December 27
Go Bowling Military Bowl (Washington, D.C.) – 11 a.m. ET | ESPN
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl (The Bronx, New York) – Noon ET | ABC
Wasabi Fenway Bowl (Boston, Massachusetts) – 2:15 p.m. ET | ESPN
Pop-Tarts Bowl (Orlando, Florida) – 3:30 p.m. ET | ABC
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Florida) – 7:30 p.m. ET | ABC
 
Monday, December 29
Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham, Alabama) – 2 p.m. ET | ESPN
 
Tuesday, December 30
Valero Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, Texas) – 9 p.m. ET | ESPN
 
Wednesday, December 31
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas) – 2 p.m. ET | CBS
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, Nevada) – 3:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
 
Friday, January 2, 2026
Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Charlotte, North Carolina) – 8 p.m. ET | ESPN
 
TBA
DIRECTV Holiday Bowl – TBA | Fox

Bowl Projections

CBS – Military Bowl vs Navy – Dec 27th

Athlon Sports – Pop Tarts Bowl vs TCU – Dec 27th

ESPN – Schlabach: Gator Bowl vs. Oklahoma -Dec 27th

ESPN – Bonagura: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Maryland – Dec 27th

ON3 – Pop Tarts Bowl vs TCU Dec 27th

SI – Gator Bowl vs Tennessee – Dec 27th