Favorite 'Dogs: Back 'New-look' Louisville To Make Statement Against Ole Miss

College football kicked off last weekend with Bill Belichick and North Carolina surprising TCU as 9-point underdogs, winning in Ireland in the first game of the 2026 season. 

With the focus of this column once a week being on dangerous underdogs who have a chance to defy the odds and get a win, perhaps another ACC team can follow suit and surprise their favored opponent this weekend. 

On Sunday night, No. 24 Louisville is a 7-point underdog for its opener, as the Cardinals take on No. 9 Ole Miss in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Let's get into my pick.

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Ole Miss returns star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy from last year’s College Football Playoff semifinals, as the Rebs eye a return to the CFP.

However, playing into January once again will not be an easy task for Ole Miss. 

A rigorous 2026 schedule awaits the team, starting with this clash against a Louisville team that has a chance to possibly flirt with a trip of its own to the Playoff.

Louisville will turn to Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz at quarterback, a dual-threat player who finally gets an opportunity to start after throwing just 36 passes in his career so far. The former four-star recruit getting his chance provides some reason for optimism for Louisville, but it’s Kienholz’s coach that points me to the underdog here. 

Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm is 37-15 against the spread (ATS) in his career when his team is an underdog, as it will be Sunday night. He will also have the experience edge over his counterpart on the opposing sidelines, as Ole Miss’ coach Pete Golding took over for Lane Kiffin just last December after Kiffin left to coach LSU. 

Louisville has a solid running back in Isaac Brown, who topped 1,000 yards as a freshman in 2024 and likely would have eclipsed that mark in 2025 if not for injuries. The Cardinals also scooped up some offensive line help in the transfer portal. It's a new group that brings with it 142 combined career starts.

Overall, it’s a new-look Louisville roster, but with the players the Cardinals added and a coach who thrives as an underdog, I like Louisville to make an early statement Sunday night against a very talented Ole Miss squad.