Music City Showdown: Louisville vs Ole Miss Expert Picks (9/6)

The only ranked matchup of Week 1 will take place in Nashville between the #24 Louisville Cardinals and the #9 Ole Miss Rebels. Both teams figure to be contenders to win their conferences this season. Louisville will be looking to make it to the ACC Title game for the second time under Jeff Brohm, while Ole Miss will look to make the SEC Title game for the first time ever. Big expectations for both teams and definitely the game of the week to kick off the season.

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NCAA Football Expert Insights: Louisville vs Ole Miss

Ole Miss was definitely in the national spotlight towards the end of the season and during the offseason as well. Lane Kiffin leaves for LSU during the teams playoff run and Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was granted an injunction to come back to Oxford for his 6th season of college football. The Kiffin loss is significant, but keeping Chambliss is massive. Some people feel like he might be the best QB in the sport.

Pete Golding who became the teams interim Head Coach when Kiffin left enters his first full season as a college football coach. John David Baker will be the OC for Ole Miss. He was at East Carolina the past two seasons. Between the QB Chambliss and RB Kewan Lacy Jr., Ole Miss will have one of the best QB-RB combo's in the country.

As for Louisville, this is Jeff Brohm's 4th season as the Head Coach. He has recorded at least 9 wins in each of his first 3 years. I feel like he is one of the best coaches in the country. His offense should also be as good as it normally is. Lincoln Kienholz Jr. who was the backup to Julian Sayin at Ohio State last year will be the QB and Isaac Brown Jr. will the starting running back. Brown Jr. was the first Louisville RB to rush for over 1,000 yards as a freshman. He was having a great season last year too, but missed 4 games due to injury.

It'll be fun to watch both of these offenses battle against one another on Sunday Night.

Matchup Information – Louisville vs Ole Miss – September 6

• Venue & Location: Nissan Stadium (Nashville, TN)
• Date: Sunday, September 6, 2026
• Kick Off: 7:30 p.m. Eastern
• Broadcast: ABC

Louisville vs Ole Miss Betting Odds

Odds listed are from BetOnline as of Friday, September 4, 2026 at 12:20 p.m. eastern.

Spread

• Louisville +6.5 (-105)
• Ole Miss -6.5 (-115)

Moneyline

• Louisville +215
• Ole Miss -260

Total

• Over 55.5 (+100)
• Under 55.5 (-120)

Louisville Cardinals vs. Ole Miss Rebels: NCAA Football Expert Picks

Louisville vs Ole Miss Prediction: Cardinals Win and Cover, Under 55.5

Best Bet: Louisville +6.5 (+105) & ML (+215) BetOnline

This matchup has been my favorite game on the board for a few weeks now and that hasn't changed. I love Louisville in this spot. Jeff Brohm, as I talked about earlier is one of my favorite coaches. He is great as an underdog and his teams always play up to the level of their competition. He is 16-10 ATS in his career vs ranked opponents and has beaten some top teams. Last year the Cardinals went on the road and won at #2 Miami. He won at #11 Clemson the year before that and beat #10 Notre Dame 3 years ago. Brohm's teams it feels like always pull an upset vs a top team every year and I think this could be that game.

Louisville is going to have a great run game and it comes down to the QB play. Brohm was a former QB himself and has proven to be a QB whisperer as a coach. If he handpicked Kienholz Jr. as his guy in the portal than that's good enough for me. Another thing worth mentioning with this Louisville team is that they never get blown out. Over the last 2 years this team has lost 8 games and 7 of them were decided by 7 points or less. They play everybody close and I don't expect this time around to be any different.

Ole Miss is really good and they have a lethal offense, but I think this game is going to be much closer than people expect and don't be surprised if Louisville pulls off the upset.

 

Game week. Enough said 😤#GoCards pic.twitter.com/sB671OofPI

— Louisville Football (@LouisvilleFB) August 31, 2026

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