Louisville Cardinals College Football Win Total Prediction in 2024

In 2024, the Louisville Cardinals will look to continue the momentum built during the Jeff Brohm era. The Cardinals were defeated in the ACC title game a season ago against the Florida State Seminoles and look to be in contention again this season.

Louisville Cardinals Win Total

• OVER 8.5 (+120)

• UNDER 8.5 (-140)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Louisville Cardinals Offensive Preview

The Louisville Cardinals offense will have to replace several key contributors from a season ago, as Jack Plummer, Jawhar Jordan, and Jamari Thrash have all gone to the NFL.

With Plummer moving on to the NFL the Cardinals will start a new quarterback this year, and Tyler Shough, a transfer from Oregon and Texas Tech appears to be the starter. Shough will be entering his sixth year of college football. Although Shough is entering his 6th season, he doesn't have as much experience as one would think due to an injury-riddled career.

The Cardinals will still have a decent skill group surrounding Plummer. We will probably see a committee in the backfield but do bring in Donald Chaney from Miami (FL) via the transfer portal. They were also active in the transfer portal at the receiver position, bringing in Calluin Lacy from South Alabama and Ja'Cory Brooks from Alabama.

The Cardinals offense will be determined by the ability of their new faces to mesh together and build some chemistry at the beginning of the season.

Louisville Cardinals Defensive Preview

Louisville's strength resides with its defense.

The team will once again will be strong upfront the trenches, and this unit will set the tone for the season. Ashton Gillotte is back for another season and is the star player of this Louisville defense. Louisville also added defensive tackle Thor Griffith from Harvard who is rising up NFL draft boards.

Louisville will also be strong in the secondary centered around solid cornerbacks, including Quincy Riley Sr, who was elite in 2023 for the Cardinals.

If the Cardinals want to remain competitive in the ACC. This defense will have to carry them throughout the first few weeks of the season while the new face is on offense to build chemistry.

Louisville Cardinals Outlook and Prediction

The Louisville Cardinals win total is set at 8.5 wins, which is too high for my liking.

The Cardinals will open the season season with two likely wins against Austin Peay and Jacksonville State before entering ACC play. Louisville's conference schedule is manageable, but the group will have to play two of the top teams in the conference at home against the Miami (FL) Hurricanes, and on the road against the Clemson Tigers.

The schedule becomes more challenging as the season continues, including two road contests against top 25 opponents. Brohm's group will travel to South Bend, Indiana to play against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on September 28th and will play at Kentucky in the season finale.

With the total being at eight and a half wins, the Cardinals can only lose three games to hit that over, meaning they have to win one of their games against Miami, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Kentucky, along with taking care of business against the rest of their opponents to hit the over.

That may be too challenging of a task for this Louisville team and bettors should lean to the under 8.5 wins for the Louisville Cardinals in 2024.

Pick: Louisville Cardinals UNDER 8.5 Wins (-140)

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.