On Sunday night, the Louisville Cardinals travel to Nashville to take on head coach Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels in what could be the most competitive game on the Week 1 college football slate.

Both programs enter the 2026 season with high expectations. For Ole Miss, the goal is getting back to the College Football Playoff and making another deep postseason run. For Louisville, head coach Jeff Brohm’s squad stands as a legitimate dark horse in the ACC, with some predicting the Cardinals as a sleeper playoff team.

To accomplish that, Louisville will most likely need a big performance this weekend. Along with several of my counterparts at A to Z Sports, we put together final game predictions for this Ole Miss versus Louisville matchup.

Here is how each of us sees this game playing out, including final score predictions.

Rob Gregson, A to Z Sports Alabama: Ole Miss 30, Louisville 23

While the headliner is LSU vs. Clemson this weekend, the game that might end up being the most competitive is this one. Ole Miss returns one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Trinidad Chambliss for his first full year of the Pete Golding era, but Louisville has some real talent.

I watched Ohio State transfer quarterback Lincoln Kienholz spin it in person this offseason at the wide receiver workshop in Miami. He’s big, athletic, and throws a nice ball. Running back Isaac Brown and edge rusher Clev Lubin are also players the Rebels will have to account for.

That said, Rob believes the backfield dynamics of Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy will be too much for the Cardinals to handle, and Ole Miss’s high-flying offense carries the team to victory.

Tyler Forness, A to Z Sports Florida: Ole Miss 34, Louisville 28

On the Week 1 slate, I consider this the game of the week. Even though Golding coached the entire College Football Playoff last season, this is the official start of his era, and he has Chambliss and Lacy on offense.

The real question will be what new offensive coordinator John David Baker brings to the table after the departure of Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr. Baker was on the Ole Miss staff from 2021 to 2023 before leading a productive unit at East Carolina. The wild card of this game isn’t on the Ole Miss side — it’s with the Cardinals.

Brohm has been known to run a pass-heavy approach in his past, but with Kienholz and Brown, could he shift to more of a run-heavy attack? Don’t be surprised if Louisville finds a way to come out on top.

Brandon Little, A to Z Sports Ohio State: Ole Miss 31, Louisville 23

I consider this the most interesting game of Week 1. Ole Miss gets Chambliss back for his second season as a starter, and he’ll go up against a new-look Louisville Cardinals team with Kienholz as Brohm’s next quarterback project. I expect a moderate amount of scoring, but Ole Miss’s duo of Chambliss and Lacy simply outweighs anything the Cardinals can throw at them.

Both quarterbacks will play well. Kienholz will play well enough to make Louisville feel good about the 2026 season, and Chambliss will start what could be a potential Heisman campaign.

Justin Churchill, A to Z Sports Oklahoma: Ole Miss 31, Louisville 17

Ole Miss may not have Lane Kiffin anymore, but they also didn’t when they made their College Football Playoff run. What they do have is maybe the best quarterback in the country in Chambliss. The Rebels still have one of the best running backs in the country, great skilled players, and good players on the defensive line. Louisville is a good football team and may put up a fight, but I see Ole Miss running away with this one on offense.

Ryan Roberts, A to Z Sports Notre Dame: Louisville 27, Ole Miss 24

I’ll be the lone writer to predict a huge upset this weekend for the Louisville Cardinals and Brom. This is my dark horse team to make the College Football Playoff this season. Louisville brings a dynamic duo of running backs that includes Brown, one of the fastest overall players in the country. The Cardinals also have several standout players on the defensive side of the football, including All-American pass rusher Clev Lubin.

While Golding did a good job in the College Football Playoff for Ole Miss, there are still questions about just how good of a coach he is, or if he inherited a great situation last season. Ole Miss is certainly a talented team, but it also feels like a spot of potential regression. I have Kienholz making a couple of plays with his legs in the biggest moment of the game, and Louisville comes out on top to start off what could end up being a really fun season with several key upsets.