Louisville Football Bowl Projections: 2025 Week 8

We've now hit roughly the halfway point of the 2025 college football season, and at 4-1, Louisville is almost assuredly going to be heading to a bowl game. While the Cardinals still have seven games left to play, it's always a fun exercise to see which bowls are trending for them.

Last week, bowl projectors were mostly on the same page, with five of the 10 projections having Louisville heading to the Pinstripe Bowl. This week, projections are once again back to being all over the place. While the Pinstripe Bowl has three picks and the Holiday Bowl has two, seven different bowl have been picked by the 10 projectors.

As a reminder, the ACC utilizes a system where they organize bowls with conference tie-ins into two tiers, but there is no selection order within each tier. The league and their bowl partners "will make team selections based on several factors, including geographic proximity, avoiding repeat appearances and matchups, and regular-season won-loss records," according to the ACC's official website.

The Cardinals will officially learn their postseason draw on Sunday, Dec. 7, following the end of conference championship weekend. The College Football Playoff selection show begins at 12:00 p.m. that day, and Louisville will learn their bowl shortly after.

With seven weeks of college football now in the rear view mirror, here are bowl projections for Louisville across various publications:

Sports Illustrated

• Projector: Bryan Fischer
• Bowl/Matchup: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Iowa
• Location: Yankee Stadium in New York, N.Y.
• Date/Time: Saturday, Dec., 27 at 12:00 p.m. EST

ESPN

• Projector: Kyle Bonagura
• Bowl/Matchup: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Maryland
• Location: Yankee Stadium in New York, N.Y.
• Date/Time: Saturday, Dec., 27 at 12:00 p.m. EST

• Projector: Mark Schlabach
• Bowl/Matchup: Gator Bowl vs. Oklahoma
• Location: TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Date/Time: Saturday, Dec., 27 at 7:30 p.m. EST

247Sports/CBS

• Projector: Brad Crawford
• Bowl/Matchup: First Responder Bowl vs. Fresno State
• Location: Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, Tex.
• Date/Time: Friday, Dec., 26 at 8:00 p.m. EST

Athlon Sports

• Projector: Steve Lassan
• Bowl/Matchup: Gasparilla Bowl vs. Memphis
• Location: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
• Date/Time: Friday, Dec., 19 at 3:30 p.m. EST

College Football News

• Projector: Pete Fiutak
• Bowl/Matchup: Holiday Bowl vs. Washington
• Location: Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Calif.
• Date/Time: Friday, Jan, 2 at 8:00 p.m. EST

On3

• Projector: Brett McMurphy
• Bowl/Matchup: Duke's Mayo Bowl vs. Missouri
• Location: Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
• Date/Time: Friday, Jan, 2 at 8:00 p.m. EST

Palm Brackets

• Projector: Jerry Palm
• Bowl/Matchup: Holiday Bowl vs. USC
• Location: Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Calif.
• Date/Time: Friday, Jan, 2 at 8:00 p.m. EST

USA TODAY

• Projector: Erick Smith
• Bowl/Matchup: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Penn State
• Location: Yankee Stadium in New York, N.Y.
• Date/Time: Saturday, Dec., 27 at 12:00 p.m. EST

Pro Football Network

• Projector: Oliver Hodgkinson
• Bowl/Matchup: Military Bowl vs. Memphis
• Location: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Mary.
• Date/Time: Saturday, Dec., 27 at 11:00 a.m. EST