Louisville's 2026 Matchup vs. Charlotte Canceled

Now we know which buy game for the Louisville football program in 2026 is getting scrapped to make way for the ninth ACC game.

It was announced Thursday that the Cardinals' home matchup vs. Charlotte next season, which was originally set for Sept. 26, 2026, has been officially canceled.

On Wednesday, UofL athletic director Josh Heird told Louisville Cardinals On SI that the Cards would be one of a handful of schools in the ACC that will play nine league games in 2026. This past September, the ACC announced that they would start playing a nine-game conference schedule starting in 2027, but some league members would start playing nine games in 2026 while some would remain at eight to fulfill previous scheduling obligations.

Earlier this week, Louisville not only announced that they had mutually agreed with Georgia to cancel their home-and-home series, which would have started next season, but that they had added a neutral-site matchup vs. Ole Miss in Nashville to kick off the 2026 season. With the Cardinals playing nine ACC games starting next year, one of their two previously scheduled buy games - Villanova and Charlotte - would have to be canceled to make way for it.

Prior to scheduling Ole Miss, Louisville was originally slated to open the 2026 season at home against Villanova. Their matchup with the Wildcats, who operate at the FCS level, will now likely be moved to a different date that season instead of outright canceled. The only other game in 2026 for Louisville with a fixed date is the Governor's Cup at Kentucky, which will take place on Saturday, Nov. 28.

Unless the ACC decides to completely shake up the conference matchups for next season, Louisville will host Florida State, Pitt, SMU and Stanford; while traveling to Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina and Syracuse. Exact dates for these matchups is expected to be announced sometime in the next month.

Of the eight ACC schools that Louisville does not face and could be added as the ninth team on their schedule, two of them still need to schedule one more game to get to a full 12-game slate in 2026: Miami and Wake Forest. Currently, of the eight ACC teams on Louisville's schedule for 2026, Pitt and Stanford still need to schedule one additional contest - presumably a ninth league game - to get to a full 12-game season.