The SportsWire

Louisville at North Carolina

Prediction · week 11, 2026 · Sat Nov 14, Time TBA · Kenan Stadium

Updated Tue Nov 10, 6:06 AM CT

Louisville6-3 · 5-2 ACC
Upcoming
North Carolina5-4 · 2-3 ACC

Sat Nov 14, Time TBA · Kenan Stadium

Our call: Louisville by 6.9 · 68% pregame win chance

LOULouisville · 6-3 Sat Nov 14, Time TBA UNCNorth Carolina · 5-4

68%Our win chance32%

Our win chance: Louisville 68% · North Carolina 32% · experimental, see how it is tested

Make your pick →

Model comparison

10 of 10 models favor Louisville

ModelSaysWin chanceUse this
SP+
Louisville +17.7 vs North Carolina +5.3
Louisville by 9.9Louisville 76%Use this
Elo
Louisville 1758 vs North Carolina 1526
Louisville by 6.8Louisville 69%Use this
Our model · experimental
Louisville +13.5 vs North Carolina +7.1
Louisville by 3.9Louisville 61%Use this
Sagarin
Louisville +83.5 vs North Carolina +77.5
Louisville by 3.3Louisville 60%Use this
ESPN FPI
Louisville +14.8 vs North Carolina +9.3
Louisville by 3.0Louisville 59%Use this
Market
the market's pregame margin
Louisville by 2.5Louisville 57%Use this
SRS
Louisville +13.2 vs North Carolina +8.9
Louisville by 1.8Louisville 55%Use this
The Margin
The Margin's model
Louisville by 1.2Louisville 53%Use this
Sonny Moore
Louisville +87.4 vs North Carolina +82.7
Louisville by 0.7Louisville 52%Use this
Record
North Carolina 5-4, Louisville 6-3
Louisville (better record)–Use this
Our call
average of SP+, Elo and Our model
Louisville by 6.9Louisville 68%Use this

Each margin is from the same weekly ratings the team pages use: SP+ and Elo from their rating gap, the home team given 2.5 points (none at a neutral site); Our model is this site's experimental rating; Market is the margin the market expected before kickoff; ESPN FPI, SRS, Sagarin and Sonny Moore are rating gaps like SP+'s (each with its own home field), The Margin is that site's own model, and Record names the team with the better record (the home team on equal records). How these work ›

Matchup efficiency

Efficiency matchup · season to date · North Carolina 9 games, Louisville 9 games

Edge: Louisville wins 4 of 5

Louisville moves the ball better, stops plays better, is more disruptive and has the edge on big plays. North Carolina allows fewer big plays.

North Carolinalonger bar = betterLouisville
  • 47% Moves the ballsuccessful plays ✓51%
  • 44% Stops playssuccessful plays allowed ✓40%
  • 12% Disruptionsacks, TFLs, turnovers ✓15%
  • 1.13 Big playson offense ✓1.38
  • 1.09✓ Big plays allowedon defense 1.24

Run game, head to head · season to date

North Carolina's runs work 44% of the time; Louisville's run defense allows 42%. Louisville's runs work 52% of the time; North Carolina's run defense allows 47%.

More numbers
MeasureNorth CarolinaLouisvilleEdge
Off. success rate47.2%50.8%Louisville
Off. explosiveness1.131.38Louisville
Def. success rate allowed44.1%40.3%Louisville
Def. explosiveness allowed1.091.24North Carolina
Havoc created12.3%15.3%Louisville
  • Run game, success rate: North Carolina offense 43.7% · Louisville defense allows 42.3% · edge: even
  • Run game, success rate: Louisville offense 51.9% · North Carolina defense allows 46.6% · edge: Louisville
  • Run game, PPA per play: North Carolina offense +0.05 · Louisville defense allows -0.03 · edge: Louisville
  • Run game, PPA per play: Louisville offense +0.28 · North Carolina defense allows +0.06 · edge: Louisville
  • Success rate: how often a play does its job, gaining enough yards to keep the offense on schedule.
  • Explosiveness: how big a team's successful plays are on average; a higher number means more big gains.
  • Havoc: how often the defense blows up a play with a sack, a tackle for loss, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • PPA (predicted points added): how many points an average play is worth to the offense; above zero is good for the offense, below zero good for the defense.

How to read this

  • Each row compares the two teams on one measure of how well they have played this season, offense and defense, using every game so far with garbage time (plays late in a decided game) left out.
  • The run game rows pair one team's rushing offense with the other's run defense. The row goes to whichever side is further from the FBS baseline this season, the offense by how far it runs above it, the defense by how much less it allows (baseline: run success rate 42%, PPA per play +0.07, the midpoint of what FBS offenses gain and FBS defenses allow, since both also play FCS teams), so two strong sides or two weak ones are judged by which is the more so. Edges within 3 points of success rate or 0.05 PPA are even. A strong run offense against a weak run defense is where a team can control the game on the ground.
  • In the five rows at the top the longer bar is the better number: bars are scaled within each row, and in the two "allowed" rows the lower number gets the longer bar.
  • Success rate is the share of plays that kept the offense on schedule (half the yards needed on first down, most of them on second, all of them on third or fourth). Explosiveness is how big the successful plays were, on average, in points. Havoc is the share of the opponent's snaps the defense wrecked: a tackle for loss, a sack, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • "Allowed" rows are what each defense gave up, so the lower value wins.
  • These are not adjusted for who each team has played, so a light schedule flatters a team, and early in the season they rest on very few games.
  • Metrics explained: success rate, explosiveness and havoc ›

The prediction

All 10 models favor Louisville.

SP+ has Louisville by 9.9, Elo has Louisville by 6.8, Our model has Louisville by 3.9, ESPN FPI has Louisville by 3.0, SRS has Louisville by 1.8, Sagarin has Louisville by 3.3, Sonny Moore has Louisville by 0.7, The Margin has Louisville by 1.2, and Market has Louisville by 2.5. They are within 9.2 points of each other.

Last 5 meetings

Louisville leads 5–3 · last: Louisville 47–35, 2017 · Louisville has won 2 straight

SeasonResultSite
2017Louisville 47–35Kenan Stadium
2012Louisville 39–34L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium
2011North Carolina 14–7Kenan Stadium
2005Louisville 69–14L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium
2004Louisville 34–0Kenan Stadium

Team pages