How Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm has fared against SEC teams

Jeff Brohm is widely considered to be a giant slayer. 

Louisville’s fourth-year football coach has upset four top-10 teams and hasn’t shied away from playing quality opponents. So when the Cardinals had an opening in their 2026 schedule after Georgia backed out of a home-and-home series, they filled it with Ole Miss. The Rebels lost to Miami in the College Football Playoff semifinals last season under new coach Pete Golding, who was promoted from defensive coordinator after Lane Kiffin left for LSU. 

This will be just the third time over the past 10 seasons that Louisville will play two SEC teams. UofL lost to Alabama and Kentucky in 2018, and lost to the Rebels and Wildcats in 2021. That was before Brohm, however.

Brohm has fared better against the SEC, going 2-1 as Louisville's coach and 6-6 overall. His teams have defeated four SEC teams over the past 11 years. Louisville looks to add Ole Miss, which was No. 10 in the US LBM preseason coaches poll, to the list. The Cardinals were just outside of the rankings and have an opportunity to pocket a top-10 win in consecutive seasons after taking down No. 2 Miami, 24-21, a year ago. 

“For us to play a team that went to the (Playoff) semifinals last year and had a chance to win with a lot of quality players coming back and their starting quarterback and starting running back and multiple other ones, it’s just a great test for us,” Brohm said on the C.L. Brown Show. “I think it’ll be a lot of fun for our players to play such a quality opponent, see how we stack up. That’s really why you work hard. That’s why you put in the work in the offseason, to play in championship-level games.” 

Here’s how Brohm has fared against SEC opponents throughout his career: 

Louisville coach Jeff Brohm is 6-6 against the SEC, which includes back-to-back Governor’s Cup wins over Kentucky, heading into the 2026 opener against Ole Miss. Brohm went 1-3 against the SEC during his first head coaching job at Western Kentucky before posting a 3-2 record at Purdue. He's 2-1 as Louisville's coach. 

• 2015: Western Kentucky 14, Vanderbilt 12  

• 2015: LSU 48, Western Kentucky 20 

• 2016: Alabama 38, Western Kentucky 10 

• 2016: Vanderbilt 31, Western Kentucky 30 (OT) 

• 2017: Purdue 35, Missouri 3 

• 2018: Missouri 40, Purdue 37 

• 2018 Music City Bowl: Auburn 63, Purdue 14 

• 2019: Purdue 42, Vanderbilt 24 

• 2021 Music City Bowl: Purdue 48, Tennessee 45 

• 2023: Kentucky 38, Louisville 31 

• 2024: Louisville 41, Kentucky 14 

• 2025: Louisville 41, Kentucky 0 

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Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit. 

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: How Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm has fared against SEC teams