ESPN predicts the winner of Clemson football vs Louisville Cardinals

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

The Clemson Tigers will be on the road this week to take on a top 25 team in the Louisville Cardinals in a rare Friday night game in Week 12 of the 2025 college football season.

The Tigers (4-5 overall, 3-4 ACC) are hoping to build on the momentum of last week’s 24-10 victory over rival Florida State in Death Valley.

Clemson got out to an 18-0 lead behind quarterback Cade Klubnik and never looked back. Klubnik had a 4-yard touchdown run for the game’s first points and then connected with receiver Antonio Williams for a 34-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. Nolan Hauser tacked on a 40-yard field goal on Clemson’s next series.

Hauser added field goals of 23 yards and 43 yards in the second half to push the lead to 24-7, and the Tigers’ defense forced two key Florida State turnovers.

“I know it hasn’t been a great season record-wise, but it don’t ever get old to beat the Noles,” coach Dabo Swinney said afterwards. “And it ain’t ever easy to beat the Noles. In my 17 years as the head coach, it’s pretty much been us or Florida State (winning the ACC).”

Louisville (7-2, 4-2) suffered a stunning 29-26 loss to California in overtime despite being heavy favorites last Saturday. After Cooper Ranvier’s 49-yard field goal, Cal’s Jacob De Jesus scored the game-winner with a 3-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-goal to send the Cardinals to their second loss of the season.

Louisville is ranked No. 21 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll; Clemson is unranked.

Will Clemson avoid second straight loss to Louisville? ESPN’s prediction

ESPN’s matchup predictor, which offers a prediction model based on its college football power index ratings (FPI) and other variables, gives Louisville a 54.9% chance to win Friday and Clemson a 45.1% chance.

Clemson rose five spots in the FPI rankings to No. 32 overall, while Louisville ranks four spots behind the Tigers at No. 36. The Tigers’ overall rating rose from 8.1 entering their Week 11 matchup with Florida State to 9.0 after the win. The Cardinals have an FPI rating of 8.5.

In the latest FPI ratings, Clemson is one spot behind the Nebraska Cornhuskers (9.1 FPI) and one spot ahead of the Pitt Panthers (8.8).

Louisville is seeking its second straight win over Clemson after knocking off the Tigers, 33-21, in an upset on Nov. 2, 2024 at Memorial Stadium. It was the Cardinals’ first victory in the head-to-head series against the Tigers. Clemson leads the all-time series vs. Louisville, 8-1.

Clemson football’s final record, win probability after beating FSU

Clemson is given a final record projection of 5.9-6.1, according to ESPN’s latest FPI ratings. The metrics give the Tigers a 21% chance of winning the last three games of their schedule, up from 7.3% last week, and a 70.8% chance of reaching six wins to extend the school’s consecutive bowl game streak to 21 years (up from 38% from last week).

Louisville is given a final record projection of 8.5-3.6. ESPN’s metrics give the Cardinals a 7.4% chance to win each of their final three games.

ACC football teams, ranked by ESPN FPI entering Week 12

  • 17. Boston College Eagles (-8.1 FPI)
  • 16. Syracuse Orange (-5.4 FPI)
  • 15. North Carolina Tar Heels (-5.1 FPI)
  • 14. Stanford Cardinal (-5.0 FPI)
  • 13. California Golden Bears (-3.6 FPI)
  • 12. Virginia Tech Hokies (-1.4 FPI)
  • 11. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (-0.5 FPI)
  • 10. NC State Wolfpack (2.8 FPI)
  • 9. Virginia Cavaliers (5.2 FPI)
  • 8. Duke Blue Devils (6.8 FPI)
  • 7. Louisville Cardinals (8.5 FPI)
  • 6. Pitt Panthers (8.8 FPI)
  • 5. Clemson Tigers (9.0 FPI)
  • 4. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9.2 FPI)
  • 3. Florida State Seminoles (10.0 FPI)
  • 2. SMU Mustangs (11.1 FPI)
  • 1. Miami Hurricanes (17.7 FPI)

Top 10 college football teams, ranked by ESPN FPI entering Week 12

Here are the top 10 teams ranked by ESPN FPI heading into Week 12 of the 2025 college football season.

Clemson vs Louisville start time, TV channel

Clemson vs. Louisville is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff Friday at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN. Anish Shroff and Andre Ware will have the TV call of the game, with Paul Carcaterra reporting from the sidelines.

What are ESPN FPI ratings?

“The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.”

Clemson football schedule 2025

All start times Eastern.

  • Aug. 30: vs. LSU (L, 17-10)
  • Sept. 6: vs. Troy (W, 27-16)
  • Sept. 13: at Georgia Tech (L, 24-21)
  • Sept. 20: vs. Syracuse (L, 34-21)
  • Oct. 4: at North Carolina (W, 38-10)
  • Oct. 11: at Boston College (W, 41-10)
  • Oct. 18: vs. SMU, (L, 35-24)
  • Nov. 1: vs. Duke (L, 46-45)
  • Nov. 8: vs. Florida State (W, 24-10)
  • Nov. 14: at Louisville, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
  • Nov. 22: vs. Furman, 4:30 p.m., The CW
  • Nov. 29: at South Carolina, noon, ABC or ESPN

Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.

This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football odds of beating Louisville in Week 12, per ESPN

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos