Louisville basketball fans saw over the weekend that their in-state rival, the Kentucky Wildcats, made another major splash. Louisville and Kentucky have had two of the most eventful offseasons, as both programs completely rebuilt their rosters and now rank at the top of the Transfer Portal class rankings.
Kentucky landed former Duke commit and now Missouri transfer Mark Mitchell, one of the top players in the portal following the “five-for-five” rule. Mitchell is coming off his best season after averaging 18.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, while shooting 54.7 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Now, the conversation is once again is Kentucky or Louisville better? These two teams have one of the biggest rivalries in college basketball, and with the season quickly approaching and Kentucky adding Mitchell and Louisville adding Seth Trimble, their fan bases are trying to figure out which roster is better.
Well, CBS Sports' Gary Parrish recently released his updated top 25 in college basketball after some major commitments, and Cardinals fans will love where they sit.
Louisville basketball gets the edge over Kentucky in latest CBS Sports rankings
Since Louisville got Trimble, the Cardinals have been trending as a top-10 team in the nation and a true Final Four contender. Yes, as of right now, Trimble is ineligible, but he will likely file his own lawsuit/injunction, which could grant him eligibility.
And despite Kentucky adding Mitchell and Milan Momcilovic, the Wildcats fans just got a friendly reminder of how good this Cardinals team is. Parrish ranked Louisville No. 8 and Kentucky No. 12, giving the Cardinals the bragging rights early on.
"This ranking is based on the Cardinals returning one of the top five scorers -- specifically Adrian Wooley -- from a team that finished 24-11 and advanced to the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. That core will be joined by a recruiting class highlighted by Kansas transfer Flory Bidunga, North Carolina transfer Seth Trimble, Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad, Arkansas transfer Karter Knox, Iowa transfer Alvaro Folgueiras, Dayton transfer De'Shayne Montgomery, USC transfer Gabe Dynes, five-star prospect Obinna Ekezie Jr., four-star prospect Boyuan Zhang and three-star prospect Isaac Ellis."Gary Parrish
There is a lot of upside with this Cardinals roster. Kelsey added 5-star transfer Flory Bidunga, along with multiple former 5-stars in Jackson Shelstad and Karter Knox. On top of those three, the Cardinals added 2026 5-star recruit Obinna Ekezie Jr., along with top-50 overall recruit and 4-star Boyuan Zhang.
Louisville and Kentucky fans will go back and forth over the next two months until the season starts, debating who is better. But what makes this rivalry so fun is that these two teams will go head-to-head in December, and that game will be the ultimate decider of who is better.
Add us as a preferred source on Google