Louisville basketball already holds perfect blueprint to steal ACC crown from Duke

Louisville basketball's 2025-26 roster isn't completely set, but what the fans do know is that the Cardinals are back. Louisville had a historic season last year, as the Cards' broke multiple records, made their first ACC Championship game appearance, returned to the NCAA Tournament, and set this program up for future success.

Head coach Pat Kelsey put this program back on the map, and the Louisville Cardinals are just getting started. Mark Packer of the ACCN recently stated that Louisville is the team to beat and his way-too-early prediction to win the ACC next season.

Louisville has been earning National Title recognition all offseason, and they just got more praise from another college basketball expert. CBS Sports' Isaac Trotter recently ranked the ACC, and Louisville is sitting exactly where it belongs, as he has them in the perfect position to earn the program's first National Championship since 2013.

Louisville basketball already holds perfect blueprint to steal ACC crown from Duke

Trotter went ahead and listed the ACC in four tiers, with tier one being "Title Contenders," tier two being "Top 25 caliber club", tier three being "Bubblicious," and tier four being "The basement." The ACC was dominated by Duke last season, making them a massive target for the rest of the conference next season. In Trotter's vision, he sees only the Cardinals with a chance to end the Duke Blue Devils' ACC dynasty.

Louisville was the first team mentioned in these rankings, implying that they are ranked No. 1 in his eyes. The Cardinals and the Blue Devils are the only teams in tier one, once again making it clear that the two blockbuster showdowns between these two teams next season are going to have a lot at stake.

Trotter really likes the roster Kelsey has built, as he gives high praise to the Cardinals' additions as well as key returners. He also adds that Louisville will have six players 21 years or older, implying the Cardinals have elite experience, as well as NBA talent.

"Louisville's offense is going to turbo-smash. Pat Kelsey has endless lineup versatility after building a backcourt that is the envy of everyone in college basketball circles. Brown is a five-star freshman who is a terrific playmaker, and he's surrounded by two special shot-makers in Conwell and McKneely. 100 3-pointers apiece for those two studs? It's not impossible in this 3-point-happy scheme. If paint touches are hard to come by, Kelsey can insert Wooley, who is going to get to the rim by land or by sea.

The Cardinals can rotate dudes throughout this frontcourt. Fru is no typical freshman. The 21-year-old German import is armed with 7-foot-5 wingspan, and figures to be an impact defender. Five-out offense with Pryor or Khalifa (when he gets eligible)? Sure. Four-out, one-in with Fru? Sure. Scheme versatility is everything these days, and Louisville has it. Oh, and Hadley is also back to do all the winning stuff. There's just a beautiful mix of veterans (six of Louisville's top-eight players are 21+) and the NBA talent you need to go big-game hunting.

Louisville looks like Louisville again, and that's a beautiful sight for this sport."
Isaac Trotter

His projected starting five is somewhat different, as he predicts Ryan Conwell to start at shooting guard and Isaac McKneely to start at small forward. He also has J'Vonne Hadley at power forward and Sananda Fru at center. The starting five is impossible to predict right now, but Trotter laid down a perfect blueprint for the Cardinals on how to defeat Duke: take advantage of Duke's lack of experience.

Multiple freshmen will lead Duke, and while they have the best 2025 recruiting class, it is crucial to have key veterans on the roster to win big-time games. Louisville has the better roster from top to bottom, and the Cardinals will need to utilize their experience to win the big games against Duke and claim the ACC crown from Jon Scheyer's Duke Blue Devils.

The ACC will see a massive upgrade from the past season, and the Cardinals are expected to lead the pack with this stacked roster. Louisville fans are already counting the days to tip-off, as this upcoming season is expected to be another historic one. However, this time, the Cardinals are expected to cut down some nets and hang some banners.

For all the latest on Louisville basketball's offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.