Louisville basketball has had a jam-packed offseason, as the Cardinals have had to replace three coaches and nine players. The Cardinals had an up-and-down season last year, winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 2017 before being bounced in the second round by Michigan State.
Now, Louisville and Pat Kelsey have just completely rebuilt this team and turned a lot of heads in the process. The Cardinals landed the No. 1 Transfer Portal class and landed one 5-star transfer and one 5-star recruit from the 2026 recruiting class.
The Cardinals continue to trend as a Final Four candidate, and ESPN just proved that by rising in its updated rankings.
Louisville basketball keeps climbing in latest preseason rankings
Louisville continues to trend as a unanimous top 15 team in offseason rankings. The Cardinals' fans have seen Louisville ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation in a Fox Sports analyst's rankings, and as low as No. 15. Now, the Cardinals fans got some good news from ESPN, as they just updated their rankings for the first time since July 1, and the Cardinals rose one spot as they are now ranked No. 12 in ESPN’s rankings.
Now, obviously, moving up one spot isn’t a huge rise, but the Cardinals climbing up to No. 12 continues to show what Kelsey built this offseason has Final Four potential. Louisville has a dominant rim-protector in Flory Bidunga, a speedy guard in Jackson Shelstad, an athletic wing in Karter Knox, and two incoming freshmen who are poised to make an immediate impact in 5-star Obinna Ekezie Jr. and 4-star Boyuan Zhang.
Louisville continues to be the second-ranked ACC team in ESPN’s rankings as the Duke Blue Devils continue to be the top-ranked team. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello ranks Duke No. 2 in the nation, with the next ACC team being Louisville at No. 12, followed by Virginia at No. 13. Rounding out ACC teams in the updated rankings is Miami at No. 17.
Other notable teams in ESPN’s way-too-early rankings include No. 22 Kansas, whom the Cardinals will play in an exhibition game; No. 4 Texas, whom Louisville plays on Dec. 1; No. 8 Michigan, whom Louisville plays on Dec. 5; No. 19 Kentucky, whom Louisville plays on Dec. 12, and No. 15 St. John’s whom Louisville might play in the second round of the Players Era Festival tournament.
Louisville currently has the No. 9 odds to win the National Title at +2500, and with Louisville now ranked No. 12 in ESPN’s way-too-early rankings, it is clear the Cardinals have a real shot at being a true Final Four contender this upcoming season.
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