Entering the 2025-26 season, Louisville basketball fans had high expectations. The Cardinals had a top offseason, landing 5-star transfer Adrian Wooley and 4-stars Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely. They also added 5-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr., the second-highest commitment in program history.
The Cardinals entered the season with the second-highest odds to win the ACC, behind only the Duke Blue Devils, and had the sixth-highest odds to win the National Title at +2000. The Cardinals fans couldn’t wait for the season to start and thought this could be the year Louisville would not only snap its March Madness drought without a win, but also snap its Final Four drought.
Louisville hasn’t won a game in the NCAA Tournament since 2017 and hasn’t gone to the Final Four since it won the Big Dance in 2013. So, Cardinals fans were excited for the 2025-26 season and hoped this would be the year Louisville snapped multiple droughts. However, the Cardinals are 1-3 in ACC play and have seen their odds plummet.
Louisville basketball Title odds take a massive hit
Louisville fans are getting hit with a harsh reality that maybe it is time to lower their expectations after the Cardinals' midseason skid. Yes, Louisville is without star point guard Mikel Brown Jr., but Louisville’s 0-4 record against current ranked teams and losing by an average of 12.5 points isn’t a recipe for a Final Four run.
Brown has missed the last seven games for Louisville, and in that span, the Cardinals are now 3-4, including three losses to ACC teams, three to ranked teams, and one to an unranked team in Stanford. The Cards' nightmare seven-game stretch has pushed their NCAA and ACC Title odds to a season low, forcing Louisville fans to lower their expectations.
The Cardinals' new NCAA Title odds after losing to Virginia are +6500, and their newest ACC Title odds are +8000, according to FanDuel. Louisville’s disastrous start to its ACC schedule has dropped its odds from +155, the second-highest behind Duke, to +8000, the seventh-highest.
There is still plenty of season left for the Cardinals to turn this thing around, but Louisville is getting no new update on its starting point guard, and Louisville’s month of January isn’t getting any easier. They will have Pitt and Virginia Tech on Jan. 17 and Jan. 24, but then travel to Durham to face No. 6 Duke, followed by a trip to Dallas to face No. 24 SMU.
For all the latest on Louisville basketball's 2025-26 season and recruiting, stay tuned.