The Louisville Cardinals are emerging as one of the national media's favorite teams entering the 2025-26 season, as their offseason has skyrocketed their potential and expectations for the upcoming season. Head coach Pat Kelsey was able to bring in three of the top players from the transfer portal, adding a 5-star recruit and two 4-star recruits.
He will also bring in a 5-star, a 4-star, and two international forwards who have played high-level basketball in some of the best international leagues. This Cardinals team has their eyes set on the National Championship, and while it isn't championship or bust, it has a chance to be.
Louisville basketball's roster is stacked. They have shooters, they have bigs, they have bigs who can shoot, and the best backcourt will lead them in the nation. Sports Illustrated has just released its updated rankings, and the Cardinals' spot proves that this team is eyeing history and its first Title since 2013.
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Louisville basketball has never won the ACC regular season title or the ACC Tournament Title. While the Cardinals' offseason has sparked their expectations, they still have a beast to get through, and that is the 2024 ACC champs, the Duke Blue Devils.
Duke is bringing in the best recruiting class in the nation and is coming off a spectacular year. The Blue Devils have the best odds of winning the ACC and the best odds of winning the 2026 National Championship.
The Cardinals come in with the second-best odds to win the ACC title and the fourth-best odds to win the National Title. These two historic programs are set to play each other twice next season, making both games more highly anticipated on TV.
Louisville has the skills, tools, and coaching to take down the Blue Devils and become a team that plays into April. In Sports Illustrated's recent rankings, Kevin Sweeney proved that Louisville has what it takes to be a national championship-caliber team, as he places the Cardinals right at No. 10 in his updated way-too-early top 25.
"Pat Kelsey has built a loaded roster in his second season at Louisville, a group with the potential to unseat Duke at the top of the ACC that could make a deep run next March. The backcourt should be outstanding, with five-star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. a budding star and portal pickups like Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely and Adrian Wooley all impact guys. There’s some frontcourt instability at the moment after Aly Khalifa was surprisingly ruled ineligible (at least for now) by the NCAA, though expect German big Sananda Fru to make an instant impact. "Kevin Sweeney
The top five in Sweeney's rankings are Houston at No. 1, followed by Florida, UConn, St. John's, and Purdue to round out the top five. Texas Tech and Kentucky are ranked No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. Duke comes in as the top-ranked ACC team at No. 8, and BYU is right ahead of Louisville at No. 9.
The Cardinals' offseason additions, along with their 2025 commitment, have skyrocketed their expectations for the next season. Once you factor in key returning players like J'Vonne Hadley and Kasean Pryor, fans are beginning to realize that the Louisville Cardinals' basketball program is back, and it is here to stay for a long time.
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For all the latest on Louisville basketball's offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.