Well, Louisville basketball is soaring through the rankings, as the Cardinals are currently the No. 14 ranked team in the nation and cracked the top 15.
This means the Cardinals fans have a clear view to be a top-six seed in the NCAA Tournament and the potential to be a sneaky Final Four team. Pat Kelsey and Chucky Hepburn are a duo that no one expected to be this good this quickly. Hepburn is coming off a career-defining game, and Pat Kelsey has now led Louisville to win seven straight and 17 of their last 18.
When the Cardinals are able to win that many games, they are going to be a legitimate team in March. No game is guaranteed this late into the season, but Louisville recently got another Bracketology projection, and the Cardinals are set to go up against BIG 10 and SEC powerhouses.
Louisville basketball set to square off with SEC and BIG 10 giants
Joe Lunardi recently released his updated NCAA Tournament Bracketology this morning and Louisville has moved up in his eyes for the No. 6 seed in the MidWest division.
Cardinals have been bouncing back and forth in a lot of experts' eyes between the six and seven seed, which means that is Louisville just can keep winning, and control the controllable and just keep winning, then the rest will take care of itself.
In Lunardi's latest prediction, he has the Cardinals going up against the winner of the play-in game between the No. 11 seeds, Ohio State and Arkansas. Cardinals have the head-to-head over the Buckeyes, as Louisville is 5-4 in their nine meetings, but with the Razorbacks, they are 4-4.
Louisville is currently on a three-game winning streak against OSU but hasn't played Ohio State since their 64-55 victory back in 2014. Arkansas and Louisville saw each other back in 2022 in an unfortunate 80-54 loss, but that was before the Kelsey era.
Cardinals don't have much experience with these two programs, but the battle with a BIG 10 and SEC school in the first-round will be a tall task, but one that could define a deep postseason run.
If they can get past that round, they will advance to the round of 32 and face, most likely, the No. 3 seed, the Wisconsin Badgers. Cardinals have a .500 record again, as these two programs each have a single victory and are 1-1 in their two meetings. The last meeting was back in 2020; that well isn't worth mentioning, but we will. Wisconsin won 85-45.
Cardinals don't have much experience vs these programs, and while history recently isn't their way, that was before the Pat Kelsey effect. Louisville basketball's ability to shoot from deep sets them up for a great run, especially if Hepburn and Reyne Smith can connect on multiple games.
The No. 1 seed is Houston, and No. 2 seed is Alabama in the MidWest division. Rounding out the top six are the No. 4 seed Texas A&M and the No. 5 seed Oregon.
The Cardinals have two games remaining in the postseason, as Louisville is set to square off with Cal tomorrow night from KFC Yum! Center at 9 p.m. local time.