Louisville basketball continues to fall in the AP Polls, coming in at No. 23 in the latest rankings. The Cardinals' midseason skid continues to drop them in all rankings, as Louisville was once ranked as high as No. 6 in the AP Polls and No. 5 in ESPN Power Rankings. Now, it has Louisville ranked as low as No. 23 in the AP rankings and is projected as a No. 6 seed in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.
Louisville dropped in these rankings for its 79-70 loss to Virginia earlier in the week, marking the Cardinals' third loss to a ranked team on the season. The Cardinals went into that showdown as the favorite to win and ranked No. 20 in the nation, but now, with Louisville 0-3 against current ranked teams by a margin of 9.7 points, the Cardinals fall three spots to No. 23.
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Louisville basketball falls three spots in latest AP Polls
Louisville fans have gotten quite frustrated with the Cardinals' production against ranked opponents as Louisville is 4-9 against ranked teams under Pat Kelsey. Louisville has shown the capability to dominate weaker opponents as demonstrated on Saturday, but when it comes to playing teams ranked inside the top 25 the results haven’t favored the Cardinals.
That said, Louisville is hopefully beginning to turn things around as the Cardinals are coming off a massive 41-point victory over Pitt. Louisville dropped its fifth 100-point game of the season, tying the Cards' second-most 100-point games in a season in program history.
Their resume also got a huge boost this weekend as their win over Cincinnati looks a whole lot better as the Bearcats gave No. 9 Iowa State their second loss, and Kentucky won three straight, including a win over No. 24 Tennessee.
So, hopefully things are beginning to turn around for the Cardinals and this midseason skid is in the rearview mirror, but for this Cardinals team to turn it all around it relies on Mikel Brown Jr.'s status. Louisville is 4-4 since Brown went down, and the Cards fans are hoping things are about to change in their favor. Brown announced he is practicing again and is “one step closer” to returning to the court for Louisville.
The Cards have a huge three-game stretch coming up, as they face Virginia Tech at home this weekend, which is currently on the bubble, then No. 5 Duke on the road, and then SMU at home, which is projected to be a March Madness team as well.
Louisville is one of five ACC teams ranked, with Duke at the top at No. 5, followed by No. 14 Virginia, No. 18 Clemson, No. 22 North Carolina, and then the Cards sit at No. 23.
For all the latest on Louisville basketball's 2025-26 season and recruiting, stay tuned.