Louisville basketball will play its first preseason game Wednesday evening as the Cardinals face Kansas in an exhibition matchup. There is a lot of excitement surrounding this roster Pat Kelsey built, and that was made clear Monday by the AP Polls.
Louisville-Kentucky rivalry is heating up after Karter Knox and Malachi Moreno comments
The Cardinals enter the season ranked No. 11 after Kelsey added one of the nation's best Transfer Portal classes, along with 5-star freshman Obinna Ekezie Jr. and two other 2026 recruiting class players. Louisville fans are happy with their No. 11 ranking for multiple reasons, but one glaring reason is the bragging rights it gives them over their in-state rival, Kentucky.
AP Polls rank Louisville way higher than Kentucky in preseason rankings
Louisville-Kentucky has already seen sparks fly, with Karter Knox sending a confident message to Kentucky, saying the Cards will snap their eight-game losing streak in Lexington, and Kentucky’s Malachi Moreno responding, “People can say what they can say, but we’ll see in December.”
This is one of the best rivalries in college sports, and Louisville fans get the early laugh. All offseason, fans, insiders, experts, you name it, debated who is better: Louisville or Kentucky. Well, while it is only the preseason rankings, Cardinals fans couldn’t help but laugh when they saw UofL ranked 11th and Kentucky ranked 12 spots behind them at No. 23.
BREAKING: Preseason College Basketball AP Poll🏀https://t.co/g4z17LVdWP pic.twitter.com/dYJufsSTG0
— On3 (@On3) October 19, 2026
And the reality is, the AP Polls have it right in ranking Louisville ahead of Kentucky. Both schools had a crazy busy offseason, but the 'Cardinals' depth and physicality will be hard for Kentucky to match in December.
Kelsey added the No. 1 transfer, Flory Bidunga, one of the top rim protectors in college basketball, as well as 5-star recruit and top-20 overall transfer Jackson Shelstad. Along with these two, Kelsey also added more physicality and experience with former 5-star Karter Knox and UNC transfer Seth Trimble.
This team will be one of the nation's top defensive units, with length, speed, and physicality, and no team will have an easy day when they play this new Kelsey squad.
Now, Louisville gets to smile ear to ear, as for the first week of basketball, the Cardinals fans get to laugh and poke at Kentucky fans for being ranked No. 23. The AP Polls just sent a strong message in the who is better debate, but now with the season here, the Cardinals have to prove it on the court.
The two in-state rivals will go head-to-head in Lexington on Dec. 12, where Louisville will try to earn its first road win against Kentucky since 2008 and win consecutive games against the Wildcats for the first time since 2007-08 and 2008-09.
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