Louisville basketball put the nation on notice this offseason as head coach Pat Kelsey has brought in three players from the transfer portal and two elite recruits.
Louisville landed the No. 3-ranked overall player in the transfer portal and a 5-star prospect, Adrian Wooley. Along with Wooley, they will bring two 4-star elite sharpshooters, Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely. The Cardinals are expected to have an elite backcourt and possibly the best backcourt in the nation. A 5-star recruit and unanimous top 10 player in the class of 2025, Mikel Brown Jr, will run the Cardinals' offense.
Louisville's lethal backcourt is immediately turning heads as FanDuel recently put odds out for the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champion, and the Cardinals are right where they belong.
FanDuel predicts Louisville basketball to be National Championship favorites next season
Louisville is having one of the best offseasons in the nation, and its odds for the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champion immediately skyrocketed. Kelsey's offseason is ranked No. 1 by 247Sports BK transfer rankings and is one of the glaring reasons why they are expected to be National Champion contenders.
The addition of Brown, Wooley, Conwell, and McKneely, combined with the only loss of Koren Johsnon, has this Cardinals team with extremely high expectations entering the 2025-26 season. As of April 7, the Cardinals currently have the third-best odds to win the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship, according to FanDuel.
Kelsey's Louisville Cardinals have a +1400 odds to win the National Championship next season. Ahead of the Cardinals are the Houston Cougars, with the second-best odds at +1200, and then the Duke Blue Devils have the best odds at +950.
The ACC had a down year this past year, but the 2025-26 season seems like the ACC might dominate. The Cardinals and Blue Devils are poised to have a massive rivalry in the 2025 season, as both teams are expected to be top of college basketball and are currently battling it out for 5-star Nate Ament.
These two programs were in the ACC Tournament finals last year, as Duke defeated Louisville 73-62. The Cardinals' offseason is earning them the respect they deserve, and Kelsey and his squad are expected to be a National Championship contender.
The last time Louisville won the National Championship was in 2013 when Rick Pitino was the Cardinals' head coach. The Cardinals are looking to end this 13-year drought, and are currently projected to have one of the best odds.
FanDuel expects this team to be among the best next year after this offseason. The Cardinals are expected to land a few more in the offseason and are still waiting to see if J'Vonne Hadley and Kasean Pryor will return.
Related: Players in the NCAA transfer portal that the Louisville Cardinals have reached out to
For all the latest on Louisville basketball's offseason, stay tuned.