Louisville basketball got blown out last night in embarrassing fashion as the Cardinals lost 83-52 to No. 4 Duke Blue Devils. The Cards fans entered this game expecting to at least compete and play some competitive basketball after their star, Mikel Brown Jr., returned to action on Saturday, but after Louisville lost its 25-24 lead in the first half, it was all Blue Devils the rest of the way.
Duke ended the half on a 13-3 run and dominated the second half for the second time this season against the Cardinals, outscoring Louisville 45-26. The Cards fans are sounding a lot of alarms right now as Louisville sits 14-6 and 4-4 in conference play, but they are beginning to accept reality, and that maybe this team’s ceiling just isn’t as high as many thought it was entering the season.
Related: Louisville basketball fans can’t ignore this glaring trend anymore under Pat Kelsey
Louisville basketball fans face a reality check after Duke loss
Entering the season, the Cardinals had the sixth-best odds to win the 2026 NCAA Title and the second-best odds to win the ACC Title. Now, that has drastically changed as the Cardinals' odds have plummeted in both categories, with Louisville having the 12th-best odds just to win the ACC.
The Cardinals had their eyes set on making a trip to Indianapolis and the Final Four this season, and after Brown returned against Virginia Tech, the city began to think it was possible again. However, the fans came back to earth after the Cardinals were completely embarrassed on Monday night and lost by 31.
Kelsey now has a 4-10 record against ranked teams since he became the Cardinals' head coach, and against the three current ranked teams, plus Tennessee, they are 0-4 and have lost by an average of 16.2 points. The Cards haven’t just been losing to the ranked teams this season, but they have been getting blown out and embarrassed in the national spotlight.
Louisville was down by 25 against Tennessee, 20 against Arkansas, 14 against Virginia, 14 in the first matchup with Duke, and just lost by 31 last night. It is a trend that certainly doesn’t spell Final Four contenders, and it is a trend that can't be ignored in late January.
There isn’t a question that this is an NCAA Tournament team, but now the Cardinals' ceiling has dropped from contending to win the National Title to, can they make it past the first weekend in the NCAA Tournament? It is about to be February, and the ACC Tournament and March Madness are quickly approaching.
The Cardinals are consistently underperforming against top-tier teams, as they continue to get outrebounded and dominated in the paint by teams with size and length, and are consistently shooting poorly against these elite teams. Last night, Louisville lost the paint battle 42-10, was outrebounded 47-26, and shot just 30-percent from the field
Louisville has a lot to work on if it wants to make a run in March, but right now, the fans are beginning to accept that maybe this team isn’t built for a March Madness run, and its ceiling is much lower than they thought when the team was built last April.