Louisville basketball is taking on the Clemson Tigers tomorrow afternoon in another crucial road test for the Cardinals. Louisville has struggled on the road this season, posting a 3-6 record in true road games, including a few ugly losses against Duke, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
Louisville entered the season with true Final Four hopes. This team had one of the best offseasons in college basketball after adding three 4-star transfers in Ryan Conwell, Adrian Wooley, and Isaac McKneely. Plus, the historic commitment from 5-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr and another 4-star commitment from Sandanda Fru, this roster was considered one of the best in college basketball and had the sixth-highest odds to win the 2026 National Title.
However, the Cardinals haven’t lived up to those expectations, as they have had quite a roller coaster season, leaving Cardinals fans upset with Louisville’s 20-8 record. However, Pat Kelsey recently addressed the media before the Cards' road test against Clemson, and he made sure everyone knew this team isn’t listening to “rat-poison,” and is excited for another opportunity to earn a marquee win.
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Pat Kelsey sends a strong message about the outside noise before March
With Louisville struggling in the past few games, the Cards fans have a lot of questions entering the Clemson showdown and the postseason. Louisville was surging at the perfect time, it felt like, the Cards won five straight, including a dominant 41-point win over North Carolina State, but they lost on the road to SMU and then to North Carolina, and all of a sudden, fans are losing that hope again.
Louisville is 0-6 against current ranked teams and is 0-7 against Quad 1A teams after their loss to North Carolina. When Kelsey was asked about their struggles against these good teams, he made sure to send a fiery message, letting everyone know they aren’t listening to the “rat-poison” or the media and that they are excited for their opportunity against Clemson.
"We don't listen to rat poison," Kelsey stated this morning at his press conference. "We do our best to just worry about us, and understand that that's, how the world works. Do we understand winning a big game on the road against a really good team helps our overall makeup and resume? Yes."
Kelsey sent a strong message this morning, showing he has full confidence in his group of guys and that they still have a great opportunity tomorrow afternoon to earn a massive conference win. Louisville has a 0-6 record against ranked teams this season, including a 31-point loss to Duke, a 21-point loss to Tennessee, and 9-point losses to Arkansas and Virginia. In those six games, Louisville was also down by as many as 25 to Tennessee, 20 to Arkansas, and 14 to Duke in the first matchup, and 14 to Virginia, and 16 to UNC.
So, Louisville fans are hoping this Cards team can try and get hot as they did after their loss to Duke back on Jan. 26. Kelsey got this group to win five straight after that ugly loss, and now hopefully can do that again, and Louisville can win out, including wins on the road over Clemson and Miami, which would put them in a good position to try to be in the top four for the ACC Tournament.
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