Louisville basketball has already suffered its fifth loss of the 2025-26 season, as the Cardinals fell 79-70 to the Virginia Cavaliers last night inside the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals were once ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation at 7-0 and had a big-time win over Kentucky, but since then, Louisville is 5-5, including 1-3 in its ACC schedule so far.
The Cardinals have already lost more ACC games this regular season than last year, and the Cardinals fans are beginning to wonder how good this team really is. Louisville had incredibly high expectations entering the season, largely because of its 5-star commitment, Mikel Brown Jr. Louisville has been without Brown for the last seven games, and in that span, Louisville is 3-4, including its loss last night.
With emotions high after last night's loss, Louisville fans and media outlets are officially coming to the conclusion that it might be time to lower their expectations, and that the team’s ceiling is much lower when Brown isn’t playing.
Pat Kelsey says quiet part out loud about Louisville basketball
When Louisville had Brown, the Cardinals were 9-1 and were ranked No. 13 in the nation. The former 5-star averaged 16.6 points and 5.1 assists per game and helped Louisville average 94.3 points per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from downtown. The Cardinals were one of the most explosive offenses in the nation at the time, and yes, it was against weaker opponents, but they still beat No. 9 Kentucky and No. 22 Indiana in those first 10 games.
With Louisville losing another marquee matchup against a ranked team, Kelsey said the quiet part out loud about this team, and that's this team simply isn’t good right now.
“We're not a very good team right now," Kelsey stated last night after the loss. "I think we have the capacity to be a very good team. But that team right now, with Louisville across their chest, is not a very good team right now. We've gotta get better. We're gonna get there."
"We're not a very good team right now. I think we have the capacity to be a very good team. But that team right now, with Louisville across their chest, is not a very good team right now. We've gotta get better. We're gonna get there." --Pat Kelsey
— Mike Rutherford (@CardChronicle) January 14, 2026
Louisville’s potential and their year soley rides on Brown and his health, and the stats and record prove that.
Since Brown has been out, Louisville is now averaging 77 points per game and is shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 29.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Cardinals beat Boston College, Montana, and Cal, but against ranked teams during this run, Louisville is 0-3 and has lost by an average of 13.7 points.
This team was built around Brown, and now, with the Cardinals' star player sidelined, Louisville fans and Kelsey are quickly realizing this team is “mediocre,” as Jeff Goodman described the Cardinals. Louisville has Pitt on Saturday, then a week off before playing Virginia Tech on Jan. 24. The Cardinals will then play at No. 6 Duke and No. 24 SMU.
So, their schedule isn’t getting any easier for Louisville, and the fans are just hoping their starting point guard returns sooner rather than later. The Cardinals' ACC Title odds have dropped from +155 to +8000.
For all the latest on Louisville basketball's 2025-26 season and recruiting, stay tuned.