Well, Louisville basketball’s 2025-26 season unfortunately comes to an end. The Cardinals fall 77-69 in the Round of 32, but while Louisville fell short of its preseason expectations, there is no question this team left it all on the floor.
3 players Pat Kelsey and Louisville basketball must bring back next season
Louisville was without its star guard and 5-star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. for the last six games, and it is just unfortunate injuries are part of the game. So, Pat Kelsey and Louisville will quickly try to rebuild this team, and while the fans are proud of this team and how hard they fought, Tom Izzo and the Spartans showed they will have a lot of work to do this offseason.
Louisville's tournament exit exposed one glaring problem
Louisville is going to lose key players like Brown to the NBA Draft, as well as Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely, J’Vonne Hadley, and many others. And as the season comes to an end, Kelsey and the Cardinals learned they still have some work to do to reach the next level in college basketball.
Since Kelsey took over Louisville, this program has taken a huge step in the right direction. He made a huge impact on this program in his first season, taking Louisville to its first ACC Title game, winning 18 conference games (which marked a program record, and taking Louisville back to the NCAA Tournament, and now this season the Cards were ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation had a 5-star on their team, and won their first NCAA Tournament game in eight years. But now he has to take another step next season.
The Cardinals' standard and expectations are to cut nets down, and Kelsey knows that. He continues to take strides in the right direction, but next season, it is clear Louisville has to be better against ranked teams, and the goal is to end their Sweet Sixteen drought.
Louisville ended its 2025-26 season 1-8 against the current ranked teams, and was 0-6 against KenPom’s top 20 teams. While Kelsey got Louisville to the Round of 32 for the first time since 2017, he now has to get this program to compete with the best in college basketball.
Kelsey is a winner, and he will do whatever it takes to win. But he has to find a way to overcome the Cardinals' struggles against ranked teams, which have been a huge weakness through these first two seasons.
Related: Pat Kelsey gives passionate message that will absolutely fire Louisville fans up
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