Louisville basketball is set to take on the Duke Blue Devils tomorrow evening in a marquee ACC showdown. The Cardinals and Blue Devils were the two preseason favorites to win the ACC, as Duke entered the 2025-26 season with the best odds to win the ACC Title at +155 odds, and the Cards were right behind them with the second-best odds at +220 odds.
Now, Louisville enters this matchup ranked No. 21 in the nation and 14-5 on the season, while Duke sits at 18-1 overall and ranked No. 5 in the country. These two teams met earlier this month at the KFC Yum! Center as Duke won 84-73. However, the vibe entering this game is much different, as the Cardinals will have their former 5-star point guard this time around and hope for a different result.
The odds for the game were recently released, and Cardinals fans feel slightly disrespected.
Louisville basketball disrespected by odds ahead of Duke matchup
Louisville vs Duke is one of two ranked vs. ranked games Monday evening, and with the Cardinals getting Brown back, many thought the spread might be a bit closer. Duke opens up as big-time favorites, as the Blue Devils are 7.5-point favorites, according to FanDuel, and are given a 77.3-percent chance of winning, per ESPN Analytics.
Brown made his highly anticipated return on Saturday against Virginia Tech and showed why he was ranked as high as a 5-star recruit and the No. 1 point guard in the 2025 recruiting class. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound guard dropped 20 points on 64-percent shooting from the field and 50-percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Louisville played Duke competitively the first time around, as they were up by 12 points at one point in the first half and led by nine points heading into the second half. However, the Cards lost the second half 46-26, making them lose the game by 11 points. If the Cardinals can play like they did in the first half and have Brown this time, Louisville should have a legitimate chance of winning.
Louisville being given just a 22.7 percent chance of winning Monday night is pretty disrespectful to the Cardinals, especially after their last two performances. The Cardinals will look to embrace the underdog role and try to earn their first win against Duke under Kelsey, as Louisville is 0-3, including a loss in the ACC Championship last year.
For all the latest on Louisville basketball's 2025-26 season and recruiting, stay tuned.