Entering the 2025-26 season, for the first time since legendary coach Rick Pitino’s tenure came to a controversial conclusion in 2017, Louisville appeared to have all the elements needed to make a run at the program’s first ACC championship.

The Cardinals have another quality leader in Pat Kelsey, the 2025 ACC coach of the year. They began the season with five returnees who were expected to contribute (a rarity in the transfer portal era), led by all-purpose swingman J’Vonne Hadley.

They also plucked three high-quality guards from the transfer portal in Xavier’s Ryan Conwell (All-Big East), Virginia’s Isaac McKneely (a 40-plus percent 3-point shooter) and Kennesaw State’s Adrian Wooley (first-team All-CUSA). They signed a prep All-American in point guard Mikel Brown Jr. and tapped the international talent pool for German center Sananda Fru.

Given the team’s sky-high expectations, Louisville fans understandably were disappointed with the Cardinals’ sixth-place league finish during the regular season, although the group’s final game before the ACC Tournament — a 92-89 win at third-place Miami — represented one of its most impressive victories of the entire 2025-26 campaign.

Injuries derailed Kelsey’s original roadmap for this team. First, 6-10 senior forward Kasean Pryor never fully recovered from last year’s major (ACL) knee injury, costing the Cardinals some much-needed height and skill in the frontcourt. Then, starting in mid-December, Brown — a projected NBA lottery pick — missed eight straight games because of back problems, and the Cards went only 4-4 during his month-long absence.

More recently, Brown missed Louisville’s final two regular-season games and the ACC Tournament, and earlier this week Louisville announced that he will miss the NCAA Tournament, too.

Despite these various complications, Louisville still can be very hard to beat.

Entering March Madness, some metrics (e.g., KenPom) considered #24 Louisville the ACC’s third-best team, behind only #1 Duke and third-seeded Virginia. During conference play, the Cardinals had the second most efficient offense (behind only Duke) and the fourth most efficient defense in the league. Again, the Blue Devils were the only other team that ranked in the top four in both categories.

When Brown played, Louisville had as many high-caliber scoring options in its backcourt as any team in the country. All five remaining guards in the Cardinals’ nine-man rotation are either good or great from 3-point range, which makes them especially difficult to defend.

“I love being a Louisville Cardinal, these guys love being a Louisville Cardinal,” Kelsey said. “We understand what it means. We understand how much it means to this city. These guys are absolutely emptying the tank and busting their butt to leave a great legacy, and it will be interesting how these next … five weeks or so go. We are really excited about the opportunity.”