An off weekend gave Louisville basketball an opportunity to kick its feet up and watch the chips fall around it after taking care of business against SMU in record-breaking fashion last Tuesday.
With the dust settled, Pat Kelsey‘s Cardinals (15-5, 8-1 ACC) are making moves in the top-25 polls.
U of L on Monday cracked the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll for the first time since Jan. 25, 2021, jumping from 26th to 22nd.
The AP Top 25, which had Cards ranked 25th last week, will be released later Monday afternoon.
Here’s a look at what’s next for Kelsey’s team and its NCAA Tournament résumé:
What’s next for Louisville basketball?
Louisville plays Wake Forest at 7 p.m. Tuesday inside the KFC Yum! Center, then travels to Atlanta for a 3:45 p.m. tipoff Saturday against Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion. The former is a Quad 2 game, and the latter falls into Quad 3.
KenPom.com gives the Cards an 82% chance of beating the Demon Deacons and a 79% chance of beating the Yellow Jackets. If they emerge victorious in both games, they will be on the program’s longest winning streak since an 11-0 start to the 2014-15 season.
Louisville basketball’s NCAA Tournament resume
Louisville entered the final week of January ranked 25th in the NET.
As the rankings stood Monday, the Cards were 5-5 in Quad 1 games; 2-0 in Quad 2 games; 4-0 in Quad 3 games and 4-0 in Quad 4 games.
U of L also came in at 18th in Wins Above Bubble (2.82), which reflects how much better a team is than those teetering between making and missing the NCAA Tournament cut.
Louisville basketball bracketology projections
Louisville was the top No. 6 seed (5.83) on The Bracket Project’s Bracket Matrix as of Monday morning.
Here’s a look at where a few prognosticators have the Cards playing:
-
CBS Sports: No. 5 Louisville vs. No. 12 Samford in Seattle
-
ESPN: No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 New Mexico in Wichita, Kansas
-
FOX Sports: No. 5 Louisville vs. No. 12 UC Irvine in the West Region
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball in AP Top 25, Coaches Poll before game vs Wake
