The Louisville Cardinals are one of the hottest teams in college basketball right now. On Tuesday night, coach Pat Kelseyās team rolled into Syracuse and beat the Orange 85-61. The win was their seventh straight.
At 13-5, the Cards have already eclipsed the win total for the previous two seasons combined, and their 6-1 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play has them tied with the Clemson Tigers, whom they beat 74-64 on Jan. 7, for second place.
Many expected Kelsey to turn things around after the two-year disaster that was the Kenny Payne era, but the initial thoughts were that his teams would just be competitive, something Louisville fans hadnāt seen since Chris Mackās departure during the 2021-22 season.
A season ending with an NIT bid wouldāve been considered an improvement, but now, thanks to their current run, the Cardinals find themselves on projected brackets for the NCAA Tournament, which they last made in 2019.
Just as we did during the college football season, tracking the Louisville Cardinals bowl chances, BetKentucky is now watching the UofL hoops team and the likelihood they make March Madness. These are not odds you will find at licensed Kentucky sports betting operators, like bet365 Kentucky Sportsbook.
Odds of Cardinalsā Menās Basketball Making The NCAA Tournament
Percentage Chance | Odds | |
Yes | 75.0% | -300 |
No | 25.0% | +300 |
These odds are exclusive to BetKentucky.com and are unavailable on Kentucky sports betting apps.
Louisville has made a quick turnaround because Kelsey and his staff were able to recruit talented veteran players via the transfer portal. Only one player, a walk-on, remains from last seasonās 8-24 team. According to Kenpom.com, the players on this seasonās squad average nearly 3.2 years of Division I experience, making them the sixth-most veteran team in the country.
Chucky Hepburn, who was a three-year starter at Wisconsin, leads the team, averaging 15.6 points, 5.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game. However, different players have stepped up throughout the season to provide the scoring, when needed. That includes Reyne Smith, who came to Louisville with Kelsey from the College of Charleston, Terrence Edwards Jr., last seasonās Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, and JāVonne Hadley, who played for Colorado the previous two seasons.
Even with all those veteran players, the injury bug hit Louisville hard early in the season. Aboubacar Traore missed more than month due to a broken arm, and Kasean Pryor saw his season end during Thanksgiving weekend after he blew out his knee against Oklahoma in the Battle 4 Atlantis. The loss to Oklahoma started a stretch where Louisville lost four out of five games to put them at 6-5.
Where Will Louisville Land In The Bracket
In the span of just a couple weeks, Louisville has gone from being a bubble team to being in solid shape for an at-large berth.
According to TeamRankings.com, Louisville has a 99.4% chance of making the Big Dance. Thatās up from 97.7% before the romp in Syracuse. In addition, the site says the Cards have a 19.4% chance to be a No. 5 seed and a 16.3% chance to land a No. 4 seed.
All that said, oddsmakers at BetMGM Sportsbook still consider Louisville a longshot to win the NCAA title, giving the Cards odds of +15000 as of Wednesday morning. While Louisville is on a roll, four of their five losses have come against teams currently in the AP Top 25. So, while the team has made significant strides in Year One under Kelsey, thereās still room for improvement.
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USA Today photo by Jordan Prather.
Author
Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters.
