The Louisville Cardinals defied nearly everyone’s expectations in the regular season under first-year coach Pat Kelsey. With their 68-48 dispatching of Stanford on Saturday, they finished 25-6 overall and 18-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
UofL earned the second seed in this week’s ACC Tournament, meaning the Cards won’t begin play in Charlotte until Thursday. Kelsey’s Cardinals are also considered a lock to earn the program’s NCAA Tournament berth, regardless of how they fare this week.
Just as we did during the college football season, tracking the Louisville Cardinals bowl chances, BetKentucky is now watching the UofL hoops team and what seed they may earn come Selection Sunday. You won’t find these March Madness odds at licensed Kentucky sports betting operators, like Fanatics Kentucky Sportsbook.
What Seed Will Louisville Be In NCAA Tournament?
Seed | Percentage Chance | Odds |
2 Seed | +4500 | 2.2% |
3 Seed | +610 | 14.1% |
4 Seed | +305 | 24.7% |
5 Seed | +280 | 26.3% |
6 Seed | +450 | 18.2% |
7 Seed | +975 | 9.3% |
The Field | +1825 | 5.2% |
These odds are exclusive to BetKentucky.com and are unavailable on Kentucky sports betting apps.
Louisville will not know who it will play until Wednesday evening. The Cards could face Stanford for the second time in less than a week, or they may get the winner of Tuesday’s Virginia Tech-California game if that team defeats Stanford on Wednesday.
DraftKings Kentucky Sportsbook gives the Cardinals odds of +550 to win the tournament title game on Saturday night.
Why Louisville’s Seed Will Matter In March
According to TeamRankings.com, Louisville now has a 100% chance of making the Big Dance for the first time since 2019, that’s up from 99.9% last week. The team’s most likely to end up with a No. 5 or No. 6 seed in one of the four regionals.
While the numbers would indicate a fifth seed would be more advantageous than a sixth seed, that might not be the case this year. Let me explain why.
The 2024-25 college basketball season has featured a lot of parity, with the exception of five or six teams at the top. You likely won’t find much of a difference between a third seed and a sixth seed this year (Good luck filling out your brackets!).
A fourth or fifth-seeded team would be in line to play a top-seeded team in the Sweet 16, giving that team three or four days of rest and preparation. A team seeded second, third, sixth or seventh would not have to face their region’s top seed, assuming the chalk holds, until the Elite Eight, which will be held two days after the Sweet 16.
Any No. 1 seed this year will be a tough team to beat, but the better chance to pull an upset will likely come on short rest.
At Kentucky bet365 sportsbook, Louisville’s odds to win the NCAA Tournament remain at +9000, meaning a $10 bet would return a profit of $900 if the Cardinals cut down the nets in San Antonio on April 7. BetMGM Kentucky sportsbook gives UofL odds of +2500 to get to the Final Four.
BetKentucky.com is home to the best Kentucky sportsbook promos for March Madness and everything else.
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.
