Reyne Smith, Chucky Hepburn, D’Vonne Hadley

Louisville basketball players (from left) Reyne Smith, Chucky Hepburn and D’Vonne Hadley speak with reporters on June 27, 2024.

 ERIC CRAWFORD

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- You can find reasons to cringe while looking at the University of Louisville men's basketball team schedule released Tuesday evening.

In his first run as the Cardinals' head coach, Pat Kelsey will be tested by five programs ranked in the preseason top 25 by the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook: No. 3 Duke, No. 10 North Carolina, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 14 Indiana and No. 19 Kentucky.

I have not forgotten that the Cards could also encounter No. 4 Gonzaga or No. 13 Arizona in The Bahamas.

But the more I look at the Cardinals' schedule, the more I believe there are more things to like than dislike.

Here are the five things I like most:

1. More of the difficult Atlantic Coast Conference games will be played at the KFC Yum! Center than on the road.

In the new 18-team ACC, programs will play 14 opponents once and three schools twice for a 20-game schedule.

Blue Ribbon forecasts that (in order) Duke, North Carolina, Clemson and Wake Forest will be the ACC's top four teams.

Louisville drew single plays against those four — all at home.

That guarantees nothing, but it's better than playing the Blue Devils, Tar Heels, Tigers and Demon Deacons on the road.

Blue Ribbon forecasts a ninth-place ACC finish for Louisville, and the only three teams ranked ahead of them that the Cards must play on the road are Pittsburgh, Virginia and North Carolina State.

The schedule does not explain why Bart Torvik's analytics formula currently projects a 16-13 overall record as well as a 10-10 ACC record for the Cards, but the schedule should not punish Kelsey's team.

2. The Cardinals begin with four home games and finish with three home games.

In addition to winning games, Kelsey and his program need to win back the fan base, a task they started last spring.

No better way to do that than by surging out of the starting blocks by winning three of the first four. Torvik's analytics site lists the Cards as double-digit favorites for three of those four home games.

His formula likes U of L by 17.3 points in the home opener with Morehead State on Nov. 4, by 21.2 over Bellarmine on Nov. 19 and by 14.2 over Winthrop on Nov. 22. The Cards are listed as a slight underdog (3.5) against Tennessee on Nov. 9.

Carrying a 3-1 record to the Battle 4 Atlantis is a reasonable expectation.

Then, if things are going well, Louisville is positioned for a big finish with Pitt, California and Stanford, the closing home stretch in March.

Pat Kelsey

Pat Kelsey instructs his team during an open practice on Friday, July 26. (WDRB photo from video posted by Tyler Greever).

3. The Cards get five ACC Saturday home games — all with times to be determined.

North Carolina always brings a rousing group of fans to downtown Louisville. Roy Williams, the Tar Heels' former coach, has visited in retirement.

Virginia has become Louisville's primary rival, again one of three teams the Cards will play twice this season. U of L will play both of those teams at home on Saturdays. Add Florida State, a formidable Pitt squad and a first-time visit by ACC newcomer Stanford, and the weekend competition should help draw fans back downtown.

4. No trips to the West Coast.

Of the three ACC newcomers — SMU, Stanford and California — Louisville will only go on the road to face the Mustangs in Dallas.

California and Stanford come here the last week of the regular season, which likely means the Cards will make their maiden trips to Berkeley and Palo Alto during the 2025-26 season — if Cal and Stanford are still in the league.

SMU is a fun place to play. Moody Coliseum seats just under 9,000 fans but is a rowdy, challenging environment when the Mustangs are competitive. Who can forget Louisville's last trip to Moody when Russ Smith scored 26 points, making 6-6 three-point shots on a night when he filled several trash cans with vomit?

5. No Quick Turnarounds.

Few things make coaches grumble more than playing a Saturday/Monday pairing, especially if the games are split between home and away.

There are no Saturday/Monday splits on the Louisville schedule.

In fact, after the season opener with Morehead, Louisville does not play on Monday the remainder of the season.

The most challenging travel situation will likely come in early January, but even that is manageable — a Saturday game at Pittsburgh followed by a Tuesday night game at Syracuse. Odds are the Cards go directly from Pennsylvania to New York — and the flight is a little more than an hour.

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