LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Louisville released its nonconference women's basketball schedule Wednesday.
The opponents were mostly what you'd expect.
UConn is on it. Kentucky is on it. Texas is on it.
In other words, Jeff Walz is still Jeff Walz.
Every year, somebody looks at a Louisville schedule and acts surprised that Walz has volunteered to stand in traffic.
Every year, he does it anyway.
Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford
The Cardinals played South Carolina and UConn last season. The year before, they opened with UCLA, and took on Kentucky, Oklahoma and and N.C. State all before Christmas.
Walz always plays enough marquee matchups to make a selection committee smile and has never been especially interested in protecting his record. He has always seemed more interested in finding out whether his team can play with the people it hopes to beat.
So while Louisville's 2026-27 non-conference schedule includes a Nov. 15 home game against UConn, a Dec. 2 trip to Texas and a Dec. 9 rivalry game at Kentucky, none of those dates are particularly shocking.
What's interesting is what they suggest about this team.
For the first time in a while, Louisville enters a season with expectations that feel less theoretical and more earned.
The Cardinals reached the Sweet 16 last season. They return much of that core. They've added experienced transfers. And when Walz spoke earlier this month, he sounded like a coach who believes his team still has room to grow.
"I'm hoping not," Walz said when asked whether this group might reach its potential earlier in the season. "I hope we can continue to get better and better and better and then see us at our peak come around February and March."
That's the more interesting conversation.
Not whether Louisville can beat Bellarmine, Stetson or Lindenwood. Not whether the Cardinals should schedule UConn.
They should. They always do.
The question is whether Louisville has moved from being a dangerous tournament team to being something more.
Can it become a Final Four contender?
Can it challenge the sport's elite again?
Can it turn a roster full of experienced players into one of the better teams of the Walz era?
Those answers won't come in June. They may not come in November.
But they will begin to arrive when UConn walks into the Yum Center. They'll continue in Austin. They'll continue again at Rupp Arena.
The schedule didn't tell us anything new about Jeff Walz.
It may tell us quite a bit about Louisville.
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