Louisville Ranked Inside Top-25 of 2025-26 Preseason EvanMiya Ratings

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 2025-26 college basketball season might still be roughly two months away, but over the last few weeks, various preseason polls, lists and rankings have started to be published across the sport.

One of which is the EvanMiya advanced analytics website, which is vaguely similar to that of the KenPom predictive ratings system. On Thursday, the 2025-26 preseason EvanMiya ratings and rankings were released.

By many national and local pundits, Louisville has been generally regarded as a top-10 team heading into year two under head coach Pat Kelsey. EvanMiya isn't quite as high on the Cardinals, though they still debut as the No. 19 team in college basketball with a relative rating of 19.5.

As expected, Louisville's offensive preseason split is a little high than its defensive counterpart. The Cardinals have a Team Offensive Efficiency Rating of 12.3, which is the 12th-best in the sport, and a Team Defensive Efficiency Rating of 7.1, which is No. 28 in college basketball.

These numbers come despite the fact that EvanMiya believes Louisville has one of the most talented rosters in D1. The Cardinals have a Roster Rank - described as a "crude ranking of each team’s strength of roster" - of sixth overall, behind only Purdue, Michigan, Florida, Duke and Houston.

Louisville starts the season as the No. 2 team in the ACC, according to EvanMiya, with Duke claiming the top preseason spot in the league. Houston, Purdue, Duke, Florida and Michigan consist of the top five nationally overall.

Louisville is coming off of a successful year one under head coach Pat Kelsey. The Cardinals went 27-8 overall, winning more games than over the previous three seasons combined, resulting in Kelsey winning ACC Coach of the Year. UofL made their return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 - although it resulted in a first round exit to Creighton.

Not long after the end of the season, Kelsey and his staff immediately got to work constructing next year's roster. They added three top-25 transfers in Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely and Adrian Wooley, while top-25 Class of 2025 prospects Mikel Brown Jr. and Sananda Fru are joining the fold. Additionally, J'Vonne Hadley and Kasean Pryor are both taking advantage of extra years of eligibility.

Louisville tips off the regular season against South Carolina State from the KFC Yum! Center on Monday, Nov. 3.

More Cardinals Stories