Louisville to Open ACC Tournament Against Stanford

The Cardinals will face the Cardinal in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

Mar 8, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Chucky Hepburn (24) shoots against Stanford Cardinal forward Aidan Cammann (52) during the second half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Stanford 68-48. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After earning a double-bye in the ACC Tournament, the Louisville men's basketball program now knows their first opponent in postseason play.

The second-seeded Cardinals (25-6, 18-2 ACC) will open up the 2025 ACC Tournament against seventh-seeded Stanford on Thursday, Mar. 13 at 7:00 p.m. EST in the Quarterfinals, following their 78-73 win over 15th-seeded Cal on Wednesday.

Louisville took down Stanford in their lone regular season matchup, winning 68-48 back on Mar. 8 at the KFC Yum! Center in the regular season finale. The Cardinals used stifling defense to emerge with the win, holding the Cardinal to just 30.4 percent shooting - the third-lowest by a UofL opponent so far this season.

Year one under head coach Pat Kelsey has been nothing short of a rousing success. Not only did UofL set a program record for most conference wins in a single season, he won as many games as the last three seasons combined. The Cards are in line to make their return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.

As a result, postseason accolades have started to pour in. Kelsey was named the ACC Coach of the Year by the league and the Associated Press, Chucky Hepburn has been named a First-Team All-American and All-ACC selection plus the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, while Terrence Edwards Jr. has also earned Third-Team All-ACC honors

This is Louisville's fourth time since joining the ACC for the 2014-15 season that they have secured a double bye. However, they are just 0-2 in the ACC Tournament when doing so, losing their openers in both 2015 and 2016, and COVID cancelling the bulk of the 2020 iteration.

Overall, the Cardinals are just 3-8 in the ACC Tournament, and have not advanced past the quarterfinal round. Their last win came in 2022 when they took down Georgia Tech 84-74 in the first round.

(Photo of Chucky Hepburn: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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