Louisville Takes Massive Leap Forward in Updated Way-Too-Early Top 25

The Cardinals are positioning themselves to be one of the best teams in the nation next season.

Dec 3, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey during the first half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It has been an extremely eventful offseason for the Louisville men’s basketball program up to this point in time. In a short amount of time, head coach Pat Kelsey has answered a lot of questions and addressed a bunch of needs for year three at the helm.

In fact, some pundits at the national level are starting to place Louisville among the echelon of teams that have genuine aspirations of winning a national championship next season.

Earlier this week, Fox Sports college basketball analyst Casey Jacobsen updated his Way-Too-Early Top 25 preseason rankings for the 2026-27 season. There are still some moving pieces across the sport, but with the transfer portal closed and the early-entry deadline for the NBA Draft behind us, we're starting to have a clearer view as to who the top teams to start next season will be.

After being unranked in Jacobsen's Way-Too-Early poll that he published roughly a month ago after the national championship game ended, Louisville has vaulted all the way up to the No. 5 spot in his updated top 25.

"The Cardinals went out and spent a lot of money to put together a team that I think is title worthy," Jacobsen wrote. "Let’s start with the best defensive center in the country: Flory Bidunga. He’s flanked by Iowa transfer Alvaro Folguieras, fresh off his clutch NCAA Tournament performances. In the backcourt, Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad runs the point and Arkansas wing transfer Karter Knox rounds out a roster that has a little bit of everything."

Louisville is one of four ACC teams in the updated Way-Too-Early Top 15 poll, with Duke just ahead of them at No. 4, Virginia coming in at 14th, and Miami landing at 21st. Florida, Illinois and reigning championship Michigan are the three teams in front of Duke and Louisville.

The Cardinals are only returning guards London Johnson and Adrian Wooley from this past season’s team, and (for the moment) are bringing in zero high school prospects. That being said, it’s easy to see why many are so high them, simply because of their efforts in the transfer portal.

UofL currently sports the No. 1 portal class in the nation by 247Sports. This includes Kansas forward/center Flory Bidunga, who is the No. 1 player in the portal by the On3 Industry Ranking. Oregon point guard Jackson Shelstad (No. 18), Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras (No. 54), Arkansas wing Karter Knox (No. 73), Dayton guard De’Shayne Montgomery (No. 127) and USC center Gabe Dynes.

Kelsey has also bolstered his coaching staff after Thomas Carr and Brian Kloman left for Indiana and Auburn, respectively. He is bringing in former Campbell head coach John Andrzejek and former Clemson assistant Sean Dixon to be co-associate head coaches at Louisville.

On the heels of a very successful year one under Kelsey, year two for Louisville was up-and-down and overall a slight disappointment. The Cardinals had legitimate preseason Final Four aspirations and were ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation, but ultimately finished the season at 24-11 overall. UofL was able to win their first NCAA Tournament game since 2017 with a first round takedown of USF, before ultimately falling to Michigan State in the next round.

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(Photo of Pat Kelsey: Nelson Chenault - Imagn Images)