Major Outlet Projects Louisville to be Among Programs Set for Most Long-Term Success

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program is coming off of a resurgent 2024-25 season under year one of head coach Pat Kelsey.

Last year, the Cardinals went 27-8 overall, winning more games than over the previous three seasons combined. This resulted in Kelsey winning ACC Coach of the Year, and UofL making their return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. With Kelsey's rebuild of UofL coming along much faster than expected given the state the Cards were in when he inherited them, Louisville is already generating a lot of hype for the upcoming 2025-26 season.

That being said, not only is Louisville gearing up for a season in which they are perceived as legitimate ACC and national title contenders, one outlet believes they are among the programs set up to have the most long-term success.

On Thursday, CBS Sports conducted an exercise in which they predicted what would be the top-25 programs over the next 25 years. The rankings were compiled by "accounting for past success and program history," as well as "their commitment thus far to pumping in resources along with the coaching acumen and leadership of those running the respective programs."

As it turned out, Louisville landed extremely close to the top. While Kansas and Duke headlined the list at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, the Cardinals were tabbed as the No. 3 program on CBS Sports' projection of the next quarter century.

"Give me Louisville over Kentucky as the top team the next 25 years in the Bluegrass State," CBS Sports' Kyle Boone wrote. "Pat Kelsey has something cooking with the Cardinals and this is a team whose future is among the shiniest not just in the ACC, but in all of college hoops.

"Kelsey's charisma helped turn the Louisville program around from 8-24 the season before he arrived to 27-8 last season — and losing seasons are going to be a thing of the past. It's remarkable how quickly they recovered from the disastrous Kenny Payne era and equally impressive how sentiment has completely flipped from extreme pessimism to unbounding optimism. Kelsey has the goods."

Alabama and Indiana round out the top five of CBS Sports' projection. North Carolina is the only other ACC school to be named, coming in at No. 6. Of note, arch rival Kentucky came in at No. 9.

As you can guess, Kelsey and the Cardinals are gearing for a potentially special 2025-26 season. Louisville added three top-25 transfers in Ryan Conwell (Xavier), Isaac McKneely (Virginia) and Adrian Wooley (Kennesaw State), 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.

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