—It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since the death of Muhammad Ali. Even so, The Champ’s story and his impact on the city of Louisville are both far from over.
—The Louisville-Kentucky women’s basketball game is set for Wednesday, Dec. 9 in Lexington. This is the first time I can remember the men’s and women’s games being played on the same week. Should be fun.
—Louisville Report ranks all 12 Cardinal football games in order of difficulty.
—Louisville checks in at No. 13 on Jeff Borzello’s
updated way too early college hoops top 25 for 2026-27.
13. Louisville Cardinals
Previous ranking: 15
Louisville has made some massive splashes this offseason. The Cardinals landed two of the best transfers in the portal just days after the season ended in Flory Bidunga (Kansas) and Jackson Shelstad (Oregon), then added Karter Knox (Arkansas), Alvaro Folgueiras (Iowa) and De’Shayne Montgomery (Dayton). They also signed five-star center Obinna Ekezie, who reclassified from the 2027 class. How Pat Kelsey pieces it all together — Adrian Wooley is returning — will be interesting to watch. But there’s plenty of talent on the roster.
Projected starting lineup
Jackson Shelstad (15.6 PPG at Oregon)
Adrian Wooley (8.7 PPG)
Karter Knox (8.1 PPG at Arkansas)
Alvaro Folgueiras (8.4 PPG at Iowa)
Flory Bidunga (13.3 PPG at Kansas)
—The Louisville basketball mailbag from the CJ’s Brooks Holton is back open.
—Former Ballard High and Louisville baseball standout Skylar Meade’s Troy Trojans destroyed Florida on Monday night to win the Gainesville Regional and advance to the Super Regionals for the first time in program history. The Trojans will host Little Rock with a trip to the College World Series on the line.
—Interesting read from The Athletic here on Dusty May hiring Mody Maor, a professional coach in Japan who he had never met before offering him a job.
—U of L baseball has announced that there will be a shakeup with its pitching coach situation going into 2027. I’d expect the two names of the coaches being hired to be official before the end of this month.
—Stud.
—Tom Fornelli of CBS ranks Jeff Brohm as the 24th-best head coach in college football entering the 2026 season.
—Louisville Report’s Matt McGavic projects the three biggest strengths of the Louisville men’s basketball team in 2026-27.
—Pat Kelsey’s team is No. 15 in The Field of 68’s updated early top 25 rankings.
—Dan Wolken writes that if the SEC followed through on its threats to leave the rest of the NCAA it would undoubtedly result in the death of the conference.
—Isaac Trotter of CBS has Louisville men’s basketball at No. 2 in his summer ACC power rankings.
2. Louisville
2025-26 record: 24-11, 11-7 ACC
Postseason: No. 6 seed; lost in NCAA Tournament second round
Projected 2026-27 starting lineup
- G Jackson Shelstad (Oregon transfer)
- G Adrian Wooley
- Wing Karter Knox (Arkansas transfer)
- F Alvaro Folgueiras (Iowa transfer)
- F Flory Bidunga (Kansas transfer)
Top bench options: G De’Shayne Montgomery, C Obinna Ekezie Jr., G London Johnson, C Gabe Dynes, G Boyuan Zhang, G Isaac Ellis
The scoop: Louisville’s floor is controlled by how well new point guard Jackson Shelstad and new big man Flory Bidunga can coalesce. Shelstad scurries up and down the floor with real pace, and his shot-making off the dribble can be a “get out of jail free” card for this Louisville offense. On the other end, Bidunga is the single-most switchable defender in the country. He’s not tall, but Bidunga is armed with a 7-3.25 wingspan, which helps him play way bigger than he is. Bidunga defends on the perimeter better than he does in post-ups. He will be the front-runner for ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and this should be Pat Kelsey’s best defensive team of his tenure, especially parlayed with ex-Florida defensive coordinator John Andrzejek getting hired this offseason. If Shelstad and Bidunga play up to their expectations, Louisville is going to be in the mix every single night.
Louisville’s ceiling, however, is controlled by how well its highly-paid role players buy into doing the dirty work. Shelstad is more of a scorer than a set-the-table point guard, so who else walks onto the floor trying to make others better? Can Adrian Wooley be that trustworthy creator who gets Bidunga some lobs to keep him engaged on the other end? Can Karter Knox simplify his game and be happy as a 3-and-D, transition menace? Iowa transfer 4-man Alvaro Folgueiras could serve as a terrific blend piece for this group with his passing, shooting and overall skill, but some of the mind-boggling mistakes and silly fouls would drive Iowa coach Ben McCollum up a wall.
Kelsey knows he has to win big with this group, so he can’t be rigid, either. This group looks different than his previous iterations. Louisville doesn’t have the personnel to shoot more than 50% of its shots from beyond the arc like last year, especially when it goes double-big with Bidunga at the 4 and Gabe Dynes or Obinna Ekezie Jr. at the 5. It shouldn’t play the “run around and chuck 3-pointers” gameplan with this squad. More confrontational drives. More trips to the free throw line. More offensive rebounding. More variety.
If that happens, watch out.
—This guy is the ultimate college basketball sicko, and I adore him.
—At the present moment, Louisville baseball has five in-state commitments or signees. All five of those players will be playing in the Kentucky State Tournament this week.
—Louisville Report gives an early preview of Stanford football, which U of L will face at L&N Stadium on Halloween.
—Congratulations and please send all of your progeny back home to the University of Louisville.
—The NC State-Virginia season-opening football game that was scheduled to be played in Brazil will no longer be played in Brazil. I’m convinced the Brazilian organizers realized at some point in the last few weeks that this was American football and not soccer.
—The latest episode of the Locked on Louisville podcast is here.
—Bill Connelly’s S&P Ratings have Louisville football as the third-best team in the ACC and a top-tier contender to win the conference championship.
Louisville Cardinals
• Head coach: Jeff Brohm (fourth year, 28-12 overall)
• 2026 projection: 27th in SP+, 7.9 average wins (5.9 in the ACC)
Brohm’s first three seasons in charge at his alma mater have been full of wins and what-ifs. Louisville has won at least nine games all three seasons, but heartbreaking losses have held the Cardinals back. In 2023, they couldn’t beat Florida State, despite the Seminoles’ QB injuries, in the ACC championship game. In 2024, they beat eventual champ Clemson but fell short of a title game bid because of tight losses to SMU, Miami and, less forgivably, Stanford. In 2025, they beat Miami but lost three other conference games by a combined seven points. Brohm brings in 30-plus transfers and starts a new quarterback every year but creates a strangely stable product — four losses every year with an SP+ in the 20s or low 30s. When will the Cardinals make another run to Charlotte?
In 2026, that answer will probably depend on the QB. Former Ohio State backup Lincoln Kienholz will likely take the reins; he’s a good athlete but is less proven than the typical Brohm starter. If he (or West Georgia transfer Davin Wydner) is ready to produce, the skill corps could take it from there. Louisville has one of the best running back duos in the country with Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown; they combined for 1,588 yards (8.1 per carry) last year despite no run threat from the QB position. The receiving corps will be almost totally new, but Brohm landed a great group with receivers Tre Richardson (Vanderbilt), Lawayne McCoy (Florida State) and Jackson Voth (Drake), and tight ends Brody Foley (Tulsa) and Justyn Reid (Tulane). Richardson was a key big-play threat for Vandy’s historic 10-win team and is also a high-level kick returner.
The offensive line is also completely rebuilt, with only one contributor returning and five incoming transfers. But incumbent guard Lance Robinson is excellent, and among the newcomers are All-Conference USA tackle Anwar O’Neal (Delaware) and All-Sun Belt tackle Johnnie Brown III (Georgia Southern). It’s always dicey relying so heavily on the portal to keep the offensive line afloat, but Brohm has earned the benefit of the doubt.
New co-coordinators Steve Ellis and Mark Ivey take over an odd situation on defense, where some excellent playmakers return — defensive end Clev Lubin (8.5 sacks), linebacker Stanquan Clark (11 run stops in 2024), nickel Antonio Watts (8.5 TFLs), corner Tayon Holloway (2 INTs, 5 PBUs) — but no one else does. Only five of the 16 players with 200-plus snaps are back, which means the answers will have to come once again from the portal. Brohm signed 14 transfers to fill in defensive gaps, and among them, tackles Demeco Kennedy (Purdue) and Joshua Donald (Houston/Appalachian State), edge rusher Tyler Thompson (North Carolina), corners DJ Waller Jr. (Kentucky) and Brycen Scott (Elon), and safeties Koen Entringer (Iowa), Kaleb Beasley (Tennessee) and T.J. Banks (Ole Miss) are particularly important.
There are two ways to look at Louisville’s 2026 schedule: On one hand, the Cardinals are projected favorites in every game after the season opener against Ole Miss. On the other hand, they play eight games projected within one score, including six in conference play. Tight losses tripped them up the past two years, but if transfers come through once more, they’ll be in the ACC title race until the end.
—Multiple people in positions of power within the Big 12, including the commissioner, appear to be taking a stand against the SEC and the Big 10.
—The CJ attempts to project Pat Kelsey’s starting five for 2026-27.
—Luke Hancock is the guest on the latest episode of Larry O’Bannon’s Players Perspective podcast.
—CJ Moore of The Athletic has Louisville at No. 11 in his updated top 25 hoops rankings.
—Still a beast.
—Louisville safeties coach and former standout Brandon Sharp wanted to be a Power Four college football coach, so he left his co-DC role at FAMU for a QC job at Purdue. The CJ’s Alexis Cubit details how a “leap of faith” ultimately paid off at his alma mater.
—The field has been announced for the 2026 King of the Bluegrass tournament. It includes a team from Texas coached by Reece Gaines and another from Pennsylvania with a Louisville recruit.
—New commit A.J. Tillman has the potential to be the next great running back at U of L.
—Brandon Marcello believes Jeff Brohm is a top 20 coach in college football.
—Ballard standout Mason Grivna is No. 17 in ESPN’s first basketball rankings for the class of 2029.
—Local class of 2028 standouts Josh Lindsay (St. X) and Jordan Mitchell (Male) have been invited to and are participating in The NBA Elite 100 Camp.
—Good Obinna Ekezie highlight package here.
—If you have interest in becoming the new creative director for the U of L men’s basketball program, you can apply for the position here.
—And finally, we are a mere 10 days away from my Louisville Dancing With the Stars competition, which means you are all going to be peppered with donation requests for the next 10 days. A reminder that all proceeds go to Sandefur Dining Hall, which feeds Louisvillians in need of a meal 365 days a year.
I win a gigantic trophy if I win the fundraising battle (regardless of how I dance), and if that happens, I plan to spend the summer touring the city with it like it’s the Stanley Cup. I’m currently in second place, so any help would be greatly appreciated.‘
