—NET Rankings Update (men’s): No. 17.
—NET Rankings Update (women’s): No. 8.
—The Louisville women’s basketball team is up to No. 6 in this week’s AP poll.
—The men’s team barely hung in the rankings, slipping
to No. 24 in the AP poll and No. 23 in the coaches’.
—In college basketball, “desperation” isn’t a dirty word anymore, and Pat Kelsey knows it.
“The same expectation that I have for everybody that puts on a Louisville uniform is to be absolutely desperate on every single possession between whistles,” he said. “For that 46.78 seconds — which is the average time between whistles — be desperate.”
After Louisville got blown out at Duke last week, Kelsey didn’t break down film or diagram tweaks.
He called a football practice.
“We got exposed,” he said. “That’s unacceptable.”
And it wasn’t just a message. It was a reset.
He said this week that he’s always been a “football practice kind of guy.” But the point wasn’t punishment. It was recalibration. Louisville needed to be reminded that its identity — its very foundation — is built on effort, toughness, and competitive edge.
“Relentless effort. Grit. Toughness. Tenacity,” he said. “What the core principle of our deal is.”
The Cards played like it in the bounce-back win over SMU. The game plan wasn’t fancy. It was desperate — in the best sense. They fought for loose balls. They swarmed defensively. They responded.
Now comes the question: Can they do it again?
That’s the harder part. In sports — and in life — desperation is often easy to summon when you’re backed into a corner.
But to Kelsey, the real test isn’t how a team responds after getting embarrassed. It’s how it plays after it starts to feel good again.
“I feel great,” he said this week, “because the last thing that we did was great.”
—Pat Kelsey’s Monday morning press conference video can be viewed here.
—The latest women’s basketball Bracketology from ESPN has Louisville as a 2-seed hosting the first two rounds at the Yum Center.
—Tony Stallings has a documentary out detailing “the story behind” his game-winning touchdown run against Kentucky.
—Josh Pate has Louisville at No. 24 in his way too early rankings for the 2026 college football season.
—Fill up the Yum Center for Thursday night’s showdown between the only undefeated teams in the ACC.
—Louisville QB signee Briggs Cherry is now a top 200 overall prospect in ESPN’s recruiting rankings.
—Jeff Walz has it rolling at the moment.
—Trinity defensive lineman standout Sebastian Blue (2027) has committed to Louisville.
—Blue is a “perfect fit” at Louisville.
—Cardinal Authority updates the men’s basketball team’s position in the national stats.
—He’s saying it right, Dan.
—After Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey gave their thoughts on the changing landscape around player eligibility in college basketball, C.L. Brown wrote down his thoughts on the topic.
—The CJ’s Brooks Holton has a checklist of things the Louisville men’s basketball team needs to do if it wants to have a shot at playing deep into March.
—Some cool advanced looks at the Louisville men’s team’s statistical profile here.
—The week ahead in Cardinal athletics:
Wednesday, February 4
- Men’s Tennis vs Dayton – 3:00 p.m. ET (Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)
- Men’s Basketball vs Notre Dame – 7:00 p.m. ET (KFC Yum! Center)
Thursday, February 5
- Swimming & Diving vs Louisville Invitational – 10:00 a.m. ET (Ralph Wright Natatorium)
- Women’s Basketball vs Duke – 7:00 p.m. ET (KFC Yum! Center)
Friday, February 6
- Swimming & Diving vs Louisville Invitational – 10:00 a.m. ET (Ralph Wright Natatorium)
- Track & Field vs Eastern Indoors (Norton Healthcare Sport and Learning Center)
- Track & Field at Windy City Invitational (Chicago, Ill.)
- Softball vs Stony Brook University (FIU Tournament) – 4:30 p.m. ET (Miami, Fla.)
- Softball vs Florida International University (FIU Tournament) – 7 p.m. ET (Miami, Fla.)
Saturday, February 7
- Track & Field at Windy City Invitational (Chicago, Ill.)
- Softball vs Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (FIU Tournament) – 11:30 a.m. ET (Miami, Fla.)
- Men’s Tennis vs Belmont – 12:00 p.m. ET (Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)
- Men’s Basketball at Wake Forest – 12:00 p.m. ET (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
- Softball vs Lehigh University (FIU Tournament) – 4:30 p.m. ET (Miami, Fla.)
- Men’s Tennis vs Tennessee State – 5:00 p.m. ET (Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)
Sunday, February 8
- Softball vs Florida International University (FIU Tournament) – 11:30 a.m. ET (Miami, Fla.)
- Women’s Tennis vs Southern Indiana – 12:00 p.m. ET (Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)
- Women’s Basketball at Syracuse – 12:00 p.m. ET (Syracuse, N.Y.)
—Tickets are now available for Lou City’s game on the afternoon of Thunder Over Louisville.
—WalletHub says that Louisville is the worst large city in America for professional football fans.
—Jeff Brohm wants you at the Yum Thursday night.
—Cool video here on Iowa State’s defense, which has no business working as well as it does.
—Kasean Pryor hasn’t seen the court in any of Louisville’s last four games. Based on Pat Kelsey’s comments on Monday, that doesn’t seem likely to change any time soon.
—Louisville Report’s Matt McGavic likes the Cards by 20 over Notre Dame tomorrow night.
—CBS grades the college football coaching hires from three years ago and gives Louisville a solid A for the hiring of Jeff Brohm.
Another coach who made a big splash in Year 1, Brohm had the Cardinals playing in the ACC Championship Game en route to a top-20 in 2023 after the return to his alma mater. Louisville’s native son and former quarterback has built on that success with a pair of nine-win seasons in 2024 and 2025, though the conference record did take a hit this past year due to a late three-game losing streak. Still, with 28 victories in three years he’s the winningest coach of this carousel class and worthy of top honors in the grades.
Cincinnati, for anyone interested, received a C- for its hiring of former U of L head coach Scott Satterfield.
—SMU’s student newspaper recaps the Mustangs’ loss at Louisville.
—USA Today’s latest bracket projection has Louisville as a 6-seed facing Tulsa in the first round. Shades of ‘96.
—Syracuse trailed North Carolina by 32 points with 10 minutes to play Monday night before nearly pulling off a comeback for the ages. Carmelo Anthony was not impressed.
—Tuesday night’s ACC slate:
Boston College at No. 4 Duke (7 p.m./ACC Network)
Pittsburgh at No. 18 Virginia (9 p.m./ACC Network)
NC State at SMU (9 p.m./ESPN2)
—ESPN re-drafts the 2025 NFL Draft and has Tyler Shough going second overall to the Cleveland Browns.
—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is on 1450/96.1 from 2:30-5:30 this afternoon. You can watch the live or recorded YouTube stream here.
