Louisville Men's Basketball Schedule 2025-26 Non-Conference Games, ACC
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For Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey, the tough moves followed were a good question.

After the Cardinals’ first year of his tenure at Kelsey, Dreaming is one of the biggest turnarounds in Division I history – they have brought them into the ACC Championship Championship for the first time since joining the conference in 2014 and ended a crazy drought in March, a struggle dating back to 2019.

Kelsey has built a roster of five scholarship returners and five new immigrants for his next act—probably no work has been added before the team arrives on campus later this month. As of May 6, L's U ranked seventh in the top 25 ESPN in the 2025-26 season.

Can the card live up to the hype? They should have many opportunities to prove themselves and consider how the schedules are together.

Here's what we know (so far) about Louisville in the second year of the Kelsey era:

So, about the match against Rick Pitino and St. John's in Madison Square Garden, the former Louisville coach mentioned the work that was done in the last four games…that didn't happen.

L track and field director Josh Heird's U's U confirmed during ESPN Louisville's broadcast appearance.

“We will continue to work hard to figure this out,” Hend said. “Last year we had a conversation; last year we reached out and they said, ‘No, it’s not suitable for our schedule.’ They reached out this year, which is not in line with our schedule.

"I hope we find an opportunity for players there. I think our fans will love it. Obviously, I think their fans will love it. I think it's a great opportunity for two shows that look like they are on the rise and it will be really good in the years to come."

Hours after Heird broke the news of St. John, CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reported that the season began at Heritage Bank Center, with cards and longtime rival Cincinnati completing a two-year neutral venue series. In 2026-27, that game will be in Liberty Hall.

Speaking of competitors, the annual showdown with Kentucky rivals is scheduled to win at KFC Yum on November 11! center. It was not only the earliest meetings of these teams since the series began each year in 1983, but it was only the third time it was held on Tuesday.

Louisville's December slate is more certain at the time of publication.

Kelsey & Co. will report to spend a weekend in Indianapolis - playing cross-country rivals for the third straight season at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on December 6. Prior to that, these plans have not met on hardwood since 2018.

A week later, the cards will be updated for competition and begin the six-year series, with Memphis winning at Yum on December 13! center. The U-square of L and Tigers has dropped 90 times, but has not been since 2017.

Next: On December 16, a road trip to Thompson-Bryn Arena at Downtown Food in Knoxville, Tennessee, to participate in the second leg of the Family and Family Series against UT. Volunteers dominate the first round of Louisville 77-55, which is only Kelsey's second official game.

As part of the annual showdown with the ACC, there should also be another SEC enemy. Last year, L's U was abandoned at home by Ole Miss (86-63). Will they go this path?

The ACC-SEC challenge is usually scheduled to take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in late November/early December. Last year, ESPN announced the game in mid-June.

ACC is back on the 18-meeting schedule.

Commissioner Jim Phillips said the change is “a direct result of our ongoing strategic review and analysis and provides our schools with a better balance of non-conference and conference games, while also allowing them to be more autonomous in the scheduling process.”

In this new format, the ACC team is assigned as the main partner. Louisville is SMU; this means the Cards and Mustangs will be in the Home and Family Series in 2025-26.

Here are all the major partnerships:

The meeting will also be assigned to each member’s family and family series with variable partners. At the time of publication, these partners have not disclosed it yet.

The team will then play one game in 14 of the remaining 15 league members, whether home or out.

These cards are expected to be back-to-back trips at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

If the schedule of the game is similar to the past few years, crowning the champion on the eve of the Selection Sunday, it will be held from March 10-14, 2026.

The lowest three teams in the league's rankings will be excluded from the court at the end of the regular season.

Arrive at Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holden via bholton@gannett.com and follow him on @brooksholton's Twitter.

This story has been updated to add gallery.