The Louisville Cardinals didn’t just win - they dominated. A 100-59 blowout over Pitt doesn’t just go in the win column; it sends a message.
That 41-point margin marked Louisville’s third-largest win of the season and the fifth time they’ve cracked the 100-point mark. For a fan base that’s been craving a return to national relevance, this was the kind of performance that turns heads.
Expectations were sky-high coming into the 2025-26 season, and not without reason. Pat Kelsey’s arrival brought renewed energy to a program that hasn’t made a serious March Madness run since 2017 - and hasn’t seen a Final Four since 2013.
Now, with the Cardinals sitting at 3-3 through their first six ACC games, some might be tempted to hit the panic button. But context matters.
This year’s ACC is a different animal. Last season, only four teams from the conference punched tickets to the NCAA Tournament - Duke, Clemson, North Carolina, and Louisville.
This year? The league’s resurgence is hard to ignore.
As of mid-January, eight ACC teams are trending toward March Madness berths, with two more hovering near the bubble. That’s a significant jump, and it changes the calculus for teams like Louisville.
So where do the Cardinals stand in the latest bracket projections? According to both ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and the Field of 68, Louisville is currently slotted as a No. 6 seed in the East region. That’s a slight bump from last year’s No. 8 seed - a sign of progress, but also a reminder that there’s still work to be done if this team wants to make a deep run in March.
Their projected first-round opponent? San Diego State.
Not exactly a cupcake matchup. And the rest of the East region is loaded: Duke (1-seed), Purdue (2-seed), Illinois (3-seed), Texas Tech (4-seed), and Clemson (5-seed) all loom as potential roadblocks.
It’s a tough path, but one that could set the stage for a statement run if Louisville can find its rhythm.
Duke, unsurprisingly, leads the ACC pack as a projected No. 1 seed - and they’re also the odds-on favorite to win the conference, sitting at -400 according to FanDuel. Virginia follows at +410, with Clemson at +1500.
Louisville? They’re further down the list at +10000, which puts them sixth in the conference in terms of title odds.
For perspective, twelve ACC teams are currently given less than a one percent chance of winning the league.
The rest of the ACC’s projected NCAA Tournament field shakes out like this: Virginia is a No. 4 seed, Clemson a No. 5, Louisville and North Carolina both at No.
6, Miami at No. 7, SMU at No. 8, and Virginia Tech at No.
- Stanford sneaks in as an 11-seed in the Field of 68 projection.
Lunardi’s version has some slight tweaks - North Carolina State gets in as a 10-seed, while Virginia Tech and Stanford are both sitting just outside the field. He also has UNC as a No. 7 seed, Miami at No. 9, and SMU up a line to No.
The takeaway? The ACC is back in the national conversation, and Louisville is right in the thick of it. But if the Cardinals want to be more than just a mid-seed with second-weekend potential, they’ll need to string together some statement wins down the stretch.
That starts with their next matchup - a Saturday showdown with Virginia Tech on January 24 at 3:30 p.m. local time. It’s another chance to prove they belong in the upper tier of the ACC and, more importantly, that they’re building toward something bigger come March.