Louisville basketball ranked No. 9 in initial NCAA NET rankings
The first NCAA NET rankings of the 2025-26 college basketball season were released on Dec. 1, and Louisville is ranked No. 9 with a 7-0 record through the first month.
Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals are the second-highest ranked team in the ACC (Duke) and hold a 2-0 record in quad one and three games (Kentucky, Cincinnati).
Other notable ACC teams in the NET rankings include North Carolina (No. 26), Virginia (No. 31), Clemson (No. 34), and perhaps a surprisingly shaky start from North Carolina State, which has dropped to No. 40 in the NET rankings.
Louisville stayed put in the latest AP Top-25 poll at No. 6. The Cardinals are coming off a 2-0 week, beating Eastern Michigan and NJIT over Thanksgiving. Other metric-based rankings like Kenpom rank the Cardinals ninth and don’t project Louisville to lose until they travel to Tennessee later this month.
After soaring through the first month of winter, the Cards’ schedule is about to thicken. Starting this Wednesday, Louisville will face its first true road test at Arkansas in the ACC/SEC Challenge, then travel up to Indianapolis for a neutral-site meeting with Indiana.
The Razorbacks are seeking their first top-25 win, and the Hoosiers have quickly risen to 11th in the initial NET rankings.
The full NET rankings are available here, and College basketball’s NET rankings, explained, are available here.
The Cards and Razorbacks tip off Wednesday at 7:15 PM EST on ESPN. Last season, Louisville had a 9-2 record in true road environments.
