Why Louisville can make a deep run in our 2025 March Madness bracket predictions
Pat Kelsey has Louisville basketball back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
Will the Cardinals (27-7) be there for a good time and a long time?
U of L got a tough draw Sunday, landing the No. 8 seed in the South region — and a matchup against No. 9 Creighton, the Big East Tournament's runner-up, at 12:15 p.m. Thursday (CBS) inside Lexington's Rupp Arena.
If it notches the program's first March Madness win since 2017, it'll play either the top overall seed in March Madness, Auburn, or the winner of a No. 16 play-in game between Alabama State or Saint Francis on Saturday.
"I'll be completely honest with you; when we were watching the selection show and that popped up, you know, it hurt a little bit," Kelsey told Matt Jones and Myron Medcalf during a Sunday evening appearance on ESPN Radio. "You felt slighted a little bit.
Did @MarchMadnessMBB get it right with @LouisvilleMBB as the 8th seed in the South Region?@patkelsey had some thoughts 🤔@KySportsRadio@MedcalfByESPNpic.twitter.com/2MRZ5oxcyQ
— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) March 16, 2025
"It is what it is at this point. You have the advantage of no choice; but, in my opinion, we should be playing a No. 12 or a No. 11 seed. … If anything: To a competitor, to our guys and to me, it puts a little fire in your belly and gives you a little added chip on your shoulder."
Kelsey's Cards have made a habit of proving people wrong en route to a 19-win turnaround that's tied for the second longest in Division I history. Here are three reasons why they make a deep March Madness run:
Louisville's roster is loaded with veterans
With Kelsey relying heavily on the NCAA transfer portal to build his Year 1 roster, Louisville is one of the country's five most-experienced teams on KenPom.com.
In terms of minutes logged at the Division I level entering the 2024-25 season, this group of Cards had 6,691 more than the program's next-closest team since it began tracking the stat full time in 1977:
- 2024-25: 19,989 minutes
- 1981-82: 13,298 minutes
- 2018-19: 12,717 minutes
- 2008-09: 12,559 minutes
- 2002-03: 11,745 minutes
- 2021-22: 11,660 minutes
- 1985-86: 10,998 minutes
- 2019-20: 10,995 minutes
- 2007-08: 10,970 minutes
- 1988-89: 10,859 minutes
These things matter in March. The other teams on this list combined for 219 wins, two trips to the Final Four and one national championship.
Eleven of U of L's 13 scholarship players had reached March Madness at one point or another during their careers prior to 2024-25. Some had roles bigger than others in getting their former teams there — see: Terrence Edwards Jr. and Chucky Hepburn — but, after the impressive season this group put together, there should be no questioning of its toughness and togetherness.
"I've never had a team that has the seriousness of purpose every day in preparation like they do," Kelsey said after Louisville beat Clemson in the ACC Tournament's semifinal round. "You can see the caliber of competitors and dogs that they are when things get hot in big moments. They're taking me on this ride with them; it's a player-led team with phenomenal leadership."
The backcourt duo of Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards Jr.
Edwards and Hepburn earned spots on the All-ACC Tournament team for their heroics at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The former, a third-team all-conference selection, averaged a team-high 25 points across three games. The latter, a first-teamer and the league's Defensive Player of the Year, delivered a walk-off jumper from the left elbow as time expired against Stanford in the quarterfinal round.
In short: These are the moments they live for; and you'd be hard-pressed to find a backcourt duo more important to its team in the field of 68. Their sense of urgency should be at an all-time high, considering one false move could mean the end of their collegiate careers.
Hepburn, the de facto leader on a team full of them, took accountability for, in his words, "disappearing" during key stretches of U of L's loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament championship game, finishing with 14 points on 5-for-16 shooting (1 for 8 from 3-point range), four rebounds, three assists against as many turnovers and a steal in 40 minutes.
"That just can't happen," he said, "especially in big games like that."
The stage is set for a bounce-back performance from the Omaha, Nebraska, native on Thursday against Creighton, his hometown school.
A ... home-court advantage ... in Rupp Arena?
It's going to be weird: a sea of red washing over Rupp Arena. Louisville is going to need every last drop of it.
Creighton and Auburn — which, barring a massive upset, should be on to the second round — are no strangers to hostile environments, boasting road records of 6-5 and 8-2, respectively. So the Cards fans who have been deprived high-stakes postseason basketball for several years must bring the noise with them across Interstate 64.
If they do, they very well could be the X-factor in what would go down as a run for the ages.
"We've got great fans," senior forward Aboubacar Traore said at the ACC Tournament. "They travel everywhere."
This is shaping up to be the largest show of force of the season.
Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville makes run in March Madness predictions 2025. Here’s why
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