Louisville basketball takes on the Tennessee Volunteers at home in the KFC Yum! Center in what
is their second game of the season.
Coming off of last year's season where Louisville was 8-24 for the season and lost all but one
player, Pat Kelsey has been trying his best to bring Louisville back to the glory it once was.
Coming from the College of Charleston, Kelsey had won 2 conference titles in just 3 years,
leading the Cougars to 2 NCAA tournament appearances. Prior to Charleston, Kelsey was the
head coach at Winthrop for 9 years where he was very successful.
The Cardinals squad looks vastly different from the year before with 16 newcomers and a
completely new coaching staff. Kelsey only has one player returning from the previous Cardinals
team, Aidan McCool.
A win over no. 12 ranked Tennessee this weekend would be one way for Pat Kelsey to show
what he and his team can bring to the ACC this year.
Tennessee’s squad has a lot of talent, with Zakai Ziegler, Chaz Lanier, Jordan Gainey, and Ohio
State transfer Felix Okpara all potentially starting this game against Louisville. While having a
roster of great players, the Volunteers only defeated Garner Webb 80-64, compared to Louisville
defeating Morehead St. 93-45.
Louisville will have a few key things to work on prior to facing off against Tennessee, one being
fouls. The Cardinals have given up many points due to fouling their opponents. With Tennessee’s
backcourt, Louisville will have to try and keep those mistakes to a minimum, limiting the
amount of points to be scored from the line.
What could a win for Pat Kelsey against Tennessee this weekend mean for Louisville as a
program?
The past few years for Louisville have been anything but the best when looking at the history of
the Louisville program. A win against a top-25 team could be just the fire the Cardinals need
going into this season to potentially go from unranked to ranked in the AP’s Top-25 poll in just
the second week of the season. The last time the Cardinals were ranked was on January 25th,
2021, going from unranked to 25th.
Louisville takes on Tennessee at 12 P.M. ET at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday, November
9th.
