Louisville basketball moves into NCAA Tournament field in ESPN's latest bracketology

NCAA Tournament projections this time of year are just that — projections.

But after the past couple years the Louisville men's basketball team has had, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi's latest crack at predicting this season's March Madness field is worth noting.

Lunardi on Tuesday morning moved the Cardinals from one of his "First Four Out" to one of the "Last Four In." And get this: If new head coach Pat Kelsey's team were to beat fellow No. 11 seed Rutgers in a First Four matchup in Dayton, Ohio, it would then play former U of L coach Rick Pitino's St. John's squad, a No. 6 seed, in Milwaukee.

That would be one intriguing way to end an NCAA Tournament drought dating back to 2019.

A lot can change when the 2024-25 season tips off Nov. 4; but a lot has already changed since Kelsey inherited a program that, for the past two seasons, was as far as one gets from the Big Dance during former coach Kenny Payne's disastrous 12-52 tenure. Simply being in the conversation now at least signals his rebuild is off to a good start.

Working at a breakneck pace upon arriving at Louisville in March, Kelsey and his staff completely overhauled the Cards' roster — assembling through the NCAA transfer portal a group of veterans that ranks second in the country in the eyes of analytics guru Evan Miyakawa. Then, they had all the new faces looking as if they had been running the court together for a few years during a dominant two-game exhibition tour of the Bahamas over the summer.

"We're going to be really good," Kelsey told reporters after the final game of the trip. "We're not good yet; we've got a long, long, long way to go."

Before leaving for Nassau, members of the team made their goal for the season loud and clear: reach the NCAA Tournament and make some noise when they get there.

"We really don't want to lose focus on that," senior guard Reyne Smith said.

"This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity," added J'Vonne Hadley, a fifth-year guard, "because a lot of us only have one year here."

Louisville will have plenty of chances to put the rest of the country on notice out of the gate with a nonconference schedule that features games against Tennessee, Ole Miss, Kentucky and a trip to the Bad Boy Battle 4 Atlantis. It'll also begin ACC play in early December by hosting one of the conference's perennial powers, Duke, at the KFC Yum! Center.

U of L was one of seven ACC teams to earn an NCAA Tournament bid in Lunardi's latest bracketology update. The others teams were the Blue Devils (No. 1), North Carolina (No. 3), Clemson (No. 8), Miami (No. 8), Wake Forest (No. 9) and Pittsburgh (No. 11).

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 basketball: Pat Kelsey's team in ESPN's latest bracketology