Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey feels his team was slighted with their NCAA Tournament seed.
The Cardinals received an 8-seed in the South Region and are set to face Creighton in the first round on Thursday. Louisville was ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll. Even KenPom, which adjusts for a team’s schedule and other factors, had Louisville ranked No. 23. All of those rankings suggest Louisville should have been seeded much higher, like in the 5 or 6 range. That’s what Kelsey thought.
Kelsey, who is in his first season as Louisville’s head coach, joined ESPN Radio on Sunday night and was transparent regarding his feelings.
“I’ll be completely honest with you… when that popped up, it hurt a little bit,” Kelsey told host Matt Jones. “You felt slighted a little bit. It is what it is at this point … in my opinion, we should be playing a 12 or 11 seed. Every metric under the sun that you look at — net of 23, which would put us in a possible 5-seed range.”
Did @MarchMadnessMBB get it right with @LouisvilleMBB as the 8th seed in the South Region?@patkelsey had some thoughts 🤔@KySportsRadio @MedcalfByESPN pic.twitter.com/2MRZ5oxcyQ
— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) March 16, 2025
The ACC was weak this season, but Louisville still went 18-2 in conference. That dominant mark plus their 27-7 overall record and trip to the finals of the ACC Tournament all suggests they should have been higher than an 8-seed. But this wasn’t the only questionable choice made by the tournament selection committee.
Not only will Louisville now face a 24-10 Creighton team in the first round, but they would also be in line to face No. 1 overall seed Auburn in the second round if both teams were to advance.
