Piecing Together Louisville's 2026-27 Non-Conference Schedule

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - While year two of the Pat Kelsey era of the Louisville men's basketball program was slightly disappointing when compared to preseason expectations, three months removed from the end of that campaign, year three is generating a great amount of local and national hype.

They might be returning just one impact player, but the Cardinals are also bringing in the top-ranked transfer portal class and a top-20 high school class. UofL has already been tabbed by multiple publications as a top-15 caliber team for next season, and one that could have serious aspirations to win the ACC and compete for a national championship.

Speaking of year three, who exactly will Louisville be playing on their non-conference schedule for the 2026-27 season? While UofL has yet to announce their full non-con schedule, we can piece it together based on what has been previously reported.

Teams are currently permitted to play up to 31 regular season games (although there is a slight caveat, but more on that later). With the ACC continuing to go with an 18-game conference slate, the Cardinals in turn have 13 slots for non-conference opponents during the regular season. Out of those 13, nine have been publicly announced.

So far, five of those nine have been officially announced by Louisville. The earliest official slate of games so far on the schedule is the Cardinals' run in the Player's Era 16 in Las Vegas. They'll face Texas Tech Tuesday, Nov. 24, square off against either St. John's or Oregon on Thursday, Nov. 26, then take on Iowa State. Maryland, San Diego State or Tennessee on Friday, Nov. 27.

There is a chance that Louisville will play a fourth game in Vegas to put them at 32 regular season games. Should they win all three games, they'll get to participate in the Players Era 16 Championship Game. The other side of the 16-team bracket consists of Alabama, Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, Kansas State, Miami, Michigan and TCU.

The next officially announced game will take place the following week, with Louisville returning home to face Texas on Tuesday, Dec. 1 as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. Then roughly two weeks later is the last currently official game, and that is the annual Battle of the Bluegrass against Kentucky, which will take place at Rupp Arena on Saturday, Dec. 12.

A pair of home games to begin the season were reported by the Courier-Journal, but have yet to be officially announced. Per Brooks Holton, Louisville will open the season against Chattanooga on Monday, Nov. 2 at the KFC Yum! Center, then host Morehead State that weekend on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Two additional games have yet to be officially announced, and do not yet have a reported date. Louisville will play the second leg of their neutral site series with Baylor, as well as travel to Memphis. The Cardinals were also slated to play Cincinnati at Freedom Hall, but that game got pushed back to a later season.

Midway through June, here is how Louisville's non-conference schedule currently stands: