Louisville basketball vs. Kansas exhibition in 2025-26: Weighing pros, cons of the game

• Louisville basketball will play Kansas in an exhibition on Oct. 24 at the KFC Yum! Center.
• The Cardinals and the Jayhawks will then meet at Allen Fieldhouse before the 2026-27 campaign tips off.
• Our take: The obvious pros of a marquee preseason game outweigh the speculative cons.

Since taking over the reins of Louisville basketball, Pat Kelsey has made a statement with scheduling: Anyone, anytime, anywhere.

That mentality, and an NCAA rule change, has led to this: an Oct. 24 exhibition vs. Kansas at the KFC Yum! Center.

The high-profile matchup between the storied programs, both of which are likely to enter the 2025-26 season ranked, is the first of a two-year series. U of L will visit Allen Fieldhouse for a game against the Jayhawks before the 2026-27 campaign tips off.

In years past, exhibitions between Division I programs needed to be approved through a waiver process. The proceeds from those games were donated to charity. But in January, the DI Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee approved a proposal allowing programs to play up to two preseason exhibitions against any four-year school.

Expect this to be the norm moving forward — other noteworthy preseason games on the 2025-26 docket include Kentucky vs. Purdue and Creighton vs. Iowa State. The obvious pros outweigh the speculative cons.

Here are the arguments for and against scheduling a marquee exhibition:

Pro: Big-game experience, no strings attached

With the annual showdown between Louisville and Kentucky scheduled for Week 2 of the regular season (Nov. 11 at the Yum! Center), it’s no surprise the Cards and Wildcats are using an exhibition to get some big-game experience.

An opponent like Kansas can expose weaknesses in ways DII and DIII programs can’t. Why not get throw into the fire and see what you’re made of? Ideally, the kinks can be worked out before the results start counting for real.

Last summer, Kelsey used an exhibition tour of the Bahamas to expedite U of L’s progression in the wake of a complete roster overhaul. Opportunities like that come around once every four years, so it makes sense for him to take advantage of the rule change and ramp up the urgency in preparations for Act 2 of his revival.

Plus, Louisville will feature more players in 2025-26 who are new to the DI ranks (four) than it did in 2024-25 (one). The sooner they get a taste of a high-level college game in what should be a raucous environment, the better.

Con: What if Louisville falls flat?

Year 2 of the Kelsey era is shaping up to be Louisville’s most anticipated season in quite a while. Cards fans are starving for a deep NCAA Tournament run, and national pundits have been reassuring them that they’re not crazy for thinking that this team is capable of doing just that.

Beat Kansas, and those expectations go up a notch. Lose valiantly, and the buzz isn’t going anywhere.

But it’s worth pondering — a pessimistic byproduct of deflating exhibition losses to Lenoir-Rhyne and Kentucky Wesleyan during Kenny Payne’s tenure, perhaps — what the vibes would be around the program like entering the 2025-26 campaign if U of L falls flat like it did when Tennessee visited the Yum! Center in Week 1 last November.

We’re not saying it’s going to happen. Even if it does, Louisville’s record and March Madness résumé won’t reflect it. There will be plenty of chances for a bounce-back signature win out of the gate. It’s just that, when a team schedules an exhibition like this, it’s vulnerable to the wind being knocked out of its sails.

Pro: More fans, more money

The seismic House v. NCAA settlement received final approval last week, meaning Louisville can begin paying athletes directly soon. The projected revenue-sharing cap for 2025-26: $20.5 million.

With that extra burden on the budget, packing the Yum! Center for an exhibition vs. Kansas is a no-brainer.

Last season, the Cards drew announced crowds of 10,928 and 11,556 for preseason games against Young Harris and Spalding, respectively. U of L says announced attendance reflects the total number of tickets sold.

With all due respect to the Mountain Lions and Golden Eagles, the Jayhawks are a much bigger draw. Combine their prestige with the hype surrounding Louisville, and there shouldn’t be many empty seats.

Con: Could an intense exhibition lead to injuries?

Anytime a player steps onto a court, there’s the potential for them to suffer an injury. It doesn’t matter if the opponent is Kansas or the scout team.

But, assuming this exhibition will be played with more intensity than Louisville’s dominant wins over Young Harris and Spalding last season, the case could be made that there’s a heightened risk of having someone go down with something that could affect the trajectory of the 2025-26 campaign.

The last thing the Cards need is for the injury bug to rear its ugly head after it hit hard in Year 1 of the Kelsey era. One returner, Kasean Pryor, is still recovering from tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis championship game last November.

Will the 6-foot-10 forward be at full strength by the time this exhibition against the Jayhawks rolls around? We’ll have to wait and see. The good news is, U of L can be cautious with managing his minutes considering the game’s low stakes.

Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.