Compared to the doldrums of the Kenny Payne era, Louisville men's basketball has been living in paradise during the early stages of Pat Kelsey 's tenure.
The new head coach and his overhauled roster will head back to paradise when the 2024-25 season tips off in November for the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis . On Wednesday, we learned who the Cardinals will play first.
U of L drew Indiana at noon Wednesday, Nov. 27 in Round 1 of the three-day, eight-team tournament, which will be held at Atlantis Paradise Island resort on Paradise Island, in the Bahamas. Depending on how that game goes, it will play either the winner or loser of West Virginia vs. Gonzaga in Round 2.
Other members of the field include Arizona , Davidson , Oklahoma and Providence .
Led by fourth-year coach Mike Woodson, Indiana went 19-14 (10-10 Big Ten) in 2023-24.
The Hoosiers missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 and, per a report from The Indianapolis Star , opted to decline any other opportunities for postseason play.
Per college hoops analytics guru Bart Torvik , Woodson’s returners accounted for 60.1% of the team’s minutes last season. He lost three players to the NCAA transfer portal and added five through it: Oumar Ballo (Arizona), Myles Rice (Washington State), Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford), Luke Goode (Illinois) and Langdon Hatton (Bellarmine).
Torvik has Indiana at No. 31 in his early 2024-25 projections.
The Cards are 9-12 all time against the Hoosiers; who have won the past two games in a series dating back to 1921. When the teams met last November, in the Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden, Payne said Woodson “tricked” him by switching to a zone defense that powered IU’s late surge to a 74-66 victory.
The Kelsey era unofficially began last month in the Bahamas , with Louisville cruising to dominant exhibition wins over an all-star team from the Caribbean island and the University of Calgary as part of the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League in Nassau. The 49-year-old Cincinnati native and his staff assembled an entirely new cast of scholarship players, 12 transfers and one freshman, after everyone from Payne's final team headed elsewhere in the wake of his firing.
Other highlights on the Cards' 2024-25 nonconference schedule include the season opener against Morehead State on Nov. 4 at the KFC Yum! Center , home games against Tennessee (Nov. 9) and Ole Miss (Dec. 3) and the annual showdown with archrival Kentucky , now coached by Mark Pope , on Dec. 14 at Rupp Arena.
Note: All game times are Eastern
Wednesday, Nov. 27
Game 1: Louisville vs. Indiana, noon (ESPN)
Game 2: West Virginia vs. Gonzaga, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN2)
Game 3: Oklahoma vs. Providence, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 4: Davidson vs. Arizona, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Thursday, Nov. 28
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, noon (ESPN)
Game 6: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 8: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Friday, Nov. 29
Game 9: Game 6 loser vs. Game 8 loser, 11 a.m. (ESPN2)
Game 10: Game 5 loser vs. Game 7 loser, 3 p.m. (ESPN2)
Championship: Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 12: Game 6 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
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 draws Indiana first in Battle 4 Atlantis. See the bracket, schedule
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