The 2023–24 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

during the

2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2023. The regular season ended on March 17, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 19 and ending with th ...

. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the

KFC Yum! Center The KFC Yum! Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is named after the KFC restaurant chain and Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC. Adjacent to the Ohio River waterfront, it is located on Ma ...

in downtown Louisville, Kentucky as members of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC). They were led by second-year head coach

Kenny Payne Kenneth Victor Payne (born November 25, 1966) is an American college basketball coach and former player who is currently the associate head coach at the University of Arkansas. Previously, he was the head coach at the University of Louisville. Pr ...

. The Cardinals began the season with a one-point win against UMBC but lost to

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

in their second game of the season. After defeating

Coppin State Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Coppin State Universi ...

, they lost both of their games in the

Empire Classic The Empire Classic is an annual college basketball event played in November at the beginning of the season and televised by College basketball on ESPN, ESPN. Originally known as the Atlantic City Shootout and produced by the Gazelle Group, In ...

. They then went on a two-game winning streak, including an overtime victory over

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

. They went on a three-game losing streak from there, including an opening ACC game loss to

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. Their only other win in 2023 was on December 17 against Pepperdine. The Cardinals first ACC win came at Miami (FL) on January 10, 2024. This was Payne's first road win as head coach. The team lost six straight games after the win. Their next wins came on February 3 and February 10, 2024, and were split by a road loss to

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. The Cardinals would lose their final seven games of the ACC regular season. The Cardinals finished the 2023–24 season 8–24 and 3–17 in ACC play to finish in fifteenth place. As the fifteenth seed in the ACC tournament, they lost to tenth seed

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

in the First Round. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the NIT. After their ACC tournament loss, the Cardinals fired head coach Kenny Payne. The Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team drew an average home attendance of 11,504 in 18 games in 2023–24, the 28th highest in college basketball.

Previous season

The team's 0–9 start was its worst since the 1940–41 season, when the Cardinals began the season 0–11. Before their first win of the season against

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

on December 14, 2022, the Cardinals contended with

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

for the worst start in modern history for any team that was at the time a member of a power conference, defined here as a member of a

Power Five conference The power conferences are the most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...

or the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. California was the first such team to fall to 0–7, doing so on November 26, 2022; Louisville reached that mark three days later. California fell to 0–12 before its first win of the season. The Cardinals' start was still the worst for any team in ACC history. The

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

finished the 2022–23 season 4–28 and 2–18 in ACC play to finish in fifteenth place. As the fifteenth seed in the ACC tournament, they lost to tenth seed

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in the First Round. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the NIT. Their 28 losses were the most in program history, and their four wins were the lowest since 1940–41.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2023 recruiting class

2024 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, ACC Tournament Schedule Source:

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 Louisville Cardinals Men's Basketball Team Louisville Cardinals men's basketball seasons

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Louisville Cardinals men's basketball The Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team is the men's college basketball program representing the University of Louisville (U of L) in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) of NCAA Division I. The Cardinals have officially won two NCAA cham ...

2023 in Louisville, Kentucky 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky