Louisville Men's Basketball releases 2023-24 non-conference schedule

The Louisville basketball program has finalized its official non-conference schedule for the 2023-24 season.

Below, you can see the 13 opponents the Cardinals will face in November and December before starting on conference play in the ACC. Aside from a road trip to DePaul and a Thanksgiving Week tournament in Madison Square Garden, Louisville is mostly at home for their slate. Check it out:

Oct. 11: Red & White Scrimmage | KFC Yum! Center
Oct. 18: Simmons College (Exhibition) | KFC Yum! Center
Oct. 30: Kentucky Wesleyan (Exhibition) | KFC Yum! Center
Nov. 6: UMBC | KFC Yum! Center
Nov. 10: Chattanooga | KFC Yum! Center
Nov. 15: Coppin State | KFC Yum! Center
Nov. 19: Texas (Empire Classic) | New York City, NY
Nov. 20: Indiana OR UConn | New York City, NY
Nov. 25: New Mexico State | KFC Yum! Center
Nov. 29: Bellarmine | KFC Yum! Center
Dec. 9: at Depaul | Chicago, IL
Dec. 13: Arkansas State | KFC Yum! Center
Dec. 17: Pepperdine | KFC Yum! Center
Dec. 21: Kentucky | KFC Yum! Center

Recap

After winning just four total games last year while playing a very tough non-conference schedule, the Cardinals are easing up a bit this year and giving this incredibly young 2023-24 team a few more opportunities against mid-major opponents.

Foes like Arkansas State and Coppin State ought to be easy victories considering they each finished well below .500 in their poor conferences a year ago. Plus, Bellarmine needs to be a win this season after the fellow Louisvillian school upset the Cards in ’22.

The games of note come on the road vs. DePaul, then home for Kentucky and in the Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden. DePaul used to be a cupcake win for Louisville in the days of the Old Big East, but the Demon Deacons finally scored a victory over the Cards in the Yum! Center the last time they met in the fall of 2021.

As for the Empire Classic, frankly speaking, Louisville would be incredibly fortunate to come away with even one victory. They face Texas in the opener, who’s hot off an Elite Eight run and landed On3’s No. 2 transfer in the country, Max Abmas, an Oral Roberts guard who led the country in scoring two years ago.

Win or lose, Louisville gets defending champ UConn or Indiana next. The Huskies are loaded to the gills with talent yet again while Indiana is in good shape to maintain their steady success under Mike Woodson and would certainly be big favorites over UL.

The bit of good news is Louisville actually played Kentucky pretty well last year, all things considered, and had the deficit under 10 at various points in the second half. UK still won comfortably, but not as comfortably as they should have. Now, UL gets them in Yum! as the marquee home non-conference matchup.