The Kansas basketball team will host the visiting Louisville Cardinals tomorrow for a nationally televised exhibition matchup. It is the second edition of a home-and-home series the two schools began last year when the Jayhawks won 90-82 at the KFC Yum! Center.
KU kicked off its preseason slate with a victory over Pittsburg State, though head coach Bill Self wasn't taking things too seriously, playing a total of 12 players near-equal minutes. His rotations against UL should look more like what they will during a real game that counts toward the record.
Neither school is going to be putting in 100% effort in this glorified scrimmage, but there's still a level of excitement around Lawrence with Flory Bidunga making his return and some controversial offseason moves overhauling the KU roster in recent weeks.
Let's break down how these two schools match up with a quick preview and a confidence meter rating on a scale from 1-10.
Louisville's Busy Offseason
We mentioned KU's offseason acquisitions as a talking point, but many of Louisville's were a lot more significant. Of course, the obvious one was Bidunga, who left the Jayhawks to go play in the ACC after landing a hefty NIL deal and will now have to walk back into the building where he spent the last two seasons.
But that's not the only star power Louisville boasts, as Jackson Shelstad from Oregon is a blue-chip transfer who was one of the most coveted players in the nation. He and Bidunga give Pat Kelsey a pretty exciting point guard-center combination.
In both years under Kelsey's guidance, Louisville has finished in the AP Top 25 and has a 1-2 record in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals have also built one of the more transfer-heavy rosters in the country, as their class is ranked No. 2 in the country according to 247 Sports.
Kelsey is not going to take this showdown lightly after the Jayhawks handily defeated his team a year ago, so expect his guys to come out firing and try to silence the Fieldhouse crowd.
Uncertainty Surrounding the Newcomers
The real question entering this clash is how the newcomers will fare. I shouldn't necessarily call two of them newcomers since Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. competed with the Jayhawks a season ago, but up until late last month, the belief was that KU was completely done with its roster construction.
As if there wasn't already a logjam surrounding the minutes, former Purdue standout Trey Kaufman-Renn is now vying for playing time. He ranks among the more accomplished bigs in college basketball and could develop into an All-Big 12-caliber talent once he gets adjusted to the system.
There is no guarantee that any of these three players will be with the squad once postseason play rolls around, but we know that Council and White will suit up again tomorrow, and Kaufman-Renn could as well after beginning practices this week. It feels like there's a new face to watch every single time we turn on a Jayhawk basketball game.
The big story before the last outing was how freshman Tyran Stokes would look in his first contest as a Jayhawk. Many eyes will still be on him, but it'll be interesting to see how Kaufman-Renn looks in his first showing in the crimson and blue.
KU Basketball Confidence Meter vs. Louisville: 7.2
Take this all with a grain of salt, as every coach approaches these scrimmages differently. Then again, I feel like schools don't schedule competitive exhibitions of this nature unless they actually want to gain important experience and put on a show for the crowd.
The Cardinals are ranked No. 11 in the Preseason AP poll, and KU sits six spots below at No. 17. The voters made their decisions before Kaufman-Renn entered the picture, but the point is that Louisville is no slouch with a roster that has plenty of high-level pieces and a frontcourt anchored by Bidunga.
Over the past three years, KU has played scrimmages on the road against Illinois, Arkansas and, most recently, Louisville. This is the first one that is being played against a marquee opponent in the Fieldhouse, and Self is going to be using it to get a better idea of which players are ready to see minutes in early-season games against schools like Kentucky and at the Players Era Festival.
I feel like some Stokes dunks and big plays from the trio of court-ordered Jayhawks should be enough to rally the crowd behind the team and let KU escape with a gritty victory.
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