The Cincinnati Bearcats scheduled a home-and-home series with the Louisville Cardinals last offseason, with the first game being played last season in Cincinnati, and the second game being scheduled to be played this upcoming season at Freedom Hall in Louisville. With Freedom Hall undergoing renovations, it is speculated by Scott Springer of the Cincinnati Enquirer that the game will be rescheduled to a later year. As we are waiting on an official report from either Cincinnati's or Louisville's athletic department, it is also speculated that Cincinnati is looking for another Power 4 opponent to add to their schedule this upcoming season.
Last season, Cincinnati and Louisville played very early in the year. The game took place on November 21st at Heritage Bank Center, renewing the Hoops Classic, which Cincinnati played Dayton in during the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Heritage Bank Center before scheduling the Flyers to a full-time home-and-home series. Louisville won 74-64 behind 25 points and 5 rebounds from former Xavier Musketeer Ryan Conwell. Cincinnati led 32-28 at halftime before being outscored by 14 in the second half.
Louisville is a school a lot like Dayton, that Cincinnati should be scheduling every year. Louisville is extremely close; there's a history of a rivalry through the Missouri Valley, Metro, American, and USA Conferences, along with former head coach Mick Cronin leaving Louisville for the Cincinnati job. Louisville shares a lot of similarities with schools like Dayton and Xavier, which Cincinnati schedules yearly.
Jerrod Calhoun will make his debut for the Bearcats this November, and without Louisville likely on the schedule. Xavier and Dayton will be the two rivalry games that Calhoun needs to knock out of the park.
Sources close to @GoBearcatsMBB say the Louisville game originally scheduled this season will be pushed back from this season.
— Scott Springer (@sspringersports) June 9, 2026
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