How Louisville Cardinals approach scheduling for March Madness resumes

Miami (Ohio) men’s basketball coach Travis Steele spoke for mid-major schools everywhere when he said, “Don’t penalize us for people (who) aren’t willing to play us.”

The RedHawks barely made the 2026 NCAA Tournament after a 31-1 season, the kind of resume that’d earn a high-major team entry into the field of 68 without question. The main source of doubt regarding their bid was strength of schedule. Miami didn’t face a single high-major opponent during the regular season. Its NET ranking as of Selection Sunday was 64th.

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Miami tried to secure games with Wisconsin, BYU and Ohio State, among others, to no avail, according to Extra Points’ Matt Brown. Steele said the RedHawks didn’t finish their 2025-26 schedule until mid October.

Mid-major coaches in women’s basketball expressed similar frustrations while in Louisville for the first round. Vermont’s Alisa Kresge said she’s had a hard time securing home-and-home series with Power Four schools. Then-Rhode Island coach Tami Reiss said top mid-majors and some P4 programs like N.C. State “don’t duck,” but “no one will play us at home,” and “figuring out analytically how to get into the NCAA Tournament is probably the hardest part about scheduling.”

How did college basketball get here? To where Cinderella is barely able to wedge her glass slipper between the door and its frame? Her shoe is cracking under the pressure of NET rankings, revenue sharing and a college sports ecosystem that favors deep pockets.

As traditional stalwarts of both men’s and women’s basketball, how does Louisville consider finances when efforting to assemble the strongest NCAA Tournament resumes possible?

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Maximizing revenue and strength of schedule

Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz used to take his team to schools like UT Martin, Missouri State and Middle Tennessee for games. UofL is nestled in a region full of quality mid-major programs he likes to schedule. But nowadays, it’s harder to…

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Publish date : 2026-03-31 09:11:00

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