Louisville baseball's College World Series hopes falling flat in 2026
Can Dan McDonnell's Louisville Cardinals make the NCAA Tournament? Why UofL baseball is outside the playoff picture after a College World Series run.
Louisville’s baseball was projected to field another strong team in 2026. Fresh off the program’s sixth College World Series appearance, the Cardinals opened the year ranked 11th in the USA TODAY preseason coaches poll and were projected to finish fourth in the ACC standings . Dan McDonnell liked the veteran experience the team had heading into his 20th season as Louisville’s head coach.
Three months later, the Cardinals are unranked, outside of the NCAA Tournament picture and 11th in the conference while looking for a third ACC series win with only seven games left in the regular season. They’re one of three Power Four teams from the 2025 CWS currently on pace to miss the postseason, alongside national champion LSU (the preseason No. 1) and Arizona.
It will take a strong finish, and perhaps winning the ACC Tournament , for the Cards to reach the Big Dance. Louisville (26-23, 10-14) is on a five-game losing streak after getting swept at Wake Forest over the weekend and falling to Vanderbilt, 12-6 , on Tuesday. The Cardinals will look to end the year with some positive momentum when they travel to Miami for their second-to-last ACC series of the regular season, starting Thursday.
The Hurricanes are currently fifth in the league standings and projected to be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, per USA TODAY , D1Baseball and On3 . Baseball America tabbed Miami as a 3-seed.
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