Louisville Cardinals vs Miami Hurricanes Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/12/26

The top teams join the party Thursday at the ACC tournament, and that includes the #3 Miami Hurricanes taking on the #6 Louisville Cardinals. The Cardinals had to grind out a tough 62-58 win against SMU on Wednesday, but the real story is that Louisville will play this week without their star freshman, Mikel Brown Jr. They have played three games without him, and they have won all three, including a win to close the regular season at Miami. That game was 92-89. I do not think this is a result Louisville can replicate though, especially without Brown again. Miami is the underdog here, but I am taking them to win straight up at plus money.

If Brown was playing, I was prepared to take Louisville to make a run in the ACC tournament, maybe even win it. And I will most likely be on them in the Big Dance next week. Without him though, this offense is missing a big piece. Miami is still not getting enough respect nationally, especially for a team that is right around the top 30 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Sure, they win a lot of narrow games, but they keep winning them, and that matters. I’ll admit that I was on them last weekend to beat Louisville—playing at home, and with Louisville missing their best player—and it backfired. But that also took Louisville shooting a torrid 61% from the field. I don’t think that is repeatable. The Canes get it done in the rematch.

Louisville vs Miami Prediction: Miami ML (+120) available at the time of publishing; playable to -1.5.