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Report: Baylor, Louisville finalizing agreement for neutral site game on Valentine's Day

Danby: Daniel Hager06/26/25DanielHagerOn3

Baylor and Louisville are finalizing an agreement to play a neutral site game on February 14th. The game will be at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Tex., according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

According to Rothstein, a return game at a neutral site will occur during the 2026-27 season. The location has yet to be determined.

The two programs have met just once before in the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis Championship (Nassau, Bahamas). Baylor won 66-63 after trailing 39-24 at halftime.

Baylor and Louisville are both coming off appearances in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, in which the Cardinals were a No. 8 seed and the Bears were a No. 9 seed. Louisville was bounced in the Round of 64 by No. 9 seed Creighton (89-75) while Baylor won its opening game against No. 8 Mississippi State (75-72). They, however, fell to No. 1 Duke in the Round of 32 (89-66) two days later.

These two teams look much different from last season, as Louisville lost eight players (six out of eligibility, two transfers) and Baylor lost seven players to the Transfer Portal, along with No. 3 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, VJ Edgecombe. The Bears, however, did bring in the No. 16-ranked portal class to replace the lost players.

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The addition of the Baylor game bolsters Louisville‘s strong non-conference schedule. It already features Arkansas (SEC/ACC Challenge), Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee.

“So, no. I never thought that we win a certain number of games or this or that,” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said after his debut year. “I have a great — I have a confidence and a belief in who we are, what we do as a staff, and what we do in terms of building our program. So, it usually works out for us. I didn’t, I didn’t think we’d be in this position right now, but it’s been so much fun.”

Louisville is Baylor’s first marquee non-conference matchup set for this season.

“I think, first and foremost, I think this is a transition period for a lot of coaches and staffs trying to figure out just how to implement and run the best program with the current climate and rules,” Drew said after Baylor‘s season-ending loss to Duke last season. “Obviously with us our depth hurt us this year. That’s something that you definitely always want to have more rather than less. That would be probably first and foremost [to address].”

“From there, part of the men we’ve attracted to our program, they represent the university, they do what they’re supposed to do and how they’re supposed to do it.”