4. The Cardinals’ Defense Will Keep Them In Every Game
Louisville will be able to play with any team in there conference because of their defense, hands down. Well, maybe except for Virginia, but those guys will take themselves out of the ACC race by the end of the season anyways.
The Cardinals currently hold the best perimeter defense in the entire conference, even after playing four straight games against Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, and Notre Dame. Other than Duke and North Carolina, there won’t be too many other teams that could hurt the Cards from the three.
With that being said, the Cards also have some of the best rim-protectors in all of college basketball. Anas Mahmoud, Ray Spalding, Jaylen Johnson, and Mangok Mathiang are an experienced group of forwards that are going to give every elite team in the conference some major problems in the paint.