Should Louisville Basketball be a top 25 to begin the season?

October is here and that only means one thing, basketball practice has officially kicked off and the season is upon us. But is Louisville basketball slighted by not being a Top 25 team?

Chris Mack and his Louisville basketball staff have already had a huge amount of success in their time coaching the Cards. Whether it’s recruiting, social media engagement, or new ideas like Louisville Live and open gyms – the new staff has won big. All the summer hype has been building up for the 2019 season with a monster recruiting class already in the bag. But one question I have, what about this season?

Last year was nothing like we expected leading up to the season and we all know why. 2018 is kind of like a rebound year for us with a new coach at the helm and a team with quite a bit of talent. The media thinks Louisville can be good in 2018-19, but since the squad didn’t make the tournament last season and a new coach is in place with a lot of question marks on the roster, that has led many to leave the Cards out of early top 25 rankings.

Personally, I think Louisville should be ranked to begin the season. I don’t mean anything crazy like top 10-15. But I think considering Louisville as a top 20-25 team is very reasonable. Though the team did lose a lot, they return three dynamic sophomores who likely will take big leaps, while VJ King should finally become the guy we all thought he could. Not to mention Coach Chris Mack has brought in three underrated graduate transfers in Christen Cunningham, Khwan Fore, and Akoy Agau, while returning valuable players like Ryan McMahon, Dwayne Sutton and UConn transfer, Steven Enoch.

Losing Ray Spalding and Deng Adel were big losses and if both were on this team no doubt they would a top 10-15  team. Ray Spalding finally seemed to come into his own last season as the “top dog,” while Deng Adel would no doubt thrive in a 4-in-1-out, Chris Mack led system. However, I’m not sure Louisville will take a such a hit without them that they can’t be successful as the current roster still has so much talent.

This season is the bridge to great things to come for Chris Mack and Louisville, but if things fall into place the way we think – Louisville could be a big surprise to many. In fact, if Jordan Nwora becomes an All-ACC player, something Chris Mack alluded to this summer as a possibility, VJ King plays up to his potential, and Malik Williams & Steven Enoch develop into a low post force – 2018-19  will be more than a rebuilding season and I think the Cards can make some significant noise. Chris Mack can coach, there’s talent on the roster, and there’s plenty of chances to get some major wins.

Jordan Nwora has shown significant improvement over the summer playing with Nigeria as a 19 year old, breaking their scoring record when he dropped 36 points in a qualifier game. Chris Mack will know how to use Nwora in his offense and he will fit in perfectly. V.J. King looks the part from the pictures we’ve seen and could finally become a dominant player for Chris Mack and Louisville..

The additions of Khwan Fore and Christian Cunningham could be solid additions to the team this year and help provide some back court depth. Fore showed his athletic ability in the slam dunk contest during the Louisville Live event this past weekend and I full expect him to dunk on some dudes this season.

When it comes to the rankings, Louisville has yet to be mentioned in the top 25 – which is not surprising. As I mentioned, Louisville has a new coach, several new pieces, and the unknown of which players will step up to replace the scoring of Deng Adel, Ray Spalding, and Quentin Snider from last year. College Basketball Talk’s (NBC Sports) Rob Dauster has been one of the few to mention Louisville in top 25 rankings – including Louisville throughout most of the summer and listing them at 27th in their 2018 Top 25.

Regardless of what the media thinks, I really believe that this Louisville team has the roster and most importantly the coaching to be in the top 25 this season. I’m ready for Louisville to take the court and see finally see Chris Mack coach a game and coach this team to its fullest potential.