Louisville basketball has toughest schedule, toughest stretch in country.

Louisville basketball already plays in the most demanding conference in the country. Now, the Cards must face a brutal non-conference slate- including at least three straight games vs. ranked foes.

light. More. Cards make huge strides vs Vermont

Louisville basketball is off to a 3-0 start to begin the Chris Mack era. Along the way, the Cards have shown marked improvement. During their opening game against Nicholls State, Louisville limped to the finish, leaving much to be desired from the team as a whole. Mack was notably frustrated afterwards, and fans were left to wonder if expectations should be readjusted.

However, week two of the 2018-19 season brought significant improvement from the Cards. Louisville jumped all over an outmatched Southern team, and then exceeded expectations against a veteran Vermont team who projects to be headed to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances.

The Cards looked extremely sharp on offense, showcasing crisp ball movement and an improved shooting percentage. To the surprise of many, Louisville out-hustled and out-worked their opponents to make it to 3-0.

Now, the road gets much more difficult for the Cards. Though they faced 2 out of 3 teams heavily favored to make the NCAA tournament, Louisville is about to go into a buzzsaw of teams who present a unique challenge.

Let’s take a look at Louisville’s schedule for the remainder of 2018:

"November 21st- No.5 Tennessee 5:00 p.m. ESPN2November 23rd- No.2 Kansas or Marquette 7 or 9 p.m. ESPN2November 27th- No.11 Michigan State 7:30 p.m. ESPNDecember 1st- at Seton Hall Noon FOXDecember 5th- Central Arkansas 7:00 p.m. ACC Network ExtraDecember 8th- at Indiana 2:30 p.m. FOXDecember 12th- Lipscomb 7:00 p.m. RSNDecember 15th- Kent State 4:00 p.m. RSNDecember 21st- Robert Morris 7:00 p.m. ACC Network ExtraDecember 29th- No. 10 Kentucky 2:00 p.m. ESPN2"

Over the course of the next five weeks, Louisville will face, at minimum, four ranked teams. Additionally, games at Seton Hall (who beat the Cards at home last year), and at 27th ranked Indiana (who will likely be ranked going into their December 8th match-up) are tall tasks for an inexperienced team under a new coaching staff.

Louisville faces rival Kentucky, Michigan State, and possibly Kansas, who were all favored to win their respective conferences by the media in the preseason. The Cards also square off against a top-5 Tennessee team who won the SEC tournament last year and are projected to finish second this season.

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Mix in the aforementioned Indiana and Seton Hall games, then add the possibility of a quasi-ranked foe in Marquette, there are hardly any breaks on the rest of the schedule going into the always-daunting ACC.

The Cards should be able to breathe a little bit more easily against Robert Morris, Central Arkansas, and Kent State, but their December 12th meeting with Lipscomb will not be an automatic win. However, those four games are the only four on the entire schedule where the Cards complete outmatch their opposition.

More often than not, major conference teams try to ease their way into the season by scheduling a half dozen or more games against inferior opponents. However, Louisville does not have many mental breaks going into March and beyond.

Baptism by fire may not be the best way for this inexperienced, short on depth Louisville squad to get their feet under them. It is almost a certainty that the Cards are going to take a few losses along the way. But, ultimately, boasting one of the toughest schedules in the nation will harden this team and mold them into something that most never expected in year one of Chris Mack.

If the Cards can continue to take the trajectory that they are on after their first two weeks, the possibilities are endless.

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