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What has happened since Louisville basketball was last ranked?

By Presley Meyer

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 12: The Louisville Cardinals bench reacts during a win against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on January 12, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Louisville won 83-62. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 12: The Louisville Cardinals bench reacts during a win against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on January 12, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Louisville won 83-62. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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The wait is finally over. For the first time in 411 days, Louisville basketball is ranked in the top 25.

Louisville sports were as difficult to watch as they have ever been in 2018. We’ve discussed ad nauseam the ridiculousness that was this past year in sports, but there was another rarity that the Louisville basketball achieved: The Cards went an entire year without being ranked in the AP Top 25 (411 days to be exact).

After the Cards fell to Seton Hall at home on December 3rd, 2017- one of many soul-crushing losses that Louisville has been dealt in the past few years- Louisville, under interim head coach David Padgett fell out of the top 25 rankings on December 5th. But, on Monday, Louisville entered the AP poll for the first time since that loss.

A lot has happened since the last time Louisville basketball was ranked. Don’t think so? Let’s revisit some of the happenings around Louisville sports since Louisville basketball’s last top 25 ranking:

  • Donovan Mitchell dunked a lot
  • Donovan Mitchell led the Utah Jazz to a playoff series win over Oklahoma City
  • One time Louisville commit Anfernee Simons was drafted
  • Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium
  • David Grissom still hasn’t pronounced Neeli Bendipudi’s name right
  • Speaking of which, Neeli Bendapudi became a national (local) treasure
  • Katina Powell Katina Powell’d
  • Lamar Jackson still hasn’t caught a football during a game, but he did take over for a former Super Bowl MVP and lead a team that was under .500 to the playoffs. NBD.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1082019935516188672

  • Louisville football won 2 games. Just gonna gloss over this one.
  • Brian VanGorder got ANOTHER job.
    • (Brian VanGorder got PROMOTED!!) (??)
  • Cort Dennison left Louisville, and made us all very sad
  • Cort Dennison came back to Louisville
  • Ethan Sprowles (s/o @uoflvillens ) became a household name (Mostly my household)
  • Chris Mack landed a top 5 recruiting class
  • Louisville finally got it’s “Midnight Madness” in Louisville Live

So, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A lot has happened around Louisville since December of 2017. 14 months is the longest Louisville has gone without being ranked since Rick Pitino’s arrival in 2001.

This speaks more to the sustained success in Louisville than anything else. Mostly, however, it’s an opportunity for those around Louisville to stop and appreciate what we have. We can complain about our top 3 attendance, beer prices, and other trivial things like rankings. In the end, we are incredibly blessed to support a program that is so strong that we feel lost outside of the top 25.

Relish this moment and don’t take it for granted. The ACC cannibalizes every year. For example, Virginia Tech and Florida State have been ranked in the top 25 all year and both teams sit at or near the bottom of the conference. Louisville will take some lumps, and there’s no guarantee this stay is permanent. However, the way things are trending under Chris Mack, don’t expect to see too many more 411 day droughts.

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