Madness to sadness: Louisville basketball’s season comes to an end

As soon as it began… it was over. Louisville basketball’s NCAA tournament “run” only lasted 1 game. Adding insult to injury, the loss was at the hands of Pitino Jr. This feeling flat out sucks.

There really is no way around it. This is technically a game recap, but I’m sure none of us need a play by play of what transpired earlier today in Iowa for Louisville basketball. We’re probably going to try to forget this game as fast as possible.

That may be the worst part of all this: no one is gonna let this go. We’re going to have to not only stomach the loss, but deal with the fact that in 5 years people will still be saying “remember when Chris Mack got busted by Richard Pitino in the first round?”

Something us fans have dealt with a lot the past few years is letdown. Chris Mack arrived and we started having fun again, before he’d even coached a game for the Cardinals. Then the team started playing well, and exceeding expectations. Finally we had something to cheer about.

This loss brings back that feeling of a “dark cloud” over our head. Forget the fact that this team was projected 11th in the conference, out of the tournament, and supposed to be resigned to a long painful rebuild.

I wrote once before about the Cards being ahead of schedule. That’s still true. And I thought about waiting until tomorrow to write this article. But this emotion is something that needs expressing. Card Nation is passionate about their hoops, and I am no exception.

Of course Minnesota hit their three’s today. Of course they rebounded well today. Why couldn’t they just keep missing? This is March, and as a Louisville fan it feels like we’ve had so much taken from us, that we’re almost owed something in return.

But nothing is given, everything is earned. And there is something to be said for the Cards taking everything in stride in what was a tough transition as a program. This team earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, earned a 7 seed, and earned 20 wins in Mack’s first year as head coach. Doesn’t sound like a dark cloud to me.

Now I know it feels that way, especially less than 24 hours after the seasons end. Soon though, we’ll be able to look at this year on a broad spectrum and see that it went better than most expected. You never know how things are going to turn out, and that can be scary. The success of the Louisville basketball program seems like just yesterday, yet feels like forever ago at the same time.

I said it in the beginning and I’ll say it again: this sucks. There’s no way around it – losing in the first round basically ruins the rest of March. Hell, it ruins the whole summer, up until another basketball season starts. This off season carries many reasons for optimism, but being an optimistic Louisville fan hasn’t really worked out lately.

Over the course of writing this and letting the feelings out, I’m still upset about the loss. It always stings to lose in March – especially so early – and the narrative of this one is irritating for many reasons. But even so, as a passionate Louisville fan, I am excited for what’s to come.

In the end, what Coach Mack was able to do with a team of guys who didn’t exactly fit his system in his first year, was admirable. If it takes you until next season to start to feel good about Louisville basketball again, that’s okay. Most of us are almost afraid to get excited.

We all know how great the recruiting class coming in is. We know Mack can coach, and we’re anxious to see what he can do with guys he hand picked to fit his system. Right now though we’re just disappointed with how the season ended, and not really interested in looking to the future with hopefulness. I feel y’all, I’m hurt.

As a fan who has the privilege to be able to share my feelings and perspective with the fan base, I try not to be too far on one side of the spectrum. Some fans get over losses more quickly than others, but as I’ve said CardNation is passionate – we tend to take losses to heart. We love our Cardinal basketball, and when it comes down to it we all just want to see the program succeed.

To wrap this up, deal with this loss in whatever way works for you. I’m not here to tell you how to fan. At the end of the day change is tough, and adjustments take time to be made and pieces put in the right places. We can only wait and hope that the future will be as bright as advertised. One thing that stays the same, it’s always Go Cards.