Louisville basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. Syracuse

Let’s try this again. Louisville basketball will look to bounce back after an embarrassing loss to Clemson. We serve up some bold predictions for the Cards vs. ‘Cuse.

You know what’s not a bold prediction or statement? Saying that losing streaks suck. It’s true (inserts Dwight Schrute gif) and the back-to-back losses have made the last week of watching Louisville basketball extremely frustrating (but not enough to @ a player.. Folks, never @ a player on social media).

As if a loss to Josh Pastner and Georgia Tech wasn’t enough of a kick to the gut the Cards followed it up by taking an absolute drumming to Clemson in a game where Chris Mack got a little too big for his britches when it came to sending a message via lineup changes.

Even after being benched down the stretch against Georgia Tech, for whatever reasons, the decision to replace Jordan Nwora with Sam Williamson can be described as nothing short of a failure and possibly played into not only his off night but the entire teams.

After 10-straight wins where we saw Louisville find ways to win, even when they dug holes for themselves early, the Cards just didn’t have enough in the tank to get themselves in a spot to make the game competitive.

While the losses hurt us as fans, they really didn’t affect the projected seeding of Louisville in the NCAA Tournament as much as I expected, although they did likely end any chance of securing a no. 1 seed. As I wrote this week, the Cards have only slipped one or two spots while remaining in the top 15 in the rankings, and still in contention for first place. Due to them avoiding any major stains on their resume prior to the back-to-back losses, they still find themselves in the position to be able to find solid footing in the seed placement that could even allow for more favorable matchups.

Chris Mack acknowledged that blame from Saturday’s loss should be placed on him and that he and his staff still had work to do.

“It’s my fault. I have to figure it out. We as a coaching staff have to figure it out. Generally, it looks like we’re not playing for anything. Really frustrating. But it’s my job to figure it out, and I’ve failed so far,” Mack said.

Now heading into a matchup with Syracuse, another struggling ACC opponent capable of pulling off a win, Mack and his team will look to bounce back and prove that the wheels aren’t falling off. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few bold predictions for the Cards.