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Louisville basketball: 5 things I learned from Chris Mack

By Jacob Lane

DES MOINES, IOWA - MARCH 21: Head coach Chris Mack of the Louisville basketball program looks on during their game in the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
DES MOINES, IOWA - MARCH 21: Head coach Chris Mack of the Louisville basketball program looks on during their game in the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK – MARCH 10: Larry Davis #11 of the Cincinnati Bearcats passes around Preston Knowles #2 of the Louisville Cardinals during the second round of 2010 NCAA Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 10, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – MARCH 10: Larry Davis #11 of the Cincinnati Bearcats passes around Preston Knowles #2 of the Louisville Cardinals during the second round of 2010 NCAA Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 10, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Adding Cincinnati to the schedule in 2020-21 is a big deal

Louisville basketball fans, including myself, have been longing for quite some time for the University to find a way to get the Cincinnati basketball program back on the schedule for good. It’s been since 2014, the first and only year with Louisville in the AAC, since the two programs met in a game with a pretty memorable ending after meeting annually for decades prior.

Since the rivalry came to a screeching halt, a lot has changed. Gone from Cincinnati is Mick Cronin, replaced by former Northern Kentucky head coach John Brannen, who just so happens to be a very close friend of Coach Mack dating back to their college days.

Coach Mack told us:

“I’ve heard from the very beginning of my time here at Louisville that was a game that fans wanted…I’ve been great friends with John Brannen, UC’s head coach, for a long long time. There’s a history between he and I. Fortunately, we sort of share the same feelings when it comes to playing friends. Some coaches don’t want to play friends. I think we’re able to separate how we feel about each other and our families for one night…It’s a natural rivalry we think it’s a great two-year series.”

This will be the 100th time that the two programs have gone head-to-head with Louisville leading the all-time series at 53-43, and Coach Mack certainly hopes to keep that going. His familiarity not only with Cincinnati but with Brannen should put the Cards at an advantage this year, especially as the Bearcats push through a youth movement,

While adding Cincinnati is a huge move for both programs it does comes at the cost of moving the Armed Forces Classic vs. Oklahoma State to 2021-22 and missing out on an early opportunity for a primetime game on a major network. Mack told us that the programs plan to pick things back up in 2021-22 when “things get back to normal” but regardless of how it all shook out, adding a school that shares a special rivalry with Louisville and Coach Mack is a big win for the schedule.

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