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Louisville basketball: Three options for the ACC to have a season

By Presley Meyer

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - DECEMBER 28: Chris Mack the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals gives instructions to his team against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena on December 28, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - DECEMBER 28: Chris Mack the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals gives instructions to his team against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena on December 28, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MARCH 17: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Louisville Cardinals shouts against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 17, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MARCH 17: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Louisville Cardinals shouts against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 17, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

The “Rick Pitino Method”

All teams play conference-only beginning in January

Are we suggesting leadership should take advice from the Twitter account of a man who detested social media for decades? Yes, yes we are.

Because, like most Twitter users, we are all mostly full of sh*t anyways. But anyone, especially Rick Pitino, can be credited for giving some sound advice on the internet’s hellscape once in a blue moon.

Pitino took to the interweb to share with his “Pitweetos” that he felt strongly the NCAA’s best course of action was to push the season back.

“Suggestion to the NCAA, push the start of the season back to January and only play league games,” the social media savant said. “Buy some more time for a vaccine and to get things under control. Although I can’t wait to be back on the sidelines, the health of my players and staff is what’s really important.”

Pitino was right five weeks ago, and as the season nears closer, it is becoming more and more apparent.

And who better to make these sort of suggestions than the man who took over a program that is smack dab in the middle of the area, New Rochelle, New York, that was hit harder than any other place in the United States.

Pitino did not make his way to Long Island until things were safer, but faculty, players, staff, and others in his ear every day saw the dangers of COVID-19 firsthand.

Just like Pitino, all Louisville basketball fans, and college sports fans as a whole, are starving to see their teams back in action- But, at what cost?

Pitino’s strategy would give Louisville and the ACC time to recalibrate, play things safe, and still generate plenty of revenue on the back end.

A conference-only season would keep teams relatively in the best areas, preserve the majority of important TV contracts, still create interesting match-ups, and still salvage the entirety of March Madness.

Two months of non-conference basketball is not a massive sacrifice if we can be much more certain that college basketball is coming back safely.

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