Selection Sunday for the 2021 NCAA men’s basketball tournament is now less than two weeks away. That means Louisville basketball only has a limited amount of time to improve their resume before they learn where their fate lies.
After a canceled 2020 tourney, this year brings a ton of excitement to the table in what will be a very controlled setting compared to most tournaments.
This year, all 67 games will be played in the state of Indiana with most taking place in Indianapolis.
Louisville only has two regular season matchups remaining before the ACC tournament gets kicked off on Mar. 9. Now seems like as good of a time as ever to analyze where Louisville is projecting to be slotted at “the big dance.”
What is the “Bracketology” saying about Louisville basketball?
CBS Sports – 8-seed
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports lists Louisville as an 8-seed projected to play against San Diego St. (9-seed) in the first round of the tournament. This listed projection would slate the Cardinals in for a potential matchup against 1-seeded Baylor in the second round.
USA Today – 10-seed
This projection lists Louisville in the “South” region facing Creighton. A potential second round matchup would put the Cardinals against Iowa which would be about as bad of a matchup possible given the loss of Malik Williams. Being a high at-large seed, there will be no easy road for the Cardinals to make a deep run. A gauntlet of very difficult opponents is very likely.
ESPN – 10-seed (last updated 2/26)
This update came before Louisville’s big win over Duke on Saturday evening so a rise is certainly possible here. In this scenario, the Cardinals would play against Florida in the first round with a potential second round date against West Virginia in the cards. Joe Lunardi has been doing this for a long time and is one of the best in his field at projecting how the field will shake out before Selection Sunday even transpires.
Overall
Louisville is on the rise seeding-wise coming off two big ACC victories. They’re not quite on that bubble line, but an end-of-season meltdown could change that in a hurry. Attempting to project the opponent is a tough strategy to pull off with so many unknowns still remaining.
With tournament time coming, we will be sure to keep you updated with any and all future “Bracketology” projections for Louisville.