As the NCAA Tournament tips off Thursday, Louisville basketball fans won’t have much time to sit back and enjoy it. For the second year under Pat Kelsey, the Cardinals draw an early window, tipping off at 1:30 against the South Florida Bulls. The Bulls come in as American Athletic regular-season and tournament champions, riding an 11-game winning streak. Louisville has announced it will be without superstar guard Mikel Brown Jr. for the weekend, but is still hoping to avoid the same fate it suffered last year.
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Louisville will have a full week’s rest after losing its quarterfinal matchup against the Miami Hurricanes men's basketball last Thursday in the ACC Tournament. That should be viewed as a positive, especially if the extra time helps everyone recover from a long season. As a 6 vs. 11 matchup in the East Region, this is far from a gimme. An 11 seed has upset a 6 seed in 20 straight tournaments, making it the most frequent first-round upset at nearly 39%.
With Louisville now being without Brown, the game likely sits closer to 50/50 than the spread might indicate. If the Cardinals are going to avoid the upset, they’ll need to play a strong, complete game against a very quality opponent. Here are five reasons why Louisville will do exactly that and move on to the second round for the first time under Kelsey.