Louisville basketball suffers another crushing loss on the road as the Cardinals fall 80-75. The Cardinals on the road continue to struggle, and when all the fans thought this team was peaking at the right time after their five-game win streak, all of a sudden, Louisville has lost two straight and three of its last four.
The Cardinals had one of the highest expectations entering the season, sitting at No. 11 in the preseason AP Poll, and had the sixth-highest odds to win the National Title. However, this team hasn’t lived up to expectations, sitting 20-9 on the season, including 9-7 in conference games.
Today’s loss stings for many reasons, as it most likely means Louisville will get a normal bye in the ACC Tournament and not earn that double-bye. But the reality is really beginning to sink in just how high this team's ceiling is.
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Louisville basketball facing uncomfortable truth as March arrives
Louisville fans had incredibly high expectations entering this season, and many predicted this was the team that would not only break the Cardinals' eight-year drought without an NCAA Tournament win, but also their Final Four drought since 2013. The Cards were up there with Duke in the preseason as many thought this was going to be a two-team race at the top of the ACC, but now that it is officially March, the Cardinals fans are accepting Louisville’s fate in the NCAA Tournament.
Louisville has had one glaring flaw this season, and that is when they face quality opponents. While the Cardinals are able to dominate and beat the teams they are clearly better than, Louisville’s record against Quad 1A teams continues to stand out.
The Cards are 0-8 in Quad 1A games, and are 0-6 against current ranked teams. When looking deeper at these eight games, while the Cardinals lost by single digits to Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, and Clemson, they consistently go down big in these big-time games, as they trailed Tennessee by 25, Arkansas by 20, Duke by 14, Virginia by 14, North Carolina by 16, and today they trailed Clemson by 15.
Entering the season, Louisville fans expected to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Now, with Louisville likely to be a 6-seed or maybe even lower in the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals' fans are just hoping they can end their NCAA Tournament winless drought. And if they earn that first NCAA Tournament win since 2017, they will likely face a Quad 1A team in the second round, which the track record shows doesn’t favor the Cardinals.
So, with March finally here, the Cardinals' ceiling appears to be around the second round right now. Anyone can get hot, and crazy things happen in the NCAA Tournament, that is why it is called March Madness, but Louisville’s 0-8 record against Quad 1A teams and 0-6 record against ranked teams doesn’t have the Cardinals fans confident for a Final Four run.