The Louisville Cardinals are one of the hottest teams in the nation, as they just improved their win streak to double digits, 10, and improved to 16-5.
After a disappointing 6-5 start, Pat Kelsey and his squad have been lighting the floor up and dominating their opponents, specifically the ACC. Cardinals are tied for second in the ACC right now and are just behind Cooper Flagg and his Duke Blue Devils.
The red and black are on pace to be a top five seed in March Madness and continue to climb in all rankings. Joe Lunardi is one of the most reliable March Madness predictors and has been reliable for ESPN and all of college basketball fans for many years.
In his most recent prediction, the Cardinals moved up a seed, and it sets up a fiery matchup in the elite eight.
Joe Lunardi predicts Louisville basketball and fiery rivalry in March
Cardinals are being slightly overlooked, as Lunardi predicts them to be a five seed, but if Louisville can keep this win streak going, they will certainly keep climbing in the seeding.
Lunardi predicts UofL to go up against McNeese in the first round in the sneaky 5v12matchup. If the Cardinals can get past McNeese, they would most likely face Oregon, and Auburn.
It is then possible in the Elite Eight they would face the Kentucky Wildcats if both teams were able to handle their business.
Lunardi kept the Wildcats the same from his last projection, but it makes up for a fun fantasy for these rival schools to square off in an Elite Eight showdown. These two programs saw each other back in December, where Kentucky secured a 93-85 victory. However, the Cardinals loss to their rival sparked the team as they haven’t loss since.
This rivalry is one of the biggest rivalries in all of college athletics, and a meeting in March would give sport fans a smile. There are tons of history between these two schools as the first meeting was in 1913, where Kentucky won 34-10. The two schools have played each other every season since 1984, as Kentucky leads the series 40-17.
The rivalry has been seen in March Madness six times, and Lunardi predicts it to be the seventh, where Kentucky leads the March Madness series 4-2. The most rememberable March Madness battle between these two schools was Kentucky 69-61 victory in the 2012 Final Four to secure a Wildcats national championship birth.
The most recent matchup in March madness was in 2014, where Kentucky won 74-69 in the Sweet Sixteen to move on to the Elite Eight.
Pat Kelsey has sparked a fire in this Cardinals team since that Wildcat loss, and a rematch in the Elite Eight would be a matchup College Basketball fans would want to see.