Louisville basketball has faced some challenges this season, and its road is far from over. The No. 20 Cardinals are currently 15-6 overall and 5-4 in ACC play after a big-time win over SMU on Saturday afternoon. This puts the Cardinals in the No. 7 slot in the conference, far from where they want to be.
Up to this point, Louisville has had a tough schedule and has felt the repercussions. The Cardinals are 2-5 in ranked matchups and are 0-3 against ranked ACC teams. The most recent of these losses was an embarrassing 31-point loss to Duke this past Monday.
Luckily, Louisville has a stretch of non-ranked opponents that should boost its record and ranking. The next seven games for the Cards are against six unranked conference opponents, followed by one bout against Baylor, which has only two conference wins of its own.
However, after the Cardinals' stretch of confidence builders, three games will determine whether Louisville is really ready for the postseason. These will be must-win games for the Louisville squad and could really determine the team’s seeding come March.
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The Cardinals are set to face a tough three-game stretch
Louisville starts this three-game tear against a college basketball blue blood in North Carolina. The Tarheels are currently the No. 16 team in the country and look to be getting better by the week. This UNC squad is led by Caleb Wilson, who is averaging just about 20 points per game.
UNC is right above the Cardinals in the ACC standings, and they are standing in the way of Louisville’s chances of a better seed. This will also be another chance for the Cardinals to show they can hang with ranked ACC foes and that they’re ready for whatever lies ahead of them. The Cardinals need a marquee win and a road game that proves they have turned things around since that 31-point loss, and this marks that true test.
The next roadblock the Cardinals will face is No. 22 Clemson. So far this season, the Tigers have been an ACC powerhouse, sitting in second place behind Duke at 8-1 in the conference.
Clemson is one of the best defensive teams in the country, allowing opponents to score just 64.5 points per game. The Cardinals will have their hands full when they take on the Tigers right after the Tarheels, but they will need to prove they can score against anyone in the nation.
The last test on this stint will be Syracuse. The Orange is not a heavy hitter like the previous two teams, but this has all the makings of a trap game for the Cardinals. After the Cardinals' two huge road games against North Carolina and Clemson, Syracuse may just be 13-9, but they are no walkover, having beaten Tennessee, whom the Cards lost to by 21.
At this point, the Orange will have nothing to lose and will be giving Louisville their all. The Cards will have to make sure they give the same intensity they give to the other two teams, or they could lose a game they aren’t supposed to.
So, while Louisville has had an underwhelming stretch against ranked teams so far, it has a chance to redeem itself and beat a ranked UNC and Clemson team on the road and a gritty Syracuse squad at home. Winning on the road against ranked teams isn’t easy, but if the Cards want to make a run in the postseason and earn a higher seed, then Kelsey has to find a way to go at least 2-1 in this stretch.