Louisville basketball is taking on the Syracuse Orange this evening, a game in which the Cardinals are heavy favorites. The story of the night is that 5-star guard Mikel Brown Jr. is out after reinjuring his back against North Carolina, which forced him to come off the bench and play just 21 minutes against Clemson in the Cards' loss to the Tigers.
With Louisville falling to the Tigers, the Cards now sit 20-9 on the season, 9-7 in conference play, and are unranked for the first time this season. The Cards had quite a disappointing February, starting red-hot with a 41-point win over North Carolina State, but after that game, they went 2-3, including three straight road losses.
The Cards continue to struggle on the road and against good teams, and with the regular season coming to an end, if Pat Kelsey wants to make any sort of a run, Louisville will have to change something, as this glaring stat makes it appear the Cards aren’t going to go very far in March.
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Louisville basketball must make a change if they want to go on a run in March
Kelsey recently stated on his press conference yesterday that “a leopard doesn’t change his spots this late in the season,” but if the Cardinals want to make some noise in the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, something has to change.
The Cards currently hold the worst record against Quad 1A teams of the teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament.
Worst Quadrant 1A records in the projected NCAAT field:
— Made For March (@madeformarch) March 2, 2026
Louisville 0-8
Villanova 0-5
SMU 0-5
Clemson 0-3
Texas 1-8
Arkansas 1-7
BYU 1-6
Iowa 1-6
Louisville sits 0-8 against Quad 1A teams, and they haven’t been that close of games as the Cards lost by 31 to Duke, lost by 21 to Tennessee, and were down by as much as 25, lost by 9 to Arkansas, and trailed by 20, lost by 11 to Duke, but trailed by as much as 14, lost by 9 to Virginia but trailed by 14, lost by three to North Carolina but trailed by 16, lost by 5 to Clemson but trailed by 15, and lost by 10 to SMU and trailed by 12.
It is also worth noting that the Louisville Cardinals are 0-3 against the other seven teams listed.
So, if Louisville wants to go on any sort of a run, this record strongly indicates something must change. Whether that is to take Isaac McKneely out of the starting lineup, give Vangelis Zougris more minutes over Aly Khalifa, or shortening the rotation, but the Cards have to get a spark as they play at No. 22 Miami on Saturday, and then the ACC Tournament starts March 10, and Selection Sunday is March 15.
Related: Louisville basketball needs to have an honest conversation about its rotation
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