Louisville basketball is about to enter its final stretch of games in the regular season, with just eight games remaining. The Cardinals have won six of their last seven games and have rattled off four straight, including their eye-opening 41-point victory over North Carolina State.
Louisville’s win over the Wolfpack had major implications in the ACC standings, as NC State is the No. 4 seed in the standings. The Cardinals' final eight games are a challenging group, as they will face Miami, North Carolina, Clemson, and SMU all on the road, but when the Cards fans look at the standings, they will see this gives Pat Kelsey and Louisville huge opportunities to climb the standings.
After Louisville’s win over NC State and Miami’s win over North Carolina last night, there have been quite a few changes in the ACC standings. So, let's break down the current ACC standings and where the Cardinals sit.
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Louisville currently has an 18-6 overall record and an 8-4 ACC record. Louisville’s four-game winning streak has helped the Cardinals climb the seeding as they now sit No. 6 in the ACC, two spots behind that coveted four-seed, which earns the double-bye in the ACC Tournament.
Right now, as of Feb. 11 at 2:30 p.m. local time, the ACC standings are led by the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils, who are 11-1 in conference play, and 22-2 overall. Behind Duke is the Clemson Tigers with a 10-1 conference record and Virginia with a 10-2 conference record. Right now, it seems unlikely for Louisville to jump into that top three, as they are 2.5 games back from Clemson and 2.0 games back from Virginia. However, if the Cardinals can win out, they would need the Tigers to lose just one other game for Louisville to jump Clemson, as that would mean the Cards beat Clemson.
After Louisville’s win over NC State, they hold the head-to-head over the Wolfpack and are just one game behind North Carolina State for that coveted four-seed. The Cardinals have a clear path to the four-seed as NC State still has to play Miami, North Carolina, and Duke. Behind the Wolfpack is Miami, which is currently just a half-game ahead of Louisville.
Behind Miami and the Cardinals is now North Carolina after their loss to the Hurricanes last night. UNC sits 19-5 overall and 7-4 in ACC games, and behind North Carolina is SMU at 6-5 in conference games and 17-7 overall.
The ACC race is heating up for those top four seeds, and Louisville will have the opportunity to climb in the standings, but they have to overcome their recent struggles against ranked teams. The Cards are 1-4 against current ranked teams, and with UNC and Clemson ranked in the top 25, those games stand out as two huge games.
Pat Kelsey has this Cardinals squad right in the mix for a top-four seed, but the Cardinals' schedule is challenging. Louisville has to face four of these top eight teams, and all are on the road. The Cardinals face SMU first on Feb. 17, then North Carolina on Feb. 23, Clemson on Feb. 28, and Miami on March 7.
It won't be an easy path to a top-four seed, but Kelsey has this group in position to go on a run.
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Louisville takes on Baylor in a non-conference showdown this Saturday at 4 p.m. local time.