With conference play looming, David Padgett is about to be really tested as the interim head coach at Louisville. His team looks primed to be one of the biggest busts of the season, even if that will come with an asterisk of sorts.
Being on the wrong end of a 90-61 game against your arch-rival, even while on the road, will do that. Especially when your team has already fallen from the national rankings (for what they are worth).
When last season ended, most figured Louisville would be a national title contender given that they didn’t lose anyone significant as an early entrant to the NBA Draft. Not as much was expected of last season’s team, but they won 25 games en route to another NCAA Tournament bid, with a second round loss. Along the way, they won the Battle 4 Atlantis. They were fresh off a self-imposed postseason ban from the escort sex scandal, which had some wondering if their national championship in 2013 could end up being vacated.
All of these expectations came before Brian Bowen signed, which happened very late – early June, well after the spring signing period ended (and letters signed then are non-binding). That only added to how good this team was thought to be.
As we know, things changed drastically in late September when the FBI investigation pointed at the program and Bowen in particular. Rick Pitino is now gone, and this is a big-time distraction for the team. It’s also one that makes anyone wonder just how well this team will ultimately perform, which we’re seeing now. Save for Indiana and Memphis, this team has faltered in all of their toughest games, and even their blowout win of Siena was one where they weren’t all that impressive in the first half.
Louisville had won six straight entering Friday’s rivalry tilt at Rupp Arena, but it’s not like the Cardinals looked every bit the national title contender they were once thought to be capable of being. They beat Indiana and Memphis – two teams not thought of as NCAA Tournament locks by a long shot – by nine points each. Losses to Purdue and Seton Hall dropped them out of the polls.
And then came the latter part of the first half of Friday, when the Cardinals fell apart after hanging with the Wildcats for a while. The game basically ended with a thud for the Cardinals, and against a Kentucky team that the jury is out on. Yes, the Wildcats were at home, but the Cardinals simply were not competitive against a team that is more of an unknown than anything.
Louisville enters ACC play with three of their first five games on the road. They did not get a top 100 win in non-conference play, with the wins most likely to increase in value and possibly become such wins being Indiana and America East contender Albany. Memphis’ RPI is closer to 200 than 100, so the Tigers have a ways to go to make that win more valuable for Louisville. None of those teams would be locks for the NCAA Tournament if it were to begin today.
The ACC will offer plenty of opportunities for good wins – as of now only four ACC schools have an RPI with three digits – but what the Cardinals have done to date doesn’t suggest they surely have a bunch of wins over the better ACC teams in them. And with that, the Cardinals could be the season’s biggest bust, even accounting for the off-court matters that changed everything for this team.
Side Dishes
You think Kansas is vulnerable in the Big 12, do you? Well, the Jayhawks took care of business in fine fashion in their opener, beating Texas 92-86 in Austin. The Jayhawks look more like a one-note team than before, putting up 35 three-pointers on the night, but they hit 17 of them, and that will always give a team a chance to win. Also in Big 12 openers, West Virginia beat Oklahoma State 85-79 and Texas Tech blew out Baylor 77-53 for the only home win on the night.
Pac-12 play also got underway with four games and a split of home and road teams winning. The big ones, though, were the road winners: USC losing to Washington 88-81 in Los Angeles and Utah beating Oregon 66-56 in Eugene. USC had just won the Diamond Head Classic at the beginning of the week.
A stunner in conference openers yesterday came in the Sun Belt, where Coastal Carolina annihilated preseason favorite UT Arlington 90-65. While Coastal was at home and a win would not have been a surprise, a 25-point margin is an outright shocker.
Minnesota is expecting a boost for their game against Harvard on Saturday, as guard Nate Mason could be back after his ankle injury hasn’t appeared to be as serious as first thought. The senior went down a week earlier against Florida Atlantic and needed help to the locker room, but has looked like he might be ready to go as the team came back from Christmas break. The Golden Gophers have also been without junior guard Dupree McBrayer the last two games due to a lower left leg injury and hope to get him back soon as well.
Instant replay is a given for certain calls in basketball now, and in other sports, replay assisted by someone not on the field has at times come under fire. The SEC is about to find out how this combination works, as on Saturday they will utilize an upgraded system for instant replay that will utilize personnel from conference headquarters. This comes after the NCAA approved an experimental rule that the SEC requested allowing for this kind of setup. The conference has named Terry Moore, a long-time NCAA official, to the newly-created position of Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Replay to lead this effort. Those interested in more information about this can check out an FAQ the conference office put together along with the release.
A couple of season-ending shoulder injuries slipped through Friday’s news, and neither is good for the respective teams. UConn will again miss Alterique Gilbert for the remainder of the season, and Maryland will be without Justin Jackson as well with shoulder injuries. For Gilbert, it’s the latest in a series of such injuries that has to raise some long-term concerns about him. The Huskies have already had a non-descript non-conference run, mostly without Gilbert. Maryland’s hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament take a significant blow with Jackson gone for the remainder of the season.
Tonight’s Menu
Conference play is here, and so are packed Saturdays as this one will set the tone for the rest of the way.
- In ACC play, Wake Forest travels to Chapel Hill to play North Carolina (noon), then a trio of games tips at 2 p.m. as Florida State visits Duke, Notre Dame hosts Georgia Tech and Virginia hosts Boston College. The slate is completed by 4 p.m. tips of Miami at Pittsburgh and NC State at Clemson.
- In American Athletic Conference action, Wichita State plays its first ever conference game at UConn (noon) and Temple goes to Houston (6 p.m.)
- The Big 12 has a dandy on tap as TCU hosts Oklahoma (2 p.m.)
- Big East play is highlighted by Butler hosting Villanova (4 p.m.)
- CAA play begins with a showdown of expected contenders as preseason favorite College of Charleston hosts Towson (4 p.m.)
- Conference USA has a couple of good ones on tap, starting with a battle of contenders as UAB hosts Middle Tennessee (5 p.m.) and Marshall hosts Louisiana Tech later on (7 p.m.)
- There’s only one Missouri Valley game on tap, but it’s a good one as Evansville visits Loyola (Ill.) (4 p.m.)
- The last game of the day is one that is unfortunately not nationally televised as UNLV opens their Mountain West slate hosting Boise State (11 p.m.)
- Pac-12 play gets underway with a pair of rivalry games: Arizona State at Arizona (9 p.m.) and Cal at Stanford (10 p.m.)
- SEC openers on the day begin with Tennessee at Arkansas (1 p.m.), then Vanderbilt goes to Florida (4 p.m.) and Alabama hosts Texas A&M (6 p.m.)
- Southern Conference play opens up on Saturday as well, with the highlight being Wofford at UNC Greensboro (5 p.m.)
- West Coast Conference play has a dandy as Brigham Young hosts Saint Mary’s (4 p.m.)
- There are still a few non-conference games on tap, with the best ones coming in the Midwest as Harvard goes to Minnesota (2 p.m.), Illinois hosts Grand Canyon (4 p.m.) and Purdue hosts Lipscomb (8 p.m.)
