As a fan you want this first game of the NCAA Tournament to be as drama free as it can be. Watch your team cruise to an easy win and move on to battle for a spot in the second weekend. The NCAA Tournament Committee did their part to make sure this first game was anything but drama free for Louisville. Speaking of Past. Louisville can’t seem to get away from theirs.

I have intentionally tried to stay away from all of the ”Pitino” rhetoric this week. Coach Mack said that he had tried to keep it away from his team this week. Listening to some of the comments from the open practice yesterday it doesn’t sound like these players care to much about it either. They appear to be in the moment. This team has been good at staying in the moment all season.

The Cardinals had the misfortune of facing some tough opponents in the tail end of their season, but they really didn’t get blown out in any game and held their own against the top-tier opponents for the most part. They overcame some tough losses along the way but were able to take on the season one game at a time. They’ll have to do that over the next few weeks to survive and advance.

I don’t expect this to be an easy one against the Gophers. They play hard for their Coach. His teams are known for their effective offense, and they make opponents earn points on defense. I can assure you that they will press and press some more. I respect their X’s and O’s and they also have some pretty good Jimmys and Joes. Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy are a great one/two punch for them. Murphy averages a double-double per game with 14.8 points and 11.5 rebounds. He is the kinda dude that can take one over.

Louisville will have the best player on the floor in this game. I hope that Jordan Nwora can rise to this occasion. It will be his first appearance under these bright lights. He has managed the pressure of being the ”go-to” guy this season but being the ”go-to” guy in the NCAA Tournament is a different pressure. I don’t think Minnesota has anyone that matches up well with Jordan but they’ll have a plan to slow him down.

This Louisville team has done a better job of cultivating offense in other ways than just launching bombs from the outside. But they are a live by the three and die by three type of team. It’s just who they are. Hitting that outside shot effects every aspect of their game and can even dictate their defense at times. We just have to hope they hit em.

It would be nice to see someone emerge from nowhere and get some important production. I feel like a great Tournament team always has this guy. For Louisville, I think that guy could be Akoy Agau. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him impact the game in some way. A big rebound or shot. At this point, it is so cliche to say that VJ King could have a big game. He really could have a big game and a good Tournament. He’s been playing with more confidence lately. This team is only one impact wing player away. Just sayin.

Back to Minnesota… They really didn’t look great against Michigan, but otherwise, they’ve performed pretty well lately. Still, the Gophers have had some trouble against the more stout defenses out there. This Louisville team has been solid on the defensive end of the floor lately. I think they match up well.

I just want to get past this first round game. I think this team needs to get past this first one. This game could also go a long way of moving us past that other stuff. It really is time to bury it. The program has moved on.

I love the NCAA Tournament and am glad that my Cardinals are back in the big dance. It’s going to be an event filled with drama as 65 games are played over the next three weeks. There will only be one team left standing. I hope that team is Louisville. I can hope.
Can’t I?

15-seed Norte Dame kept their season alive after defeating the 10-seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 78-71, on Tuesday afternoon. The Irish came into the ACC Men’s Tournament on a 7-game losing streak. They showed some signs of life against Tech in the first half of this game but the Irish team we’ve seen for most of the season showed up in the 2nd half and had trouble holding on for the victory.

Our Cardinals struggled down the stretch, however, they’ve clearly established themselves as one of the toughest teams in the country. We have one of the best players in the country and in the ACC. I feel like Jordan Nwora was overlooked in the ACC accolades announced Monday. But screw em. I think Jordan and this Louisville team could make a deep run this week.

I do think there is still a chance for Louisville to move themselves up a couple of lines if they have a successful ACC Tourney, but don’t think they can hurt themselves much. I do think this team would benefit from some good momentum heading into next week. Some of these guys haven’t experienced the NCAA Tournament. Would like to see them enter with some confidence.

I don’t think they’ll have any trouble in this one as I expect Notre Dame to be out of gas. They gave it all they had just to reach this game. Hope we see a lot of guys score and a lot of smiles. I’m already smiling because I love this time of year. Nothing like College Basketball in March. Just gonna take it all in.

During that time the basketball Gods have been pretty unkind to Louisville with that devastating one-point loss to them a year ago this week. Enough is enough. It’s the Cardinals turn for a win in this game?

A few weeks ago I jumped the gun and pulled out my VJ King prediction. Haven’t we all made that prediction? I had saved it up and really thought the last game against Virginia we might see something. But this team was in the midst of an offensive funk.

A funk so bad that it seen Louisville have some of their worst totals in a while scoring 59 points and a low of 49 over that three-game stretch. It was really encouraging to see them put up 75 against Notre Dame. They scored points and scored in different ways. Oh, and VJ King made his return.

VJ really looks like he has regained some confidence. He has had success playing against Virginia averaging 11.8 points and 2.8 rebounds. He scored a career-high 24 points against Virginia during his freshman season. I think he’s capable of a big game today.

Jordan also returned to form with 20 points and 11 rebounds against Notre Dame. It was good to see Malik Williams double-double for the Cardinals in that one with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Think these guys could play a big role today.

This is like a final exam for this Louisville team. They had moments this season where they looked really good and here lately have looked really bad. The live by the three die by the three mentality is fun to watch when it works out. Not so much when it doesn’t.

Maybe this team learned during that losing streak not to rely so heavily on the outside shot. Maybe they ”just learned” during this brutal conference stretch. This team should be pretty tough at this point. They’ve had a week to prepare for this finale.

Today is our day Louisville fans. VJ King will Beast out and will be proclaimed the King Slayer. This Louisville team has been solid on the road. Today we see the return of the Road Dogs. Please, basketball Gods!

In the past few weeks, the wheels have fallen off, which includes losing five of their last six and being outscored by an average of eight points. A drastic turnaround since that great run in January. The difference? During that great run, they were shooting 46.7% from the field. In the last six games shooting just 33.4 percent from the field. Things have really gotten stagnant on offense.

The good news is that we know these guys are capable of walking into any gym in the country and beating anyone. They have at least shown the ability to play at a high level. They can turn things around. Offensive woes come and go and let’s hope we left them in February.

You can’t say the same thing for Notre Dame. The Irish have pretty much been the same team all season. They’ve lost 10 of their last 12, are shooting under 40 percent from the field on the season and are shooting 38.4 percent from the field on the road.

On Sunday afternoon three Cardinals will lace them up for the final time in the Louisville locker room. They are not seniors of the traditional type but there will be a ceremony for Graduate Students Akoy Agau, Christen Cunningham, and Khwan Fore. They had some big shoes to fill following some great grad transfers from past seasons and lived up to those expectations.

In successful programs tradition never graduates and these three guys have added to that great Louisville tradition. Each playing some role in getting the program back to the NCAA Tournament. I want to thank them for deciding to spend their last season of college eligibility playing for the Cardinals. They are all great guys.

Mangok Mathiang is a Louisville basketball player that had his ups and downs on the court. In the game, before he hit this big shot he had played just 4 minutes fouling out. He was a player that took a lot of grief from the fans so it was good seeing him have his moment. The players were enjoying it too.

Reminds me of another guy who has been struggling…

As Coach Mack was pouring over old game footage preparing for this game he had to notice how VJ stood out against the Virginia pack line D. I think that he could really impact this game and hope he gets some clock.

VJ King has had a tough season and has had a career of ups and downs. But Virginia hasn’t been able to stop him. VJ is averaging 11.8 points and 2.8 rebounds against the Cavaliers in his career. He scored a career-high 24 points against Virginia during his freshman season.

Virginia is one of the best teams in the country but they have shown a chink in the armor over the last few weeks. Including a clunker that almost cost them a home loss to Notre Dame. Our Cardinals have struggled on offense as of late, however, they are still a solid club and can be especially tough at home on the defensive end. Louisville is an impressive 13-3 at home this season.

I think an unlikely hero will emerge on Saturday. I think this Louisville team needs an unexpected outing from someone. Not only for this one but to make any kind of serious run down the stretch. There have been a lot of ”the game VJ King shows up” predictions and this is mine.

This Louisville team has battled the turnover bug all season… Over the last couple of weeks that has manifested itself into late game collapse. This team has to try and put that behind them and at this point, it might be just as mental as it is fundamental. I bet Coach Mack and his staff have gone over out of bounds plays a few times this week.

Protecting the basketball won’t get any easier tonight in the Dome. Coach Boeheim’s teams are known for that stingy two-three zone defense and having those very athletic and explosive wings on offense. Things aren’t any different this season as Syracuse ranks 20th in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.397), 21st in blocked shots per game (4.9), 24th in scoring defense (64.3) and 21st in turnover margin (+3.6).

I’d love to see this Louisville team find some consistency and build some momentum after splitting their last 6 games. This team has done a good job of putting things behind them. They are resilient. They need to put the last three games behind them. Finishing this game tonight would be big. Hope our frontcourt comes to play. They will have to be active on the baseline and good passers against the zone.

It’s never a good time to go into Syracuse for a basketball game, but it gets even tougher this time of year. Cuse always has a strong kick to finish the year. The Cards will get their best effort tonight. I thought this would be one of the toughest games on our schedule and still believe that.

I’m optimistic. It’s easy to feel good when you have the best player. Tonight we have the best player. Jordan Nwora leads Louisville with an average of 17.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. He will be playing in front of some home fans tonight. Hope he gives them a show.

They’ve had the gym busting at the seems full of Cardinals fans a few times this season and have fallen just short of the big victory. For me, the Kentucky and North Carolina games come to mind. Both times were an opportunity to seize a big moment but it didn’t happen.

They’ll get one final chance next weekend with Virginia coming to town but have a chance tonight not only to seize a big moment but to pull off what would be the biggest upset of the College Basketball season with Duke in town.

From the opening tip of the season, there has been one question in College basketball: How do you stop Zion Williamson and the very talented Blue Devils? Only two teams have been able to solve that riddle this season. Since that second loss Duke has been dominant.

They are playing their best basketball of the season right now, which includes seven straight wins and outscoring teams by an average of 20 points in their last five games. On the road this season a perfect 5-0 winning by an average of 14.2 points while shooting 51.4 percent from the field.

I tried to think back when Louisville played a team this dominant in basketball. I’m reminded of the NCAA Tourney game in 2013 when the women’s team played against Brittney Griner and that Baylor team. They said that there was no way Jeff Walz and his team could pull that off but they did.

Coach Walz used what he called the ”Claw and One” in that game to stop the 6-8 Griner. He had her surrounded the whole game while the Cardinals hit a barrage of Three-Point shots.

You have to think the Men’s team has a similar strategy planned tonight and that Coach Mack has installed some kind of gimmick D to slow down Zion Williamson. The trouble with Duke is if you slow him down what do you do with RJ Barrett who is averaging 23.1 points and 7.2 rebounds a game.

Our Cardinals have split their last four games and are still looking for that statement victory. They got a wake-up call on Saturday in Tallahassee. Players mentioning after the game that they had got ”too comfortable” breaking team’s pressure. They will play against a long, athletic, fast, physical defense tonight.

The turnover bug can’t show its ugly head tonight for the Cardinals to have a chance. You have to think it’s going to take a lot of scoring and every possession will be important. Gotta think that we’ll need a lot of three-point buckets as well.

Tonight it’s about stepping up to the challenge and executing a great game plan. Would love to see Jordan Nwora have a big night. He’s been great but just like this team don’t think he’s had that one big statement this season. He’ll have to be big for the Cardinals to have a chance.

Here we are again. Primetime College Basketball game. Another chance for this Louisville team to get a bigtime win and seize a big moment for the Yum Center crowd. Let’s hope the blackout doesn’t end up a somber occasion. I can’t wait for the tip. Enjoy it, folks!

This Florida State team is playing some of their best basketball of the season. They play solid on the defensive end of the floor ranked 79th in FG% defense and 55th in steals per game. They are a physical team and crash the glass ranked 57th in rebound margin.

When you have to play a hard-nosed defensive and physical team on the road it’s going to be a challenge. To add to that challenge Florida State is also pretty good at getting the ball to the basket. They got six guys who can score consistently at every level.

Florida State is running into a pretty good Cardinal Basketball team. They have been really good on the road this season where they are winning games by an average of 12 points this season. They have won 4 of their last five ACC Road Trips.

The Cardinals defensive numbers have been trending upward over the last few weeks. Now up to 71st in the country in FG% Defense and up to 98th in the country in 3pt FG% defense. They have also become more consistent on the offensive end of the floor now one of the Top 55 teams in the country in scoring offense…

Our guys are finding ways to score even when Jordan is being kept in check by teams. Dwayne Sutton has been a beast. And CC has been running the offense like the seasoned veteran he is. I really don’t know where this team would be without these guys. Steven, Malik, and Ryan are also averaging 8 points a game during this stretch.

This Louisville team seems to play much looser and freely away from the Yum Center. For some reason, this team still gets the Home Game jitters. They have been all business away from the Yum Center and I really think they’ll match up well with FSU on Saturday afternoon.

Louisville has been the more consistent team and the Seminoles have failed a few times this year to raise their game against quality competition and is just 4-7 against the spread this season at home. I expect a battle but one that the Cardinals will win. Enjoy it, folks!