The Louisville Cardinals have started the 2019 ACC campaign 3-1. But it’s been an up and down 3-1. Louisville is a road OT loss to Pittsburgh away from being 4-0 in league play. As it stands the Cards are in a 5-way tie for 2nd in the ACC.

UofL will travel to Georgia Tech on Saturday and typically bring a large contingent to Atlanta (the same group of Cards fans who previously would travel to DePaul now travel to GT) with a big shot at starting ACC play with a 4-1 start. Pittsburgh, UofL’s lone loss, got its 2nd win in 2 years in the ACC when the Panthers pulled the upset over #11 Florida State.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is WILD. Virginia and Duke stand alone at the top, a cut above the rest of the field. But even Duke seems beatable and currently have a number of health concerns on its roster. Where does that leave UofL? It’s really too early to tell where the Cards might be in the pecking order. Louisville is in the mix for a double bye currently. But Florida State, the #11 team in the country is 1-3 in league play and took a brutal loss to Duke at the buzzer this past weekend.

Projecting out, Virginia likely will earn the #1 seed with Duke close behind with the #2 spot. #3-#9 might go down to the final weekend. Virginia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, Syracuse, NC State, Florida State, and Notre Dame all seems to be in and around the same territory trading blows and looking ahead will have every opportunity to establish a clear 2nd tier in the league.

But the good news is that in the standings and in the computer rankings Louisville Basketball is inching closer and closer to being back in the national conversation. Chris Mack and this Louisville squad continue to play solid basketball. There have been mishaps where we don’t recognize who we are watching (Kentucky, Pittsburgh) and then this team will beat Michigan State and North Carolina.

In the end, this team is still establishing its identity. The defense continues to improve and perhaps it needed a loss where everyone was responsible for allowing a blow by in order for this team to get the message that Mack’s Pack Line Defense will not work if this team can not keep its man in front of them. But when the shots are falling and guys are dialed in we’ve seen this team beat the brakes off North Carolina, pull off an early upset against Michigan State, compete hard against Tennessee when this team was still coming together…… and we’ve also seen the slow starts and some disappointing performances.

Ahead for Louisville there are 4 more games where the Cards figure to be favorites or relatively even on paper: Georgia Tech, NC State, Pitt and Wake Forest. If UofL finishes this stretch 7-1 or 6-2 fans should feel good about this team’s prospects headed into the February and eventually the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. If the Cards are 5-3, 4-4 or worse at the end of the next 4 then we’ll be looking down a very difficult road of a 4-game stretch: North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Duke…… and we haven’t even mentioned Virginia yet (Cards will play the Cavs twice).

On Saturday if the Cards can win in Atlanta versus Georgia Tech it should earn its first ranking since November 27, 2017. But they’ll need to stack wins to stay there.

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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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