The University of Louisville men’s basketball team will face 2019 national runner-up Texas Tech in the 25th Annual Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Indiana will play UConn also in the doubleheader held in conjunction with V Week.
Louisville and Texas Tech are ranked No. 8 and No. 16, respectively, in ESPN’s latest “Way-Too-Early Top 25.” Texas Tech produced a school-record 31 victories (31-7 record) in the 2018-19 season, which culminated in the NCAA title game where the Red Raiders fell in overtime to Virginia. Texas Tech also won the program’s first Big 12 Conference regular season championship with a 14-4 league mark.
UofL Coach Chris Mack guided Louisville to a 20-14 record in his first season with the Cardinals while facing the nation’s fourth-toughest schedule. Picked to finish 11th in the ACC, UofL achieved a 10-8 conference record and earned a tie for sixth in the final regular season standings. The Cardinals, which will welcome a top 10 signing class this year, beat four Associated Press Top 25 teams and were No. 22 in the nation in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
UofL will be making its third appearance in the Jimmy V Classic. The Cardinals beat Indiana 94-74 in the 2014 Jimmy V Classic (12-9-14) and fell 72-65 to Arizona in the 2006 event (12-6-06). It will be the first meeting between UofL and Texas Tech.
Game times for the event will be set later.
“We are thrilled to welcome Indiana, Louisville, Texas Tech and UConn to this year’s Classic,” said Pete Derzis, ESPN senior vice president of college sports programming and ESPN Events. “The legacy of Jim Valvano and the work of the V Foundation continue to be honored through this event, and we look forward to bringing fans two great matchups as we raise funds and awareness for cancer research.”
The 2018 V Week for Cancer Research set a new record, helping raise more than $8.3 million for the V Foundation for Cancer Research – representing an 83% increase from 2017. ESPN engaged new partners and created innovative fundraising and awareness-building campaigns, which ran from Nov. 27 – Dec. 8, and educated fans on the importance of cancer research. Additionally, ESPN created the Tyler Trent Fund at the V Foundation for Cancer Research to support cancer research for adolescents and young adults. Over the past 12 years, V Week fundraising has totaled over $30 million for cancer research.
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