Three Takeaways: Louisville basketball's ACC schedule released
It’s hard to believe, but basketball will be back in the KFC Yum! Center in just 44 days — when Louisville hosts Kansas for its first exhibition of the season.
So, with UofL basketball approaching and with the entirety of the schedule coming together after the ACC announced its conference slate on Tuesday, it’s a good time to analyze how the Cards’ conference schedule shapes up.
You can find Louisville’s complete conference schedule HERE.
Here are three things that could impact Louisville’s season from the ACC schedule release
Louisville back on ‘Big Monday’
Louisville will be featured three times in ESPN’s ‘Big Monday’ this season, which features an ACC and Big 12 game each Monday night for six consecutive weeks.
It’s a nice primetime nod for Louisville against some marquee opponents, visiting Duke and North Carolina, and then hosting North Carolina State.
New Year’s out West
Without question, the first thing that stands out is starting conference play over New Year’s out west, visiting Stanford and California. Those made the return trip last year, so it’s only right that it’s Louisville’s turn to cross the country. But, spending part of the holidays FAR away from home can pull a team in one of two directions.
The Cards will travel after Christmas before their Dec. 30/31 matchup vs Cal, then stay in the Bay Area to face Stanford a couple of days later on Jan. 2. Trips like that can be a grind, albeit Stanford and Cal should be in the lower tier of the league. Who knows? It might have the opposite effect and bring this group closer together.
There also won’t be much time for jet lag, as four days later, Louisville hosts Duke.
Playing Duke x2 before February
After the ACC home opener against the Blue Devils, there are only two and a half weeks before the two meet again on Jan. 26 at Cameron Indoor. It was already a tad peculiar that the two teams presumed to be vying for the ACC regular season were paired to play twice in the 18-game schedule. But, shouldn’t one of those games come in the season’s final month or week(s) even?
After all, it does give Louisville a tough stretch to end the season playing three of the final four games on the road — at North Carolina, Clemson, and Miami.
Louisville’s non-conference schedule is already being noted as one of the hardest in the nation, and the ACC is expected to be much improved this winter, giving the Cardinals plenty of tournament resume-building opportunities.
