Louisville basketball is hosting a non-conference bubble

Louisville is set to host a non-conference bubble to open the college basketball season.

UofL head coach Chris Mack announced this morning that the city of Louisville will host a bubble from Nov. 25 through Dec. 5 consisting of 8-12 teams and 3-5 games per team.

“Hey D1’s – Get Your Games Here,” Mack wrote on Twitter. “Louisville Non Conference Bubble. Nov 25-Dec 5. 8-12 Teams. 3-5 games per team. Lodging. Medical Protocols. Spots filling fast.”

Hey D1’s – Get Your Games Here
Louisville Non Conference Bubble
Nov 25-Dec 5
8-12 Teams
3-5 games per team
Lodging ✔️
Medical Protocols ✔️
Spots filling fast.
Let’s Gooooooooooooooo!!!!!

— Chris Mack (@CoachChrisMack) September 18, 2020

Back in August, Kentucky head coach John Calipari expressed interest in bubble environments for the 2020-21 college basketball season. After noting that he was interested in a round-robin Champions Classic bubble with Kentucky taking on Duke, Kansas and Michigan State, he also specifically discussed a bubble featuring Louisville.

“With basketball, we’re talking 12 players, a party of 20. I think the bubble or a pod, it’s been shown to work now,” said Calipari. “Do you have multiple bubbles or pods? Do we go and play the Champions Classic in a bubble, without fans, and we play each other? We all play each other round-robin? We could walk away with three games [played].

“Do we put in a bubble or a pod, let’s say Kentucky, Louisville, and Michigan State with three “bye games?” Detroit, where my son plays, Murray State, and East Tennessee State, and we play a round-robin so we get buy games where those teams really need that money. Can we do it that way? Is the NCAA Tournament in a bubble? I know [NCAA SVP] Dan Gavitt right now is looking at all kind of different options. What I’m happy about is we’re doing it now, we’re not waiting until two months from now. No, we’re doing it now to figure it out.

“We now have multiple paths, the NBA and WNBA have both shown that we can do this.”

As of this morning, the tentative plan is for the Champions Classic to take place in Orlando from Dec. 1-5, the final five days of Louisville’s bubble.

Will UK find a workaround to play Louisville at the beginning of their host bubble before heading to Orlando? If the timing doesn’t work out, will Kentucky host a bubble later in the year that includes the Cardinals?

Prior to today’s news, bubbles in Orlando, Mohegan Sun, Sioux Falls, and Washington, D.C. were all but confirmed for the upcoming season. With Louisville announcing their own event, one would think other high-profile schools throughout the nation will follow suit with bubbles on their own campuses, including UK.

What would a Lexington bubble look like? KSR already came up with the blueprint back in early August, which includes information on game locations, housing, food, entertainment, and more.

Would you be up for a bubble in Lexington?