The Louisville Cardinals - They Could go all the Way
by Robby Maddux
The Cardinals (28-5 SU, 21-12-0 ATS) earned the NCAA Tournament's overall No. 1 seed, following a grueling ten weeks in which the Cardinals overcame an early winter dip to win both the Big East regular season and conference championship, where they cashed in all three conference tournament matchups. As well, for the first time ever, the Cardinals set atop the AP poll. Since there's no poll released after March Madness tournament, Louisville had never earned a No. 1 position among an AP poll despite winning national titles in 1980 and 1986.
Kentucky in its next game after being served a wake-up call by UNLV and haven’t looked back since, posting a 16-2 record in the Big East, including a victory over then-No. 1 Pittsburgh on Jan. 17 that served notice they were back on track.
The Cardinals are led by senior forward Terrence Williams, though he's backed by a group of equally talented, deep and unselfish players, making Williams the most mindful and understanding athlete in the tournament there's no ''i'' in the word team. Coach Rick Pitino leads arguably the most autonomous team in the country. Earl Clark is the club's leading scorer with a modest 14 per game, however, Louisville has eight players that average at least 12 minutes a game. Depth is huge and becomes even bigger the further the Cardinals go in the Big Dance.
Louisville will need to utilize every inch of its depth, as they're placed in a strong Midwest Region that includes Michigan State and defending national champion Kansas. Louisville will meet the winner of Tuesday's play-in game between either Alabama State or Morehead State in the first round on Friday in Dayton, Ohio.
Note: Tuesday's NCAA Tournament play-in game at Daytona Arena at 7:30pm EST between Alabama State Hornets (+2½) and sports wagering group feeling luck of the Irish, here's key trends for both sides:
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—Eagles are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a favorite.
—Eagles are 5-25-4 ATS in their last 34 non-conference games.
—Eagles are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
—Hornets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games.
—Hornets are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 non-conference games.
—Hornets are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
