Louisville basketball’s Pat Kelsey addresses struggles versus Clemson
Pat Kelsey said the Cardinals are struggling after back‑to‑back losses, including an 80-75 road defeat at Clemson, with only two regular‑season games remaining.
- Louisville basketball enters the final week of the regular season with a record of 20-9 overall and 9-7 in the ACC.
- That leaves a lot to be desired after Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals were viewed in October as the team most likely to challenge reigning champion Duke for the conference’s regular-season title.
- Here’s a look at what’s at stake for UofL as far as its seeding in the ACC Tournament is concerned with two regular-season games remaining on the schedule.
What a difference four months can make.
In October, Louisville basketball was viewed as the most likely team to challenge reigning champion Duke for the ACC’s regular-season title.
And now here we are, with Pat Kelsey’s 20th-ranked Cardinals (20-9, 9-7 ACC) entering March outside the top four in the conference standings.
There’s still time to gain some momentum before the conference tournament. UofL closes the regular season with a 9 p.m. tipoff Tuesday at the KFC Yum! Center before traveling to Miami for a 2 p.m. tipoff Saturday. But after Kelsey’s team fell to 0-8 against Quad 1A opponents with last weekend’s loss at Clemson …
“I know everybody’s throwing dirt on us,” the coach said after Louisville trailed the Tigers for more than 35 minutes and by as many as 15 points at Littlejohn Coliseum. “They should; we’re struggling.”
Here’s a look at where the Cards sit in the ACC standings with two regular-season games remaining — and the most likely outcomes, per CBBAnalytics.com, of where they will be seeded in next week’s conference tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina:
- Duke 15-1 (27-2)
- Virginia 13-3 (25-4)
- Miami 12-4 (23-6)
- North Carolina 11-5 (23-6)
- Clemson 11-5 (21-8)
- N.C. State 10-6 (19-10)
- Louisville 9-7 (20-9)
- Florida State 8-8 (15-14)
- California 8-8 (20-9)
- SMU 8-8 (19-10)
- Stanford 7-9 (18-11)
- Virginia Tech 7-9 (18-11)
- Wake Forest 6-10 (15-14)
- Syracuse 6-10 (15-14)
- Pittsburgh 4-12 (11-18)
- Notre Dame 4-12 (13-16)
- Boston College 3-13 (10-19)
- Georgia Tech 2-14 (11-18)
Of note: The Blue Devils have clinched the ACC’s regular-season title, and the Cavaliers are the only other team that has locked down a double bye entering the final week of league play. If these standings hold through Saturday, the Fighting Irish, the Eagles and the Yellow Jackets will not get an invite to Charlotte.
According to CBBAnalytics, Louisville was most likely to earn the No. 7 seed (39.9%) in the ACC Tournament as of Monday.
That means the Cards would receive a first-round bye and begin the postseason Wednesday, March 11, against the winner of a game between No. 10 seed SMU and No. 15 seed Pittsburgh.
UofL entered the final week of the regular season with a 29.9% chance of jumping one seed line (to No. 6) and a 0.4% chance of jumping two (to No. 5). But that’s as far as it can climb, CBB Analytics said. Meanwhile, Louisville had a 20.1% chance of dropping one seed line (to No. 8), a 5.9% chance of dropping two (to No. 9) and a 2.9% chance of slipping all the way to No. 10.
For comparison’s sake: CBBAnalytics as of Monday said sixth-place N.C. State was also most likely to be the No. 7 seed (30.8%) — with a 29.4% chance of staying put at No. 6, a 24.3% chance of jumping one seed line (to No. 5) and a 10.2% chance of jumping two (to No. 4). Louisville holds a tiebreaker over the Wolfpack.
To make a move in the right direction, the Cards are going to need some help. N.C. State closes the regular season against Duke (7 p.m. Monday) and Stanford (2:15 p.m. Saturday) at home.
SMU began the week as the team most likely to overtake UofL for the No. 7 seed with 12.7% odds on CBBAnalytics. The Mustangs have Miami (7 p.m. Wednesday) at home and Florida State (2 p.m. Saturday) on the road to wrap up the regular season.
Here’s what the first three days of the conference tournament bracket would look like if the season ended Monday. (Note: Tipoff times have not yet been determined, so we’re going to follow the same schedule as last year’s event.)
Tuesday, March 10
- Game 1: No. 12 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 Wake Forest
- Game 2: No. 10 SMU vs. No. 15 Pittsburgh
- Game 3: No. 11 Stanford vs. No. 14 Syracuse
Wednesday, March 11
- Game 4: No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 9 California
- Game 5: No. 5 Clemson vs. Game 1 winner
- Game 6: No. 7 Louisville vs. Game 2 winner
- Game 7: No. 6 N.C. State vs. Game 3 winner
Thursday, March 12
- Game 8: No. 1 Duke vs. Game 4 winner
- Game 9: No. 4 North Carolina vs. Game 5 winner
- Game 10: No. 2 Virginia vs. Game 6 winner
- Game 11: No. 3 Miami vs. Game 7 winner
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
