Welcome to the ACC, Coach Mack. Louisville schedule not for faint of heart.
Welcome to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Chris Mack. You could be in for a bumpy ride.
Louisville and other ACC schools released their full schedules Thursday morning and 22 of the Cardinals’ 31 scheduled games feature teams that made the postseason last year. Mack, the first-year head coach coming over from Xavier and the Big East Conference, might have a bit more to chew off than he’s been accustomed to.
Eight of the Cards’ last 10 games will be against ACC teams currently ranked in preseason polls, including home games against North Carolina on Feb. 2, Duke on Feb. 12, Clemson on Feb. 16 and Virginia on Feb. 23.
The non-conference schedule doesn’t pose much of a break with a potential game against Kansas in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Nov. 23 after opening that event against now Southeastern Conference power Tennessee. That’s followed by a home game against Michigan State on Nov. 27.
And, not to be forgotten, Louisville hosts rival Kentucky on Dec. 29 in the KFC Yum Center.
Louisville 2018-19 men’s basketball schedule
(Home games in all capital letters. All times Eastern)
Oct. 28: BELLARMINE (1), TBA
Nov. 3: SIMMONS (1), TBA
Nov. 8: NICHOLLS STATE, TBA
Nov. 13: SOUTHERN (2), TBA
Nov. 16: VERMONT (2), TBA
Nov. 21: Tennessee (3), 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
Nov. 23: Kansas or Marquette (3), 7 or 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Nov. 27: MICHIGAN STATE (4), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 1: At Seton Hall, TBA
Dec. 5: CENTRAL ARKANSAS, TBA
Dec. 8: At Indiana, 2:30 p.m. (Fox-56)
Dec. 12: LIPSCOMB, TBA
Dec. 15: KENT STATE, TBA
Dec. 21: ROBERT MORRIS, TBA
Dec. 29: KENTUCKY, TBA
Jan. 6: MIAMI, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Jan. 9: At Pittsburgh, 8 p.m. (Raycom)
Jan. 12: At North Carolina, Noon (ESPN or ESPN2)
Jan. 16: BOSTON COLLEGE, 7 p.m. (RSN)
Jan. 19: At Georgia Tech, 4 p.m. (Raycom)
Jan. 24: NORTH CAROLINA STATE, 8 p.m. (Raycom)
Jan. 26: PITTSBURGH, 2 p.m. (Raycom)
Jan. 30: At Wake Forest, 8 p.m. (Raycom)
Feb. 2: NORTH CAROLINA, 2, 4 or 6 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN2)
Feb. 4: At Virginia Tech, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Feb. 9: At Florida State, 4 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU)
Feb. 12: DUKE, 9 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN2)
Feb. 16: CLEMSON, Noon (ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU)
Feb. 20: At Syracuse, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Feb. 23: VIRGINIA, Noon (Raycom)
Feb. 27: At Boston College, 9 p.m. (RSN)
March 3: NOTRE DAME, 1:30 p.m. (CBS-27)
March 9: At Virginia, 4, 6 or 8 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN2)
March 12-16: ACC Tournament (5)
1-Exhibition game; 2-NIT Season Tip-Off; 3-NIT Season Tip-Off at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.; 4-ACC/Big Ten Challenge; 5-At Charlotte, N.C.