Louisville basketball in need of a quick turnaround
Five things of interest for a Friday:
1. Louisville basketball needs a turnaround
Wednesday night’s 79-63 home loss to North Carolina State dropped Louisville to 10-6 overall and 4-2 in the ACC. It came against a Wolfpack team that had lost six of its previous seven games. The really bad part: It was Louisville’s fourth loss to a team outside of kenpom’s 100.
To say things are getting a little dicey for Chris Mack is putting it mildly. His Cardinals dropped from No. 86 to No. 106 in the NCAA NET rankings. Worse yet, fans aren’t showing up at the Yum Center.
Reports WDRB’s Rick Bozich, “After the announced crowd of 11,973 for the North Carolina State loss Wednesday night, the Cards have averaged 12,589 for nine home games, about 57% of the building’s capacity. Repeat: announced crowds.
“That’s a decline of more than 24% from the 16,601 the program averaged in 2019-20, the last pre-pandemic season. It’s down 8,257 per game from 2017, the last season before Rick Pitino was fired.”
[Is this John Calipari’s best shooting team at Kentucky?]
In danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season, Louisville is at Pittsburgh on Saturday, 4 p.m. on the ACC Network.
2. Kentucky football must revamp its offensive line
Losing left tackle Dare Rosenthal to the 2022 NFL Draft was not totally unexpected, but it will force Kentucky football to go young on the offensive line in the fall. I thought new O-line coach Eric Wolford did a good job in a tough spot, replacing the late John Schlarman. But he also benefited from holdover veterans in Darian Kinnard and Luke Fortner to go along with Rosenthal, the transfer from LSU.
Colleague Josh Moore did a deeper dive into what the Wildcats’ offensive front might look like next season.
“Offensive coordinator Liam Coen projected Jeremy Flax, a redshirt sophomore last season, as the Cats’ starting right tackle (with Kinnard at left) coming out of spring camp, but that was before Rosenthal was in the equation. Flax was part of the rotation and could start on the right side, where he backed up Kinnard, primarily, before splitting snaps with Horsey in the Citrus Bowl. That pair gave up most of Kentucky’s six sacks against Iowa, though.”
3. Florida basketball’s 0-3 start
SEC schedulers didn’t do Florida any favors by sticking the Gators with Alabama, Auburn and LSU to open the conference basketball season. (A scheduled game with Ole Miss was postponed by COVID-19.) After three losses, however, Florida fans are calling for Coach Mike White’s job.
Gainesville Sun columnist David Whitley has figured out the problem, however.
“Florida basketball is off to its worst SEC start in 40 years, and people are saying Mike White is out of his league. He is, though probably not in the way critics have in mind,” Whitley writes. “For all his real and perceived shortcomings as a coach, I’m pretty sure of one thing. White has always run a clean program at Florida. I’m also pretty sure Will Wade has not at LSU. And Bruce Pearl has not at Auburn.”
The Gators have a chance to turn things around quickly. They are at South Carolina on Saturday, followed by home games against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. The rescheduled game at Ole Miss is set for Jan. 24.
4. Eastern Kentucky’s rough ASUN start
Picked to finish second in its inaugural season in the Atlantic Sun Conference, EKU’s basketball Colonels are off to an 0-3 start. By a combined 13 points. Central Arkansas beat EKU 79-72 in Richmond on Jan. 4. Then A.W. Hamilton’s team lost 66-61 at Bellarmine and 76-75 at North Alabama.
The Colonel are 8-9 overall and hope to get back on track Saturday against Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. on ESPN Plus. It’s the start of a three-game Richmond home stand. Jacksonville State’s Gamecocks are 9-6 overall and 2-0 in the conference. EKU is 253rd in the NET rankings. Jacksonville State is at 127.
EKU’s next five games
- Jan. 15 Jacksonville
- Jan. 18 Lipscomb
- Jan. 22 North Florida
- Jan. 27 @Florida Gulf Coast
- Feb. 29 @Stetson
5. Prediction: Bengals-Raiders playoff game
In their first playoff game since 2015, the Cincinnati Bengals are a 5.5-point favorite over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on NBC. No surprise there. After all, the Bengals whipped the Raiders 32-13 in Las Vegas back on Nov. 21.
Winning the rematch may not be so easy, however. Cincinnati was coming out of its bye week when it held a 13-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter of the first game. The Raiders collapsed over the final 15 minutes. And the Bengals’ Evan McPherson kicked four field goals on the day, including three of 50 yards or more.
The Raiders have gone 5-2 since losing to Zac Taylor’s club, including victories in their final four regular-season games. They stamped their playoff ticket with that crazy 35-32 overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday night. It was Vegas’ fourth overtime win of the season.
It says here Saturday’s game at a cold Paul Brown Stadium won’t go into overtime, but it’ll be closer than some might expect. Make it Cincinnati 24, Las Vegas 23.
NFL playoff schedule
Saturday, Jan. 18
4:30 p.m. - Raiders at Bengals (NBC)
8:15 p.m. - Patriots at Bills (CBS)
Sunday, Jan. 19
1 p.m. - Eagles at Buccaneers (Fox)
4:30 p.m. - 49ers at Cowboys (CBS)
8:15 p.m. - Steelers at Chiefs (NBC)
Monday, Jan. 20
8:15 p.m. - Cardinals at Rams (ABC/ESPN)
This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
