U of L basketball releases 2014-15 schedule
The University of Louisville basketball team didn't want to talk about it much, but the players and coaches alike weren't too thrilled about their 2014 NCAA tournament placement in March.
They didn't like their No. 4 seed. They didn't like their region. They didn't like their opening-round matchup.
The biggest weakness on U of L's resume last season was its strength of schedule, which ranked 80th in the country, and it hurt the Cardinals in the NCAA tournament seeding process.
The release of the Cards' 2014-15 slate of games on Wednesday ensured that schedule strength shouldn't be a problem next March.
Louisville will play six games against teams ranked in the top 10 of ESPN's "way too early" Top 25 for the upcoming season, and the debut campaign in the Atlantic Coast Conference will add punch to the Cardinals' league slate.
Eleven opponents of U of L's schedule made the NCAA tournament last season. At least 20 of U of L's games will be broadcast on national television, the school said.
"This will be one of the biggest challenges we've had since I've been at Louisville," U of L coach Rick Pitino said in a statement on Wednesday.
"It's not only a fantastic league schedule, where three of our four repeat opponents are ranked high in the polls, but our nonconference schedule, which includes three Big Ten schools, will present a significant task."
The schedule matches what, on paper, could be another Final Four-contending Louisville roster. The Cards return star forward Montrezl Harrell, who unexpectedly skipped the NBA draft to return to U of L for his junior year.
A backcourt consisting of senior Chris Jones and sophomore Terry Rozier, who like Harrell is considered a future first-round draft pick, gives Louisville a scoring boost.
A top-five signing class, which includes six freshmen, surrounds the returning core of Jones, Rozier, Harrell and regular starters Wayne Blackshear and Mangok Mathiang.
"We believe our veterans will be prepared for it," Pitino said. "This should be one of the most exciting schedules in U of L history with our first season in the ACC."
U of L opens with a 7 p.m. matchup on ESPN against Minnesota on Nov. 14, a game that will be played on a U.S. Coast Guard base in Puerto Rico.
The Cards also host Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State on Dec. 2 at the KFC Yum! Center and travel to New York City to play Indiana a week later.
In the ACC, Louisville hosts Duke at noon on Jan. 17. The Cards home conference slate also features challenging matchups against North Carolina (Jan. 31), Pittsburgh (Feb. 11) and Virginia (March 7).
Away from home, Louisville opens league play with a road game at Wake Forest on Jan. 4.
The Cards' ACC travel schedule is also highlighted by games at North Carolina (Jan. 10), Pittsburgh (Jan. 25), Virginia (Feb. 7) and Syracuse (Feb. 18).
Louisville's Pitino, a basketball Hall of Fame inductee in 2013, will face each of the three other Hall of Fame coaches in the ACC in Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina's Roy Williams and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim.
On Dec. 14, former Louisville assistant coach Kevin Keatts brings his new team, North Carolina-Wilmington, to the KFC Yum! Center for the Billy Minardi Classic. Six days later, U of L travels to Bowling Green to take on Western Kentucky.
The Cards will also host a four-team exempt tournament at the Yum! Center, with games against Cleveland State, Jacksonville State, Marshall and Savannah State.
Louisville's two preseason exhibitions will be at the Yum! Center, with a Nov. 1 tilt against Barry University of Miami and Bellarmine on Nov. 9.
Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).