Louisville Basketball: 5 reasons why Cardinals will win ACC title in 2019-20
By Neil Adler
A less-imposing league
In recent memory, a sound argument can get made that the ACC is the gold standard of hoops conferences around the country. The 2018-19 stanza echoed that sentiment, as three league members notched No. 1 seeds in March Madness: Duke, North Carolina and Virginia, which attained the school’s first-ever NCAA title.
Furthermore, the Tar Heels won the whole thing in 2017, as did the Blue Devils two years earlier. My alma mater, Syracuse, took a trip to the Final Four, as a No. 10 seed, in 2016. And several Elite Eights have included ACC units over the past five terms.
This mega-conference will absolutely command attention in 2019-20, but the presumed dominance of the league is a bit suspect. The Cavaliers, for one, saw the nucleus of their line-up flee for the pros. I’ll never count a Tony Bennett-coached team out, although it won’t surprise me if UVA takes a minor step back.
North Carolina had to replace the bulk of its scoring load with a few five-star freshmen and grad transfers. Duke is Duke. The Blue Devils say good-bye to some marvelous young players, and a new cadre flies into town.
Florida State, N.C. State, Notre Dame and the Orange will all vie for spots in the Big Dance, but I don’t anticipate any of these groups seriously contending for an ACC regular-season trophy. Pittsburgh is trending up, Virginia Tech is doing the opposite, and the remainder of the conference is, well, so-so.
Enter the Cardinals. With the league’s usual heavyweights perhaps a little vulnerable, the time is at present for Louisville to flex its muscles and seize an auspicious opportunity to rise to the ACC’s peak.