Louisville vs. Texas Tech: Biggest storylines for 2019-20 matchup

The No. 1 Louisville Cardinals take on last season’s runner-up Texas Tech Saturday night at MSG in the Jimmy V Classic. Here are some storylines for the game.

One team is coming off an appearance in the national title game and the other is looking like one who might be there this year. The two will collide on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden as a part of the Jimmy V Classic when the Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-3) take on the top-ranked Louisville Cardinals (9-0).

The two teams enter this big non-conference showdown seemingly heading in different directions. Louisville is unblemished and defeated Pittsburgh in their last outing, but it was the game before that one that raised eyebrows across the country. Facing a Michigan team who was fresh off a championship at the Battle 4 Atlantis, which took them from unranked to No. 4 in the country, and proceeded to hold the Wolverines to 43 points in a 15-point beatdown, holding them to a measly 26% from the field and 15% from beyond the arc.

The Red Raiders, on the other hand, lost major production off of last year’s team, like Jarrett Culver, Matt Mooney, and Tariq Owens, Chris Beard and company had high hopes after coming up just short of cutting down the nets last season. In the offseason, Beard landed one of the most sought-after transfers on the market in guard Chris Clarke and two freshmen, Jahmi’us Ramsey and Terrence Shannon, Jr., but Texas Tech has stumbled a bit entering this one.

This is a big contest for both teams and can be an important notch in the belt of the victor come March, and it has a few interesting storylines to look at ahead of this one.