NCAA Basketball: 5 programs set to dominate the next decade (2020-29)

Louisville Cardinals

Louisville is one of college basketball’s biggest programs but went through a very up-and-down decade in the 2010s.

The first part of the decade saw them make back-to-back Final Fours and win the national championship in 2013. However, the second part of the decade saw them miss the NCAA Tournament on two occasions and be at the center of two NCAA investigations, including the FBI corruption scandal.

That, of course, resulted in the program firing Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino. However, that ultimately resulted in them landing the coach who will be leading them into the next decade in Chris Mack.

Mack has already restored what was a depleted program when he took over prior to the 2018-19 season, turning the Cardinals into a top 10 team and national championship contender. He has proven he can develop players – Jordan Nwora and Steven Enoch are prime examples of that, as are countless players during his time at Xavier – and, most importantly, as proven he can recruit at a high level.

Louisville’s 2019 class, Mack’s first full class on the job, ranked No. 12 in the country according to 247sports, and he has already landed a top 100 prospect (D’Andre Davis) and the nation’s top JUCO prospect (Jay Scrubb) in the 2020 class.

The Cardinals have as many resources as anyone, and Mack appears to be capitalizing. He already has Louisville among the ACC’s elite teams and, if the conference does open up as expected over the next decade, they’re very capable of having the kind of decade Virginia just enjoyed.