NCAA Basketball: 10 biggest storylines from 2022 "Feast Week" matchups

NCAA Basketball: 10 biggest storylines from 2022 “Feast Week” matchups

Mar 24, 2022; San Francisco, CA, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman gestures during the second half of their game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the semifinals of the West regional of the men's college basketball NCAA Tournament at Chase Center. The Arkansas Razorbacks won 74-68. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

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U of L associate head coach Danny Manning, left, comforted El Ellis Uofl Appstate04 Sam /

2. Louisville looks to avoid being the bottom team in Maui Invitational

The new format of the prestigious Maui Invitational now has host program, non-I Chaminade, playing every other year. They aren’t in this year’s field but right now, the clear 8th-best team is Louisville, who almost lost to Chaminade in an earlier exhibition game. Under 1st-year head coach Kenny Payne, the team made history by being the first team to lose its first three games of the season by exactly one point each.

The losses were to Bellarmine, Wright State, and Appalachian State, who each had commanding leads against the Cardinals before the ACC team came back to make it a game. El Ellis (24.0 ppg) has been fantastic but it’s clear that a lack of guards around him and overall depth had hurt them so far this season.

This year’s field has lots of talent, including preseason top-25 teams Creighton and San Diego State, Arizona, Arkansas, and Texas State, while both Ohio State and Cincinnati are good teams as well. That leaves Louisville, who can’t beat mid-majors so with have to find a way to beat high-level high-major talent.

Even if they aren’t an NCAA Tournament team, starting out 0-6 would be a major problem for head coach Kenny Payne in year 1, where the fanbase will start to get restless early.

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