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Chris Meaney
The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Bets we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player, and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.
Let’s continue our preview with the ACC. Always competitive each season, the ACC is regularly among the nation’s top conferences with annual Final Four contenders Duke, Virginia and North Carolina. Last season, Miami made their first ever Final Four, guided by the March magic of head coach Jim Larrañaga. There are 15 teams in the ACC, making it the largest of all the power conferences. The critics continue to cite the weakness of the bottom ACC teams, which directly contributes to its sixth overall preseason ranking by KenPom. However, it still holds true that the top teams in the ACC will always have a chance at a Final Four run.
Let’s continue with our betting preview with the Louisville Cardinals.
2023-2024 Louisville Cardinals Betting Preview
Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Kenny Payne (2nd season)
2022-2023 Record: 4-28 (2-19)
ATS: 13-19
O/U: 16-15-1
Projected Starters: G Skyy Clark; G Mike James; G Tre White; F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield; C Dennis Evans
The Chris Mack era ended abruptly in the middle of the 2021-2022 season, putting Kenny Payne in an impossible situation. After a promising 2019-2020 year, the Cardinals went downhill with a lack of consistent wins and big-time talent. As expected with any coaching change, Louisville returned 28.4% entering last year and the results showed. Louisville was a catastrophic 4-28, including a brutal 2-9 ATS in nonconference games. We received this nugget on Halloween, which could be an ominous sign of things to come. Payne will rely on two starters returning in Mike James and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, with the latter really being a key to any Louisville success this season. Louisville added to critical transfers in Skyy Clark (Illinois) and Tre White (USC). Both need to acclimate quickly on both ends of the floor.
Key Player: Skyy Clark
Clark entered Illinois as a highly touted recruit, but left the team after 13 games, citing personal reasons. Sometimes a change of scenery provides a fresh start, which would be a massive boost to this Cardinals roster. Last season’s leader, El Ellis, is now at Arkansas, and originally committed to Kentucky before arriving at Illinois. Clark brings explosion and good 3P shooting and can bolster the Cardinals projected win total just by producing near his potential.
Projection: The Cardinals were projected 14th in the ACC preseason poll, barely ahead of a rebuilding Notre Dame team. Payne needs to assimilate four freshmen and a JUCO transfer, putting Louisville in a challenging spot yet again. If Payne repeats last season’s results, Louisville will have a new coach next season. The Cardinals faithful are rooting for Louisville alum, but he needs to show progress. Given their poor exhibition showing, it’s hard to be optimistic that will happen.
How I’m Betting Louisville: Clearly a major fade this season, especially in the nonconference. I don’t trust this roster, I don’t trust Payne, and I don’t trust the wide variance of results for Louisville’s transfers. Looking at their nonconference schedule, Louisville is projected to be favored by the following amounts in their home games: 12, 7, 21, 6, 9, 6 and 7. Hard to argue against taking the moneyline in all of those matchups.
