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Three of Louisville women’s basketball’s first eight games of the 2024-25 regular season were against ranked opponents. That included opening the campaign against a top-10 opponent in UCLA with eight freshmen on the U of L roster, two of whom started the game.
Cardinals coach Jeff Walz later admitted that putting together such a rigorous schedule with so much youth wasn’t the best idea. ESPN women’s basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme recently confirmed as much. He noted that Louisville’s nonconference schedule played a part in the team’s No. 7 seed projection in the final bracketology.
As a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament, Louisville is projected to play 10th-seeded Oregon with UConn hosting the first two rounds as the No. 2 seed and automatic qualifier as the Big East champion.
A 7-seed would be Louisville’s lowest since 2012. That seventh-seeded Cardinals squad beat No. 10 Michigan State, 67-55, but lost to second-seeded Maryland, 72-68, in the next round. The year before, Louisville was also a 7-seed and upset second-seeded Xavier en route to a Sweet 16 appearance. Between 2014 and 2022, Louisville had never fallen below a 4-seed.
In 2023, U of L was a 5-seed and made the Elite Eight for the fourth time in as many tournaments. It was a 6-seed last year and lost in the first round for the first time in the Walz era.
“I think if we started the season in January, maybe we’d be talking about a little bit of a higher seed,” Creme said. “They did schedule well. Jeff Walz always does that.”
Louisville started the season 0-5 against top-25 teams despite having leads against UCLA, Kentucky and Oklahoma. The team also suffered 30-point losses to the Huskies and N.C. State, respectively. Since the start of the calendar year, the Cardinals have gone 13-5. They beat four ranked teams during that stretch, though the loss at Virginia Tech is the biggest conference flaw on their résumé.
“They could’ve used maybe one more sizable win,” Creme added. “They need a better performance in the ACC Tournament, maybe a little bit better performance against Notre Dame in either one of those games. N.C. State, they didn’t play particularly well. I think that’s what it boils down to: They were one bigger win short of elevating themselves another line.
“Being on the sixth line would be a distinctive advantage but I don’t think they quite get there.”
The No. 6 seeds are paired with 11-seeds, while the 7-seeds are paired with 10-seeds in the first round of the tournament. All three of Creme’s locked-in 11 seeds are from non-Power Four conferences, while all three of his locked-in 10 seeds are from the Big Ten.
Based on the current bracketology, if Louisville can beat Oregon, it would likely face the Huskies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After that, there’s the possibility of playing the Wildcats in the Sweet 16 if it can pull off the upset over UConn. Having already played the two teams does have its advantages, though much has changed in the 3-4 months since they played.
The official NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed at 8 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at [email protected] and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball Women's March Madness predictions for NCAA Tournament
Continue reading...
Cardinals coach Jeff Walz later admitted that putting together such a rigorous schedule with so much youth wasn’t the best idea. ESPN women’s basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme recently confirmed as much. He noted that Louisville’s nonconference schedule played a part in the team’s No. 7 seed projection in the final bracketology.
As a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament, Louisville is projected to play 10th-seeded Oregon with UConn hosting the first two rounds as the No. 2 seed and automatic qualifier as the Big East champion.
A 7-seed would be Louisville’s lowest since 2012. That seventh-seeded Cardinals squad beat No. 10 Michigan State, 67-55, but lost to second-seeded Maryland, 72-68, in the next round. The year before, Louisville was also a 7-seed and upset second-seeded Xavier en route to a Sweet 16 appearance. Between 2014 and 2022, Louisville had never fallen below a 4-seed.
In 2023, U of L was a 5-seed and made the Elite Eight for the fourth time in as many tournaments. It was a 6-seed last year and lost in the first round for the first time in the Walz era.
“I think if we started the season in January, maybe we’d be talking about a little bit of a higher seed,” Creme said. “They did schedule well. Jeff Walz always does that.”
Louisville started the season 0-5 against top-25 teams despite having leads against UCLA, Kentucky and Oklahoma. The team also suffered 30-point losses to the Huskies and N.C. State, respectively. Since the start of the calendar year, the Cardinals have gone 13-5. They beat four ranked teams during that stretch, though the loss at Virginia Tech is the biggest conference flaw on their résumé.
“They could’ve used maybe one more sizable win,” Creme added. “They need a better performance in the ACC Tournament, maybe a little bit better performance against Notre Dame in either one of those games. N.C. State, they didn’t play particularly well. I think that’s what it boils down to: They were one bigger win short of elevating themselves another line.
“Being on the sixth line would be a distinctive advantage but I don’t think they quite get there.”
The No. 6 seeds are paired with 11-seeds, while the 7-seeds are paired with 10-seeds in the first round of the tournament. All three of Creme’s locked-in 11 seeds are from non-Power Four conferences, while all three of his locked-in 10 seeds are from the Big Ten.
Based on the current bracketology, if Louisville can beat Oregon, it would likely face the Huskies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After that, there’s the possibility of playing the Wildcats in the Sweet 16 if it can pull off the upset over UConn. Having already played the two teams does have its advantages, though much has changed in the 3-4 months since they played.
The official NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed at 8 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at [email protected] and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball Women's March Madness predictions for NCAA Tournament
Continue reading...
