Since self-imposing a postseason ban 10 days ago after a sex scandal rocked the program, Louisville has struggled to a 1-2 record, and coach Rick Pitino says the decision to forego postseason play is weighing on his players.
"The guys played really hard the last two games, but you can see it weighing on them a little bit emotionally that they're not going to be in the tournament," Pitino said during his weekly ACC coaches conference call. "We're just trying to keep our perspective, keep working hard."
The Cardinals have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, falling to Duke and Notre Dame. While wins remain important to Pitino, there's more at stake for Louisville now that its NCAA tournament chances are non-existent.
"I want to get a look at some other guys right now," the 63-year-old admitted. "Got a good look at Matz (Stockman) the other night and I was very impressed. I want to get Deng Adel some more minutes, and to get Donovan Mitchell some more minutes. So we sort of want to look at some guys who haven't played as much."
Despite the fact Louisville won't be contending for the NCAA crown this season, Pitino was quick to comment on what he thinks will be the key to cutting down the nets in April.
"There's no dominant big men in the country this year. It's gonna come down to great backcourt play," the two-time national champion said. "If you look at great backcourts, you can probably come up with the answer, but there's quite a few of those. It's a lot of fun. I think you're going to see a lot of 12 and 11 seed upsetting the 4-5's and 6's. It'll be a crazy year."
It's already been a crazy year in college basketball as the season powers towards March. Along with the 18th-ranked Cardinals, No. 21 SMU also faces a postseason ban, making for a very odd scenario where two of the top teams in the country have no chance at the national title.
