Louisville’s 20-game ACC schedule begins with NC State on Dec. 16 at the KFC Yum! Center
LOUISVILLE – November 10, 2020
The University of Louisville’s 20-game Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball schedule announced today completes a challenging 27-game 2020-21 schedule for the Cardinals.
UofL will play six ACC opponents twice this season, including Duke, Virginia, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Pittsburgh. Seven mid-week games are still to be decided between a Tuesday or Wednesday. Game times and television designations will come later. UofL season ticket holders will receive communication via email about their seat selection time in the coming days.
“Although it’s been a long time coming, we sure look forward to a competitive schedule as usual,” said UofL Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Mack. “I give a lot of credit to (assistant coach) Dino Gaudio, who worked the phones like an operator putting together our-nonconference schedule. The ACC schedule is always a challenge no matter how they put the games together. We’re looking forward to November 25th!”
Louisville plays its first ACC game of the 2020-21 season on Dec. 16 against NC State in the KFC Yum! Center. After that ACC opener, four of the Cardinals’ next six ACC games will be on the road, beginning with playing at Pittsburgh on Dec. 22 in UofL’s last conference game before the new year.
In addition to its ACC opener against NC State, Louisville’s home conference games include Jan. 5 or 6 vs. Virginia Tech, Jan. 9 vs. Georgia Tech, Jan. 18 vs. Florida State, Jan. 23 vs. Duke, Jan. 30 vs. Boston College, Feb. 9 or 10 vs. Pittsburgh, Feb. 16 or 17 vs. Syracuse, Feb. 23 or 24 vs. Notre Dame and March 6 vs. Virginia.
Other ACC road games for the Cardinals this season, in addition the December game at Pitt, are Jan. 2 at Boston College, Jan. 12 or 13 at Wake Forest, Jan. 16 at Miami, Feb. 2 or 3 at Syracuse, Feb. 6 at Virginia, Feb. 13 at Virginia Tech, Feb. 20 at North Carolina, Feb. 27 at Duke and March 2 or 3 at Clemson.
The Cardinals will have a home stretch in January with five of seven games in the KFC Yum! Center, followed by playing four of their first six games in February on the road. Five ACC teams are included in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 or among those receiving votes, including Louisville (No. 4 Virginia, No. 9 Duke, No. 16 North Carolina, No. 21 Florida State; Louisville is sixth among those receiving votes).
The ACC slate combines with UofL’s non-conference schedule to form a formidable 27-game schedule.
Louisville’s seven non-conference opponents feature four teams that won their respective conference championships (Kentucky, Seton Hall, Wisconsin and Prairie View A&M) and two others who were among the top three finishers in their leagues (UNC Greensboro, Western Kentucky). The seven non-conference foes combined to win two-thirds of their games during the 2019-20 season, achieving a collective 145-73 record.
Louisville’s strength of schedule has been among the top 18 toughest in the nation by the RPI or NET in 11 of the past 13 years. The Cardinals’ 2019-20 schedule was ranked No. 18 by the NET, third-highest among ACC schools behind Duke and North Carolina. UofL’s 2018-19 slate was the fourth-toughest overall by the NCAA’s NET.
UofL opens the season on Nov. 25 against Southern Illinois, its first of five games in the early season bubble event Louisville is hosting, which includes the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic. The Cardinals will play their next four games at home on Nov. 27 against Seton Hall; Nov. 29 against Prairie View A&M; Dec. 1 against Western Kentucky and Dec. 4 against UNC Greensboro.
Louisville plays its first road game of the season on Dec. 9 at Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Cardinals’ final non-conference foe of the year will be intrastate rival Kentucky on Dec. 26 in the KFC Yum! Center.
The UofL Men’s Basketball Schedule is available online at this link: https://gocards.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
