One Final Look at Louisville's NCAA Tournament Resume and Projections

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At long last, we have finally reached Selection Sunday. Following weeks and months of projections as to who will make the NCAA Tournament, the time-honored tradition of filling out brackets for March Madness officially gets underway tonight.

For the Louisville men's basketball program, while they have not made the Big Dance since 2019, they are a stone-cold lock to break their five-year skid without going dancing. Before we get into some of their final projections for the tournament, lets take a look at how their resume stands, and why it's more than good enough to make the dance:

Sporting a record of 27-7 overall and 18-2 in regular season conference play, the Cardinals are ranked at No. 23 in the NET - or NCAA Evaluation Tool. Created in 2018, NET is a metric that the selection committee uses in part when determining the tournament field.

For those unfamiliar, tournament resumes are separated into quadrants, with Quadrant 1 being the best and Quadrant 4 being the worst. Quadrants are classified based on the opponent's NET ranking as well as the location of the game. For example, wins against a No. 30 team at home and a No. 75 team on the road are both Quadrant 1 wins.

Due to some late movement in the NET by some of their opponents from this season, Louisville went from having a positive record in Quad 1 games to 4-6. Not a huge detriment, but it's something that will likely hold them back from getting a better seed.

Fortunately, Louisville doesn't have a single bad loss to their name. They're 11-1 in Quad 2 games - with the lone loss being at Georgia Tech on Feb. 1 - and a perfect 12-0 in Quads 3/4.

As a result, first year head coach Pat Kelsey has Louisville in position to receive a somewhat favorable seed for the NCAA Tournament. According to BracketMatrix, a website that averages out several dozen NCAA Tournament projections among major "bracketologists," the Cardinals average out to a six seed in their most recent update.

So where do some of these projections have Louisville going for the Big Dance? Below is a sampling from some of the more noteworthy NCAA Tournament projectors.

The selection show is set for later today at 6:00 p.m. EST, with the First Four set for Mar. 18-19. The first and second rounds are scheduled for Mar. 20-23, with the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight slated for Mar. 27-30. The Final Four from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Tex. will take place on Apr. 5, with the national championship set for Apr. 7.

Sports Illustrated

Projector: Kevin Sweeney
Seed/Region: No. 6 in Midwest
First Round Matchup: No. 11 San Diego State/Vanderbilt
Second Round Pairing: No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Wofford
Region's Top Four Seeds: Houston, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Purdue

ESPN

Projector: Joe Lunardi
Seed/Region: No. 6 in Midwest
First Round Matchup: No. 11 Vanderbilt/San Diego State
Second Round Pairing: No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Robert Morris
Region's Top Four Seeds: Houston, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Texas A&M

CBS

Projector: Jerry Palm
Seed/Region: No. 6 in Midwest
First Round Matchup: No. 11 Colorado State
Second Round Pairing: No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Lipscomb
Region's Top Four Seeds: Houston, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Texas A&M

The Athletic

Projector: Joe Rexrode
Seed/Region: No. 5 in West
First Round Matchup: No. 12 Indiana/Boise State
Second Round Pairing: No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 13 Akron
Region's Top Four Seeds: Houston, Alabama, Arizona, Michigan

Fox Sports

Projector: Mike DeCourcy
Seed/Region: No. 5 in South
First Round Matchup: No. 12 Yale
Second Round Pairing: No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 Akron
Region's Top Four Seeds: Auburn, Michigan State, Texas Tech, Purdue

USA Today

Projector: Erick Smith
Seed/Region: No. 6 in West
First Round Matchup: No. 11 UC San Diego
Second Round Pairing: No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 Troy
Region's Top Four Seeds: Florida, Michigan State, Texas Tech, Iowa State

SBNation

Projector: Chris Dobbertean
Seed/Region: No. 5 in South
First Round Matchup: No. 12 McNeese
Second Round Pairing: No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Yale
Region's Top Four Seeds: Auburn, Michigan State, Iowa State, Texas A&M

BracketVille

Projector: Dave Ommen
Seed/Region: No. 6 in South
First Round Matchup: No. 11 Baylor/San Diego State
Second Round Pairing: No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 14 UNC Wilmington
Region's Top Four Seeds: Auburn, Michigan State, Kentucky, Arizona

Projector: Tim Krueger
Seed/Region: No. 8 in Midwest
First Round Matchup: No. 9 New Mexico
Second Round Pairing: No. 1 Houston vs. No. 16 Norfolk State
Region's Top Four Seeds: Houston, Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland

Bleacher Report

Projector: Kerry Miller
Seed/Region: No. 7 in East
First Round Matchup: No. 10 UC San Diego
Second Round Pairing: No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Bryant
Region's Top Four Seeds: Duke, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Iowa State

On3

Projector: James Fletcher III
Seed/Region: No. 6 in West
First Round Matchup: No. 11 Vanderbilt
Second Round Pairing: No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 UNC Wilmington
Region's Top Four Seeds: Florida, St. John's, Texas Tech, Maryland

NCAA

Projector: Andy Katz
Seed/Region: No. 6 in West
First Round Matchup: No. 11 West Virginia/San Diego State
Second Round Pairing: No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Utah Valley/Grand Canyon
Region's Top Four Seeds: Houston, Alabama, Wisconsin, Texas A&M

(Photo via Bob Donnan - Imagn Images)

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