College Basketball Game of the Week: Louisville at Miami FL

In our final game of the week we take it to South Beach where current unranked Louisville will battle Miami FL in a tune up game for the ACC Conference tournament. Both the Cardinals and Hurricanes will find themselves playing in the NCAA Tournament this season behind some of the best guard play in the country. Louisville’s top four leading scorers are all guards including senior transfer Ryan Conwell and potential top 5 NBA draft pick Mikel Brown Jr. This team shoots it at almost 36% from deep which was a key stat to look for going into this season They have multiple guys who transferred to Louisville after having tremendous shooting seasons at their previous programs including Issac McKneely who's shooting 41.4% from behind the arc for his career. The depth of Louisville’s backcourt is their greatest strength and puts them in the potential March Madness upset run category considering they are projected to be a 6-seed. Louisville holds the KenPom ranked 16th offense and 26th defense both impressive numbers considering they were without Brown Jr. for a chunk of the season due to a lingering back issue. Don't be surprised if Louisville makes its way into the top 15 or even top 10 offensive rankings before March Madness tips off.

Miami FL on the other hand is led by senior transfers Malik Reneau and Tre Donaldson who have provided the Hurricanes with an inside/outside scoring presence. Miami FL hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since legendary head coach Jim Larrañaga stepped down. The last time Miami FL did make it to the big dance they were able to reach the Final Four in upset fashion defeating the 1 and 2 seeds in their region and losing to eventual National Champion UConn in 2023. This MIami FL team is much different and is the 29th ranked defense in the country. They are coming off of a huge road win against SMU, a team who had been trending up and currently right there at a near top 15 offense. Miami FL comes in winning 7 out of their last 8 including wins against North Carolina and NC State. This one will likely be a very high level game considering Miami FL’s hot streak and Louisville's preseason expectations.