Louisville Considers Zips a "Have-not"

[Captain Kangaroo]

U of L will face haves, have-nots

And the former are all in the Big East

The Courier-Journal

The University of Louisville released its men's basketball schedule yesterday, but it looked more like two schedules.

The non-conference portion is watered down by design, with the exception of road games against Kentucky and Miami. But the Big East portion has all the kick that coach Rick Pitino wants -- and then some.

With a young team whose starting front line all could be first-year starters early in the season and a pair of big men (Juan Palacios and Brian Johnson) coming back from injuries, Pitino said building confidence early will be a premium.

That's why the Cardinals' first six non-conference games will be against Tennessee-Martin, Prairie View A&M, Arkansas State, Richmond, Akron and Chicago State, all at home.

"The most important thing for this team, because of its lack of experience and returning minutes from last year's team, is that we get off to a good start," Pitino said in a statement released by U of L.

"We're hoping our non-conference home schedule will allow us to be competitive right away before we go into a tough stretch that includes road games at Kentucky and Miami. We'll then enter a new era of Big East basketball that will probably be the hardest conference schedule in the history of Louisville basketball."

He added jokingly, "My tenure will last probably a year or two after this, and I'll wish everyone well."

The Cards' Big East schedule is no joke. They'll open it at home against Villanova, expected to be a top-10 team and perhaps top-five. Then comes Pitino's much-anticipated return to Providence, where he coached the Friars to a Final Four in 1987.

All that's needed to gauge the difficulty of the Big East schedule is a look at the final five road games: Villanova, Cincinnati, Syracuse, West Virginia and, winding up the regular season, Connecticut. Interspersed among those will be home games against Notre Dame, South Florida, DePaul and Marquette.

[zipper]

I am thrilled that they are overlooking us. Pray it keeps up.