Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils are holding the ACC table, and the country, hostage! Duke is currently 7-0 in conference play with Flagg headlining their squad. The six-foot-nine wing recently dropped a career high 42 points, and currently leads Duke in every major statistical category, putting up impressive averages of about 19/8/4. With how dominant they have been, fans are hunting for competition and excitement. And they may have a contender — the experienced Louisville. The Cardinals are currently 6-1 in conference games, owing their only loss of the season to the Blue Devils.

On The Field of 68: After Dark, show hosts John Fanta, Rob Dauster, and Terrance Oglesby discuss the Cardinals. “Right now between the two [Clemson and Louisville], I would pick Louisville because of the head to head and how well Louisville is playing,” said Oglesby, referencing Louisville’s recent victory over the Tigers by ten points.

It is pertinent to note that the Cardinals are a very experienced team. Senior year players Edwards, Hadley and Hepburn have been doing it all for Louisville. “I think it is  Clemson or Louisville,” said Fanta. “I would actually lean Louisville from a perspective of I think that between Chucky Hepburn and J’Vonne Hadley and the options that they have, I like the way they keep coming on.” 

Hadley, in particular, has been rather special during his time with the Cardinals. Against their head-to-head with Clemson, he dropped 32 points. John Fanta had nothing but praise for the wing. “What he’s [J’Vonne Hadley] doing right now is really special. He’s always scoring in double figures for them, and he’s picking up his production, and he’s shooting over 50% from the floor. I really like the six-foot-six wing and I think that Louisville could just beat you in different ways.” He said, giving Hadley the flowers that were due to him.

However, it isn’t just Hadley. Chucky Hepburn is leading Louisville in scoring, assists, and steals, while Terrance Edwards Jr. has been doing his part by adding to the offensive production. The Cardinals next face Virginia on the 17th. If Louisville keeps up the momentum, they can definitely give Cooper Flagg and Duke some competition, especially with the resources that they have at hand.

The deep pockets of the Louisville Cardinals

Louisville’s basketball program is probably richer than you expect. Even in the program’s dark time during the early to mid 2010s, they were raking in a LOT of money. So much so that in a 2019 Forbes article, they were named as the richest college basketball team. In the 2010s, the Cardinals averaged over 50 million in revenue, and somewhere between 20 and 30 million in profit, making them more profitable than even a few NBA teams! Imagine that!

Their controversies with Rick Pitino and Andre McGee, as well as a vacated championship, did nothing to stall their earnings. Not in the slightest.

Louisville in the 2019-2020 season was second to only Kentucky in the amount of profit that they made. The Cardinals’ revenue was said to be $53.6 million by Forbes, as compared to the Wildcats’ $56 million. Their apparel deal with Adidas worth $11 million was one of the most valuable in the country. Not only that, Louisville plays in the KFC Yum! Center, which is the second largest arena used for college basketball in America.

With such resources, the Cardinals are truly able to focus in on player development and winning basketball. They are the ACC favorites after Duke, and have a huge opportunity in front of them. Even with Cooper Flagg arguing his case for NPOY, Louisville is one of the only teams in the conference that has the potential to snatch the crown from Duke. What do you think? Is Louisville better than Clemson? Can they break Cooper Flagg’s winning streak? We will find out as the season progresses.