Louisville @ SMU Preview

The last time these two teams clashed the Louisville Cardinals prevailed. Now one of the country’s top defenses will again do battle with the nation’s top offense.

The SMU Mustangs will be looking to avenge their previous loss and keep their chance at a conference title alive.  Both these teams are ranked.  Louisville is No. 11 while SMU is No. 18 on the AP Top 25. 

“This ranking doesn’t mean anything to me right now,” said SMU coach Larry Brown. “I’m proud of the fact that we’re in the top 25 in a lot of people’s eyes, but we’ve got a lot of things ahead of us and a lot of great opportunities. And we’ve got to do better than we did today.”

Meanwhile, the Cards are tied with Cincinnati in the AAC.  SMU is in third place.  All three of these teams are vying for the AAC title.  Louisville could knock out SMU with a win here and perhaps even impact the Mustang’s standing in the AP Top 25.  The Cardinals would drop to second place with a loss and SMU would start its march toward the conference championship. However, they can afford the loss and would still have time to come back. 

Louisville is one of the top scoring teams in the nation.  They average about 81.7 points a game.   SMU, meanwhile, is limiting teams to 36.9 percent shooting.  SMU is also on the brink of making its first NCAA tournament run in over 20 years.

Louisville has a 7-2 edge overall in the series.   They are also favored to win with a -3 points spread.  The game starts at 7:05 p.m. ET and you can watch it on CBC.