Louisville Bumps Memphis Out of Top-5 National Championship Favorites

Odds to Win 2020 National Championship

Sharpshooting Has Cardinals Unbeaten

Hot shooting has sparked Louisville’s 5-0 start. The Cardinals are second in the nation with a 55.5 field goal percentage and seventh in 3-point shooting with a 44% mark.

Six of the top seven players in Louisville’s rotation are shooting at least 52% from the floor. Senior forward Dwayne Sutton is leading the way at a sizzling 76.9%, knocking down 20 of 26 shots, including five of nine from 3-point range, a 55.6% clip.

Junior forward Jordan Nwora, the preseason ACC Player of the Year pick, leads Louisville with an average of 22.0 points a game. Senior guard Ryan McMahon (12.8), senior center Steven Enoch (10.6) and Sutton (10.6) are also scoring in double figures.

???The hot hand ???@JordanNwora pic.twitter.com/ipdNFB4bRq

— Louisville Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) November 22, 2019

The Cardinals have shot better than 50% from the field in all five games.

Better Health Means Deeper Bench

The Cardinals are starting to get healthy as junior forward Malik Williams and freshman guard David Johnson made their season debuts Wednesday night in a 76-50 victory over USC Upstate.

Williams sustained a broken foot Sept. 20 and needed surgery. Johnson underwent surgery in July to repair an injured left shoulder.

Against USC Upstate, Williams had three points, three rebounds and a steal in just five minutes. He averaged 7.7 points and 6.1 rebounds a game last season off the bench.

Malik Williams speaking before the Cards take on the Zips on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/xpX8GWnMtH

— TheCrunchZone (@TheCrunchZone) November 22, 2019

Johnson, a Louisville native, logged three minutes in his collegiate debut and scored four points as he made both shots from the floor.

Once Williams and Johnson get all way up to speed, the Cardinals should have plenty of depth.

Competition Has Been Weak

One concern about Louisville is its soft schedule since winning 87-74 on opening night at Miami in an ACC game.

Louisville timing set to steal a layup: pic.twitter.com/cMUrdSmxfZ

— Jordan Sperber (@hoopvision68) November 22, 2019

The Cardinals have since beaten Youngstown State, Indiana State, North Carolina Central and USC Upstate, all at the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville finishes its five-game homestand against Akron (4-1) at 6 p.m. Sunday Nov. 24.

The schedule will then start to get more difficult. There is a neutral-site game against Western Kentucky at Nashville, then a home game against Michigan before Louisville returns to conference play by hosting Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals then have a couple of tough games against Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden and on the road at Kentucky sandwiched around home dates with Eastern Kentucky and Miami (Ohio) before returning to conference play at the start of the new year.

Tougher Schedule Should be Telling

Unquestionably, Louisville is off a great start winning their games by an average of 24 points. However, it might be wise to tap the breaks at least a little on the Cardinals’ national title hopes.

As mentioned, the strength of schedule has been weak, and the Cardinals have trailed in the second half only once. They fell behind USC Upstate by three point but still wound up winning by 26.

Louisville is also due for some regression from that gaudy shooting percentage.

The games against Texas Tech and Kentucky will provide a clearer picture of Louisville’s chances of winning it all for the first time since 2013 and the fourth time in school history.