By Catherine Laroche

Eight months ago, the University of Louisville men’s basketball took a hard fought loss to North Carolina. Just eight months later, the Cardinals are ready to hit the hardwood again, perhaps even better than the year before.
The Cardinals have been picked to finish as the Big East runner-up behind Connecticut this season in the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll, receiving three first-place votes.
They are also ranked No. 3 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today preseason top 25 polls, behind the Huskies and Tar Heels.
“We’re really proud of where we are at,” Rick Pitino, men’s basketball head coach, said. “We’ve built everything into a brand right now. Recruiting is going great and we’re very excited about where we are.”
Junior biology student Kevin Bueter is also satisfied with the preseason recognition of the Cards, but doesn’t think that the preseason rankings mean much.
“It’s exciting to see our team that high up there,” Bueter said. “I think it’s deserved, but it’s also at a price. Expectations are raised and every team is gunning for you and trying their hardest to knock you off; which makes it awfully tough to win games, especially with their schedule.”
Since the Cards Elite Eight appearance, they’ve set the bar pretty high. Sophomore mechanical engineering student Brett Knipp is one of the many students who have high expectations for U of L.
“I think they will win the Big East and get to the Final Four,” Knipp said. “It’s a long season and anything can happen.”
Impressed by the new freshman class, junior economics student David Henry says he would be surprised if the Cards don’t at least make it to the Elite Eight. He hopes that they finish on top of the Big East and make it to the conference tournament final.
“They will be the best we have had since I have been in college,” Henry said. “Though we lost Padgett as our main big man, Pitino has done a good job in recruitment. I think that for a long time now, we will be able to put people in and not have any dramatic drop-off, if not a production increase.”
The students, arguably, are one of the major factors in pushing the Cards to victory in close games. However, students have been caught lacking in attendance during winter break. Louisville will host Alabama Birmingham, Nevada-Las Vegas and Kentucky consecutively during the break. Junior accounting student Tim Reilly plans on traveling from Northern Kentucky to see the Cardinals in action this December.
“I’m looking forward to UK,” Reilly said. “I don’t know how competitive they will be this year but there is something inside me that would love to see us just absolutely thrash UK. Their fans deserve it.”
Bueter is looking forward to all of the Big East games, but would also like to see a repeat of last year’s 89-75 victory over the Wildcats.
“I’m looking forward to the UK game, because I hate the school, especially their fans,” Bueter said. “I want to watch Louisville stick it to them.”
Tailgating is a very popular pregame event for most students during the warm football season. Many students will continue that tradition during basketball season. Bueter plans on participating, but admitted that the cold weather might prevent him from making an appearance.
Regardless of whether or not students will be pre-gaming, they are all looking forward to another exciting journey to Detroit, Mich.
“At the end of the year I think they will be on top of their game,” Bueter said. “Ready to make a run in the NCAA tournament.”