By Derek DeBurger and Elizabeth Scanland

On Sunday, Louisville will travel up to South Bend to play the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish for their last game of the regular season.

ESPN’s College GameDay will be in town for the matchup which will contribute to a challenging environment for the Cards.

The bigger they are

Since their first matchup in Feb., Notre Dame won five straight games and rose to the top-ranked team in the country. Currently Notre Dame is on a two-game skid after losses to NC State and Florida State.

Now Notre Dame is at risk of losing the ACC regular season title with a loss.

But still, they are loaded with enough talent to trample anyone in the country.

Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles still lead the Irish offense with a combined 40.8 points and 9.7 assists.

Sonia Citron has really stepped up her production, too, averaging 17.9 points since playing Louisville. This is a step up of 3.5 points above her season average.

There has been some commonalities between both of the Irish’s recent losses. One of them is rebounding margin, having lost the battle on the glass both times by a margin of 2.5.

They’ve also been kept in check behind the arc, shooting at least 10 percentage points worse in both losses compared to their season average of 40.3% from three-point range.

Finally, both NC State and Florida State had at least one guard score at will on the Notre Dame defense. If Louisville wants a chance, someone like Jayda Curry or Tajianna Roberts will need to play well above their season norms.

No fly zone

On the other side of the court, a lot has changed for the Cards.

Since losing to Notre Dame, Louisville has completely revamped their defense and taken pride in locking down the perimeter. Only one team has shot 26% or better from deep, with the Cards having gone 5-1 since playing the Irish.

Louisville has also gotten better and more consistent contributions from some freshmen like Izela Arenas and Imari Berry, but don’t expect to see too much of them Sunday.

With the direction these two teams have gone, it’s more feasible now than it was a month ago to say Louisville has a genuine chance to pull off the road upset.

While they can steal the win, they need to play a step above on the glass and in the backcourt. Louisville also needs to keep up their same intensity around the arc, forcing the Irish to try and pound Louisville in the paint.

And finally, Louisville needs to contain Hidalgo. Last time out she went for 34 points which briefly tied her for the most points per game nationally. Shutting her down isn’t really an option, Louisville just can’t let her take over the game.

A win would clinch a double-bye in the ACC tournament for Louisville, but a loss puts them at the six-seed. Louisville needs this game just as much as Notre Dame, so hopefully the Cards can take that urgency and play like their hair is on fire.

Tip-off is set for Sunday at noon.

Photo Courtesy // Taris Smith, Louisville Athletics