LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Georgia Tech is next for Pat Kelsey's University of Louisville men's basketball team, the one that has won 10 straight and appears primed to extend that streak to 13 ... or more.
Georgia Tech has lost five its last six by an average of more than 11 points. The game will be played at 3:45 p.m. Saturday at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta. The place seats 8,600 but it's been 49% empty over 14 home games.
A large contingent of Louisville fans are booked to make the trip to Georgia, certain to create an environment that will approach a home game.
Advantage, Louisville.
The record shows that when a U of L men's team wins 11 or more in a row, good things happen. After Atlanta, it's on to Boston College on Wednesday for the Cards. If Georgia Tech (9-12) is bad, BC is nearly unwatchable.
The Eagles (9-11) have lost six straight by an average of 16 points. The game will be played at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill Mass. The venue is slightly larger than Georgia Tech, capacity 8,606, but it's been 45% empty over 11 home games.
Advantage, Cardinals.
Then its back home Feb. 8 to play the Miami Hurricanes, whose coach, Jim Larranaga, quit on his team 12 games into the season. If Georgia Tech is bad and Boston College is nearly unwatchable, Miami (4-16) is bad enough to make a Hall of Fame coach give up. The Hurricanes have lost nine straight as well as 16 of 17. Miami is only team yet to win an ACC game, and the Hurricanes average margin of defeat in conference games is a robust 18.3 points per game.
Advantage, you know who.
The path to 13 consecutive victories has never been more direct for the U of L men's basketball team.
The Cards refuse to throw in any clunkers — and their next three opponents are all ranked outside the top 100 teams in America, with a combined record of 4-24 in the league.
Scenes from Louisville's 81-67 basketball win over Virginia in the KFC Yum Center on Jan. 18, 2025.
If the Cards get to 13 straight victories, it would be the program's longest winning streak since the 2013 squad won its final 16 on the rousing road to winning the NCAA Championship that was later vacated.
The 2009 team that featured Terrence Williams, Earl Clark and Jerry Smith reeled off 13 straight wins before it was upset by Michigan State in the Elite Eight in Indianapolis.
The 2005 squad fueled by Francisco Garcia, Taquan Dean and Ellis Myles also won 13 straight before falling to Illinois at the Final Four in St. Louis.
The next marker is obviously 11 straight. Louisville last won 11 in row a decade ago. The 2015 squad (Terry Rozier, Chris Jones and Montrezl Harrell) won its first 11 in a season that ended with an Elite Eight loss to Michigan State in Syracuse, New York.
Make a note of this: The last five Louisville men's team that posted winning streaks of 11 games or more advanced to the Elite Eight or beyond in the NCAA Tournament.
- 2015: Won 11 straight, made Elite Eight
- 2013: Won 16 straight, won national title
- 2012: Won 12 straight, made Final Four. (corrected from Sweet Sixteen).
- 2009: Won 13 straight, made Elite Eight
- 2005: Won 13 straight, made Final Four
I kept walking forehead deep into the weeds Wednesday afternoon. I checked the analytics sites of Ken Pomeroy and Bart Torvik. I used their numbers to calculate the probability of Louisville winning out over the final 10 games of the regular season.
It's an unlikely, but not outrageous, concept. The Cards have already finished playing Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest, SMU and North Carolina, five of the top seven teams in the ACC standings.
The other two teams in the top seven are Louisville and Stanford — and the Cards get the Cardinal at home March 8, Senior Day at the KFC Yum! Center.
What's the probability of Louisville adding 10 wins to the current streak?
At Ken Pom, it is 10.8%.
At Bart Torvik, it is 16.3%.
Chances are this won't be the last time we check these numbers.
Louisville Basketball Coverage:
- BOZICH | Louisville makes it a perfect 10, thumping Wake Forest, 72-59
- BOZICH | Surging Louisville leads ACC in 1 team stat: 3-point attempts
- BOZICH | ACC men's basketball mid-season awards packed with Cards, Blue Devils
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