2007–08 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

2007–08 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
2007–08 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 13
Record	27–9 (14–4 Big East)
Head coach	Rick Pitino (7th season);
Home arena	Freedom Hall
	Seasons ← 2006–07 2008–09 →

2007–08 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 8 Georgetown	15	–	3	.833	28	–	6	.824
No. 13 Louisville	14	–	4	.778	27	–	9	.750
No. 15 Notre Dame	14	–	4	.778	25	–	8	.758
No. 16 Connecticut	13	–	5	.722	24	–	9	.727
West Virginia	11	–	7	.611	26	–	11	.703
No. 25 Marquette	11	–	7	.611	25	–	10	.714
No. 17 Pittsburgh†	10	–	8	.556	27	–	10	.730
Villanova	9	–	9	.500	22	–	13	.629
Syracuse	9	–	9	.500	21	–	14	.600
Cincinnati	8	–	10	.444	13	–	19	.406
Seton Hall	7	–	11	.389	17	–	15	.531
Providence	6	–	12	.333	15	–	16	.484
*DePaul	6	–	12	.333	11	–	19	.367
*St. John's	5	–	13	.278	11	–	19	.367
*South Florida	3	–	15	.167	12	–	19	.387
*Rutgers	3	–	15	.167	11	–	20	.355


† 2008 Big East tournament winner As of April 7, 2008^[1] Rankings from AP Poll *Did not qualify for 2008 Big East tournament.

The 2007–08 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville in the 2007–08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cardinals, led by 7th year head coach Rick Pitino, played their home games at Freedom Hall and were a member of the Big East Conference.^[2] The team finished their season with an overall record of 27–9 (14–5 in the Big East) (.750 overall, .737 in the Big East).

The Cardinals entered the season as a co-favorite to win the 2007–08 Big East men's basketball title and was ranked sixth in the preseason Associated Press Poll. The Cardinals lost four graduating seniors from the previous season^[2]^[3] and graduated three after the season ended.

Regular season[edit]

The Cardinals entered the season as a co-favorite to win the 2007–08 Big East men's basketball title.^[4] The Associated Press also ranked the Cardinals sixth in their preseason poll.^[5]

The Cardinals won the first three games of the season before losing to BYU 78–76 on November 23, 2007. Going into the new year, the team was 9–3 and had played all but one game at Freedom Hall.^[5] During the month of January, the team went 6–3 overall and 4–4 against Big East competition. Their first game in Big East competition was on New Years Day, 2008 against Cincinnati, where the team lost 58–57. Between January 28 and March 8, 2008, the team went on a nine-game winning streak and did not lose during the month of February.^[5] The team finished the regular season with a loss to Big East rival Georgetown, losing 55–52. The team finished the regular season with an overall record of 24–7 (.774).^[5] Against Big East competition, the team compiled a 14–4 (.778) record and finished second in the conference. In three of the four losses to Big East rivals, the Cardinals lost by three or fewer points.^[5]

Postseason[edit]

The Cardinals made appearances in both the Big East tournament and the NCAA tournament. They finished the season ranked sixth in the Coaches Poll and thirteenth in the AP Poll.^[5] At the conclusion of the season, the team graduated three seniors.^[2]

Big East tournament[edit]

The team made an early exit from the Big East tournament with a 76–69 overtime loss to Pitt.^[5] Pitt would go on to defeat Georgetown in the championship game and win the tournament.

NCAA tournament[edit]

For the third time in four years, the Cardinals qualified for the NCAA tournament and were seeded third in the East bracket.^[2] They started off the tournament by defeating 14th-seeded Boise State 75–61. They also beat 6th-seeded Oklahoma 78–48 and 2nd-seeded Tennessee 79–60 before getting eliminated by 1st-seeded North Carolina (lost 83–73) in the Elite Eight.^[2] The team finished the season with an overall record of 27–9 (14–4 in the Big East).^[5]

References[edit]

^ "2007-08 Big East Conference Season Summary: Standings" sports-reference.com. Retrieved 12-13-2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "2007–2008 Louisville Cardinals Roster and Stats". Retrieved November 10, 2013.
^ "2006–2007 Louisville Cardinals Roster and Stats". Retrieved December 9, 2013.
^ "Cardinals Selected as Co-Favorite to Win 2007–08 BIG EAST Men's Basketball Title". Go Cards. October 24, 2007. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "2007–2008 Louisville Cardinals Schedule and Results". Retrieved November 10, 2013.

[standings-1] "2007-08 Big East Conference Season Summary: Standings" sports-reference.com. Retrieved 12-13-2013.

[Roster_and_Stats-2] "2007–2008 Louisville Cardinals Roster and Stats". Retrieved November 10, 2013.

[3] "2006–2007 Louisville Cardinals Roster and Stats". Retrieved December 9, 2013.

[4] "Cardinals Selected as Co-Favorite to Win 2007–08 BIG EAST Men's Basketball Title". Go Cards. October 24, 2007. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.

[Schedule_and_Results-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "2007–2008 Louisville Cardinals Schedule and Results". Retrieved November 10, 2013.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
Venues	Belknap Gymnasium (1933–1944) Jefferson County Armory (1945–1956) Freedom Hall (1956–2010) KFC Yum! Center (2010–present)
Rivalries	Cincinnati Kentucky Memphis
Culture & lore	Billy Minardi Classic Cardinal Bird The Rivalry: Red v. Blue
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NAIA and NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics