Louisville Cardinals vs. Creighton Bluejays: A History in the NCAA Tournament

Introduction

The University of Louisville Cardinals and the Creighton University Bluejays are both prominent names in college basketball. The Louisville Cardinals men's basketball program represents the University of Louisville (U of L) in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) of NCAA Division I. While a comprehensive head-to-head history in the NCAA Tournament between these two programs may be limited, understanding their respective journeys, achievements, and overall basketball legacy provides valuable context.

Louisville Cardinals: A Storied Program

Early Years and Coaching Legends

The Louisville Cardinals boast a rich basketball tradition dating back to 1911. The team has an all-time record of 1,882-933 (.669). Key figures have shaped the program's success, including:

John Dromo: Succeeded Hickman as head coach in 1967, following 17 years as assistant.
Denny Crum: Hired in 1971, Crum transformed Louisville into a national powerhouse, leading the Cardinals to six Final Fours (1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986) and two NCAA tournament championships (1980, 1986).

The Denny Crum Era: National Prominence

Under Denny Crum's guidance, Louisville achieved remarkable success:

1980 NCAA Championship: Defeated UCLA 59-54.
1986 NCAA Championship: Overcame Duke 72-69.
23 NCAA Tournament Appearances: An overall record of 43-21.
Metro Conference Dominance: 12 regular season titles and 11 tournament championships.

Crum's contributions were recognized with his induction into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1994. He retired in 2001 with a career record of 675-295 (.696 winning percentage) over 30 seasons.

The Rick Pitino Era: Continued Success and Controversy

Rick Pitino continued the Cardinals' tradition of excellence:

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NCAA Tournament Appearances: 12 of 15 seasons.
Elite Eight Appearances: Six times.
Final Four Appearances: Three times (2005, 2012, and 2013).
Conference Championships: Six tournament championships and four regular season titles.

However, Pitino's tenure was also marked by controversy:

2015-16 Postseason Ban: Self-imposed due to an NCAA investigation into an escort sex scandal.
NCAA Charges: In 2017, Pitino was charged with failure to monitor his program.
Vacated Records: In 2018, the NCAA ruled that Louisville must vacate its records from 2011 to 2015.

Recent Coaching Changes and Rebuilding

Following Pitino's departure, Louisville has seen coaching changes:

Chris Mack: Hired in 2018, Mack had a notable start, recruiting a top-5 2019 class.
Pat Kelsey: In year one, Kelsey took over a program that won just 12 games in the previous two seasons and hadn't made the NCAA Tournament since 2018.

Program Rankings and Achievements

As of the end of the 2015-16 season, Louisville had an all-time 1778-892 record in 102 seasons of intercollegiate basketball ranking 10th in all-time victories and seventh in all-time winning percentage among NCAA Division I schools.

The Cardinals have made 42 NCAA Tournament appearances (5th all-time) and 15 NIT appearances. Louisville has reached the NCAA Tournament 32 of the last 40 years (12 of the last 15, 14 of the last 18 years, 20 of last 25). Since the NCAA began keeping Sweet Sixteen appearance records in 1975, Louisville's 21 Sweet Sixteens are 5th all-time behind North Carolina (26), Kentucky (25), Duke (24), and Kansas (22). The Cardinals have reached the Elite Eight on 14 occasions, including five of the past nine seasons.

Louisville is the only school in the nation to have claimed the championship of three major national post-season tournaments including the 1948 NAIA championship, the 1956 NIT title, and the 1980, 1986 and 2013 NCAA championships.

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Creighton Bluejays: A Rising Force

While the provided information focuses primarily on Louisville, it's important to acknowledge Creighton's basketball program. Information about Creighton's history, notable coaches, NCAA Tournament appearances, and overall record would give a complete picture.

Louisville vs. Creighton: The NCAA Tournament Matchup

The Cardinals received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed, where they lost in the first round to Creighton.

Rivalries

Kentucky-Louisville Rivalry

The Kentucky-Louisville rivalry has been ranked the 2nd best rivalry in college basketball by Bleacher Report and 3rd best rivalry in all of college sports by Basketball Hall of Fame contributor Dick Vitale. Kentucky and Louisville first played against each other in 1913 but stopped playing each other in the 1920s, playing only twelve times between 1913 and 1983. The rivalry was generally dormant with only occasional matchups until the teams met in the 1983 NCAA tournament. Much like the Iron Bowl, the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry is all the more intense because the two schools have consistently been among the nation's elite men's basketball teams for most of the last 50 years. Both schools are also two of the most victorious programs in NCAA men's basketball history; Kentucky is #1 on the list of all-time winningest programs in Division I Men's Basketball and Louisville #26 (#10 including vacated victories).

Cincinnati-Louisville Rivalry

While predominantly a football rivalry, the proximity and long-standing conference affiliation of Cincinnati and Louisville made this into a key rivalry, particularly in the days of the Metro and Big East conferences.

Honored Players

No. Louisville basketball has honored five former players by retiring their numbers.

Charlie Tyra #8: A consensus All-American during the 1956 and 1957 seasons, Charlie Tyra led the University of Louisville to its first NIT title in 1956 and was named the tournament's MVP for his performance.
Wes Unseld #31: When Wes Unseld ended his career with the University of Louisville following the 1967-68 season, he left as the Cardinals' all-time leading scorer for a three-year player.
Darrell Griffith #35: The 1980 Player of the Year and consensus first team All-American led Louisville to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, winning the 1980 Championship as he had promised when he committed to his hometown Cardinals.
Pervis Ellison #42: Ellison won the 1986 NCAA Tournament MOP award after leading the Cardinals to their second NCAA Tournament Championship.
Russ Smith #2: Smith, the Cardinals' all-time steals leader with 275 and also fifth in career scoring with 1,908 points, was a consensus first-team All-American in 2013-14 after receiving third-team All-American honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Sporting News in 2012-13, when the Cardinals won their since-vacated third national title.

Louisville has three representatives in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Cardinal All-American and former Washington Bullets All-Star Wes Unseld, who was inducted in 1988, former coach Denny Crum, who was inducted in 1994, and coach Rick Pitino, who was inducted in 2013.

All Americans

Twenty one Louisville players have earned 25 All American selections.

NBA Draft

The Cardinals have had 75 players taken in the NBA draft, the most recent being Ray Spalding, who was chosen in the 2018 NBA draft, and Donovan Mitchell, who was chosen in the 2017 NBA draft.

Arenas

KFC Yum! Center

Since the 2010-11 season the Cardinals have played their home games at the KFC Yum! Center located along the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Louisville. As of February 7, 2017, Louisville has a 114-14 record (.891) in 6 seasons in the KFC Yum!

The facility has a seating capacity of 22,090 with 71 suites and 62 loge boxes. It is the third-largest in the nation (behind only Syracuse's Carrier Dome, Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena, and Kentucky's Rupp Arena). Louisville ranked among the top 3 in attendance in the first three seasons at the KFC Yum!

The playing surface at the KFC Yum! Center is named Denny Crum Court in honor of Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum.

Since the opening of the KFC Yum Center, the University of Louisville has become the most valuable college basketball team in the nation.

Freedom Hall

From 1956 to the completion of the KFC Yum! Center in 2010, the Cardinals played their home games at Freedom Hall. Louisville had a 664-136 record in 54 seasons in Freedom Hall (.83 winning percentage). Freedom Hall has been the site of six NCAA Final Fours, four additional NCAA events and 10 conference tournaments. Louisville ranked among the top 10 nationally in average home attendance at Freedom Hall for 31 years, including the last 28 in the nation's top five (19,397 in 2009-10, third in the nation).

Jefferson County Armory

Jefferson County Armory was the primary home of Louisville Cardinals basketball starting in 1945 when Bernard "Peck" Hickman was head coach until the 1957-58 season, when Freedom Hall became their primary home game site. The Cardinals played 10 of their home games in the Jefferson County Armory in 1956-57 and three games in Freedom Hall. Louisville played one game at the armory in 1958-59.In the 1960s the armory was renamed the Louisville Convention Center. The Cardinals played two games at the Convention Center in 1963-64 and three games in the Convention Center in 1964-65. The last game the Cardinals played there was November 30, 1972.

Belknap Gymnasium

After playing home games at numerous venues in its early years, the Cardinals moved to the newly constructed Belknap Gymnasium in 1931. The gym housed 600 bleacher seats and the baskets were mounted directly to the wall. Louisville compiled a 56-35 (.615 winning percentage) before moving to the Jefferson County Armory.

Planet Fitness-Kueber Center

Since 2007 the Cardinals have practiced at the $15.2 million, 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) Planet Fitness-Kueber Center on campus. The facility was named the Yum!

Scandals

A former Louisville player, and then Director of Basketball Operations, Andre McGee, arranged and paid for strippers and prostitutes to perform striptease dances and sexual acts for 17 prospective and former basketball players from 2010 to 2014. During the investigation of the allegations, the university self-imposed a ban on the 2016 NCAA tournament. In June 2016, the NCAA announced that the university would lose four basketball scholarships over the course of four seasons, but there would be no further postseason ban. The NCAA suspended head coach Rick Pitino for five ACC games during the 2017-18 season. The NCAA also ordered the university to vacate all wins from 2011 to 2014 that include ineligible players. As a result of a corruption scandal implicating various schools including Louisville, on September 27, 2017, Louisville placed head coach Rick Pitino on unpaid administrative leave and athletic director Tom Jurich on paid administrative leave. Rick Pitino and Tom Jurich would then be fired with cause by the university.

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