Dan McDonnell looking forward to NCAA Tournament, representing ACC

The Louisville Cardinals are still waiting to hear where they’re going to land in the NCAA Tournament. Wherever that may be, head coach Dan McDonnell is looking forward to it and representing the ACC.

These comments from McDonnell came following Louisville’s loss to Miami in the ACC Tournament. That game was part of a disappointing run in the ACC Championship Tournament, which also saw Louisville drop a game to Clemson.

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“I’ll be looking forward to getting in an NCAA and not playing an ACC team,” Dan McDonnell said. “And I know there’s a lot of good teams out there, but I just look forward to carrying the flag, representing our league, and going up against some of the good programs from other leagues.”

Certainly, Louisville has found plenty of success since Dan McDonnell took over as the head coach of the program in 2007. He took the Cardinals to the College World Series in his very first season and over the course of his entire tenure, he’s taken Louisville to the NCAA Tournament 13 times, with four of those runs ending in the Super Regional and another five ending in the College World Series.

This season Louisville hasn’t had the same amount of success as in past seasons under Dan McDonnell, going 32-24 and finishing with a frustrating ACC Championship Tournament performance. In particular, ACC play was tough on the Cardinals, going 16-14 this season in ACC play. Still, that record was good enough to finish fourth in a competitive ACC.

Interestingly, Louisville has struggled away from home this season, going 7-14 in games on the road or in a neutral site. Assuming Louisville makes the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals are going to need to find a way to win in an unfamiliar location.

In his latest Field of 64 Projections, On3’s Jonathan Wagner predicted that Louisville will actually miss the NCAA Tournament. Within that field, there is still going to be plenty of ACC representation, with seven teams from the conference projected to make it.

Of course, there’s always a chance for a surprise when the selection committee announces the entire field and Louisville could still make the NCAA Tournament. That news will come down on Memorial Day Monday and noon on the East Coast. From there, Dan McDonnell is going to be able to prepare his team for whatever is coming next.