The Louisville Cardinals were expected to enter the 2016-17 college basketball season as one of the top teams in the country, but third leading scorer and leading rebounder Chinanu Onuaku announced that he would remain in the 2016 NBA Draft. Many had this move dropping the Cardinals significantly in their preseason rankings, but in reality, it should only drop them a few spots.
Louisville returns a large portion of their minutes from last season and had immense success in a year where they were considered in transition. The Cardinals finished just two games behind the North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC regular season standings and defeated this same UNC team in their only matchup of the season.