Louisville started the season unranked, then won 17 of its first 21 games. And in the latest Associated Press poll, the Cardinals are ranked 19th.
So that's good, all things considered.
And yet it didn't feel good -- mostly because the Cardinals entered February still looking for their first signature win. They'd beaten Pittsburgh and Florida State at home, as well as Georgia Tech and North Carolina State on the road. But they hadn't topped a school currently ranked inside the top 35 at KenPom, the top 30 of the RPI, or the Top 25 of either the AP poll or Coaches poll.