It took just seven games for the wheels to completely fall off Louisville's first season under new coach Kenny Payne.
That was when Payne took to the postgame podium to openly -- and, one could say, justifiably -- question his team's desire.
"We did not compete. We did not fight. We didn't meet their intensity. At times, it looked like we gave up," Payne said after the Cardinals' home loss to Maryland on November 29, which dropped them to 0-7.
Seven games into Payne's tenure, and Louisville was already at rock bottom. Or so we thought.
Then came a 27-point home loss to Miami -- and Payne saying he wasn't sure his team had truly hit its low point.
Kenny Payne: "I don't feel like we're on the upward swing yet....I don't know yet if we've really hit rock bottom."@LouisvilleMBB visits FSU Saturday afternoon. @840WHAS pic.twitter.com/pe4vdOBfPN
— Will Clark (@WClark840WHAS) December 9, 2022
Of course, Louisville then lost by 22 the next week to Florida State, which had just one win this season entering the game. The Cardinals have now lost six straight games by at least 19 points. Their average margin of defeat against power conference teams is a whopping 25.2 points. They're 0-9, holders of the longest losing streak to start a season in ACC history and just two games away from tying the program's worst start (1940-41). They already have more 25-point losses (four) than in any season in program history.
They became only the second major conference team in the past 40 years to start a season with seven straight losses.
Perhaps the most alarming stat, though: Louisville is ranked No. 360 out of 363 teams in the NCAA's NET rankings. That's embarrassing enough -- if that weren't one spot ahead of where they were slotted in the initial NET rankings on Dec. 5.
Is Louisville at rock bottom yet? Entering Wednesday's home game against in-state rival Western Kentucky (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2), it sure feels like it.
Louisville is one of the most storied programs in college basketball history. The Cardinals won a national championship less than a decade ago. They finished one game away from an ACC title just three seasons ago. So how did Louisville fall apart so quickly, just nine games into Payne's tenure?
Holes in roster construction
In the modern era of men's college basketball, with the ever-growing transfer portal and pressure to win quickly, complete roster flips shortly after a new coach takes over are not uncommon. Just look at some of the new hires made last spring.
At Kansas State, Jerome Tang saw 10 players leave and landed seven from the portal. Chris Jans at Mississippi State watched six depart, but came back with five new ones. Missouri had eight players hit the portal following Dennis Gates' hire, but Gates signed six Division I and two junior college transfers. And, of course, there was the ultimate rebuilding job at LSU, where Matt McMahon had his entire roster in the portal at one point, and ultimately reloaded with 10 newcomers.
Louisville was not nearly as active last spring.
Despite seven players leaving, Payne landed only one scholarship player from the portal, Tennessee forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. He kept hold of one recruit from the Chris Mack era, ESPN 100 prospect Kamari Lands, and signed former LSU commit Devin Ree. Two other Mack commits, Tae Davis and Fredrick King, reopened their recruitments and went elsewhere (Seton Hall and Creighton, respectively).
Mack didn't leave a roster completely bereft of talent though. There are five former ESPN 100 prospects in the program, and El Ellis was one of the best junior college guards in the country when he arrived last season. That said, this was also a group that went 13-19 overall in 2021-22 and then lost seven of its top 10 players. It needed an overhaul.
"I don't know how they didn't look at the roster and just go and get someone from like, the CAA that averaged 16 a game," one opposing coach said.