The Morehead State Eagles and the Louisville Cardinals meet Monday in college basketball action from the KFC Yum! Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Morehead State vs. Louisville prediction.
Morehead State Recap
The Morehead State Eagles enter the 2024-25 season off of the best season in program history from a wins perspective, going 26-9 overall including 14-4 in OVC play for the second straight year. The Eagles, as a 14-seed, would be knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the first round by Illinois. Preston Spradlin restored the shine on Morehead State’s name, but he’s now coaching at James Madison, so Morehead brought in Jonathan Mattox from Murray State where he was serving as an assistant, but Mattox spent the majority of his coaching career at Morehead. The Eagles have to replace a ton of talent lost from last year’s squad, but there are plenty of new pieces coming in, it’s just a matter of getting those pieces to gel, and there’s still enough raw talent that if they do, watch out for Morehead State to be a team to watch in the OVC once again.
Why the Morehead State Eagles will win
- Louisville has lost each of its last eight games.
- Morehead State has won each of its last six games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Louisville Recap
The Louisville Cardinals come into the 2024-25 season hoping that a change in regime will help restore Louisville’s name after two tumultuous seasons under Kenny Payne, finishing with a combined record in the two years of 12-52, including an 8-24 mark last year which featured a 3-17 mark in ACC conference play. Pat Kelsey takes over the Cardinals after running a tight ship at Charleston and Winthrop, making three NCAA tournament appearances in the last four seasons and posting winning records every year as a head coach with the exception of his first year at Winthrop back in 2013. The Cards reloaded with guys like Terrence Edwards Jr. who had 17.2 PPG at JMU, Chucky Hepburn, who was a long-time Wisconsin Badger, Reyne Smith, who put up 12.8 PPG for Kelsey at Charleston among many others. There’s pause as year one of a new era could yield a bunch of different results, but I see nothing to suggest that Kelsey won’t have this team hit the ground running from the word go this season.
Why the Louisville Cardinals will win
- Louisville has won each of its last 10 Monday night games against non-Conference opponents.
Morehead State vs. Louisville Prediction
I’m on Louisville here. I know that both teams have a lot of talent to replace, but of the two sides that have to figure out what they have in house, I feel a lot more confident about what Louisville has and Pat Kelsey’s one of the most underappreciated head coaches in the country in my opinion so it’s good to see him finally getting his crack at a major job and I think Louisville basketball is on the mend. Morehead State will likely be fine in conference play, but I think the step up is too much here. Give me Louisville.