The UMBC Retrievers and Louisville Cardinals meet Monday in college basketball action at the KFC Yum! Center. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

UMBC Retrievers Betting Preview

The UMBC Retrievers have won 18 games in back to back seasons and enter the third year under coach Jim Ferry. UMBC has won double-digit games in each of the last 7 years. Dion Brown returns after averaging 7.7 points and 4 rebounds, while Devan Sapp averaged 2.1 points and 0.3 assists. JC Harris played in 25 minutes last season and Regimantas Ciunys 1.7 rebounds. The UMBC Retrievers lost each of their top-7 scorers from last season, so saying this is a new roster is an understatement. UMBC has a lot of production to replace, and it could lead to growing pains early. UMBC has 5 of its first 9 games on the road, so this team has to figure things out quickly. 

Louisville Cardinals Betting Preview

The Louisville Cardinals won 4 games last season and haven’t made the big dance since the 2018-19 season. Louisville enters the second season under coach Kenny Payne. Mike James returns after averaging 10.1 points and 3.3 rebounds, while JJ Traynor averaged 6.9 points and 3.8 rebounds. Emmanuel Okorafor played in 75 minutes last season, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield averaged 5.4 rebounds. The Louisville Cardinals brings back 3 of their top-5 scorers from last season and their coach has a year under his belt, so improvement is expected. Louisville also has a great recruiting class coming in with Dennis Evans, Kaleb Glenn and Curtis Williams leading the way. Louisville also hit the transfer portal with Danilo Jovanovich from Miami, Tre White from USC and Skyy Clark from Illinois. Louisville is still looking up to a lot of teams in the ACC, but more wins than a season ago should take place. 

Randy’s Pick

The Louisville Cardinals should be favored, and they have the edge here in terms of talent. However, Louisville was so bad last season that they kind of have to prove themselves to me before I can get behind them with confidence. The UMBC Retrievers are a brand-new roster, and yet they’re single digit underdogs on the road, which should tell you something. It’s the points or pass for me.