Reports: Louisville Self-Imposing NCAA Tournament Ban

In the wake of recruiting allegations that surfaced in the fall, Louisville is announcing today that they will self-impose an NCAA tournament ban for this 2015-16 basketball season, multiple sources are reporting. If true, we suspect that this is likely in an effort to get out in front of any NCAA sanctions that might be coming down the line and hopefully soften the blow.

Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal is reporting that the team was told this morning that they will only have nine more games this season, which is the remainder of the regular season. CBS Sports is reporting the same. Notably for UVa fans, that means Louisville's last game of the season will come at John Paul Jones Arena on March 5th.

With the NCAA tournament ban, if true, the Cardinals are also banned from participating in this year's ACC tournament, in Washington, D.C.

Even though this is breaking news, the ACC is already prepared for this situation had Syracuse self impose a postseason ban last year that prevented them from playing in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Last year, in order to accommodate the 14 teams rather than the normal 15, seeds 5 through 10 received a first round bye (12 vs. 13 and 11 vs. 14), and the 1 through 4 seeds received a bye to the Quarterfinals.

While this is taking place at Louisville, if true, the repercussions will be felt throughout the conference with the Cardinals sitting very well in 2nd place, and just a game behind UNC. The news would most likely help teams like UVa, Clemson, Miami, and Pitt who will have one less team to worry about taking a top 4 seed and double bye in Washington.

Hopefully this news, if true, puts Louisville's troubles in the rear view mirror, but wth the NCAA handing out sanctions and coaching suspensions like candy these days, who knows just what Mark Emmert will give the Cardinals in the future.