UK vs UofL: 3 keys, TV/ radio, prediction

3. Youth vs experience

The Cardinals start two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore. The Wildcats start five freshmen. This is nothing new to either program. Louisville, under Rick Pitino, rarely played freshmen and relied heavily on their upperclassmen. During Louisville’s run to the National Championship in 2013, the Cardinals had one senior, three juniors and a sophomore in their starting lineup. The Wildcats have one of the youngest team in college basketball. Where this year’s team differs from other Calipari-led squads is the lack of at least one upperclassman who can help bring the young guns along. Calipari, in the past, had Patrick Patterson, Alex Poythress, Darius Miller and last year he had Derek Willis. The Cats have a lot of young talent, but the Cards possess some seasoned veterans. That being said, the Cardinals have a first-year coach, while Coach Cal has been roaming the sidelines at UK since 2009, and college basketball since 1988. Just to put that in perspective, David Padgett was three years old when Calipari was hired as the head coach at Massachusetts.