Big East Tournament 2012: Louisville Cardinals Need Huge Win over Fighting Irish

Although the Louisville Cardinals look to be a lock for the Big Dance, a win over the No. 23 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Big East tournament would put the team into an excellent position going forward.

After falling to the Irish on January 7 in a double-overtime loss, the Cardinals will be looking for redemption over their Big East foes—a victory that would push the team into one of the higher seeded positions in their given region.

The Cardinals have gone 24-9 this year, but they only won 10 of their 18 conference games. That isn't too shocking, given the strength of the Big East this season, but a loss to the Irish could still leave the Cardinals in a tough spot going forward.

The team will need solid contributions from guards Kyle Kuric and Peyton Siva, who both had huge performances in the team's win over the No. 9 Marquette Golden Eagles.

That win was definitely all the Cardinals needed to make a convincing statement for their NCAA tourney bid, but they don't want to lose their footing at this point with a potential loss to the Irish.

The difference between a five and eight seed is huge, so the Cardinals want to continue to work to secure a spot as high as they can.

The Irish have been relatively strong this season, going 13-5 in the Big East with just 10 losses on the season.

While the Cardinals do have a better overall record than the four teams that sit above them in the Big East standings, they are going to have to prove it to their conference as this tourney carries on.

If Rick Pitino can keep this team going after their huge win over the No. 2 seed Golden Eagles, the field could be wide open for the Cardinals going forward.