# 1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 66th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Metro Conference and were coached by Denny Crum. The team played home games at Freedom Hall.
The team completed a 33–3 record and brought Louisville basketball their first NCAA national championship when they defeated UCLA 59–54, led by Darrell Griffith and his 23 points.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| December 1* | No. 10 | South Alabama | W 75–73 | 1–0 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| December 5* | No. 14 | Tennessee Chattanooga | W 87–63 | 2–0 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| December 8* | No. 14 | at Tennessee | W 77–75 | 3–0 | Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| December 13* | No. 12 | UNC-Charlotte Holiday Classic | W 93–76 | 4–0 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| December 14* | No. 12 | Western Kentucky Holiday Classic | W 96–74 | 5–0 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| December 19* | No. 11 | No. 2 Ohio State | W 75–65 | 6–0 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| December 22* | No. 11 | at Utah | L 69–71 | 6–1 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City |
| December 28* | No. 12 | vs. Princeton Hawaii Rainbow Classic | W 64–53 | 7–1 | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| December 29* | No. 12 | vs. Illinois Hawaii Rainbow Classic | L 65–77 | 7–2 | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| December 30* | No. 12 | vs. Nebraska Hawaii Rainbow Classic | W 65–58 | 8–2 | Honalulu, Hawaii |
| January 3 | No. 15 | at Tulsa | W 78–58 | 9–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| January 5 | No. 15 | Kansas St. | W 85–73 | 10–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| January 8 | No. 11 | St. Louis | W 94–65 | 11–2 (1–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| January 12 | No. 11 | at Memphis St. | W 69–48 | 12–2 (2–0) | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee |
| January 19 | No. 7 | at Tulane | W 76–59 | 13–2 (3–0) | Avron B. Fogelman Arena New Orleans |
| January 22 | No. 7 | Marquette | W 76–63 | 14–2 (3–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| January 25 | No. 7 | at St. Louis | W 99–74 | 15–2 (4–0) | Kiel Auditorium St. Louis |
| January 27 | No. 7 | Florida St. | W 79–73 | 16–2 (5–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| January 31 | No. 7 | Tulane | W 64–60 | 17–2 (6–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| February 3 | No. 7 | at No. 9 St. John's | W 76–71 | 18–2 (6–0) | Alumni Hall Queens, New York |
| February 4 | No. 7 | Memphis St. | W 88–60 | 19–2 (7–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| February 6 | No. 3 | Cincinnati | W 88–73 | 20–2 (8–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| February 9 | No. 3 | at Providence | W 79–73 | 21–2 (8–0) | Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| February 11 | No. 3 | at Virginia Tech | W 56–54 $^{OT}$ | 22–2 (9–0) | Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, Virginia |
| February 14 | No. 3 | at West Virginia | W 90–78 | 23–2 (9–0) | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia |
| February 16 | No. 3 | at Cincinnati | W 61–57 | 24–2 (10–0) | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| February 18 | No. 3 | Virginia Tech | W 77–72 | 25–2 (11–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| February 21 | No. 2 | vs. Iona | L 60–77 | 25–3 (11–0) | Madison Square Garden New York City |
| February 24 | No. 2 | at Florida St. | W 83–75 | 26–3 (12–0) | Tallahassee, Florida |
| 1980 Metro Conference tournament ||||||
| February 29 | No. 4 | Memphis St. Metro Conference tournament Semi-Final | W 84–65 | 27–3 (12–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| March 1 Tanner Sports Network | No. 4 | Florida St. Metro Conference tournament championship | W 81–72 | 28–3 (12–0) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| 1980 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament ||||||
| March 8 | No. 2 (MW2) | vs. No. MW7 Kansas St. Second Round | W 71–69 $^{OT}$ | 29–3 (12–0) | Devaney Center Lincoln, Nebraska |
| March 14 | No. 2 (MW2) | vs. No. MW6 Texas A&M Midwest Regional Semi-Final (Sweet Sixteen) | W 66–55 $^{OT}$ | 30–3 (12–0) | The Summit Houston, Texas |
| March 16 | No. 2 (MW2) | vs. No. 3 (MW1) Louisiana St. Midwest Regional Championship (Elite Eight) | W 86–66 | 31–3 (12–0) | The Summit Houston, Texas |
| March 22 | No. 2 (MW2) | vs. No. E5 Iowa National semifinal (Final Four) | W 80–72 | 32–3 (12–0) | Market Square Arena Indianapolis |
| March 24* | No. 2 (MW2) | vs. No. W8 UCLA National Championship Game | W 59–54 | 33–3 (12–0) | Market Square Arena Indianapolis |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
| AP | 10 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 |

## NCAA basketball tournament
### Midwest region

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | Regional Finals | Regional Finals | Regional Finals |
| 8 | Alcorn State | 70 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | South Alabama | 62 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | South Alabama | 62 | 8 | Alcorn State | 88 | | | | | | |
| | | | 1 | LSU | 98 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 1 | LSU | 68 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Missouri | 63 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Notre Dame | 84* | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Missouri | 87 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Missouri | 61 | 5 | Missouri | 87 | | | | | | |
| 12 | San Jose State | 51 | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | San Jose State | 51 | | | | | | | 1 | LSU | 66 |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | Louisville | 86 |
| 6 | Texas A&M | 55 | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Louisville | 86 |
| 11 | Bradley | 53 | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Bradley | 53 | 6 | Texas A&M | 78 | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | North Carolina | 61** | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Texas A&M | 55* | | | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Louisville | 66 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Louisville | 71 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Kansas State | 69* | | | | | | |
| 7 | Kansas State | 71 | 7 | Kansas State | 69* | | | | | | |
| 10 | Arkansas | 53 | | | | | | | | | |

### Final Four

| National semifinals | National semifinals | National semifinals | National Finals | National Finals | National Finals |
| E5 | Iowa | 72 | | | |
| MW2 | Louisville | 80 | | | |
| MW2 | Louisville | 80 | MW2 | Louisville | 59 |
| | | | W8 | UCLA | 54 |
| ME6 | Purdue | 62 | W8 | UCLA | 54 |
| W8 | UCLA | 67 | National third-place game | National third-place game | National third-place game |
| | | | E5 | Iowa | 58 |
| | | | ME6 | Purdue | 75 |

## Awards and honors

* Darrell Griffith, NCAA Men's MOP Award
* Darrell Griffith, All-America selection

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Year | Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1980 | 1 | 2 | Darrell Griffith | Utah Jazz |
| 1983 | 2 | 36 | Scooter McCray | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 1983 | 1 | 3 | Rodney McCray | Houston Rockets |
| 1982 | 2 | 35 | Derek Smith | Golden State Warriors |