One of the 1^st round matchups in the Empire Classic will feature the 19^th-ranked Texas Longhorns facing the Louisville Cardinals in New York, New York at Madison Square Garden with the game scheduled to start at 3:30 PM ET and will air on ESPN.

The Texas Longhorns made it to the Elite Eight last season after winning the Big 12 Conference Tournament and receiving the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, however, the Longhorns lost to the Miami Hurricanes in the Elite Eight by a score of 81-88. This season, Texas has started the year with a record of 3-0 following wins at home against the Incarnate Word Cardinals by a score of 88-56, the Delaware State Hornets by a score of 86-59, and the Rice Owls by a score of 80-64 while having only covered the spread in one game this season, however, they enter this game ranked 19^th in the AP Poll and 17^th in the Coaches Poll and will be looking to advance to the 2^nd round of the Empire Classic with a win against the Louisville Cardinals.

Louisville finished last season in last place in the ACC with an overall record of 4-28 which included a 2-18 record in conference play. The Cardinals were eliminated early in the ACC Tournament with a loss in the 1^st round of the tournament against the Boston College Eagles by a score of 62-80 which would cause the Louisville Cardinals to miss the NCAA Tournament for the 3^rd season in a row. This year, the Cardinals are projected to be the worst team in the ACC and have started the season with a record of 2-1 following wins at home against the UMBC Retrievers by a score of 94-93 and the Coppin State Eagles by a score of 61-41 while losing at home against the Chattanooga Mocs by a score of 71-81 while only covering the spread in one of their games this season.

BookMaker has the Texas Longhorns listed as 18-point favorites against the Louisville Cardinals in the 1^st round of the Empire Classic on Sunday afternoon. This will be the first time these teams have played since the 1997 NCAA Tournament. The Texas Longhorns are 1-2 ATS overall and 1-2 ATS as a favorite this season while the Louisville Cardinals are 1-2 ATS overall on the year.

Texas is the more talented team this season as they enter this game with a record of 3-0 have won their games by an average margin of 21.67 points per game and are ranked in the Top 25 in both the Coaches and the AP Poll as they are ranked 19^th and 17^th respectively. The Cardinals have also gone 1-2 ATS this season, however, they have a record of 2-1 and narrowly escaped with a win in their first games of the season against the UMBC Retrievers as they only won by one point. Louisville has only won by an average margin of 3.67 points per game this season and that has come against weaker competition. I look for Texas to dominate this game against Louisville which is why I am laying the points with the Texas Longhorns when they face the Louisville Cardinals.