The Skyhawk men’s basketball team faces a monumental challenge as it heads to Louisville to face the Cardinals for the first time ever.

The Cardinals are coached by Rick Pitino, who won two NCAA titles as head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats in the 1990s. Louisville’s storied basketball program has two titles of its own, winning it all in 1980 and 1986 under legendary coach Denny Crum.

Last year, the Cardinals almost returned to the Final Four before falling to eventual national runner-up Illinois in the Elite Eight. They set a new school record, finishing the season with 33 wins.

This year, the Cardinals are moving from Conference USA, a league which they dominated with Cincinnati, to the Big East, where Connecticut, Villanova, and Syracuse will wrestle them for the national spotlight.

Senior point guard Taquan Dean is expected to shoulder the leadership responsibilities for Pitino’s squad. Dean set a new single-season school record by making 122 three-point field goals last season. He finished ninth in the NCAA in three-point accuracy, making 44.7 percent of his attempts. Dean averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game last year despite playing with mononucleosis for two months.

The preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll has the Cardinals ranked eighth heading into the season. They are predicted to finish third in the Big East.

There will be one major absence in the game for the Cardinals as sophomore center David Padgett, a transfer from Kansas who is serving as a co-captain, suffered a sprained knee ligament in a team scrimmage and will be out for three to four weeks. Padgett finished the scrimmage with 15 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists. He was the fourth-best high school player in the nation according to Insiders Hoops and was a McDonald’s All-American.

Another absence in the post for the Cardinals will be sophomore forward Juan Palacios. Palacios had six double-doubles as a freshman in 2004-05, tenth-best in Conference USA. He was among the conference leaders in field goal percentage and rebounding.

Rivals.com named Palacios to its Freshman All-America third team. He has been sidelined since hurting his right foot in a pickup game on July 13.

Even without those two players, the Cardinals will pose a great match up problem for the Skyhawks.

The Skyhawks’ frontcourt of Will Lewis, Cleve Woodfork, and Jason Thompson will have their hands full trying to contain Louisville’s 7-foot freshman center Jonathan Huffman and 6-foot-10-inch sophomore center Terrance Farley, who will have to step up in place of the injured starters.

Dean will be a tough defensive assignment for Skyhawk point guard Jeremy Kelly.

The Skyhawks are coming off their second exhibition win, an 85-68 decision over Cumberland University last Thursday night.

The Cardinals struggled to beat Bellarmine University, an NCAA Division II school located in Louisville, 70-63, in their only exhibition game this season last Wednesday. The absence of their two best post players hurt the Cardinals as they were out rebounded by Bellarmine, 32-26.

Tip-off is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Saturday at Louisville’s Freedom Hall.