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Per a report from The Asbury Park Press, the Seton Hall Pirates have signed a huge nonconference matchup for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
The Pirates will be playing the Louisville Cardinals, a former Big East Conference power currently holding their own in the ACC. As part of the deal, The Hall will be traveling down to the Commonwealth to play at the KFC Yum! Center this coming season before the Cardinals take up to New Jersey in the 2018-19 campaign.
This is, to say the least, an awesome opportunity for Seton Hall. The Cardinals figure to be one of the best teams in the country again next season even with the possible losses of Deng Adel, Jaylen Johnson and Donovan Mitchell, all of whom are either committed to their stay in the NBA Draft (in the case of Johnson) or still testing the waters. With Quentin Snider, V.J. King, Ray Spalding and a stout recruiting class coming in, Rick Pitino’s bunch will represent a tough test for the Pirates who figure to be no slouch themselves if they return everyone for next season.
In addition, the Big East Conference gets a nice profile boost and gets some big-time exposure as a result with one of their reps going up against The ‘Ville. It’s doubly nice to see that the Cardinals have no ill will and have no problem scheduling up against former Big East squads. So, really, this should be a win-win for everyone involved when it eventually goes down this fall.