Keeping it in the family, as Minnesota takes on Louisville

Nov 14, 2014 - 4:32 PM Aguadilla, PR (SportsNetwork.com) - It's father vs. son in the 2014-15 season opener, as the Minnesota Golden Gophers battle the eighth-ranked Louisville Cardinals in the Armed Forces Classic at U.S. Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico.

Despite embarking on their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. legendary coach Rick Pitino has his Cardinals in the early national championship conversation, while his son, Richard, is simply hoping his Golden Gophers can take the next step in their development as a serious contender in the Big Ten Conference.

Richard Pitino's first season in Minneapolis was certainly an exciting one, as the Golden Gophers won 25 games (second-most in school history) en route to the NIT Championship. They went just 8-10 in conference though.

As for the Cardinals, they are only two years removed from an NCAA title and made a run to the Sweet 16 last season. Their addition to the talent-rich ACC almost doesn't seem fair, but you can rest assured they will have a tougher time than they did last season as a member of the American Athletic Conference. Louisville has won 10 straight season openers.

Minnesota leads the all-time series with Louisville, 3-2, with the Gophers winning the last meeting on Dec. 20, 2008, 70-64, in Glendale, Arizona as part of the 2008 Stadium Shootout.

The Golden Gophers closed out the 2013-14 campaign by winning five straight and seven of their final eight games, and the younger Pitino is fortunate to have two of the team's three double-digit scorers back for another go. Seniors Andre Hollins (13.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.4 apg) and DeAndre Mathieu (12.0 ppg, 4.2 apg) will be the focal points of the offense, while Elliott Eliason (5.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.9 bpg) and junior Joey King (7.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg) hope to elevate their play enough to make significant contributions.

Others to keep an eye on include guard Carlos Morris, who scored a game-high 23 points in UM's recent exhibition win over Minnesota-Duluth, as well as freshmen frontcourt performers Josh Martin and Bakary Konate, both of whom are expected to be in the starting lineup in this contest.

The challenge facing the elder Pitino this season is finding suitable replacements for All-American Russ Smith (18.2 ppg) and Luke Hancock (12.3 ppg), while taking a giant step up in competition from the AAC to the ACC. Matching last year's 31 victories will be difficult, but not impossible when you consider the team boasts one of the nation's top all-around performers in junior forward Montrezl Harrell. Considered a solid NBA Draft pick after last season, Harrell (14.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg) decided against leaving school early, and will be the guy the Cards try to get going right from the opening tip.

Picking up the slack for the departed Smith will be Chris Jones (10.2 ppg), while sophomore Terry Rozier (7.0 ppg) offers support alongside. Senior forward Wayne Blackshear (8.2 ppg) has plenty of experience, and will be looked upon as a steadying force if things get a little chaotic.