Louisville Cardinals Basketball Self-Imposes Postseason Ban

A promising season for the Louisville Cardinals appears to be ending before March Madness even begins.

That is, in the sense that whatever UL does going forward, it will be all for not as the school has self-imposed a postseason ban. Tthe Louisville-Courier's Jeff Greer originally reported the news before the school announced it at a press conference. President James Ramsey revealed the decision was his.

This also appears to be a decision reached within the last 24 hours, at least that's when players and coaches began finding out.

It’s my understanding that Rick Pitino was made aware of this likely decision late yesterday. Players learned of it only today.

— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) February 5, 2016

Pitino "Players started hugging senior transfers Lewis and Lee and cried once penalty was announced."

— Lee K. Howard (@HowardWKYT) February 5, 2016

The reason being is for the alleged recruiting allegations utilized under the watch of former director of basketball operations Andre McGee.

That means UL will not be in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The ban would also keep them out of any other postseason tournament, such as the NIT, as well as the ACC Tournament.

But while some may have thought this UL team might be NIT-bound before the season began, the Cardinals have been one of college basketball's biggest surprises this season. They're coming off a win over No. 1 North Carolina, are second place in the ACC and are only a game behind the Tar Heels for first place.

Adding to that, the most recent odds to win the NCAA Tournament released had UL with the eighth-best odds to take home the title. give how volatile this college hoops season has been, it's fair to think UL would have been a Final Four contender once the tournament began.

But alas, the season will end for the Cards once the regular season has concluded.