Kenny Payne is a Louisville graduate and former player who helped the Cardinals win the 1986 NCAA Tournament. He's a kind and well-liked man. So I understand why the school's administration was hesitant to remove him after one disastrous season.
But they should've.
They 100% should've.
And that's an opinion that's now impossible to sensibly argue against after Louisville lost again Wednesday night — this time at home to Arkansas State.
Final score: Arkansas State 75, Louisville 63.
The 12-point loss to a Sun Belt school that had previously lost to Jackson State, Little Rock, San Diego and Bowling Green dropped Louisville to 4-6 on the season with zero victories over teams ranked in the top 230 at KenPom.com and three losses to teams ranked 175th or worse. That would be embarrassingly bad even if Payne had somehow won a national championship in Year 1 at his alma mater — but he didn't. Rather, he went 4-28 in Year 1 while providing zero reasons for anybody to think he was anything other than completely in over his head. Now, things feel as hopeless as ever -- on the court and off. And if Louisville actually wants to do what's best for both its program and Payne, the school should pull the plug on this failed experiment before the Cardinals return to the court Sunday.
I write that sincerely.
Things have gotten so bad that I'm choosing to lead Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings with 500 words on a program that should consistently be ranked but hasn't even sniffed such things since Payne took over. It's not an exaggeration to suggest this could go down as college basketball's all-time worst hire when you consider where Louisville has historically operated and where Payne has taken the program so quickly. Not many things in sports are unimaginable, but Louisville ever being this terrible in basketball really was unimaginable until March 18, 2022.
That's the day Payne was hired.
It's been all bad ever since.
When you talk to people around Louisville, they'll tell you the school couldn't fire Payne after one season because they just love him too much to do that. When you talk to people around Louisville, they'll tell you the school can't fire Payne midseason because they just love him too much to do that.
But that's silly.
At this point, it would actually be crueler for Louisville to continue to allow Payne to go out there and hold press conferences after losses than it would be to just pay him every penny the school owes him and let him walk away before things get worse. Because things will get worse. The sport of basketball is filled with people who are wonderful humans and great assistants but ill-equipped to run a top-10 program. Respectfully, all of the evidence suggests that Kenny Payne is one of those people. And that's why, if the folks who run Louisville's athletic department really love him as much as they say they love him, what they'll do in the coming days is rescue him from this public humiliation so that everybody can start moving on and stop suffering through something that could've theoretically worked but just clearly isn't and won't.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Caleb Love finished with 20 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 98-73 win over Wisconsin. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Purdue. | -- | 27-9 |
| 2 |  | Zach Edey finished with 35 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 92-86 win over Alabama. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday against Arizona. | -- | 34-5 |
| 3 |  | Hunter Dickinson finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds in Saturday's 73-64 win over Missouri. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Indiana. | -- | 23-11 |
| 4 |  | Emanuel Sharp finished with 25 points and three steals in Saturday's 89-55 win over Jackson State. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Texas A&M. vvv | -- | 32-5 |
| 5 |  | Alex Karaban finished with 26 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 101-63 in over Arkansas Pine Bluff. The Huskies' next game is Friday against Gonzaga. | -- | 37-3 |
| 6 |  | RayJ Dennis finished with 17 points and seven assists in Tuesday's 78-60 win over Seton Hall. The Bears' next game is Saturday against Michigan State. | -- | 24-11 |
| 7 |  | Tyler Kolek finished with 17 points and seven assists in Saturday's 78-59 win over Notre Dame. The Golden Eagles' next game is Thursday against St. Thomas. | -- | 27-10 |
| 8 |  | Armando Bacot was 4 of 12 from the field in Tuesday's 87-76 loss to UConn. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday against Kentucky. | -- | 29-8 |
| 9 |  | Jonas Aidoo finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 74-56 win over Georgia Southern. The Vols' next game is Saturday against NC State. | -- | 27-9 |
| 10 |  | Marcus Domask finished 2-of-11 from the field in Saturday's 86-79 loss at Tennessee. The Illini's next game is Sunday against Colgate. | -- | 29-9 |
| 11 |  | Javian McCollum finished with 20 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 79-70 win over Arkansas. The Sooners' next game is Saturday against Green Bay. | -- | 20-12 |
| 12 |  | Braden Huff finished with 17 points and three steals in Monday's 78-40 win over Mississippi Valley State. The Zags' next game is Friday against UConn. | -- | 27-8 |
| 13 |  | Johnell Davis finished with 16 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 94-60 win over FIU. The Owls' next game is Saturday against St. Bonaventure. | -- | 25-9 |
| 14 |  | PJ Hall finished with 17 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 74-66 win over TCU. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at Memphis. | -- | 24-12 |
| 15 |  | Aaron Bradshaw finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 81-66 win over Penn. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against North Carolina. | -- | 23-10 |
| 16 |  | Joel Scott finished 0-of-4 from the field in Saturday's 64-61 loss to Saint Mary's. The Rams' next game is Sunday against CSU Pueblo. | -- | 25-11 |
| 17 |  | Kyle Filipowski finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's 89-68 win over Hofstra. The Blue Devils' next game is Dec. 20 against Baylor. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 18 |  | Wisconsin allowed Arizona to shoot 58.3% from the field in Saturday's 98-73 loss to the Wildcats. The Badgers' next game is Thursday against Jacksonville State. | 1 | 22-14 |
| 19 |  | Isaac McKneely finished with 22 points and two rebounds in Tuesday's 77-47 win over North Carolina Central. The Cavaliers' next game is Saturday against Northeastern. | 1 | 23-11 |
| 20 |  | Jaxson Robinson finished with 28 points and four assists in Wednesday's 90-74 win over Denver. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Georgia State. | 1 | 23-11 |
| 21 |  | Allen Flanigan finished with 18 points and seven rebounds in Sunday's 70-68 win at UCF. The Rebels' next game is Saturday against California. | 1 | 20-12 |
| 22 |  | David Jones finished with 29 points and seven rebounds in Sunday's 81-75 win at Texas A&M. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Clemson. | 1 | 22-10 |
| 23 |  | T.J. Bickerstaff finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 84-69 win at Old Dominion. The Dukes' next game is Saturday at Hampton. | 1 | 32-4 |
| 24 |  | Aaron Estrada finished 2-of-8 from the field in Saturday's 92-86 loss to Purdue. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday at Creighton. | 1 | 25-12 |
| 25 |  | Tre Donaldson finished with 15 points and two assists in Wednesday's 87-62 win over UNC Asheville. The Tigers' next game is Sunday against USC. | 1 | 27-8 |
| 26 |  | Wade Taylor IV was 0 of 9 from 3-point range in Sunday's 81-75 loss to Memphis. The Aggies' next game is Saturday against Houston. | NR | 21-15 |
