On the morning of Jan. 31, Louisville woke up with a 16-5 record, a 7-1 mark in ACC, and one of the feel-good stories of college basketball. In Year One of Chris Mack's era, the Cardinals were among the biggest overachievers in the sport, and on a collision course to challenge for the top of the league with North Carolina, Duke and Virginia.

Nearly a month later, though, the feel-goods have crumbled to feel-gones, as Louisville, which fell 66-59 to Boston College on Wednesday, just wrapped up an awful 2-6 month.

Mack after the game blasted Louisville's mettle, calling his team's performance "sickening" and the team's overall state "fragile."

"Our mentality has become soft over time," Mack said. "When things don't go our way both individually and collectively, we just let that affect us. It's sickening to watch."

"We played soft down the stretch," he continued. "Guys are scared. Guys turned the ball over. We played soft. It's a really fragile group." 

Louisville has been a shell of itself over the last month as it has slid down the ACC standings. It gave up a lead and ultimately fell in overtime to Florida State on Feb. 9, then three days later, blew a 23-point lead to Duke. It rebounded with a one point win over Clemson, but hasn't won since, a skid that features two blown halftime leads -- including a double digit lead blown against third-ranked Virginia.

CBS Sports Bracketologist Jerry Palm had Louisville as a No. 8 seed coming in to Wednesday, and the Cardinals may well limp into the NCAA Tournament. But with the way their season is headed, a five-game losing streak going into the postseason seems a real possibility for a former contender now hoping to be fortunate enough to punch its postseason ticket.