The Hoagland Team at RE/MAX Premier Properties Presents: The 3-2-1

This is your 3-2-1, where we break down three things we learned this week, two questions we have and give one prediction.

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It's Sunday night, and by now, we all know what happened yesterday. Kentucky beat Louisville for the fourth-straight time, and all four of those wins have been by double digits.

I'm not going to break down the ins and outs of the game from yesterday, but I did break down a few things in a lengthy post on the boards.

It's pretty simple for me: Kentucky has been the better team and the better program, and they still are.

Over the last four meetings, Kentucky has out-scored Louisville by a margin of 179-57.

Sure, one of those games featured a Louisville team being led by an interim coach, but even this year, it simply felt like Kentucky was the better team.

I do think Louisville showed much more resiliency this year, and I will grant you the quarterback play certainly played a major role. As did the turnover margin. But, for me, Louisville is still behind Kentucky in the grand scheme of things.

Kentucky has infused its program with talent and size over the last few recruiting cycles, and simply put, they were better.

Barrion Brown and Deone Walker are examples of that.

I don't think Louisville is way behind Kentucky, and pulling in a crop of recruits like we are seeing with the 2023 class could very well shift this rivalry, but as of now, the advantage is still with team in Lexington.

Nobody expected Kenny Payne to win a national championship in his first season. Nobody expected Kenny Payne to go to a final four in his first season.

Frankly, nobody expected Kenny Payne to take this team into the NCAA Tournament.

What people did expect was an injection of life and energy into a program that desperately needed it.

And up to this point, we haven't gotten that. And we haven't gotten anything close to that.

It's perfectly fine to call a spade a spade. Just because you are critical of an 0-6 start doesn't make you any less of a fan. In fact, I would expect Louisville basketball fans to have standards and expectations that would lead them to criticize what they've seen so far.

Louisville went to Maui at 0-3, and we knew Louisville would be heavy underdogs in the first two games. But, it's how Louisville looked. It's the eye test. This isn't a dumb fan base, especially when it comes to basketball. And getting blown out in all three games, and only putting together stretches of competent play isn't going to fool anyone.

Louisville didn't come close to covering the spread against Arkansas, Texas Tech, or Cincinnati.

The numbers are bad. The assist to turnover ratio is bad. It's all bad.

What is most frustrating, I think, is that we aren't seeing any sort of identity from this group and this coaching staff. We've heard culture mentioned time and time again. What exactly is the culture? What is this team TRYING to do offensively?

There are more questions than answers at this point, and that's putting it lightly.

The transfer portal is already starting to heat up as the official opening of the early window is Dec. 5.

For Louisville, two players announced their intentions of entering the transfer portal on Sunday as running back Trevion Cooley and defensive lineman Caleb Banks both took to Twitter to share their parting thoughts.

They won't be the only two Louisville players to transfer out. Nicario Harper announced in October that he would be doing the same.

Every school across the country will have players leave. This isn't just a Louisville thing.

Trevion Cooley leaving isn't a surprise as he was removed from the roster. Fellow running back Jalen Mitchell was also removed from the roster. Mitchell hasn't made any sort of an announcement yet, but that seems to be a formality at this point.

Scott Satterfield will likely hold individual meetings with every player from now until the bowl practices begin to figure out where things stand, and some of the uncertainty around who else is leaving will be cleared up.

Even before the one-time transfer rule was implemented, the couple of weeks between the end of the season and the early signing period were hectic. Now, even more than ever, coaching staffs are going to have their hands full.

They will have to balance meeting with their current guys and getting out on the recruiting trail to do in-home visits to get to the finish line with the 2023 high school class.

For Louisville, this is certainly applicable as schools will continue to try and work on recruits that are committed to Louisville.

We know that Georgia and Texas are after DeAndre Moore. We know that Ole Miss is after Adonijah Green. We know that a host of SEC programs are after Stanquan Clark.

Who will Louisville add into the fold? Rueben Bain is still out there. Dave Lackford reported that two players who recently visited Louisville are ones to watch in Suderian Harrison and Marcellius Pulliam.

It is vital that Louisville keeps this class - for the most part - in tact heading into a very important off-season.

The first three games were, of course, all very winnable. The three games in Maui were always going to be difficult.

Looking ahead, it doesn't get any easier for Kenny Payne.

Louisville hosts Maryland in the ACC-BIG Challenge on Tuesday night, and the Cardinals will likely be a good-sized underdog.

Maryland is undefeated under first-year head coach Kevin Willard and the Terps have made their way into the top 25 already.

After that Louisville hosts a veteran Miami team that features Isiah Wong and Nigel Pack.

Then, Louisville goes to a place where they almost never win: Tallahassee.

Sitting at 0-9 isn't out of question, and one could argue that record is more likely than not.

Louisville will have a new starting quarterback for the first time since 2019. Who will that be? Brock Domann will be back, but I don't think he's the answer next year. Four-star prospect Pierce Clarkson is coming in and could very well be ready to play from day one. However, sources have told CardinalSports.com that Louisville will go to the portal to bring in an experienced signal caller.