Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Are you ready for tournament action?

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- AAC Tournament begins Friday

- Lacrosse falls to The Ohio State University 12-11

10 teams will enter the Mohegan Sun Casino Arena and one will walk out holding all the chips Monday night. The pairings have been made, times set and rankings finalized.

Here's how it ended up (with a little free commentary from Paulie). We're holding a AAC Tournament Pick 'Em Contest. It's free, pick the nine games the way you see them and winner gets a CARDINAL COUPLE T-Shirt!

(Chicks in New York are paying top dollar for these...)

Send your selections to our e-mail address:

cardinalcouple@twc.com

 Or leave them in the comments section any day up to Friday 6 p.m. For a tie-breaker, we'll use total points by both teams in the championship game. You can see my picks at the end of this article. Have some fun! Pick nine games! Get a shirt! BE the envy of your neighbors, friends, clergy and associates...

UConn is the #1 seed. Gee, go figure...Will they win it all in Uncasville, CT? Most the chips are probably on them and they look like an odds-on favorite. Stranger things have happen though...

Louisville gets the #2 seed. They have given everyone else fits in the AAC except UConn. I see then facing the Huskies in the finals Monday night. I'm hoping for 'upset city, baby!' Cards are on some unfinished business, you see...

USF took the #3 seed away from Rutgers by beating them Monday night. They'll start against the #6 seed Saturday night. That would be Temple. USF beat them twice, but not easily, during the regular season.

Rutgers fell to the #4 seed. They get the unenviable task of facing UConn after trying to defeat the #5 seed SMU. The Scarlet Knights did defeat SMU in both regular season games but R.U. has lost three out of the last four. Wrong direction.

SMU gets the #5 seed by beating UCF yesterday. They've got Mays and she's a handful. The game against Rutgers should be a good one and tough to pick.

Temple as a #6 seed is dangerous. They'll give the Bulls a battle and would possibly face UofL in the semifinals if they can win against USF. They played UofL tough in both games.

Memphis draws the #7 slot. They'll play Houston in the nightcap Friday night. They survive that one, but the Cards await the winner. Bye, bye kitty.

Cincinnati takes the #8 position. They'll open tournament play against UCF...a team they beat by one in Orlando and ten at home. The winner gets UConn. Some reward, huh?

UCF at #9 is my upset special. They beat the Bearcats and then pull a shocker by dismantling UConn. After knocking off Rutgers in the semis...Huh? What?.Must have been dreaming

Houston has been #10 all year and that's where they enter the tournament. They'll need just one night of hotel reservations and can get back home in time to enjoy the weekend.

Friday, March 7 - First Round Game 1: No. 9 UCF vs. No. 8 Cincinnati (ESPN3) - 6 p.m.
Game 2: No. 10 Houston vs. No. 7 Memphis (ESPN3) - 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 8 - Quarterfinals
Game 3: No. 5 Temple/SMU vs. No. 4 Rutgers (ESPN3) - Noon
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. No. 1 UConn (ESPN3) - 2 p.m.
Game 5: Game 2 winner vs. No. 2 Louisville (ESPN3) - 6 p.m.
Game 6: No. 6 Temple/SMU vs. No. 3 USF (ESPN3) - 8 p.m.

Sunday, March 9 - Semifinals
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner (ESPNU) -1 p.m.
Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner (ESPNU) - 3 p.m.

Monday, March 10 - Championship
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner (ESPN) - 7 p.m.

All times eastern


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Bracket to view:

OK, you've been paitent...so here are Paulie's picks.

UCF DOES KNOCK CINCINNATI ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND MEMPHIS WINS THE NIGHT CAP. RUTGERS SENDS SMU HOME SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND UCONN FINISHES UCF'S STAY. LOUISVILLE ROLLS BY MEMPHIS AND USF ADVANCES OVER TEMPLE. UCONN DISMANTLES RUTGERS IN THE SEMIS AND LOUISVILLE BEATS USF. LOUISVILLE PULLS THE UPSET OVER UCONN IN THE FINALS.

UCF, MEMPHIS, RUTGERS, UCONN, LOUISVILLE, USF, UCONN, LOUISVILLE, LOUISVILLE.

TIE-BREAKER? 145 POINTS SCORED IN THE FINAL GAME.

Bring it!!

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Women's Lacrosse Falls to Ohio State Nikki Boltja had a game-high four goals and one assist. Nikki Boltja's four goals give her 148 for her career, two shy of taking over No. 3 all-time in school history. March 4, 2014 The University of Louisville women's lacrosse team spent a majority of Tuesday's match with the lead over Ohio State until the Buckeyes' scored five-consecutive goals in the second half and held on for a 12-11 victory in Columbus, Ohio. Nikki Boltja recorded her second of four unassisted goals to open the second half and give the Cardinals (4-2) a 7-6 lead. Less than a minute later, Faye Brust delivered Louisville a two-goal cushion with a tally at the 27:54 mark. After an Ohio State goal cut the deficit to one, Kaylin Morissette scored her second of two goals at the 19:24 mark to push the lead back to two at 9-7.   Louisville's second-half lead was short lived though, as Ohio State went on a 5-0 run beginning at the 16:53 mark.   The Buckeyes' Cian Dabrowski, who finished with a hat trick, netted consecutive goals within two minutes of each other, including the game-tying goal at 14:01. Kaila Gottlick then scored an unassisted goal to push Ohio State (3-3) ahead 10-9, and the Buckeyes never trailed after that point. Ohio State tacked on two more to distance itself 12-9.   A pair of late goals by Boltja and Brust with less than three minutes in regulation brought Louisville within one at 12-11, but Ohio State's defense held the Cardinals scoreless for the final 1:13 for the victory.   Ohio State limited Louisville to just six ground balls and four draw controls in the second half, and the Cardinals didn't attempt any free-position shots in the second half.   The Cardinals also struggled in the second period, clearing the ball on just 3-of-6 occasions. Much of the first half belonged to Louisville. After allowing an Ohio State goal to open the game, Louisville compiled two three-unanswered runs in the first 17 minutes of action. Boltja tied the game at one before scores by Colleen O'Malley and Brust made it 3-1 in favor of Louisville. Morissette sparked the second run at the 20:28 mark, and Boltja followed suit with the team's second-consecutive unassisted goal. O'Malley capped the run on a pass from Boltja for Louisville's largest lead of the game, 6-2.   Ohio State made a run of its own, ending the half with four-straight scores to tie it at six. Morissette, who has been a force on the draw this season, was held to a season-low four draw controls, and the Cardinals finished on the wrong end of a 15-10 advantage in that category. Jamie Redding was credited with two assists and had a team-best four ground balls. paulie ... .. .