WBB #5 in USA Today preseason poll -- Virtual WBB Tip-off Luncheon -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS #5 IN PRESEASON USA TODAY WBB POLL

An old friend of mine used to say "Another county heard from" when he heard new information. And, as we draw nearer to the Nov. 25th.start date for UofL women's basketball, another ranking source (or county, if you will) has come out with their preseason projections. 

USA Today has released their preseason "coaches" poll and Louisville WBB is ranked #5 in this poll. South Carolina got all but one first place vote of the 32 votes, #2 Stanford receiving the other first place vote. Then, it's Connecticut ranked #3, Baylor #4 and the Louisville Cardinals at #5. 

This poll's panel is chosen by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The member represent each of the 32 Division I conferences that receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Each coach submits a "top 25" list with the first place team they've selected getting 25 points, second place 24 and so on.

Representing the ACC in the poll is Miami's Katie Meier.

South Carolina received 799 votes (or 25x31=775 + 24x1=24 for the 799 points).  Stanford came in with 740 points, Connecticut 732, Baylor 702 and Louisville 663. One of the Cards ACC rivals -- NC State -- was listed sixth with  601 points. The top ten rounds out with Mississippi State at 567, Arizona with 539 and UCLA gathering 535 votes. 

The ACC had four schools placed in the top 25. After Louisville and NC State, Syracuse is at #21 with 149 votes and Notre Dame at #23 with 104 votes. 

Louisville's first opponent is Middle Tennessee State University. They were listed in the "also receiving votes" category with six points.   The ACC had FSU (23 points), North Carolina (11 points) and Virginia Tech (six points) in the "also receiving votes" category. 

Just how much stock can be taken in preseason polls is anyone guess. Yes, it's nice to know what some of the coaches in NCAA DI basketball think as far as good teams go, but, let's face it -- no one as played a game yet and the voters have to formulate their list by looking at last year's results, who a team lost to graduation or the WNBA, who they picked up via transfer or freshmen signees and the strength of schedule and conference. Just to use an couple of examples...what a MVC coach might know about the PAC 12 or a ASUN coach can predict about the ACC is debatable. 

Let's play ball...

WBB VIRTUAL TIPOFF LUNCHEON

The 40-minute presentation of this annual event was a good show. No, it didn't beat being their in person, but, given 2020 and the circumstances...the University of Louisville did the best they could with what they had to work with. For those of you starved for Louisville WBB news, you got a plate full. 

The first change from previous years I noticed was Cards WBB play-by-play guy Nick Curran replacing Sean Moth as the emcee of the event. And Nick did a great job performing his duties during the broadcast. I won't compare Nick with Sean. Each has their own style and way of presenting and describing things and both are excellent craftsmen at what they do. 

After Nick's opening remarks and greeting to all, Nick introduced the roster and we got to see the student-athletes introducing themselves and describing a favorite moment in their basketball pursuits so far.  After that, we saw a short clip from Vince Tyra, who expressed his thoughts about the squad and Coach Walz. That's a yearly thing in the WBB Tipoff Luncheon and expected. 

Then, a few individual question and answer sessions with followed. Players featured in this segment were Kianna Smith, Hailey Van Lith, Elizabeth Balogun, Mykasa Robinson and Dana Evans. A couple of things were consistent in the Q & A sessions  First, there is excitement about finally getting to play games, there is a strong bond of friendship and solidary amongst the players and a degree of confidence on how the team is performing in practice. 

I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a couple of more Q&A interviews (I would have liked to heard a Q&A with Norika, Nyah and Liz in that section of the show) but who and what we did hear was inspiring, encouraging and informative. 

Next was Coach Walz and he didn't do a one-on-one with Nick -- just a monologue from his office. Coach was as good as we've always come to expect he will be. He talked about the depth of the squad, who the toughest opponent was (he answered "COVID") and the dedication of the student-athletes, coaches, and staff.. 

The presentation was definitely casual, in terms of apparel,  which is a difference from the previous years where we've seen the student-athletes and staff "dressed to the nines" for the event. But, hey...Sonya and I were watching at home and we didn't put on our best Cardinal gear to view it, so, I understand the informal format. 

In case you missed it, here's the link so you can re-watch it at the link before and feel free to stay in yor pajamas or jogging suit while you view the presentation! : 

LINK: 

2020 Cards WBB Preseason Tipoff Virtual Luncheon

Have a fantastic Friday! 

paulie

Louisville women's basketball -- Jared Anderson's report -- WEDNESDAY CARDINALCOUPLE

IS THIS UOFL WBB SQUAD SIMILAR TO THE FINAL FOUR TEAMS? 

I attended the Chili’s Jeff Walz radio show last night.  Unfortunately, Coach Walz seems to have caught the flu from the rest of his family and could not make it.  Instead, Sam Williams  and Adrienne Johnson joined Nick Curran on the mics. Per their discussion I got a few things from attending the event and listening to the discussion among the dozens of fans in attendance.

This team is similar to the Final Four teams of the past. The 2009 squad had Angel McCoughty and Candyce Bingham as the big playmakers. 2013 had Shoni Schimmel and Sara Hammond. This year has Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen. The duo matches up with similar style play of the other pairs.

Like other successful seasons this year’s team has a quite impressive defense. They found ways to shut down opponents, either throughout entire games or in second half adjustments to win games.  Even the loss to Florida State showed solid defensive pressure. They held the Seminoles to just 50 points and kept the game close despite the poor offensive outing.

Coach Williams and AJ discussed recently about how we often view success of players. Many fans look at points scored as a scale of success. They don’t look at other factors in a game such as rebounding, assists, and defense. Dana Evans and Arica Carter have learned to control the ball well and dish out assists all game. MHA and Bionca Dunham haul in boards on both sides of the court. Jaz Jones and Sam Fuehring bring intense energy. "Nite-Nite" lights up the scoring almost every game. Myisha Hines-Allen may be the rest rebounder in women's college basketball and brings offense almost every outing. As a team, everyone plays great defense. Each player brings something to the table. This is a highly successful squad. In many realms. 

Coach Walz is fortunate to have a solid rotation of players. There’s about eight or nine different players he can feel comfortable logging major minutes and still find ways to maintain a lead or expand on it. That goes back to each player being able to contribute something to the game, as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Louisville has one of the best fan bases in the country. 10,000+ fans in three straight games is not something you’ll find at most major women’s basketball programs. The large attendance numbers play a key role in recruiting. Having a sold out lower bowl of fans on their feet creating an intimidating atmosphere for opponents and is encouraging as a player to have a fan base behind them. When recruits witness this in person it can help sell Louisville as their choice for college. The question arises -- would you rather play in front of 1,000 or 10,000? Opposing teams come to Louisville and their coaches almost always mention the incredible attendance during their post-game interviews. 

Another topic that came up recently is the lack of interest in women’s basketball as a whole. 

Louisville is one of the better bases for women’s basketball but there’s still a big gap between 21,000+ average for men’s basketball and anywhere from 6,000-12,000 at women’s basketball. Possibly the biggest factor contributing to the lack of interest is the lack of competition.

UConn has dominated the realm of collegiate women’s basketball since Geno first took over as head coach. It’s always been “Everyone vs UConn” with the Huskies almost being guaranteed another undefeated season or national championship and everyone else battling for second place. However, that gap is closing. South Carolina, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, and Louisville have all found their way up there. The Bulldogs upset UConn in the Final Four last year. The Irish took the Huskies to the mid-fourth quarter before struggling down the stretch.

Other teams are getting better. Having more than one team having a good chance at claiming the title will attract interest and having half a dozen teams all battling it out to the death (not literally) will spark interest.

It’s safe to say I got a lot out of the discussion among the fans at Chili's. I doubt I’ll get that much each time I’m in attendance but seeing the turnout and support gives me confidence the Louisville women’s basketball fan base will continue to grow. It also appears that the program is going to continue to improve as the years progress.

On a closing note it has been offered that if Louisville lost one more regular season game but won the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament that the championship would be Coach Walz’s 300^th program victory. I did some research and math to test this theory and here’s the results:

* 263 wins through 2016-17 season

* 22 wins in 2017-18 season up to date

* 8 regular season games remaining

* 3 potential games in ACC Tournament as top four seed

* 6 potential games in NCAA Tournament, seeding doesn’t matter

302 potential wins for Jeff Walz if Louisville wins out. So, the theory was incredibly close.

One  regular season loss would give Jeff Walz his 300^th in the Final Four. Two regular season losses would make it 300 in the championship if everything else played out. However, there’s the ifs of winning in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments and what-not with a few different scenarios.

 I’ll hit on that more on Friday. The good thing is that we could easily see Jeff Walz’s 300^th career win before the year is over. If not, it will happen at the beginning of next season.

Enjoy your Wednesday and Go Cards!

Jared