Bracketology -- Burgers -- Dana -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Bracketology

A prime time game and the release of the first Top 16 from the NCAA Selection Committee give us a better idea of where the Cards sit in the grand scheme of things, and it looks good.

The NCAA Selection Committee has listed Louisville as #3 in the country, giving them a 1-seed if the tournament started today.  They are joined by #1 South Carolina, #2 Baylor, and #4 Oregon.

Oregon beat UConn on the road by nearly 20, giving them a definite edge over two teams that appear to be battling for the final 1-seed.  I suspect the Cards sit above the Ducks just because of Louisville's win over them earlier in the season.

Accompanying UConn is Stanford, NC State, and Maryland.

The 3-seeds are listed as Oregon State, Mississippi State, UCLA, and Gonzaga.

The 4-seeds are Arizona, DePaul, Iowa, and Northwestern.

Of course, there is a lot of basketball to be played.  Louisville has eight regular season games (4 home, 4 away) and then the ACC Tournament.  A Thursday night game at NC State next week will be the deciding factor on who wins the ACC regular season and earns the 1-seed in the conference tournament.

Jeff Walz, among other coaches, preaches on how it doesn't matter what other teams do if the Cards cannot take care of their own business first.

The Cards host Florida State on Thursday night at 8:00 p.m., which we will preview later in the week.  The game is promoted as a Red Out so please plan accordingly.


Dana In Wooden Award Late Season Top 25

If you needed any more convincing on just how good Dana Evans is, let the folks who host the Wooden Award  add a little proof. The Gary, IN junior guard has been named to John L Wooden Award's Top 25 for the late season. This award, chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts, is determined by the student-athletes performances during the first half of the 2019-20 women's college basketball season.  

Dana ranks second in the ACC with 18.7 points-per-game. She leads the ACC, and is 10th in the nation, with 65 made three pointers. She is shooting 42.8 % from beyond the arc, which also leads the ACC and is 25th. in the nation. She is shooting 91.9% from the free throw line, tops in the ACC and fourth in the country. 

She was the 2018-19 ACC Sixth Player of the Year last year. Twice this year, in wins at Clemson and Boston College, she made seven three- pointers. 

If you have any doubts about whether her height affects her skills, let's look at height just a second. Who is the starting point-guard for Team USA? 5'8" Sue Bird. Who is the brightest, most promising guard in the Class of 2020? It's 5'7" Hailey Van Lith, a future Louisville star.  Height doesn't matter. Skills have no height requirement. 

Evans is 5'6". She has performed well wherever Jeff Walz has asked her to go, point guard or #2 guard.  She's helped lead Louisville to a 21-1, 10-0 record this year. 

When questioned about the Team USA, before the media presser, Paulie asked Dana about the opponent. She reflected a second and replied "They're so fast!"  Dana is pretty fast, also. Ask the ACC guards who have seen her blow by them over the past three years. 

The list of 20 student-athletes has some pretty impressive names on it, on the women's side. UK's Rhyne Howard is also on the list, Crystal Dangerfield, from UConn and Sabrina Ionescu from Oregon. 

We wish Dana good fortunes and continued success in the 2019-20 season.  

Burger of the Week

Still needing to get in the habit of the Burger of the Week but I forgot last week and will do two burgers this week.

The two featured burgers are in such close proximity you could get in a shouting match with someone on the doorstep of the other restaurant. Four minutes seperate the two places and they're both on South 3rd. Street, not far from the UofL campus.

Ollie Burger

The first of the two is a place I grew up enjoying and still enjoy occasionally.  The Ollie Burger has been a local favorite for many folks and the line can often wind up longer than your lunch break.

What makes the Ollie Burger special is the special sauce.  You can grab one at the last remaining Ollie's Trolley at the corner of Kentucky and S 3rd Street on Monday-Friday from 10:30-4:25.

Whizz Burger

The other location is right around the corner and a place I did not discover until my college days.  This restaurant first opened its doors in 1947 and the Whizzburger was an instant hit.  Unlike Ollie's Trolley, Dizzy Whizz offers sit down dining.  Their hours are longer and are seven days a week, often before many of us wake up while many of us are asleep by the time they close.  They sit close to the corner of S 3rd Street and St Catherine St with the official address being on St Catherine St.


PENDING FURTHER REVIEW


Paulie and I are toying with the idea of going up to Cincinnati on Sunday to cover the Louisville lacrosse season opener.  However, Paulie needs just a little bit of convincing so have at it in the comments!

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared