Volleyball Enters Final Weekend in First Place
Louisville heads into their final two matches of the regular season in first place in the ACC. This would be the first time since 2017 the Cards have finished atop the conference standings.
The Cards travel to Coral Gables for both matches. They will square off against Miami tonight at 5:00 p.m., and North Carolina tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.
Miami is 10-6 this season and have lost two of that last three. Most recently, the Hurricanes took down Virginia Tech.
The Tar Heels are 10-6 on the year and are on a two-game losing streak, both against ranked opponents. They are a good serving team, averaging 1.5 aces per set. North Carolina is also careful with the ball and commit just a little over one error per set.
Here's where things get tricky due to the standings, which I added down below:
Louisville can win the ACC outright by winning both of their matches, putting their conference win percentage above all other teams. If they were to go 1-1 then a lot of it comes down to Georgia Tech vs Notre Dame, who play each other tonight. The winner of that match would then need to lose their other match since everyone has two matches remaining. If the Cards lose in both matches then they cannot win the conference.
Even if the Cards do not win the conference to earn the automatic qualifying bid for the NCAA Tournament they have a strong chance to make it based off their record and #13 ranking.
Tonight's match can be viewed on ACCNX.
Louisville Athletics Updates Attendance Capacity
As things become more relaxed with COVID-19, Louisville has altered some of the attendance capacity for outdoor sports.
Ulmer Stadium's chairback seating capacity remains the same. There is not a way to allow for more seating while maintaining the six foot social distancing rules. However, the outfield berm remains open with plenty of room to spread out.
Baseball is in the same boat at Jim Patterson Stadium and their seating. Fortunately for the Cards at the corner of 3rd and Central, they have plenty of seating already when including the foul lines and left field seating.
Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium will allow more fans though. Capacity has increased from 405 fans to 655 fans. Prior to this announcement, only the chairback seating on the south side of the stadium was available. They will now allow seating in their berm areas. Men's soccer has two remaining matches while the women's sole home match is April 10.
Reflecting on Women's Basketball
I'll keep this short and sweet. Now that we are more than 24 hours past the loss to Stanford I have had some time to reflect on the loss and this season.
A 26-4 year, ESPECIALLY during a COVID-19 year, is quite remarkable. The Cards had some milestones including reaching a #1 ranking for the first time in school history. They also advanced to their sixth ever Elite Eight.
Louisville had some struggles this year including struggling to close out games. They also had some lapses on offense that kept games tight against lesser opponents (ie Marist and Northwestern).
The Cards had a great first half against Stanford, but did we really expect the top overall seed to continue their abysmal shooting performance? I joked on Twitter that Stanford sold their souls at halftime for them to shoot lights out in the second half. They're the top overall seed for a reason and Tara Vanderveer did not become the winningest coach in college basketball history by sitting back and giving up
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It's sad to see the season and Dana's career at Louisville come to an end. It'll take a few days to get over. Thankfully, Katy's parents come in town tonight and will stay through Easter so I won't be forced to watch the final three games of this tournament and pour salt in an open wound.
Also, we're not sure what's going on in Syracuse to spark over half of their roster entering the transfer portal. Most of us are Coach Q fans and hope things are okay up there. I'd be surprised if Coach Walz doesn't at least make a phone call to a couple of the players searching for a new home.
Cardinal Couple Pick Em
Did your bracket fall short of expectations? That seems to be the annual theme. It was still (and still is) a great Pick Em tournament this year.
We had 20 entries, which I believe is the most ever for our NCAA Tournament brackets. Other than the Chimps everyone else finished above .500. We're still not sure what Timmy, Tammy, Tommy, and the rest of them were doing when filling out their bracket.
Our updated standings after 60 games is as follows:
49-11 Paulie
47-13 Kenny S, Callie Blue
45-15 Jason Wyrick
44-16 Arthur
43-17 David Watson, Worldwide
42-18 Jared
40-20 Blue Lou, Clemson Cuz, Vivian
39-21 Case, Kenneth Stark Sr
38-22 Sonya, Nole Knowledge
36-24 Nick O, Bea
35-25 Curtis
32-28 Joe Hill
24-36 CC Chimps
Based off future picks some brackets are already done. These brackets are final:
45-18 Jason Wyrick
43-20 Worldwide
40-23 Blue Lou
39-24 Kenneth Stark Sr
38-25 Sonya, Nole Knowledge
32-31 Joe Hill, Clemson Cuz
38-28 Curtis
36-27 Bea
24-39 CC Chimps
Louisville was a favorite among 11 brackets entrants to win it all and gave some people's brackets an early finish.
We still do not have a decisive first place finish despite just three games to go. Our co- founder and managing editor Paulie holds that lead with 49 wins. He can add three more wins to that if UConn beats South Carolina in the final. Kenny S is close behind with 47 wins and can get to 50 wins if Stanford beats UConn in the final. Since both brackets have UConn winning their next game it comes down to what happens on the other side of the bracket. Kenny needs Stanford to win it all which would put the two in a tie at either 49 wins or 50 wins (depending on what happens in UConn vs Arizona). Kenny entered his bracket before Paulie so he would hold the tie break.
Callie Blue also has 47 wins, but with Kentucky out of the tournament Callie Blue can only add one more win to that final score if Stanford wins tomorrow. Callie Blue cannot get enough wins to beat Paulie. Since Callie Blue and Kenny S each have Stanford winning the next round Kenny S would hold the tiebreak if they finish tied.
Since Jason's bracket is final with 45 wins it does secure Callie Blue for third in the Pick Em That's not half bad for a first time entry!
April Fools Day
(The following section is a parody. That means it is NOT real - don't take it seriously.)
It is the first day of April, campers, and in years past -- we've run parody articles here. Keeping in that tradition, Cardinal Couple has gotten wind of a startling development on the UofL Campus.
It seems all the streets leading into campus will undergo a name change. They will all be re-named Vince Tyra. There will be a Vince Tyra Boulevard, Vince Tyra Highway, Vince Tyra Lane and Vince Tyra Avenue. The circle by Ulmer Stadium will also be now known as Foul Ball Circle.
When asked about the impending change, Tyra refused to comment, but Louisville Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter was allegedly reached for comment and possibly said:
"Whatever... I live in Indiana and I just get off I-65 and go right to my office in the Koerber. I've never noticed the names of the roads. Just as long as they don't put up another toll."
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(The above three paragraphs were parody. Louisville has no plans to change the names of the streets leading into campus, that we know of. But, it would be kind of funny if they did...imagine giving directions.)
"You take Eastern Parkway to Vince Tyra, then turn right on Vince Tyra and hang another right on Vince Tyra at the light...and then turn right again on Vince Tyra, before the underpass. If you get to Vince Tyra, you've gone too far. "
Happy Thursday and Go Cards!
You should have got Jurich to comment. Best of luck to Louisville Volleyball!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I hope Stanford loses. They knocked off our Cardinals and I'd like them to experience a little of the heartbreak and sadness we did.
Curtis "Be Kind" Franklin
Can you all believe I've been on different forums that had folks saying Walz should be fired because we didn't beat Stanford or he "can't win the big games"?
ReplyDeleteHUH???
For me, it's another elite eight year, not bad for the squad we had, only a few with quality tournament minutes, we lose Dana, yes, but with what we have coming back, I'm already looking forward to next season. We'll be top rated again and with seasoned players this time. Mykasa and maybe Hailey or Kianna will emerge as leaders.
Some people are crazy, kstarksr. Walz is the best thing that ever happened to Louisville basketball. I'd like to see a tall, dominant post on the roster. Maybe Cochran turns into one. Maybe Scehtnan comes in and is one. Maybe the portal brings one. That brings us a Final Four trip.
DeleteNick O
And yeah, surprised at what's going on in Syracuse.
ReplyDeleteFrom my viewpoint this team pulled itself together and overachieved. I pegged them as a Sweet 16 team and wouldn't have been surprised at a second round exit. Instead they beat a good Oregon team and competed well against the overall #1 seed.
ReplyDeleteThis was never a Final Four team. Not enough inside presence and too much reliance on one scorer without the balance that you see from Stanford and UConn.
How about Engstler from Syracuse and Hall from Vandy coming to the Cards?
ReplyDelete-- The Real Joe Hill --
I’m excited! Both are solid additions for the Cards! But with those two coming in as well as Verhulst and Schetnan and only Dana graduating it does raise the concern of possibly seeing some current players look to transfer.
DeleteYes, always a possibility there...but adding depth is always good and Engstler really impressed during the season. She's here how many -- one or two years?
DeleteNick O