Way Too Early Season Predictions -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Way Too Early Season Predictions

(EDITOR NOTE: Our columnist Jared Anderson likes to predict things. We all get a big chuckle out of some of his prognostications and occasionally, he's even pretty close to being right on a prediction. It's the old "even a blind squirrel finds a nut" theory with him. But, as always, a good read.) 

It's time to start some debate on here. Now...we just wait to see which member of the Cardinal Couple team wants to smack me the hardest.

The fall sports schedules have been out for about a week now so it's time to take a swing (and probably a miss) at the final results for each team.

Soccer

Women's Soccer is the first team to start their regular season for the 2021-2022 season and have plenty of home matches to ease the schedule. Here's how I see the contests going: 

vs Ball State (W)

vs Western Michigan (W)

vs James Madison (W)

vs Northern Kentucky (W)

@ Saint Louis (L)

vs Western Kentucky (L)

vs Michigan (L)

@ Miami (W)

@ Syracuse (W)

vs Florida State (L)

vs Wake Forest (W)

@ Notre Dame (L)

vs NC State (W)

vs Boston College (W)

@ Virginia (L)

@ Clemson (L)

vs Duke (L)

Regular Season Record: 9-8, 5-5 ACC

The 15 points will be enough to get the Cards into the ACC Tournament as a low 7-or-8-seed, where they will bow out in the first round. Just to remind you, you get three points for a win and one point for a tie in the ACC. The top teams in the ACC are the top teams in the country and they're hard to beat, even on a good day.

The loss in the first round of the ACC Tournament drops the Cards to 9-9 and they miss out on the NCAA Tournament.

Volleyball

Volleyball has a pretty tough schedule with the additions of some highly-ranked non-conference opponents.. Here's how I see things going for them: 

vs Cal Poly at neutral site (W)

vs Texas A&M- Corpus Christi at neutral site (W)

@ Arizona State (W)

vs Missouri (W)

vs South Dakota (W)

vs Northern Kentucky (W)

vs Purdue at neutral site (L)

@ Xavier (W)

vs Kentucky (L)

@ Nebraska (L)

vs Miami (W)

vs Florida State (W)

@ Clemson (W)

@ Georgia Tech (W)

vs Boston College (W)

vs Syracuse (W)

@ Virginia Tech (W)

@ Wake Forest (W)

vs Virginia (W)

vs Pitt (W)

@ Duke (W)

@ NC State (W)

@ North Carolina (W)

vs Georgia Tech (W)

@ Notre Dame (L)

vs Duke (W)

@ Pitt (L)

vs Notre Dame (W)

Regular Season Record: 23-5, 16-2 ACC

The 16-2 conference record is enough to claim another share of the ACC title, sharing the honors with rival Pitt. Multiple wins against ranked teams and a conference title give Louisville a seed in the NCAA Tournament. No stranger to getting wins in the postseason, the Cards advance to their second ever Elite Eight.

Field Hockey

Field Hockey finished the season last year as one of the top teams in the country and made the Final Four. Their schedule, both in-conference and non-conference, are full of tough talent. My prediction for the Stick girls: 

vs Ohio (W)

vs New Hampshire (W)

vs Pennsylvania at neutral site (L)

@ Princeton (W)

vs Indiana (W)

vs Liberty (W)

vs Virginia (W)

vs Iowa (W)

at Duke (L)

@ Ohio State (W)

vs Wake Forest (W)

vs Miami OH (W)

@ Michigan (L)

@ Boston College (L)

@ Northeastern (W)

@ North Carolina (L)

@ James Madison (W)

vs Syracuse (W)

Regular Season Record: 13-5, 3-3 ACC

A tough schedule featuring both teams from last year's national championship leads to a few tough losses, but Field Hockey wins the opening round of the ACC Tournament before falling in the semifinals. A solid record and a good resume gets Louisville back to the NCAA Tournament, but they can't match last year's finish as they fall in the quarterfinals.

                                  

The other Cardinal Couple folks will probably take a jab at some predictions either in the articles or on air. We'll continue to break the seasons down more in the next month as the start of fall sports creep closer.

Ideally, each team goes undefeated and wins the national championship, but that's easier said than done. WSOC needs to find a scorer like Ekic and Field Hockey a playmaker like Pastor (both have graduated and gone on to professional careers). Is there that talented freshman or key player from last year that will step up and say: "I will fill that role"?  Time will tell. 

If you've got a different "take", I'd love to hear from you about it. Leave a comment in the comments section. 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared