Basketball Beefs Up Non-Conference Schedule
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge as the Delta Variant makes its way to our area, Louisville decided to give us back-to-back days of nice additions to the Louisville women's basketball schedule.
The big name back on the schedule after a one-year hiatus is Kentucky. The rivalry is back! Fans were disappointed when the SEC announced no non-conference games last year as a Dana Evans led UofL team vs. a Rhyne Howard UK team would've been a fun one to watch.
Louisville vs Kentucky will be part of this year's Jimmy V Classic, with the Cards hosting at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 1:00 p.m.
Louisville has won four straight against the Wildcats, most recently a nail-biting thriller at Rupp Arena on Dec. 15, 2019. UK missed a last second shot as the Cards held on to win 67-66. Paulie, Sonya, and myself were all in attendance for this one, and we needed some oxygen at the end.
Michigan will also be on the schedule for this season. The Cards and Wolverines got the draw for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. This game will also be at the KFC Yum! Center with a Thursday evening primetime game on Dec. 2.
Michigan was a 6-seed last season in the NCAA Tournament and fell in overtime to Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen. Louisville is 4-1 all-time against the Wolverines.
Both Kentucky and Michigan are expected to be ranked when they visit town so Louisville has a good chance at improving their NCAA Tournament seeding with wins against both. And, don't forget the Cards start the season against another quality opponent in Arizona in South Dakota!
As of right now, Louisville is at 100% attendance for fans, so we hope to see large crowds at both. However, I would not be surprised to see that attendance policy drop down between now and then.
Mechi Interview
M
ercedes Pastor has concluded her time with UofL field hockey, but she was gracious enough to give us an interview before she heads overseas in a couple weeks. Unfortunately, Paulie was not able to make it last minute so I had Katy join me with the promise of buying her dinner.
Mechi, arguably the best field hockey player in the NCAA last season, will be playing professionally in Belgium while pursuing her master's degree at Louisville's Speed School of Engineering.
We got a chance to ask her about how she got started in field hockey, what brought her to UofL, her experiences in her time here, and her future plans.
I don't want to spoil all the fun from the interview so you'll want to check it out here!
Cardinal Couple Radio Podcast
We are back on air, well, not AM or FM radio, but through our various outlets for the Cardinal Couple Radio Podcast. YouTube is one of the more popular methods of listening in, but Worldwide did provide eight other locations you can listen in his Sunday article.
We are working on a way to add photos and videos to future episodes to add visuals as we talk over them. Photos are a bit easier to get away with, but videos often have a copyright on them from the NCAA, ACC, or UofL. We'll let our mastermind engineering crew work on all of that for us.
Happy Thursday and Go Cards!
Jared
They'll never have another like Pastor. So intelligent, athletic and to the point.
ReplyDeleteNick O.