UofL WBB at #7 in ESPNW pre-season rankings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS ONE OF FIVE ACC TEAMS IN TOP 25

You know women's college basketball season is right around the corner when the preseason rankings start to roll in.

ESPNW came out Monday with their top 25 and Jeff Walz's Louisville Cardinals are the #8 team in the nation, according to the four-letter network's prognosticators.

The AP poll is expected out Wednesday. 

The Cards are tops of the ACC squads, and the only ACC school in the top 10 with the ranking, which lists (5) of the conference's squads in the top 25. 

Florida State checked in at #11, Wes Moore's North Carolina State Wolfpack grabbed the #13 spot, Notre Dame at #16, despite losing all five starters from last year and Miami, who returns ACC pre-season player of the year Beatrice Mompremier, grabs #18. 

So...who does Charlie Creme, Graham Hays and Mechelle Voepel...the brain-trust behind the ESPNW rankings put before the Cards?  Here's their top 10...

1) Oregon
2) Baylor
3) UConn
4) Stanford
5) Maryland
6) Oregon State 
7) LOUISVILLE
8) South Carolina 
9) Texas A&M
10) Mississippi State

The Cards in-State rival Kentucky is ranked #14 and one of (6) SEC teams in the top 25, along with #8 South Carolina, #9 Mississippi State, #10 Texas A&M, #20 Arkansas and #25 Tennessee. Both the ACC and PAC 12 have (5) schools in the top 25. The Big 10 has four schools listed, the Big 12 two and there is one representative each from the AAC, Big East and MVC. 

Just a couple of observations here. First, we see the same stuff each year about how strong the SEC is. I see the conference as more of a dogfight this year. And, how many SEC teams were in the Final Four last year? Second, what is the fascination and love affair with West Coast basketball? Oregon at #1? I just don't see it, even if Sabrina Ionescu did decide to return instead of opting for the WNBA. Stanford continually disappoints each year and they're #4? 

The rest of the top 25: 

#11 Florida State
#12 UCLA
#13 North Carolina St. 
#14 Kentucky
#15 Texas
#16 Notre Dame
#17 Minnesota
#18 Miami
#19 Arizona
#20 Arkansas
#21 DePaul
#22 Drake
#23 Michigan
#24 Indiana
#25 Tennessee

What does it all mean? 

Jeff Walz would most likely tell you that he doesn't pay much attention to pre-season rankings...that where you finish is much more important. The PAC 12 is getting a lot of love from ESPNW, with three of the top six schools in the rankings. But, it's all speculation right now. Is Tennessee really #25, with a new coach and only two of their top six scorers from last year back?

I also think the women's college basketball nation as a whole is seeing Louisville in terms of losing three starters who were WNBA draft picks and not realizing that Walz has much more talent on this year's squad than "Liz and E" from Georgia Tech and Dana and Jaz from last year. 

I am also surprised that Syracuse didn't make the top 25 ESPNW list. "Q" has a strong squad returning and has been predicted to finish sixth in the ACC. I think the Orange could handle IU (#24), Michigan (#23) or the Vols any day of the week at any venue. 

The pre-season stuff is all very nice in terms of giving women's college basketball fans something to either point to with pride or scratch their heads and claim foul about.

Three of last year's Final Four squads...Baylor, Oregon, UConn...are in the top six in the 2019-20 ESPNW pre-season poll and the fourth participant (Notre Dame) maybe over-ranked at #16. 

Oregon State is another mystery to me. They lost in the Sweet 16 last year, but are #6 in the ESPNW poll. Once again, we're hearing how Scott Rueck has a wealth of talent. I'm going to wait to see it. Another horse that's getting bet way-too-heavily before the race starts.


I'll look with a small bit of interest on how the AP lists their pre-season top 25. How do you think it might compare with the ESPNW grouping? We'll wipe the cobwebs off our comment section and encourage you to share your thoughts. 

Jeff Walz and the Cards hold their annual Media Day tomorrow and we'll see if Coach dwells on either poll very much. I'm guessing he won't. And there is the UofL WBB Tipoff Luncheon Friday. Two more signs that women's college basketball is at the starting gate.  

The big question is whether Walz's wife Lauren can pick out an outfit for him that can top last year's? 

We'll have comments and such from both Wednesday and Friday's activities here for you at Cardinal Couple. 



paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball #3 in latest rankings -- Softball splits in Tennessee -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS #3 IN AP

The University of Louisville women's basketball team lands at #3 in the AP poll released Monday -- no first place votes, all 28 of those went to Baylor -- but the Cards are just behind Connecticut and ahead of Notre Dame. Mississippi State rounds out the top five and Oregon takes the biggest drop...from #2 to #6...after two straight losses and the injury to star Ruthy Hebard. 

The ACC leads the way with six schools in the top 25. (Louisville, Notre Dame, Miami, NC State, Florida State and Syracuse). The PAC 12 has five. Three conferences have three each and five conferences one each. Our neighbors to the east, UK are now at #11. 

Bracketology still has the Cards going to Chicago as the #1 seed after two games in Louisville. Currently, the guess is Stanford, Maryland and Iowa State fill out the top four seeds in that region and UK is a #5 seed in the Chicago bracket. 

Louisville gets a huge test Thursday night when N.C. State rolls into town. The Wolfpack have a 24-3 record, 11-3 in the ACC and are projected to be the #2 seed in the Albany Region...where UConn holds the #1 seed as of Monday. 

McGraw holds up three fingers in a blatant attempt to
influence AP Voters

There is a lot of consternation among Notre Dame fans that they are ranked behind the Cards, despite winning the regular season match up against UofL and that the Irish are not picked for Chicago. Charlie Creme sees them as the #1 seed in Portland. Notre Dame certainly added fuel to that "we belong in Chicago" argument with a dismantling of #17 Syracuse, at Syracuse, last night 98-68. 

Just two games for Louisville before the ACC Tournament. After NC State, the Cards head to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Sunday, March 3rd. The Cards are pretty much assured of getting two days off in Greensboro for the tournament as a top four seed before taking the court on Friday. 

Nine days before the teams converge on the Greensboro Coliseum. With Notre Dame ending their conference slate hosting Virginia, it seems likely that they'll get the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament. 


All Louisville has to do is "win out" against the Wolfpack and Pitt to claim the #2 seed and a share of the conference championship with a 14-2 conference mark. Notre Dame gets the tiebreaker. C'mon Virginia! Pull the upset! 

If the season ended yesterday, N.C. State and Miami would be the other two teams getting the advancement to Friday action. Those two meet on Sunday, March 3rd., in Raleigh, to end their ACC seasons and to decide who gets the #3 seed and possibly the #4 seed.  With FSU back in fifth place at 9-5, the Noles have to win out and then hope either N.C. State or Miami lose their final two to climb up to a four seed. To their credit, FSU defeated  N.C. State and split with Miami in the regular season.  

The wolves are a very serious and tough test for the Cards on Senior Night. 

We're winding down and approaching "the second season". It gets very "real" from here on out.

Time to compete for what you dream of, Cards.


SOFTBALL SPLITS IN KNOXVILLE

An early (11:30 a.m.) start for Holly Aprile's sluggers yesterday in the rain-altered Tennessee Classic. The Cards started against Bradley, who they downed on Sunday, and found continued success with a 6-0 whitewash of the Braves. 

Megan Hensley tossing the four-hit, complete game shutout for the Ulmer Stadium bunch. A scoreless affair for four innings but UofL broke loose for two unearned runs on three Braves errors and a hit batter. Pinch runner Jordyn Wolfe and Charley Bulter touched the plate for UofL. The Cards put four more runs up in the sixth with two walks, two hits and a couple of stolen bases. The "Butler" did it again with a two-RBI triple. 

In game two, UofL faced the hosting #8 Vols. Early on, it looked like it might be a Tennessee rout, as they jumped to a 5-0 lead after five innings.

Louisville had just begun to fight, though. 

In the top of the sixth, A Cardinal walk and single set the scene for a three-RBI home run from freshman Taylor Roby.

After holding the Vols scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Louisville threatened again in the top of the seventh.

The Cards got a single, double and intentional walk to load the bases with two outs. Unfortunately, the Cards could not push any of the runners home. 

Louisville returns home for their first game in Ulmer on Friday, March 1st., in the Cardinal Classic. The Cards are scheduled to face Indiana State, IUPUI and Missouri over three days. Friday has UofL against Indiana State and Missouri. Saturday action involves the Cards against Missouri and IUPUI and they action ends Sunday against IUPUI.

Let's hope the weather cooperates. Current forecasting shows and "O.K." Friday but dropping temperatures on Saturday and a possible chance of snow showers on Sunday. 

Let's hope the weather guys are wrong in this prognostication. 



paulie
xxxxx











  

Louisville Women's basketball -- Cards #4 in nation, still projected as #1 seed -- WGolf -- Asia Taylor -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE NOW #4 IN RANKINGS, STILL HEADED TO CHICAGO

Another Monday night, another release of the NCAA DI Women's College basketball rankings. The Cards not falling as far as a few thought they might, checking in at #4 behind Baylor, Oregon and Connecticut. Notre Dame rounding out the top five and Miami, who knocked off the Cards on Sunday ... climbing to #14. 

As the Ducks fans were rejoicing in this ranking, they were losing to Oregon State 62-67 in "the Civil War" -- the moniker assigned to the games between these two schools. It was at Oregon State and payback for the Ducks quacking past the Beavers on Friday night in Eugene 77-68. 

One bracketology projection for the Cards revealed/updated last night has the Cards as a #2 seed and going there with Connecticut. Another has Louisville still as a #1 seed and going still to Chicago. As Jeff Walz says, and we echo, it doesn't matter where you are in mid-February...being alive in April is pretty important, though.

How will the recent loss to Miami affect the WBB squad on Floyd Street? One would think that it motivate them (along with a few tough practices) to rebound at Virginia on Thursday and come out motivated and firing. Asia and Sam have come out publicly and said they knew it wasn't their finest hour. 

It's been suggested that the Cards needed this loss, to show them that you have to bring it every night, every game. I'm unsold on that theory. You don't want conference losses that directly affect your seedings and opponents in the tournament. 

We'll see how the Cards respond on Thursday at a Virginia team's lair where they are 7-8 overall and 3-4 in conference. At 10-15, they're probably not a team that will be inn the Big Dance, unless they pull off a major miracle in the ACC Tournament.


LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S GOLF LEADS MOON GOLF INVITATIONAL 

Louisville women's golf successfully landed on the moon, disembarked from their shuttle and space-suit hopped to.....wait, wake up Paulie!!....The Cards are NOT on the moon, but in sunny Florida playing in the Moon Golf Invitational being held in Melbourne, FL. 

And, Louisville leads the way at -7, tied with UCF. 

They played 36 holes yesterday and Lauren Hartlage emerged on top of the list with an -8 under performance. They'll finished it up with 18 holes today.


HOORAY FOR ASIA! 

This is a segment about a different Asia that "nite-nite". You remember Asia Taylor, right? 

She continues to find unqualified success in "the land down under". Now in Perth, on the western side of Australia, "A-Tayy", she's been named to the WNBL's "Super Five" list for the third straight year. She joins Lindsay Allen (Las Vegas Aces, Notre Dame, Melbourne), Kelsey Griffin (Nebraska, Canberra), Nia Coffey (Las Vegas Aces, Northwestern, Adelaide) and Bec Cole (Australian Inst. of Sport, Dandenong). 

The Cardinal great has shown that she can continue to excel no matter which Aussie squad she plays for. 

Asia is back from her season down under and here in the states, preparing for another WNBA season and working with her Hoops With A Purpose organization. She has not yet decided to return to the WNBL next year yet nor undergone contract negotiations with anyone "over there" yet. 

Sonya's favorite player in women's basketball continues to shine brightly. 

More on Asia at the link below: 

https://thewest.com.au/sport/basketball/perth-lynxs-asia-taylor-in-wnbl-all-star-five-again-ng-b881109933z




paulie
xxxxx

Louisville WBB #4 in AP poll -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS GO FROM #2 TO #4 IN AP POLL

As most expected and surmised, the University of Louisville women's basketball squad slid from #2 to #4 in the latest AP poll, released yesterday. The Cards went 1-1 in the past week, but the pollsters dropped Louisville two spots, because of the loss to Notre Dame at Notre Dame on Thursday. Louisville received 652 points. Notre Dame retained the #1 ranking (23 first place votes and 736 points) and UConn climbed back into a tie for second place with one first place vote and 706 points. 

The Baylor Bears are tied with UConn in second with (6) first place votes and 706 points also. After Louisville, Oregon fills out the top five with 621 points. 

The top 12 remains the same as last week, just a little shuffling of the deck occurred at the top. Stanford retained sixth spot and Mississippi State checked in at seventh again. Keeping their spots also from last week were #8 NC State, #9 Maryland, #10 Oregon State, #11 Texas and #12 Syracuse. There was only one newcomer in the top 25, that being Rutgers -- tied for #20 with Tennessee. Florida State dropped out of the top 25 but is the leader in others receiving votes with 54. Indiana stays at #25 with 56 votes. 

Some interesting developments in the week that ended January 13th.  Kentucky fell to Ole Miss but remained at #16 in the AP poll. Clemson downed Florida State and knocked them out of the top 25. Tennessee has lost three games in a row now but retains a tie for #20. No climbing for NC State, despite them being the lone undefeated team in DI WBB.

Clemson actually got (3) votes in the "others receiving votes" category. How long has it been since we've seen their name mentioned there? 

By conference, the Big 12 has five teams in the top 25. Four conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 10 and the Pac 12 have four schools representing. the Big East checks in with two, the AAC and WAC have one team on the list.  

The Cards have faced three of the top 25 so far (Notre Dame, Kentucky and Arizona State). They have three to face, based on the current rankings , in Connecticut, Syracuse and NC State.  

According to ESPN's Charlie Creme's "Bracketology" , the Cards are getting placed as the #1 seed in the Greensboro region of the NCAA Tournament. Plenty of river to row, though, before we get there. 

Coming up? The Cards host Virginia in two days and travel to Wake Forest this week on Sunday. 


DID YOU KNOW?  

Here's five fast facts for you.

--  The top nine in the RPI rankings stayed the same? Louisville has a #6 RPI. The top five are Notre Dame (16-1), Stanford (14-1), Baylor (13-1), Syracuse (14-1) and Oregon (15-1). 
UConn checks in at #7. 

-- Louisville WBB has a +18.5 scoring margin over their opponents this season? The Cards largest win (55 points) came against Tennessee State and closest victory was over #19 Arizona State ( two points). 

-- Louisville is #10 in the nation in scoring offense with an average of 81.4 points per game. Louisville has scored 1303 points this season and allowed just 1009. 

--UofL is actually shooting threes better on the road? They connect for 40.9% away from the KFC YUM! Center and 32.1% in the downtown arena. 

-- The Cards are averaging 8791 per home game? Last year UofL averaged 7836 at home.


CAPTION THIS PICTURE

Caption Me !! 

Our illustrious photographer here at CARDINAL COUPLE is Jared Anderson. We share him with River City Cards and after each home game, he sends me a multitude of pictures to peruse for articles. Monday morning was no different. Here's one from the Georgia Tech game. Feel free to apply a caption to it. 

No prize or award (I'm trying to conserve the contents of the prize drawer for later on this season...after all, we still have ACC and NCAA Tournaments contests to take part in and the total UofL ACC WBB record is in progress). 

Every picture tells a story. I think Rod Stewart wrote a song about that. Tell us your story about the picture in this segment. 

Have a terrific Tuesday.  Today is the late Ronnie Van Zant's birthday. We recommend you crank up a little "Free Bird" or the Lynyrd Skynyrd song of your choice in remembrance of one of the greatest rock and roll singers of all time. Gone too soon, a victim of a plane crash on October 20, 1977.  Good lord, has it really been 41 years? I suddenly feel very old.

We got some Skynyrd linked up for you below.

A Paulie favorite here, indeed, that goes back to the days of singing with Robbie Bartlett's band at UofL Football tailgate parties over at the Parrish House. Show me that back door...

LINK:  GIMME THREE STEPS





paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball #2 (with a bullet!) -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS RANKED #2 IN AP POLL 

The University of Louisville women's basketball team, fresh off a 73-51 win at Duke, has been voted #2 in the nation in the latest AP WBB poll, released Monday, Jan. 7th.

Louisville received 708 votes and (10) first place votes...out of a possible 30...to finish just seven votes behind Notre Dame...who got 715 votes and (12) first place votes. The #2 ranking ties the previous highest ranking, bestowed upon the Cardinals after they dismantled Notre Dame last year 100-67 back on January 11th. 

Here we go again. 

The Cards and Irish will face Thursday, Jan 10th. in South Bend, IN on the Notre Dame campus in Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center at 7 p.m. A nationally televised game on ESPN. Last year, the Irish came into the KFC YUM! Center as the #2 team in the nation but left in shambles after the 33-point Louisville beat-down.  

#1 vs #2. 

The Cards (14-0) are one of three still undefeated teams left in DI WBB hoops, joining Ohio and NC State in that classification. That's Ohio (not Ohio State). the Bobcats are un-ranked (seriously?) and are 12-0 after a win Saturday at Buffalo, in overtime 74-71. The Athens, OH squad brings in the dangerous (ask Louisville) Central Michigan Chippewa squad on Wednesday night. Ohio has no "top 25" wins but did defeat Purdue earlier in their schedule and has knocked off Eastern Kentucky also. The Bobcats play in the MAC.


The Wolfpack, who checks in at #8 in the AP poll, comes to the KFC YUM! Center on Sunday, Feb. 24th for their only regular season meeting against the Cards. 

All told, the top 10 of the most recent top 25 has UConn at #3, Baylor #4, and Oregon at #5. They're followed by #6 Stanford, #7 Mississippi State and #8 NC State...with Maryland and Oregon State rounding out the top 10.

By conference, the top 25 has five teams from the ACC (Notre Dame, Louisville, NC State, #12 Syracuse and #22 Florida State). The Big 10 has five teams also in the top 25 with Maryland, #17 Iowa, #18  Minnesota, #23 Michigan State and #25 Indiana. Also with five schools representing is the PAC 12 who has Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State, #19 Arizona State and #24 California. 

Four SEC schools are in the top 25. Mississippi State, #13 Tennessee, #16 Kentucky and #21 South Carolina. The Big 12 has three schools included in the top 25 with Baylor, #11 Texas and #20 Iowa State. (I can never remember which Iowa school -- Iowa or Iowa State -- is in which conference...Big 10 or Big 12.)

Three conferences have (1) representative in the top 25. The AAC (UConn), WCC (#14 Gonzaga) and the Big East (#15 Marquette).  

We'll have plenty of coverage of the #1 vs #2 showdown here at CARDINAL COUPLE. Be sure to check back for Jared's "first look" at the game tomorrow. Paulie will take the Thursday day-of-game look at Irish vs. Cards and Jared brings the recap Friday. 

#2. With a bullet. A chance at #1 Thursday. The voters believe in the Cards, even if national moron Andy Katz doesn't. He doesn't see the Cards as a Final Four squad. We wonder if he can see clearly enough to read a top 25 ranking. We should expect this, I suppose. an ESPN analyst, he also does work for the NCAA, and we all know how they feel about Louisville. 

This is a picture of a moron

With a last name of "Katz", it's a wonder he didn't find a way to slide Kentucky into his most recent Final Four prognostication. But, as it is said, any idiot can create a stir as long as they have an internet connection and the ability to type. 

Louisville women's basketball can see the pinnacle. Thursday night they get the chance to reach it. 

In closing...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELVIS! 


paulie
xxxxx

Durr named ACC WBB Player of the Week -- Cards ranked at #4 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DURR NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

After a week where she averaged 28.5 points per game in two contests, Asia Durr has been named the ACC Player of the Week. It's the third such honor for Durr in the 2018-19 season. She also received the award on Nov. 12th. and Dec. 3rd. 

Durr recorded 32 points in the 80-75 win over Kentucky on Sunday. On Tuesday night, against UT-Martin, Durr ended up with 25 points in the 102-62 win. 

Durr shot 49% in the two games...going 13-25 against the Wildcats and 8-18 against the SkyHawks. The Denny Crum Court has been friendly territory for the Douglasville, GA senior in the first five games of the current six-game home stand and she has 228 points for the season (22.8 a night) in ten games. The Cards close the home stand Saturday when (1-5) Northern Kentucky visits for an 11:30 a.m. contest. 

ACC Player of the Week accolades have been bestowed on Durr nine times in her career at Louisville. She owned the first quarter in the Cards most recent game against the Cats. She scored the first seven points for the Cards in the contest and ended the first 10-minute session with 15 points. 





The Cards face two more non-conference foes before entering ACC play. In addition to the NKU game, the Cards will travel to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan for a Thursday 12/20/18 contest against the 7-1 Central Michigan Chippewas. Currently unranked, CMU did advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the 2018 NCAA WBB Tournament.

Information for that one still not finalized but viewing is listed as of now on ESPN+.




CARDS #4 IN LATEST AP POLL

Louisville women's basketball is now #4 in the NCAA women's college basketball rankings based on the most recent AP poll. The Cards are one of nine undefeated teams in the top 25. 

UConn retains the #1 spot, getting all 31 first place votes. The Huskies are 9-0 on the season. Notre Dame is #2 with a 8-1 record. Baylor takes #3 with a 7-0 mark. The Cards (10-0) are fourth and Mississippi State rounds out the top 5...the Bulldogs are 9-0 this season. 

Despite losing to Louisville, UK moved up one spot to #18. 

The undefeated teams are UConn, Baylor, Louisville, Miss. State, Maryland (9-0), Tennessee (8-0), NC State (10-0) Minnesota (8-0) and California (9-0). 

Besides Notre Dame, Louisville and NC State, other ACC teams in the top 25 are #15 Syracuse and #24 Miami. Both schools are 8-2 on the season. 

The ACC, SEC and PAC 12 dominate the top 25 with five schools each in the top 25. Tennessee, Miss. State, Kentucky, South Carolina and Missouri are the SEC representatives. From the PAC 12...Cal, Arizona State, Stanford, Oregon and Oregon State are top 25. 

The Cards have played two top 25 teams in Arizona State and UK and are 2-0 against them. Still to come, top 25 match-ups feature Notre Dame, UConn, NC State, Syracuse and Miami. 

Last weeks Bracketology predictions had Louisville as a #1 seed in the Greensboro region.

With roughly 1/3 of the season in the books, the Cards have performed well on the road and at the KFC YUM! Center. Let's face it, though, the toughest part of the schedule remains and the odds for the Cards to remain perfect going into the ACC and NCAA Tournaments are a considerable long-shot.  

How do you think the Cards will finish the regular season? Undefeated? One loss? Two or three losses? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section! 

One game at a time, though, is how UofL approaches them, and...so far, perfect! 

Halfway to the 20-0 record that the 2017-18 Cards started the season...sit down, buckle up and get ready for the journey! 



HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

We are very grateful and always happy to have WBB analyst and Cardinal Sports Zone columnist Paige Sherrard  join us on our weekly broadcasts of The CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR. As well as seeing her at UofL WBB games. Her love for all things UofL fits perfectly with our thinking and she's been a Cardinal fan since her early days, when "Mom" would dress her up as a cheerleader and unleash her on unsuspecting but appreciative crowds and gatherings.  

It's Paige's birthday today! Wish her a Happy Birthday via Twitter at @PaigeS_502 !!!





paulie
xxxxx




                                                       ############## 

Poll results for WBB and Julie Sullivan offers a Christmas poem -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It seems we may have a second poet-laureate here at Cardinal Couple. First off, the long-standing annual Sonja XMAS poem is rapidly nearing completion and sources tell me that she, the chimps, and Mike the psychedelic-eyed Clemson Tiger should have it out by the weekend. Since Mike isn't much of a proof-reader, I've gotten some glimpses of what my better half has been working on and I like what I'm seeing.  

The poem, a tradition started long ago at Howie Lindsey's fine CARDINAL SPORTS website lives on and it will be posted here and there. (I had wondered why the egg-nog and bourbon levels in the house had been shrinking...) 

Julie Sullivan, our newest writer, is also adept as a wordsmith and offers us poetry today based on a true experience from a couple of years ago. We hope you enjoy this holiday treat and that your holidays (Worldwide refers to this time of year as "Christmahanakwanzika,") are going well.  -- Paulie -- 

Less than a week before Christmas and all thru the website

The games had been covered, I have nothing to write

Paulie wrote the UofL/UK game with such clever flair

That all felt the victory, even those who were not there 

But the readers are clamoring for a new story to read

It's early Tuesday AM and the sweat starts to bead

Then, I remember an incident from two years ago

When a Cat fan and I had a battle to and fro

She put a Christmas tree in a common hallway

And from a bough, a giant Wildcat ribbon did sway

On the tree a Cardinal ornament soon did appear

When I was wrongly accused, I put it in high gear

A tree with blue? It's not the color of the season

Everyone knows Santa wears red for a reason

Her tree was soon adorned with lots of red birds

And an email she did get with the following words: 

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

How lovely are thy birdies?

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

How lovely are they birdies"

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

Such pleasure you do bring me!

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

Such pleasure you do bring me! 

And how this former Wildcat tree

Brings us such joy and glee

Oh, Cardinal tree, Oh, Cardinal tree

Such pleasure you do bring me.

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

Card/Cat games we'll be winning

A symbol of our pride and love

No other school can ring my bell

Someday Ms. J. will think you're swell. 

Oh, Cardinal tree, Oh, Cardinal tree

You'll never again need changing. 

( This column is a tip of the hat to my grandfather, who wrote each of his ten grand-kids individualized poems that accompanied our Christmas cash each year. The money was welcome but all these years later, I still miss GrandPop's cheesy rhymes. I hope I did him proud.) 

-- JC --   

***********************************************************

USA TODAY, AP POLLS OUT

If it's Tuesday morning during basketball season, and we're relatively sure it is, it's time for the weekly polls for NCAA Women's College basketball. Steady on the horizon, course remains the same for the WBB Cards in the AP, holding at third: 

1)  UConn            800 points

2)  Notre Dame    748 points

3) LOUISVILLE      740 points

4) S. Carolina       686 points

5) Miss. State       672 points

A bit of a head-scratcher, "WTH" result over at the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll, however, where the Cards are still in fourth behind Mississippi State. 

1) UConn             800 points

2) Notre Dame     745 points

3) Miss. State       720 points

4) LOUISVILLE      719 points

5) S. Carolina       681 points

in the RPI rankings, the Cards are sixth.

Coach Walz and the players will tell you rankings are unimportant, they take each game at a time and I have to agree. I use them primarily to see how an upcoming opponent might be situated coming into a game against UofL. 

Speaking of, the WBB squad is in Colorado and ready for Wednesday night's game against Air Force. I suspect Mr. Anderson Jared will fill us in on more of that tomorrow. FWIW, Air Force is #345 out of #349 in the RPI listings. 0-9 on the season. 

345	345	Air Force	MWC	0-9	0-5	0-0	0-3	0-1
346	346	VCU	Atlantic 10	1-7	0-5	0-1	1-1	0-0
347	347	Charleston So.	Big South	2-5	0-2	0-1	1-2	1-0
348	348	La.-Monroe	Sun Belt	2-5	0-4	0-0	0-1	2-0
349	349	Longwood	Big South	2-6	0-4	0-0	1-2	1-0

Paulie

xxxxx