WBB News -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

WE'RE TALKING WBB...IN OCTOBER?  WHY NOT? 

I know, there are a lot of you who read this website that would prefer to talk (and have us talk) women's basketball all year long. Don't get us wrong, we love the sport and can talk about it hours on end, but we also pay tribute and talk about some of the other women's sports we follow and cheer for on campus. 

Today, we WILL cover a couple of WBB items. First up (in the "are you kidding me" category) -- bracketology for 2022-23 DI WBB. That rascal Charlie Creme is already projecting seeds in brackets for the 2023 NCAA Tournament.  

He's got Louisville as a #3 seed playing in the Greenville Region. Being a three seed, the Cards would get to start at home, in the KFC YUM! Center and Charlie has Louisville starting against Towson, and then playing the winner (if the Cards win) between South Dakota St. and Washington St  Creme has Tennessee as the #1 seed in the Greenville Bracket, followed by Iowa as the #2 seed and North Carolina State as the #4 seed.

Keep in mind, two regionals, not just one, will be played at Greenville, and in the other regional, #1 is South Carolina, .#2 is Notre Dame, #3 is Indiana and #4 is Oklahoma. The other regional site that will hold two regionals is Seattle. And, yes, the state of Connecticut hosts again four teams, one being #2 seed UConn. in the Seattle Regional in Storrs.

I have a hard time with this on several fronts. First, just two regional sites after the first two games? They've set it up nicely for Stanford and South Carolina, haven't they? Louisville and NC State in the same region  is another gripe. Both have the potential of being Final Four Teams, but sticking them both in the same region mean they won't.  And, Virginia Tech is a #4 seed? Really? The Hokies? C'mon man....I love Kenny Brooks and all, but the Hokies were 15-10 last year and Baylor beat them by almost 50 points in the NCAA Tournament.  They're not even the fourth best team in the ACC, in my reckonings. 

The thing is, it's all speculation and mostly nonsense this early. Louisville doesn't even play their first game until November 7th. But, I suppose it does give people something to talk about  Rush out and get your reservations in Dallas, home for the Final Four, from March 31st to April 2nd. 

ENGSTLER, KONNO ON FIBA 3X3 U 23 ROSTERS

One graduated Louisville Cardinals WBB star and one veteran player on Jeff Walz's squad will be participating in the World Cup, in Romania, Oct 5-9. 

Emily Engstler will suit up for the USA squad, along with Norika Konno playing for the Japanese U23 3x3 roster.

Engstler won't be playing with Hailey Van Lith in this one, her teammates will be Veronica Burton, Lexie Hull and N'dea Jones. Burton was on the Dallas Wings WNBA Roster this past season and was on the 2021 USA Americup squad, Hull played on the Indiana Fever with Engstler and this will be her first international team experience. Jones was on the USA FIBA 3x3 squad that played in Romania last year. 

Konno was on Team Japan this summer and they went 2-0 in the Asia Cup before falling to China in the semifinals. Konno also participated in the trials for Japan's 2020 women's Olympic team. She's the lone seniior on the Cardinals 2022-23 roster, although there are five players that are playing under a "graduate" status. 

Konno and Engstler's squad will play in the same pool for world cup qualifying and the top two teams out of each pool qualify for the World Cup. Japan and USA face each other in Pool play on Oct 7th, at the ridiculous Eastern time zone time of 4:45 AM. Both squad start play this morning and games can be viewed on You Tube. Japan plays their first around 6:30 this morning. 

paulie

Bracketology? -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Uhhh... Bracketology???

Normally, late December is quite a bit early to be looking at bracketology. And it is way too early to be concerned with bracketology projections. But sometimes disrespect needs to be called out.

ESPN released three different potential brackets yesterday: 64-teams, 48-teams, and 16-teams. All three are possible as the NCAA weighs the possibilities as we continue through the COVID-19 pandemic. The concern is that Louisville, the #2 team in the country, a team that other teams fear, a team that has turned every head since their annihilation of DePaul, is a projected 2-seed.

Just so we're clear, not the #2 seed overall. The #2 seed in one of the four brackets. 

Stanford is ranked first right now. They get a 1-seed. NC State is 8-0 and holds a victory over South Carolina. It's hard not to give them a 1-seed.

I'm gonna go review this, guys...

UConn is 4-0and ranked #3, one spot behind the Cards. A #3 ranking would make sense to earn a 1-seed, but the Huskies haven't played anyone noticeable. South Carolina is 5-1 and ranked #5. They have a pair of ranked wins but lost at home to NC State. They're borderline 1-seed/2-seed.

Louisville is projected as a 2-seed alongside Oregon, Baylor, and Arizona. But why a 2-seed? The Cards are ranked #2 and hold a blowout victory over a ranked DePaul team. They hold a win over another NCAA Tournament-caliber team in UT Martin.

The 16-team layout would feature just two ACC teams in Louisville and NC State. A 48-team tournament would add Syracuse and Georgia Tech. That layout would give the Top 16 teams (top four in each region) a first-round bye. Moving onto the traditional 64-team tournament we see Florida State, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech join the party.

With no home court advantage and still qualifying for a first round bye in the event of a 48-team tournament there shouldn't be too much of an issue. Besides, there is still plenty of season remaining. Still, it can be viewed as a bit disrespectful to put the Cards as a 2-seed.

We will have plenty to discuss about basketball this Saturday on air. It should be noted that our Sa
turday Cardinal Couple Radio Hour-ish Podcast will be without Case, as he celebrates his birthday and Daryl, as she celebrates her mother's birthday. 

Paulie, Worldwide, and I will be glad to still put on a show and maybe even talk about how much coal Santa left each of us.

Happy Thursday, Happy Christmas Eve, and Go Cards! You can send any unwanted Christmas gifts my way.

Jared

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