Basketball to Host Virtual Luncheon -- Basketball Tournament Locations -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Basketball to Host Virtual Tipoff Luncheon on Thursday

Louisville women's basketball announced a change to their annual tipoff luncheon.  With the ongoing pandemic, this year's luncheon will be done virtually. The tipoff luncheon is set for Thursday at noon.  It will be live streamed through the GoCards Facebook and Twitter accounts and free to view.

Pack up your lunch, order delivery, or hire a personal chef to prepare you a four course meal and sit back and relax on Thursday.

Nick Curran will serve as the host this year.  Curran is a favorite of Cardinal Couple as he and AJ do killer play-by-play and analysis on radio for each women's basketball game.  He also serves as host for the Jeff Walz show, which has been hosted at Chili's and Mark's Feed Store in recent years. Dana Evans, Elizabeth Balogun, Mykasa Robinson, Kianna Smith, and Hailey Van Lith will all take a shot at the mic for interviews.  Jeff Walz and Vince Tyra will also make appearances for statements.

We will send out a reminder on Thursday and then provide a recap on Friday.  Depending on how cooperative technology is, we are hopeful to get a recording from Paulie posted to the site as well.

NCAA Tournament

The NCAA plans to make some alterations to the 2021 NCAA Tournament for women's and men's basketball.  Instead of changing locations each weekend (every two rounds), the NCAA plans to host the tournament in one set location to help create a semi-bubble environment.

Unfortunately, for Louisville, the Cards will not have a chance to host the first and second rounds like they have done in recent years with a Top 16 seed.  This also means we probably will not see fans in postseason games. Could Louisville luck out and host the tournament?  Probably not.  The city does have the KFC Yum! Center, Freedom Hall, Bellarmine's Knights Hall, and the easily converted Broadbent Arena.  However, large cities with several venues such as New York, Chicago, Indianapolis, or Los Angeles would be more likely.

Pick Em

It came down to the wire with a one-score differential in the ACC women's soccer championship between Florida State and North Carolina.  The Seminoles came out victorious to complete an undefeated fall season. The brilliant mind of David Watson finished with a phenomenal 6-1 record to take the win.  Dave-O will have his pick of the lot with his winnings. It's even possible he'll emerge from his garage and make a victory remark or two in the comments today? 

Nick O, Curtis, and Jared were all close behind with 5-2 records.  No one finished worse than 3-4.

We certainly hope to see a normal NCAA Tournament for women's basketball to host our fan favorite WBB Pick Em in the spring.  Fingers crossed!

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Agunbowale Again -- Irish take National Championship 61-58 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LUCK OF THE IRISH PREVAILS -- NOTRE DAME 61-58

Oh no she didn't do that again...(well, yes, she did --as a matter of fact). Arike Ogunbowale knocked down the off-balance, buzzer beating three last night in Columbus and gave Notre Dame the three-point win over Mississippi St. to claim the NCAA women's basketball national championship game last night in Columbus, OH. A game-winner in the semis. A game-winner in the final. What's the odds? 

A game that, if you're a Louisville Cardinal fan, basically came down to seeing two schools who had been in the UofL headlights this season battle for a title that Louisville pretty much got "pushed out" of the way for on Friday night -- to use a term -- and a lesser of two evils decision to root for, if you even had the want to root for either...for Cardinal fans who chose to watch the game. 

I chose not to return to Nationwide Arena Monday night. Not very interested in the eight-hour round trip to see the team that controversially knocked off Louisville go against a team that Louisville had defeated twice this season. No desire to sit banner-level high in the top of an arena with no dog in the fight. The ESPN broadcast worked just fine for this unlikely final game. 

Seats in the front row? Nah, not for this guy in Columbus...

How can I call it an unlikely final game? With two #1 seeds playing? I'll ask you, did you have the Irish and the Bulldogs facing off in the final when you did your women's tournament bracket? Was there any way undefeated UConn would stumble again in the semifinals? Especially to a team they had defeated earlier in the year? Yes, Mississippi State was ranked slightly higher in the polls than Louisville (#2 for the Dogs, #3 for the Cards) but confidence here and in a lot of other different places exuded that Louisville would find a way to down McCowan and Vivians and set up another tryst with Geno's dogs. 

Sometimes life just ain't fair. 

Notre Dame, with the four ACL injury-sidelines girls. The snub of not mentioning Asia Durr's name by "that other coach". The Irish didn't have much of an answer for McCowan either but took advantage of a late MSU cold streak and then, almost as if Hollywood has scripted it, Steven Spielberg directed it and (name any popular young actress out there today) was cast in the #24 jersey to heroically knock the shot down. 

Somewhere, Kobe is smiling. 

And she complains about "touch fouls"?  Yeah, OK.  

But, did the Irish get the break against the Bulldogs that the Cards didn't? In the final intense seconds, on the wild exchange of possessions at mid-court, it sure looked like Notre Dame's Mabrey fouled Mississippi State before McCowan ultimately fouled Notre Dame to prevent a breakaway layup. Another case of a ref sitting on a whistle?

Go back and watch it.

And, McCowan missing the bunny underneath the basket that would have given the Bulldogs a 60-58 lead? Irish eyes were smiling. Which leads to McGraw's moronic, in the heat of the moment religious reference post game -- about how a bunch of "good Catholics" got their prayers answered on Easter Sunday. 

What, the Southern Baptist or Church of God prayers being offered in Starksville were not heard? Were the "good Catholics" on the MSU campus prayers not considered? 

But, we won't dally on religious overtones here.

Tell me just how good you think I am, Dee...

What we will consider is that Notre Dame had one foot in the grave early but came back. Down 24-24 in the second quarter. 30-17 at the half. Then, tying it at 41-41 after three before momentarily stumbling again and having to rally to get to a tie late. Call it what you will, but -- it was a feat of perseverance from  the South Bend squad. 

In the end, it was "that player" from "that team" coached by "that woman" who got the spotlight. Arike Ogunbowale is talented, make no mistake about that. She'll be back next year to lead what has to be considered another very strong...maybe #1 ranked team for ol' N.D. To put together two shots like her game-winners is remarkable. 

Back also, though, is the "big" the TV analysis crew kept referring to. McCowan improved dramatically over the course of the season. She set a new NCAA Tournament rebounding record. Notre Dame did only slightly a better job defending her -- basically because they kept pounding her with the triple tag team of Nelson, Shepard and Westbeld. 18 points and 17 boards is still an impressive night -- but McCowan will probably be remember for missing the close-in shot as time ticked down that could have gave Mississippi State the lead. 

She shoots, she scores...

So, the most unlikely of the final four teams, in my humble opinion, is your National Champs. I'll be the good sport here and congratulate Notre Dame for winning. 

Somewhere, there's a part of me who wants to believe that it was all just an April Fool's prank and that Louisville is in the final game. 

Last but not least, I will mention the ridiculousness of having to bring the Bulldogs back out to play the last tenth-of-a-second of the game. I know, rules are rules...but it was impossible for any catch and release from three-point range to happen. A ref-stealing moment or five in what should have been the start of an Irish celebration.

Wave it off, Dee. Just call it a game. I wouldn't have put a team back out on the court if I was Coach Schaefer. Take a forfeit, whatever. Why put those kids through the humiliation of having to go back out there when all hope was lost? But, of course, it is the NCAA. Enough said. 

Hey, Cardinal fans. At the very least, we can boast that we beat the Nationals Champs twice. The future looks very bright for Cardinal women's hoops in 2018-19. Below, let's chat a little about that, shall we? 



CARDS RETURN ALL BUT HINES-ALLEN, ADD DEPTH

When Jeff Walz looks at the Cardinals' prospective 2018-19 roster, I'd be very surprised if a smile doesn't pop out his face. All return except for the incredible Hines-Allen. And with two red-shirts (Lindsey Duvall and Loreta Kakala) and three freshmen (Seygan Robins, Molly Lockhart and Mykasa Robinson) joining the fold...the Cards will have 14 players reporting to fall conditioning. OK, I know there is the possibility of transfers. It seems two or three depart each year. Even with that chance, it's a strong and talented collection of women who will don the practice jerseys and pound the hardwood later this year. 

I had the chance to talk with David Watson, women's college hoops aficionado, a bit on Sunday afternoon and we discussed the returnees. It's never too early to talk about what we love, right? 

We discussed who enters the starting lineup now that Hines-Allen has graduated. It came down to several scenarios. Do the Cards go "small" and put talented guard Dana Evans out for pre-game introductions? Do they go "big" and go with Kylee Shook or Bionca Dunham as the fifth starter? Does one of the returning red-shirts claim the role? Is one of the incoming freshmen going to impress enough to fill out the starters? 

Jeff Walz will tell you that it isn't all that important who is on the court for the opening tip, it's who is out there in a close game with little time left on the clock. And, he's right. We saw a lot of Dana Evans on the court when Walz needed to sit a starter. Shook and Dunham also had significant court time when Walz needed to go to the bench. Seygan Robins is an incredible incoming talent. Loretta Kakala has made great lepas and bounds according to many during her red-shirt year. There are options. 

Let me make it perfectly clear that you do not replace Myisha Hines-Allen. She may well be the second-most proficient player to compete her years of eligibility in Cardinal history. Definitely in the top five and one that brought a fire, intensity and skill-set to UofL that Cardinal fans will remember for a very long time. 

David seems to think that the Cards would be best served if they give Evans the full-time gig. She was impressive in the Mississippi State game and has the speed, quickness and defense to create havoc for opponents. We'd like to see that shot get a little more accurate...but look at the improvement we saw in Jazz Jones her sophomore year. Surely Evans has that growth potential as well.

I took a different route. I'm leaning toward Shook. She has all the skills a big needs. She can step out and bun an opponent and has shown she can be tough in the paint and do the things this team needs in rebounding and giving them additional paint presence. You can't teach height and wing-span and Shook has those features for sure.  

Ultimately, no matter what we prognosticate in April means nothing for the fall. It'll be a matter of who does the best work to get the start. Or the close. The UofL team is a tight-knit, cooperative group. It wouldn't surprise us to see Walz experiment with a variety of combinations early on in the schedule. 

Gee, it is fall yet? 


OTHER CARDINALS IN ACTION

Louisville Women's tennis took on #4 ranked Duke in ACC competition and fell to the Blue Devils 6-1. The Cards are 13-6 on the season and go to 3-5 in the ACC. Duke 16-1 with a 8-0 conference record. 

Louisville Rowing competed against #2 Cal in the PAC 12 Challenge finals and won one of three events against the Bears. The "Stroke" Cards won the Varsity 8+ event...a major victory for the Red and Black. 

Louisville now looks ahead to the ACC Championships on April 14-15th.  




CARDINAL COUPLE PICK "EM"

Whaddya mean I didn't win
the bracket challenge? 

Be sure to check back later today for our final, official results of our NCAA Women's Tournament "Pick Em". We gave Bracket Czar Jared Anderson Easter off (nice of us, eh?) but he's indicated he'll run the results in depth just one more time and get us the winner and second-place contestants. We'll update this section and also post them on "The Right Side of the Site."  

We'd like to thank him for checking the results and also thank you for participating! 

Now that hoops has ended, we'll be providing much more coverage on the other spring sports that the UofL women are competing in. We also plan on continuing basketball stories and have plans to get interviews with whomever we can that is involved with WBB at UofL over the next seven months. 

Our commitment to UofL women's sports is a 24 hour...7 day-a-week...365 days a year involvement. We appreciate you being here and, we never forget....YOU are CARDINAL COUPLE. 


Paulie
xxxxx



  

Louisville WBB -- Know the Foe: Boise St...Softball crushes NIU, Lacrosse wins -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BRONCOS FIRST FOR WBB IN NCAA

Another Thursday, another jam-packed results day and future events preview to get to. I do believe this is one of the busiest times of the year (March) for us at CARDINAL COUPLE, but we're ready for the challenge. Let's hit the gym, diamond, turf, brackets, etc. and do this! 

Will Coach bring out the yellow
gear to upstage what will surely
be another Sam Purcell clothing
statement? 

The WBB Cards got what they wanted in NCAA bracketing. Two in Louisville, which we all knew was guaranteed, two in Lexington...a little more speculation on whether that would happen or not, and Louisville MUST win the KFC YUM! Center games to travel to Lexington. Then...if all goes according to plan, the NCAA Final Four in Columbus. The Lexington region looks tough, thanks to Jared for dissecting that and more yesterday, today let us look at "first up" for Walz and crew.

Sam Purcell calls it three two-game tournaments. That's a very interesting way of viewing it.  

The Boise State Broncos gallop in from Potato-land to run by the river on Friday at noon. It's one of four NCAA opening day games at noon for the WBB side and certainly the one we'll be focusing on. Friday is a busy day at the YUM! with two games and the men continue their NIT pursuits on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. against MTSU. No game time has been announced yet for round two of the NCAA WBB Tournament on Sunday. My guess is around 1 p.m.? We'll see what happens and let you know. Maybe the women will play the first half against MTSU and let the guys finish the game. They could probably do better in the first half then the men did against NKU...

This "fake state" school (last time I checked...Boise hadn't seceded from Idaho and formed their own state) comes to the YUM! with a 23-9 record. They were 14-4 in the Mountain West Conference and won the regular season, plus conference titles...like Louisville. They took the  MWC Tourney with wins over Air Force (60-46), Colorado St. (76-51) and a thriller in the finals...62-60 over Nevada. It took a buzzer-beating shot from A'Shanti Coleman to get the Broncos their second consecutive MVC Tourney title. 

BSU is no stranger to the "dance"...having been four previous times and 2018 marks their third visit in the last four years. 

BSU is on a roll, winning their last 10 games and 15 out of their last 17. Their last loss was delivered to them by UNLV on Feb. 3rd in Las Vegas. They had a bit of trouble getting the horses out of the gate in the non-conference slate...with losses to CSU-Bakersfield, St. Mary's, Northern Arizona and San Diego....all non-NCAA Tournament bound schools. 

Similar opponents? We've seen they have faced the Air Force Academy, like the Cards. Three times, as a matter of fact, and won all three. 

They also played both San Diego and San Diego State this year. That's got to be confusing:

"Who ya got tonight?"

"San Diego."

"San Diego State?"

"San Diego isn't a state, they're a part of California." 

"No, the school. San Diego State."

"The school left the state and formed their own state?" 

Riley Lupfer leads the Broncos in scoring with 16.4 ppg and shoots 47.1% from the court. 

She's also the one who questioned whether the Cardinal players knew where Boise State was. 

Wouldn't it be great to see Asia or someone stop her in the post-game handshake line and say. "Idaho. Your school is in Idaho. Go back there, now. Your season is over." 

Martin Hermida, a Spanish import, is good for 10.8 points a night and leads the Broncs with 4.8 assists. Shalen Shaw, kinda of a neat name...I think, is the top board-grabber with seven a contest. 

We'll find out how Coach Walz plans to corral these Broncos later this morning...they have a 10:50 a.m. press conference scheduled at the Media Room in the KFC YUM! Center. Maybe we'll learn more. Pressers like this are sometimes are unfortunately plagued by some media moron who knows nothing about UofL WBB and uses it as a briefing. Read your facts sheet before you sit down in the room, first timers! 

These two have never met. The game will be shown on the "deuce"...ESPN 2. We got Beth Mowins and Nell Fortner on the call. That sounds like turn down the TV volume and listen to Nick and A.J. call it on 790 WKRD to me. Opinions may vary.

Interesting Sidebar:  The Broncos play their home games in Taco Bell Arena. From nacho fries to original recipe chicken for them, it looks like. I wonder what BSU gives away if the team scores 80+ points a night. Free tacos? A chalupa?  Can a guy get a couple of burritos and a beverage here? 

I see Louisville by 27. Whatcha think? 



Tournament time. It's the most wonderful time of the year. 



SOFTBALL SLUGS BY NIU 9-4

Hello, Megan Hensley! The junior slugged a grand slam homer in the bottom of the sixth inning and came to the circle in relief to pick up a win in Louisville Softball's five-run win yesterday at chilly Ulmer Stadium. 

Her blast broke a 4-4 tie game wide open as the Cards get their 20th win of the season against just five losses. She also pitched 4.2 innings of shutout softball against the Huskies after relieving Darrianne Hale, who relieved Kyra Snyder. (What a relief...) 

Funky Funke, Mike and Maddy Newman all had two hits in the win for the Cards. Hensley goes to 7-2 on the season. 

Louisville opens ACC play on Friday with a 4 p.m. game at Ulmer Stadium against Notre Dame. 


LACROSSE DOWNS MERCER 21-14

It was a slow start yesterday for Louisville Lacrosse at Mercer yesterday, trailing 7-1 after the first ten minutes.  It was time for a Teeter time-out and whatever the Louisville head coach said to the squad should be framed and kept for future reference. The Cards proceeded to score the final 11 goals of the half, two by Tessa Chad in less than a minute and go into the break up 12-7. 

"We didn't come out of the gate like we need to." Scott Teeter commented after the contest. "But they responded after we challenged them in the timeout. We went on a pretty good run there after that and scored some goals, but it shouldn't take that."

The LAX Cards also had the first three goals of the second half, blowing out to a 15-7 advantage and went on to take their sixth win of the season. Louisville is 4-1 on the road this year. 

Chad scored her team-high six goals all in the first half.  

"That was just Tessa leading by example, just taking the game over by herself," added Teeter. "I thought there were quite a few of the seniors that stepped up, as well. Their play, their ability to demand the ball really elevated our team during that stretch, which was great." 

"Sweet" Caroline Blalock and Ally Hall added four scores each for Louisville and Madison "Upright" Hoover got a hat-trick with three goals in the win. 

Louisville comes home to face Boston College, in a return to ACC action, with a Saturday noon start. 


GET YOUR PICKS IN

Do you have your NCAA WBB Tournament picks lined up? What double-digit seeded teams will make the Sweet Sixteen? Can anyone keep UConn out of Columbus? 

You are cordially invited to provide an entry to The Cardinal Couple "Pick 'Em" Challenge for the Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament. It doesn't cost a penny and you could win a $25 Panera Card if you are the best. We've also got a $15 Cracker Barrel card for second place. 

Check the comments section on Tuesday and Wednesday for examples and leave your selections in today's comments section. One point for a win, most points wins. Earliest entry breaks any ties. 

Our bracket czar Jared Anderson has his war-room set up with all entries laminated, posted in strategic locations and he has a variety of colored markers and trend analysis scenarios lined up for the judging and scoring. A report from the mothership indicates he has 15 entries as of midnight last night and will be prepared for the last second rush of contestants. Remember, Jared...USF and FSU are two different schools...I hope he isn't dyslexic.

You need to have your picks in by Friday noon. A highly trained chimp-infused bracket staff is in Bracket Central closely monitoring the comments section, mixing up blenders of Banana Smoothies and Daiquiris and hotly debating scenarios, strengths and which pizza place to call for delivery. Pineapple and ham seems to be the favorite of the crew and Bill the Goat has been banished to the "Back 40" to consume empty pizza boxes and brackets that the chimps feel have no chance whatsoever. 

Play ball! Men's Tournament starts today. Get ready with the Visine and remote control. Gonna be a crazy week. 

Paulie
xxxxx

Louisville WBB Bracket Time -- Softball Changes Time -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BASKETBALL BOUNCING OUR WAY

We are only two days away from the first round of the tournament.  Our women’s basketball team prepares to host Boise State Friday at noon.  It’s a tough time for people to try and take a half day or sneak out of work early so you can catch the event on ESPN.  Assuming the Cards win they will face the winner of Marquette and Dayton in the second round at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday. Game time not set in stone yet.

The road to the championship is never a stroll in the park.  Louisville has the potential to face some tough opposition along the way and here are a few of those potential match-ups:

1 Louisville vs 5 Missouri (Sweet 16)

Missouri has had a mild rate of success against ranked opponents.  They downed the likes of South Carolina and Tennessee while falling to Mississippi State by four.  Junior Sophie Cunningham is averaging 18 points per game, but her assist-turnover ratio is almost dead even.  Turnovers has been the weakness for the Tigers.  Missouri’s strength has been rebounds, dominating the glass all year.

1 Louisville vs 2 Texas (Final Four)

If you take away the three losses to Baylor and the loss to UConn the Longhorns haven’t had a loss against a non-elite opponent since when January when they fell by two at TCU.  Texas got upset in overtime by two to start the season but has not fallen to a non-ranked opponent since.  The Longhorns’ offense has had a roller coaster year.  Texas does not have a standout player this season, but instead relies on a well-rounded starting five.

1 Louisville vs 3 Tennessee (Elite Eight)

The Vols cruised for most of the season until the ran into a long stretch of high caliber teams, falling to Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Mississippi State.  Tennessee faces South Carolina three times with their only loss coming in the SEC tournament.  The assist-turnover ratio is ugly for the team from Rocky Top.  Their free throw shooting sits just a half over .700.  Tennessee has one of the tallest rosters in the country and is no stranger to rebounds and blocks.

1 Louisville vs 2 Baylor (Elite Eight)

The Bears might not have Brittney Griner anymore, but we don’t have Shoni Schimmel.  Instead we have Asia Durr and an entire roster of players who are capable of putting up big numbers.  The high-powered offense has put up 90 or more points a dozen times on the season.  An early season (mid-November) loss at UCLA is the only blemish to a near perfect record.  Kalani Brown is one of the top players in the country.  She puts up 20 points per game and 10 rebounds per game and could give our forwards a challenge.  She’s one of four players averaging double figures in points for the Bears.

1 Louisville vs 1 Mississippi State

The Bulldogs sent UConn home in last year’s tournament and they come in with the confidence of doing it again, or at least taking out another top dog.  Mississippi State was perfect until the SEC Championship, where South Carolina defeated them by 11 in a regular season rematch.  They have wins over Tennessee, South Carolina, Oregon, Missouri, and Texas A&M.  Mississippi State is not afraid of playing several guards, but why worry when you have a 6-7 player clogging the lane.  They will use speed and agility to overwhelm opponents.

1 Louisville vs 1 Notre Dame (National Championship)

The Cards have beaten the Irish twice, once by 33 and once by two.  Notre Dame has not had a healthy roster all season due to ACL injuries, but they are still tough.  Notre Dame’s only other loss fame to UConn.  The Huskies used a 26-9 fourth quarter to win.  The Irish have a whole roster of star players.  Their biggest weakness is the small roster size.  Foul trouble or a poor shooting day by a couple of players will be their downfall.

1 Louisville vs 1 UConn (National Championship)

This is a rematch fans are craving for.  Had a first quarter not doomed the Cards in the original match-up things could be different. Geno and the Huskies seem to have Louisville’s number and the two teams always find a way to meet in some type of championship game.  In terms of national championships, the third try is the charm, right?  Of all of Jeff Walz’s teams this one has the best shot at taking down the giant.

NCAA Women's Tournament "Pick 'Em" Contest

GO, YOU TOPPERS, GO. 

Have you filled out your bracket year?  Make sure to submit your entries here!  I hope to stay organized enough to have everyone's brackets marked down and stay up-to-date with them.

Hey, if Sonya can run this thing for years without any trouble except Paulie wanting her to rig it in his favor, I should be fine.

MAKE SURE YOUR PICKS ARE PUT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF TODAY'S OR TOMORROW'S COLUMNS. PICKS NEED TO BE IN BY NOON!

ANY E-MAIL ATTEMPTS OF PICKS WILL BE FED TO THE CARDINAL CHIMP STAFF COATED IN BANANA PUDDING.

Here is the submission example Paul gave us:

ROUND 1 PICKS: UConn, Miami, Belmont, Georgia, USF, FSU, California, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Villanova, Drake, LSU, Ohio St., Green Bay, Oregon, Miss. St, Syracuse, Princeton, NC St., Creighton, UCLA, Ariz. St., Texas, Louisville, Dayton, FGCU, Stanford, WKU, Tenn., Michigan, Baylor.

THE SWEET SIXTEEN: UConn, Georgia, FSU, California, Notre Dame, Ohio St. Oregon, Syracuse, NC St., UCLA, Texas, Louisville, FGCU, Tenn., Michigan.

THE GREAT EIGHT: UConn, California, LSU, Ohio St. Syracuse, Texas, Louisville, Michigan

FINAL FOUR: UConn, Ohio St., Syracuse, Louisville.

THEN THERE WERE TWO:  Ohio State, Louisville

CHAMPS: Louisville.

COMMENTS SECTIONS FOR PICKS AND BY NOON FRIDAY!

SOFTBALL GAME TIME CHANGE

The original time of 5:00 has been set to 3:00 to help account for cold temperatures.  The softball team hosts a midweek game at Ulmer Stadium, where they are 9-1.  Northern Illinois visits but is 0-4 all-time against the Cards. Snow on the ground this morning but they cover the infield, so Play Ball!

Pitcher Danielle Watson is tied for first in the country in number of wins.  With such a large bullpen and Coach Pearsall starting to give some of them a chance she may not have a chance to add another win.

On offense, things are getting better.  Caitlin Ferguson is three-thousandths off from batting .400.  Celene Funke and Sidney Melton are a combined 12-for-12 on stolen bases.

Sandy Pearsall and UofL Softball aim to get their 705th victory.

Enjoy your Wednesday and the stress of selecting a perfect bracket and Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville Women's basketball -- Where will Louisville WBB go?...March Sadness -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS WILL HOST BUT WHERE THEN? 

OH yes. It's the most wonderful time of the year, if you're a college basketball fan. Louisville women's basketball fans are assured of a couple of things. A #1 seed in their region and a chance to open at home. 

ESPN's Charlie Creme has the Cards as the #1 seed in the Lexington bracket. College Sports Madness has UofL as a #1 seed but doesn't specify which bracket. The Cards are #3 in the nation in both the AP and USA Coaches Polls.  We are, therefore 99.99999% certain that the Cards will open in the KFC YUM! Center on a day to be determine yet. I mean, there is a astronomically remote possibility that the YUM! could decide it would rather bring in Bonzo's Travelling Circus or a reunion of the Monkees...but we're expecting to be at the big facility by the 2nd Street bridge on Friday, hopefully. 

We'll find out tonight. Unlike past years there will be no open party atmosphere for the fans to watch with the team. No Sports and Social Club gathering for the faithful down on the 4th Street Mall. In fact, one of the local radio stations is using the venue for men's tournament bracket free fill out and drop off purposes. 

Louisville will gather at the Thorntons Academic Center for Excellence around 6 p.m. to view the 7 p.m. Selection Show on ESPN. Media and "select" fans are invited to join the Cards, so I'll mosey on down and see if I can gain admission. Maybe we even get our "shared" photo guy and writer Jared Anderson in there also. 

Coach Walz and the players will be available to the media following the announcement of the Cardinals' seed and region. 

Region. That's the question. I logically assume, as just about every fan I've talked to does, that the Cards will get the Lexington region. Unfortunately, the NCAA is very illogical. I joked on radio Saturday that they'll probably form a fifth region for schools they don't like and hold it in Kauai, Hawaii next to an active volcano or hot lava.  

Who will the Cards face? It's pure speculation now. I wouldn't be surprised to see Oregon as the #2 seed and the committee may toss Tennessee and Ohio State in there as well to make the road tougher. Who knows. maybe Baylor drops and they end up in our region? 

I can't think of no better song for today than the classic "Where Do We Go From Here? (Games People Play)" by the Alan Parsons Project. Hear it here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPbmXkmxexM

Please, just keep us on the opposite side of the sheet from UConn. I'd just as soon not tangle with those dogs again until the final game of the year. It is purely my personal wish, I know a lot of you want a rematch with them. I'd rather they get upset and knocked off. 

Tournament time, in our case here at Cardinal Couple, a joyous time of the year...filled with the anxious tracking of Walz and his Warriors .

So, we wait. On the other hand...


MBB HEADED TO N.I.T.


I'm not a fan of the "new" TBS way of announcing the NCAA men's brackets. Basically, we knew the Cards were out 10 minutes into the show. The "Gumball" even made a point of specifically saying so when it was revealed there were no "at large" teams starting with the letter "L" on the list. When Miami popped up, the Cards balloon burst. 

Alabama got in. That's a surprise. The Cards weren't even on the "first four out" list. 

So, hello N.I.T. for Padgett and his players. They'll bring in N.K.U.(that's Northern Kentucky University) for the first round of the 32-team format. Tuesday 7 p.m. on ESPN and at the KFC YUM! Center. 

Will you go? Will you watch? 

March Sadness, indeed, for the guys. Two years out of the last three now. This is a streak we don't want to see continued. 


WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT PICK 'EM

We've sponsored a "pick 'em" for the Women's NCAA Tournament the past several years and gotten a fairly good response on it. We had a good response on our ACC Tournament "pick 'em". 

I'll be in touch with the tracking director of the ACC brackets (Jared Anderson) and see if he's interested in tracking stuff for the "Big Dance" for the women. We'll let you know tomorrow, after the brackets are released. 

We'll hit up "tightwad" Arch and see if we can get another Panera Card if we "do-do" a challenge. 

UPDATE: BRACKET PICK "EM" IS ON AND PANERA KICKING IN A $25 GIFT CARD. 

Paulie
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