Talk around Louisville this week has centered around University of Louisville President Dr. James Ramsey comments from a radio show recently. He was answering questions regarding the Cardinals move to the ACC. His response led to talk radio and message board panic.
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When North Carolina kicks off the 2013-2014 basketball season tomorrow, they probably won’t know anything new about the status of star shooting guard PJ Hairston and sixth-man Leslie McDonald. Why not? Because the NCAA is involved and they can’t seem to do anything in a timely manner. Both players have been in the news this summer for bad reasons- Hairston for speeding, drugs and rental cars; McDonald for mouth guard endorsement. A decision doesn’t seem to be on the way, even though it should because it’s the start of the season. Since Roy Williams and North Carolina are going to do the smart thing and hold the two players out, there are a lot of holes to fill for the team in both production AND leadership. Earlier today, it was announced that the following players will be starting the opening game against Oakland tomorrow at 9pm-
The Louisville Cardinals enters the 2013-14 basketball season ranked in the top 3 and as one of the favorites to win the national championship. If that happens, the Cards would be the first team to repeat as national champions since the 2007 Florida Gators and would be the smallest team to win the title in nearly 50 years.
Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino will have to replace two key starters from last seasons team, PG Peyton Siva and C Gorgui Dieng. Siva finished his career at U of L as arguably the Cards greatest point guard. His leadership and playmaking skills at both ends of the court will be missed. Dieng left early and was a first round pick in the NBA draft. His shot blocking ability and overall post presence will be greatly missed.
Local reports here in Louisville are saying that Thomas Ray of Jackson, Mississippi, 35, has been arrested and indicted on charges that he tried to extort 3.5 million dollars from the University of Louisville in April 2013. Ray contacted U of L AD Tom Jurich claiming to have evidence tying U of L to point shaving. It is also being reported that Ray has a history of extortion attempts. Jurich has acknowledge that he has heard that Ray was arrested but hasn’t commented further.
Let’s be honest. As a Tar Heel fan, I’m already thinking about basketball season. And why not? The tradition is there. The excellence is there. The really awesome non-conference schedule is there (Kentucky, Michigan State, Louisville, etc.). PJ Hairston has to come back at some point too. So it makes sense, right? Basketball, North Carolina…they just go together. Well yeah, and basketball season actually IS here. Late Night with Roy is this Friday. So it’s okay if my attention has shifted, isn’t it?
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Football is in midseason and basketball is around the corner–plenty to write about.
The David Glenn show reported this afternoon that Dave Doeren is optimistic that Brandon Mitchell will be ready for Saturday’s game with Syracuse. If he does start, it would give the Pack a more mobile option to Pete Thomas who would likely fit State’s desired style of play.
Not that Thomas has played badly, but Wolfpack Nation will take any straw of hope we can grasp at this point.
Update:
Game is just starting, Thomas will start again. So never mind.
Hello my fellow Louisville and college sports fans. The state of Card Nation can be described in one word, hopeful. Besides scoring enough style points this Cardinal football team has done all that they can do. They are 5-0 and currently ranked 8th in the country. All of this is pretty incredible considering that just four years ago they were struggling just to make a bowl game. It’s been a rapid climb back to the top, thanks to coach Strong. Cards fans came into this season with a shot at the national championship dancing in their heads, so where do they stand after week six?
We knew the Cards were along shot for a title shot and that their destiny wasn’t solely in their own hands. That they would need help from their scheduled teams, from their conference and that they would need teams ahead of them to lose. So far none of this has happened. The American Conference (AAC) has been worse than expected, who knew that was possible. The two best teams the Cards have played are Kentucky and Ohio. It’s understandable to wonder what if Ohio State had balls and chose to play the Cards instead of San Diego St? Or what if ESPN could have swooped Virginia Tech for the Cards in the opener against Alabama? What if the Big East didn’t fall apart and West Virginia and TCU was still on the schedule? There’s a lot of ifs and buts about the schedule but it is what it is.
So why do I describe Card Nation as hopeful? There are some positives to look forward to. Besides joining the ACC next season and having teams such as Florida St, Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame on the schedule and opening the 2015 season against Auburn, there are some positives for this season as well. The Cards have the best conference teams ahead of them yet so the schedule will get more difficult, starting this Thursday night against Rutgers (4-1 1-0) at home. On 10-18 Central Florida (4-1 1-0) visits Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. On 11-16 Houston (4-0 1-0) comes to town before the Cards finish the season at Cincinnati (3-2 0-1).
A shot at the national championship may be out of their reach but a second straight BCS Bowl bid, third overall, is well within their grasp. Current projections include Florida State in the Orange, Baylor in the Fiesta and South Carolina in the Sugar. One can’t discount the Rose just yet either. Since the Cards defeated Alabama in the Fiesta back in the 90’s, pre BCS era, the Rose remains the only BCS caliber bowl that they haven’t won.
If the Cards can’t play for the championship then we still have a couple of ACC teams to pull for. The current BCS projections has two ACC teams ranked in the top six. Alabama has a solid lock on the top spot but what happens when/if they lose? Here are the BCS projected top ten according to BCSGuru.com.
1 Alabama 0.9980, 2 Oregon 0.9107, 3 Clemson 0.8750, 4 Stanford 0.8661, 5 Ohio State 0.7804, 6 Florida St 0.7704, 7 Georgia 0.7671, 8 Oklahoma 0.6502, 9 Louisville 0.6191, 10 LSU 0.6111
The actual BCS rankings will be released after week 7.
Here are the current AAC standings
1 Louisville 5-0 1-0
2 Houston 4-0 1-0
3 Rutgers 4-1 1-0 (beat Arkansas)
4 Central Fla 4-1 1-0 (beat Penn St, lost to South Carolina)
5 USF 1-4 1-0
6 UConn 0-4 0-0
7 Cincinnati 3-2 0-1
8 Memphis 1-3 0-1
9 SMU 1-4 0-1 (Louisville does not play this year, 8 game schedule)
10 Temple 0-5 0-2
The board of reps for D1 has proposed D4. Here is the CBS article. What are your thoughts?
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/23874003/faculty-athletics-representatives-formally-proposes-division-4-for-ncaa
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