Who? The Cardinals of Louisville.
What? The cardinal is the state bird, so Louisville called dibs on it. Some documentation calls him Louie, but I'm not sure if that's accurate or not.
Where? Louisville, Kentucky; the fewer letters you pronounce, the closer to accurate you are.
When? March 17th, in College Park, Maryland.
How? They were an at-large selection.
Surprise? No, not particularly.
RPI: 24
SOS: 42
Record: 22-9 (10-6 Big East)
Good wins: At Georgetown?
Bad losses: At a depleted DePaul. But there's nothing really horrifying on here.
Who's running this show? Jeff Walz, since 2007. He was a well-traveled assistant before settling at Louisville.
Extra, Extra! Some of the best Louisville women's sports coverage you'll find comes from the merry band of miscreants at Cardinal Couple. They're on top of all things women's sports there, and even the scurrilous rumors that men play sports too.
Attrition took its toll on the Cardinals, first injury claimed Tia Gibbs, then Monique Reid, then Cierra Warren left the team. The Xs in the stats are sad to see.
Sophomore guard Shoni Schimmel leads the way for this team with 14.3 points and 4.5 assists per game- but on 35.9% shooting from the field and 30% from beyond the arc, and she can be streaky and easily rattled. Freshman Bria Smith is a stud with a propensity to drive the lane, while senior Becky Burke is deadly from three-point range. Circumstances have caused everyone to have to step up and show something; only two players on the active roster haven't started. The unpredictability means the Cards don't know who they can count on- but also means defenses can be left befuddled by an unexpected hot hand. (Looking at you, St. John's, and how you let Antonita Slaughter bust loose in the second half.)