NCAA Basketball Louisville

This week, FanHouse is taking a way too early look at the top teams heading into 2007 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. It's a time-honored filler for the off-season, and who are we to buck tradition? Today we look at teams 5 through 1.

So much talent in the Louisville frontcourt. So much to fear of injury. Forward Derrick Caracter finally had the proverbial switch go off in the second-half after near-exile from the team. Poised as he was to carry that into this coming season, he had to have off-season surgery to repair a cartilage tear in the left knee. There's David Padgett, gutting it out inside, with questions about whether his knees will make it through the game. Juan Palacios always seems to be battling foot injuries. Earl Clark should just avoid hanging out with all of them, as should incoming power forward George Goode.

The talent, but not the injury fears, in the backcourt is almost as impressive. Edgar Sosa had a trial by fire running the point as a freshman. Naturally, there was some up-and-down performances, but Louisville should benefit tremendously this season. Jerry Smith began to emerge in the second half. Losing Brandon Jenkins's steadiness hurts, but Preston Knowles will help stretch the defenses.

Rick Pitino doesn't waste time with a lot of interviews and searching when an assistant leaves. With Marvin Menzies taking over at New Mexico State, Pitino announced the hiring of his replacement almost immediately. Say hello to Walter McCarty, a player on Pitino's Kentucky squad and a couple years playing for Pitino with the Boston Celtics.

Blah, blah, blah. Member of the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats national championship team. 19th pick overall by the New York Knicks. Another former Kentucky player working for Pitino in Louisville Ten years in the NBA. Uh-huh.

What really matters is that McCarty loves to sing. He's sung the national anthem numerous times before basketball games -- get ready, Freedom Hall.

Mike at Card Chronicle, found his 2003 debut album, Moment for Love.

According to the liner notes:

Moment For Love is the debut album by Boston Celtics superstar Walter McCarty This album features an eclectic mix of retro R&B and up-tempo dance tracks inspired by the fun and laid back music of the late 80's and the early 90's

Louisville Courier-Journal sports writer Brian Bennett was kicked out of an NCAA baseball game on Sunday because he was blogging about the game live, which the NCAA says is a violation of its policies.

But now it turns out that this horrible trend of journalists using the Internets to provide fans with information about NCAA sporting events is more widespread than previously known. One of Bennett's colleagues at the Courier-Journal, Eric Crawford, confesses today that he blogged during the NCAA basketball tournament's three Lexington regional games.

I know ignorance is no excuse, but that's what I'm pleading. I was naive enough to think that the NCAA actually wanted exposure for college sports.

Yes, that is pretty naive. I hope someone at the NCAA reads what Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune has to say, as Johnson makes a point that is probably obvious to everyone except the NCAA:

Bennett's writing was in no way competition to the official telecast or radio cast. No college baseball fan would choose reading a blog over watching or listening to the thing itself.

You'd think that would go without saying, but you get the feeling that the NCAA will need to hear it said many times before the message gets through.

Previously at FanHouse:
NCAA Violating Common Sense, if Not First Amendment
When Dealing With Online Rights, Bloggers Are in a Gray Area
NCAA Clashes With Louisville Paper on Baseball Blog
NCAA Kicks Blogger Out of Baseball Game

According to the NCAA, if it wasn't for the "squad size adjustments" to the APR results this year, 43.6% of the Division 1 basketball programs would be under the Academic Progrees Rate (APR) this year (PDF, page 5). The Big East is a team worse than that average as 8 of the 16 basketball programs are under the 925 minimum score. The rankings are still incomplete as the APR is to be based on a rolling 4-year rankings, and this is only year three. Teams that are right around 900 are not penalized as there are "squad sized adjustments" to the figures. The NCAA expects that teams around 900 will reach the 925 floor by next year.

1. Villanova 993
2. Notre Dame 977
3. Georgetown 970
4. Syracuse 948
5. Rutgers 943
6. Providence 938
7. UConn 934
8. Marquette 927
9. Seton Hall 921*
10. Louisville 920*
11. WVU 915*
12. St. John's 909*
13. Pitt 907*
14. USF 898*
15. DePaul 893*
16. Cinci 838**

Cincinnati was penalized one scholarship for not even being close to the confidence level of the APR. Cinci apparently anticipated this, as they have not used all 13 of their allotted scholarships. While the blame will fall largely on former coach Bob Huggins, Cinci was really hurt by the firing of Huggins and the subsequent quitting and transfers of players afterwards.

Rick Pitino is the type of guy who will never settle down ... he's a wanderer, yeah a wanderer, he roams around around around. So I feel a little bit skeptical when I read that he's signed a contract extension that should keep him as Louisville's men's basketball coach until 2013.

The longest Pitino has ever stayed in one place was the eight years he spent at Kentucky. Prior to coaching the Wildcats, he was an assistant with Hawaii, Syracuse and the Knicks, and head coach at Boston University, Providence and the Knicks. At every stop he had one eye on his own team and one eye on the next job opening, culminating with his decision to leave Kentucky to coach the Celtics.

Then again, the experience with the Celtics seemed to change Pitino. Maybe he really is done hopping from job to job and is planning to finish his career at Louisville. With three more seasons there, he'll have coached Louisville longer than he coached Kentucky. He might make it three more years at Louisville, but I don't think he'll make it six. By the time this latest contract extension expires, Louisville will be someplace else.

I don't blame Texas A&M fans if they feel the CBS crew of Ian Eagle Dan Bonnor and Gus Johnson were totally in the tank for Louisville and Rick Pitino. From the harsh bitter laughter halfway through the second half when Texas A&M threw the ball away while being pressed; to the way too excited response every time Edgar Sosa even held the ball. I say this as a Big East guy, it bordered on pathetic. It's part of why opposing teams hate Pitino's teams. The announcers love talking to him and just love his teams by extension.

This game, though,was as good as expected. Both teams were going at it the entire game. No separation for either team the entire game. Edgar Sosa won the battle of the guards over Acie Law IV, but Law won the war with a 72-69 win.

Sosa had been tremendous, but after 15-15 from the free throw line, he bricked 2 that could have given the lead with under a minute. He finished with 31 points and was the man that kept Louisville in this as Caracter and Padgett were inconsequential from inside.

Acie Law IV was excellent with 26 points but got more help from Kirk and Jones. The Aggies got through a game they could easily have lost in what was essentially a road game for them.

The general consensus on Selection Sunday was that the committee screwed the Big East. There's a lot to be said for that, but there is one way in which it's a first-round opponent of a Big East team that feels like it's getting the short end of the stick: Stanford Texas A&M, a 3 seed, has to cross half the continent to get to Lexington, Kentucky, to likely take on Louisville in the second round, which is located just 75 miles down the road.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino, however, said during his press conference today that the argument that his team is getting an advantage is bogus. "You guys are making such a big deal of that," Pitino told reporters. "To me, that's bizarre.... It's meaningless."

Pitino noted that when he coached at Providence in 1987, his team had to play against UAB in the tournament -- on UAB's home court. "We won by 28, so the fans didn't matter too much," Pitino said.

I think Pitino is overstating things a bit: It certainly can't hurt to be close to home, and I'll be shocked if the crowd doesn't have a significantly pro-Louisville sentiment. But I agree with Pitino that it gets a little tiresome that it's now Wednesday and people are still asking about the decisions the committee made on Sunday. The three days between the brackets coming out and the games tipping off aren't as bad as the two weeks off before the Super Bowl, but I'm ready for the games to start already.

Conference: Big East
Record: 23-9, 12-4 in conference
RPI: 37
How They Got In: At-large
Seed/Bracket: 6/South (San Antonio)

Mascot: Cardinal. The State Bird of Kentucky is the Cardinal (as it is for North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia -- just a swath straight across the US of states with the same bird) . So there you go with the connection. Louisville also wants you to know that the specific color red is PMS 485.

Big Wins: Knocking off Pitt in the Pete. It got everyone's attention about the Cardinals and was vital to the hot streak that got them into the NCAA Tournament.

Notable Loss: It was in December, when it raised serious questions about the overall status of Louisville with a loss at home to UMass.

Player You Should Know: The Cardinals are a balanced team that gets contributions from everyone. In such cases, the player to know is the point guard. In this case, Freshman Edgar Sosa. As he goes, so goes Louisville. In the double-OT win over WVU, Pitino praised Sosa for being a NYC Point Guard; but in the loss to Pitt in the Big East Tournament Semifinal he got pulled and Pitino explained it after the game (PDF):

Q. Sosa out, talk about the way he played?

RICK PITINO: I didn't think he was playing too well. That's why I kept him out.

Q. What was he not doing?

RICK PITINO: He was not making other people better.

Outlook: Louisville is fully capable of making it to the Sweet 16, with the way they have been playing. It's been improvement all season for the Cardinals and before the loss in the Big East Tournament, they looked like they were peaking at exactly the right time. Getting beyond the Sweet 16 means that the loss was merely a hiccup, and they can keep their emotions in check.

They came close. Oh, so close tonight. They lost, though, and at this time of the year there are no "good losses." West Virginia is going to be sitting there on Selection Sunday, and be disappointed. They needed the win to get on the right side of the bubble.

It may have taken double-OT. They did have an astounding comeback, down by 17 in the second half and going on an 18-0 run to take a one point lead.

WVU should have, could have had the game in regulation. They took a 58-56 lead with 4.3 seconds left. Edgar Sosa took the inbounds and went coast-to-coast for the lay-up as the clock expired to tie the game. It was a tremendous effort by Sosa, especially when he split the defenders. It sure appeared that he traveled, though.

Len Elmore doing the color commentary for ESPN, declared as they watched the replay that Sosa "did not travel." There was, shall we say, a pregnant pause from Dan Shulman on that declaration. It also led to the following exchange between fellow Fanhouser Michael David Smith on IM.

Michael: "did not travel"?

me:The refs are over looking at a monitor I'm picturing this conversation after they confirm the clock.

"Boy, we really missed that walk."
"Yeah, but I wasn't going to call it at that point."
"I think Len Elmore just covered our asses."

Michael: Apparently if you play in an NBA arena, they call traveling like it's an NBA game.

Not that it matters. No one other than Mountaineer fans will be remembering this.

Just as maybe only Louisville fans will see a balancing of last year. Last year, Pitt appeared to have Louisville blown completely out. Louisville made a valiant comeback but fell short. This time, Louisville had the huge lead, blew it but got the win.

Tonight has 3 teams playing for NCAA Tournament seed and 1 team trying to get on the right side of the bubble.

#7 WVU vs. #2 Louisville, 7pm
These two never faced each other this season. so there is even less information about this game. The Louisville defense is a clear advantage for Louisville, but with WVU the issue is always about whether they will be hitting their 3s. This should present a real challenge to Pitino and Louisville's young team. The way to minimize the 3s from WVU is to be very patient on defense to prevent the uncontested shot. They will keep the ball moving about trying to find the open shot. WVU is a bubble team still looking for quality wins. Especially quality wins that are on neutral or road. This would be a big one.

On defense for WVU, I just don't see the 1-3-1 zone being as much of a problem for Louisville since they have players that can attack the basket and go right inside. Unless the Cardinals get in early foul trouble or the officials call a lot of charges, Louisville should be in good shape.

Prediction: Unless the Mountaineers have a second straight night of hot 3-point shooting, Louisville should be able to take care of WVU. They present a tough match-up for WVU who will have to stay desperate.WVU playing yesterday should have little impact given their depth. Still, this will be Louisville's game.

#6 Marquette vs. #3 Pitt, 9pm
Marquette won both meetings this year plus the last game they played last year to make it 3 straight against Pitt. Every game the Golden Eagles play, it seems someone different steps up to help compensate for the loss of Jerel McNeal and the ongoing shooting woes of Dominic James. Last week against Pitt, David Cubillan stepped in with a career high 20 points. Yesterday night, Dan Fitzgerald who had scored 17 points in his prior 4 games dropped 20 on St. John's. Who's it going to be tonight? Ousmane Barro? Lazar Hayward?

For Pitt, the problems in the past month have been that the guards have struggled mightily. Beyond simply not shooting well -- and thus not opening things up inside for Aaron Gray as teams won't leave the double team -- they have not done well against more athletic, aggressive guards. This is a major reason why Marquette has won three straight against them.

Prediction: It's really hard to win three games in one season against another team (in part because it very rarely happens in college basketball), but it's hard not to pick Marquette. They had to work harder than expected against St. John's last night, but they are an athletic team that doesn't carry big bodies that lumber about. Fatigue shouldn't be an issue. Marquette has to be the pick until the Pitt guards show they can shoot against the quicker, defensive-minded Marquette guards.