The University of Louisville softball team has been selected to play in the NCAA 2010 Softball Tournament and will begin action Friday, May 21st. in Knoxville, TN, against Virginia. If they win, they advance to face the winner of the Tennessee vs. Ball State game. It is a double elimination format..so the Cards must win three games to move on to Super Regional play. Louisville did not face any of the three teams headed to Knoxville during the 2010 season but did go 1-1 against Virginia last year.
Although the Cards were not ranked in the top 16 teams and did not receive a first and second round home field advantage...the draw isn't a bad one for Louisville. Tennessee was the #15 seed overall in the rankings and a total of 64 teams will vye for the final eight spots...which will be played at the ASA Hall of Fame softball stadium in Oklahoma City, OK. Speculation is that if the Cards had been able to defeat Syracuse in the finals of the Big East Tournament...they would have received first and second game home field advantage.
A total of four Big East teams are in the tournament. Notre Dame will play in Ann Arbor and face Illinois State in the first round. DePaul also got in and takes on Illinois in Columbia, MO. Automatic qualifier Syracuse opens with Oklahhoma in College Park, MD. None of the Big East schools were selected for opening round regional sites.
Other area schools taking part in the Championships include Kentucky. The Wildcats travel to Columbus, OH and are paired against host school Ohio State in the first round.
The Division I championships are played over three weekends. Four teams are sent to 16 regional sites and go through the double elimination format beginning Friday. The winning 16 teams go to one of 8 Super Regional sites...where they play a best out of three series against an opponent that would begin May 28th. Those winning 8 teams head to Oklahoma City for the World Series championships that start June 3rd. That format is also a best of three against an opponent...consisting of a quarterfinal, semifinal and final series for the winners...ending June 9th.
NCAA.com has a downloadable, printable bracket at their site and information was used from their site in this article.
Good luck Lady Cards!
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Angel McCoughtry and the Atlanta Dream are off to a 2-0 start in the WNBA. McCoughtry has 20 points Friday night and 11 Sunday. Chamique Holsclaw is listed on the Dream roster but has not participated in either game this season.
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Just a couple of days remain until the late signing period is over for women's college basketball hopefuls. Louisville waits along with several other schools to hear where Shoni Schimmel is headed. The availibility of information on who she is deciding between is basically sparse and boardering on non-existant. One internet speculation being circulated is that she has already decided on a school but members of her family are trying to get her to change her pick...preferring another school. Another circulated rumor is that her mom..who was also her high school coach...has been offered an assistant's job at another school if Schimmel shows up there to play.
For the straight stuff and accurate facts, remember that here at Cardinal Couple...if we tell you it happened, it actually happened...
Tick, tock. Tick, tock...
By Paul 5/17/10
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