Hello, I Must Be Going

THE LATE GREAT GROUCHO MARX'S CLASSIC FULLY DESCRIBES THE CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT WHIRLWIND CURRENTLY BLOWING AROUNND COLLEGE SPORTS.

TCU...WE  HARDLY KNEW YOU.

CARDINAL COUPLE FRIDAY:

-Bye, Bye TCU...(until we meet again?)

-Volleyball, Field Hockey in action today

The BIG 12 has extended an invitation to upcoming BIG EAST member (formerly Mountain West participant) TCU. That is, of course, if Missouri gets
voted in as a potential SEC member. They'd rather be in the BIG 10, of course...but that has nothing to do with the situation. The talks continue today for the TCU crew.

Maybe they'll decide to join the Patriot Conference and throw all of college sports observers into fits.

The wheels are now set in motion for the BIG 12 to re-convene and extend an invitation to Louisville to follow TCU into the conference and effectively send the BIG EAST to the canvas for the "10 count." If, that is...they decide to expand back to 12. Meanwhile, back on the farm...Missouri waits to see if the haughty SEC will approve their pool pass. WKU must be really excited about all of this...they actually gave someone a football game last night.

Talk about a Freaky Friday ahead...

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Louisville women's soccer travels to Villanova and volleyball heads to Seton Hall for BIG EAST action this Friday. It's part of a big Cardinal sports weekend that also includes field hockey and football.

CARDINAL COUPLE, meanwhile...will be travelling with Co-Co, La-La and the School for Exceptional Primates for a soccer match at Three Mile Island. The S.E.P. girls are facing The Children With 12 Fingers Academy.

We've got some good writers lined up for you the next couple of days, though and WE'LL pop in electronically to make sure Bill the Goat hasn't eaten the server (or the busboys). 

Everyone have a great weekend and GO CARDS!
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How do you do...TCU... & Schimmel named First Team Freshman All-American

- A look at what TCU will bring to BIG EAST women's sports...
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-Shoni Schimmel named to Freshman All-American First Team !!!
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-Khadija Abdullah wins discus toss
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Texas Christian University (TCU) is slated to become the newest member of the BIG EAST. The Horned Frogs, currently members of the Mountain West Conference (MWC) will compete with BIG EAST schools beginning in the 2012-13 season. Although that's over a year away, WE thought WE'D take a look at what women's sports TCU participates in and how they are doing. They currently have 10 women's sports programs.
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Basketball. The Horned Frogs went 22-11 in the 2010-11 season. They accepted a bid to the WNIT and lost to Oral Roberts. They're entering the best conference in women's basketball with their admission to the BIG EAST. WE can't see them making much of an impact against the Connecticut's, Norte Dame's, DePaul's and Louisville's of the conference and they'll most likely be down in the cellar of BIG EAST standings...with teams such as South Florida and Villanova.
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Volleyball. They finished the current season 15-16 and went 5-11 in conference play. No postseason play. MWC isn't considered a conference powerhouse in  Volleyball and TCU's seventh place MWC finish indicates to us that they won't be one of the teams challenging Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Louisville for conference superiority.
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Golf. They are currently ranked 33rd in the country. Their finishes in several tournaments and invitational has been impressive, although they haven't won any of the events. They are led by junior Brooke Beeler and freshman Sanna Nuutinen, from Sweden. There isn't much organization to the BIG EAST when it comes to golf..so it's hard to say how they'll matchup with Louisville, South Florida and Notre Dame in regional and BIG EAST Tournament events...
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Soccer. They finished the past season with a 7-10-2 record and had an eighth place finish in the MWC with a 1-5-1 record. They probably won't fare much better than that in the BIG EAST.
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Swimming/Diving. They were 4-4 in dual meets in the 2010-11 season. TCU recorded a fifth place regular season finish in the MWC and sixth in the MWC Championship Tournament. That won't hold much water against Notre Dame, Louisville and the other BIG EAST teams...
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Tennis. They are 6-6 so far this season. They are competing in the MWC against powerhouse BYU and the Horned Frogs are ranked 75th. in the nation. Not much there in term of competition against the BIG EAST schools.
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Track and Field. They recently competed in the MWC Championships and Jessica Young won the 60 and 200 meter dashes. Kristal Juarez took the 400m title. The BIG EAST isn't a very strong conference i track and field...TCU could be a contender when they make the move eastward.
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Cross Country. They have participated in six events this year, winning the UT-Arlington Invitational and gathering second in the Baylor Bear Run Invitational. Hard to say, really, how they'll fare in the BIG EAST Championships down the road..as the times of the runners are the only comparison...but their good finishes in the above mentioned events indicate that their program isn't too bad...
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TCU also competes in Equestrian and Rifle on the women's side of the sports ledger. Louisville doesn't...although you would think the Cards probably should...given we are in horse country and the thoroughbred capital of the world. Better get to work on that one, Mr. Jurich. Jump that fence...As far as rifle goes...we don't know how many BIG EAST school participate in this sport. We know WVU is pretty good. It figures....
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What stands out here the most to us is that they don't play softball, field hockey or lacrosse...three of the more popular sports in the BIG EAST...after basketball. Softball is surprising, but it may have to do with the size of the school..8799 students. Given the probable, close to 50/50 split of male/female...a student base of 4400 or so females is comparable to some of the smaller schools in the BIG EAST, but nowhere near the large campus populations of schools such as WVU, USF, or UofL. Then again, WVU doesn't play softball either...so who really knows? The state of Texas produces a wealth of good high school talent each year and the University of Texas seems to be consistently ranked it the top 10 each year. Whether the Horned Frogs will add sports when they join the BIG EAST is unclear and unknown at the time of this article.
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They are affiliated, but not governed by the Christian church (Disciples of Christ). That will be an interesting contrast to the BIG EAST's Catholic dominated member makeup. DePaul, Marquette, Villanova, Providence, St John's, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, and Georgetown  ...8 of the 16 current members of the BIG EAST are Catholic affiliated.
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Obviously, the move to the BIG EAST is totally centered around football. The impact of the move on BIG EAST women's sports is negligible at best and with their being the westernmost school in the BIG EAST...a traveling headache for the east coast schools in non revenue sports like tennis, soccer and swimming.
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Louisiville women's basketball freshman guard Shoni Schimmel has been selected to the All-American Freshman First team by Full Court Press. She joins Bria Hartley (Connecticut), Odyssey Sims (Baylor) Meighan Simmons (Tennessee) and Chiney Ogwumike (Stanford).  Schimmel was the Lady Cards second leading scorer on the season with 15.1 ppg. In NCAA Tournament play, she led the Cards with 23.3 ppg in three contests. She was also named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week four times. Schimmel was also selected for the BIG EAST Freshman First team.
Her 33 point performance against Xavier in NCAA Second Round action led the Cards to an upset win  and the NCAA Regionals.
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Schimmel's jersey will hang from the rafters in the KFC YUM Center someday...most likely immediately after she finishes her four years at Louisville. The debate is already beginning on who will be the best Cardinal women's basketball player of all-time...Schimmel or Angel McCoughtry? WE think it's way too early to get into such conjecture and comparision yet....but Schimmel's impact on the Louisville team, Louisville fans and the national media has been huge and rightly justified. WE can't wait for "the Sho" to begin this fall...
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CONGRATS, SHOTIME!!! Just a preview of what's to come from  "The Judge".
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Khadija Abdullah took first in the Florida Relays with a discus toss of 157-10. Then, D'Ana McCarty took fifth in the invitational discus toss with a hurl of 166-5. WE know...D'Ana threw better but finished fifth. The events were different, though and congratulations to both Cardinals...
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BIG EAST expansion...what will it mean for women's sports?

THURSDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:

-BIG EAST looking to get bigger

-Breeders Cup thoughts

-All that Jazz

The BIG EAST has announced that they are looking to add a couple of football playing schools to the conference. All well and good. Let's face it, BIG EAST football doesn't strike fear and apprehension into anyone hearts and minds currently. With the right two schools, it could... Two schools good...four schools better. Divisions and playoffs. It's what the "big boys" in college football do.

Pictured here, a symbolic scenario as the BIG EAST commissioner tries to drag Notre Dame into the football schedule. (Sorry about the naughty word in the picture's caption. I'll go to Sacrament of Reconciliation and fess up to Father Bob. Hey, if TIME Magazine can use the "F" word...)

The Irish would be a logical choice to be one of the two schools...but, I don't think that they want to be one of them. They have a sweet deal with NBC for football, they can schedule pretty much who they want, when they want and why give up all that to play 7 or 8 schools that are lesser opponents? Keep in mind, though...Notre Dame is no longer relevant in football anymore, except in their own minds. Losing to Tulsa...really? Three coaches in a row that were flops. The current coach...well... give him time, I guess but I don't expect "Kelly's Heroes" to be in a BCS Bowl Game anytime soon. The Irish have the best women's sports program in the BIG EAST. Argue that if you want, but if you look at all of the 13 sports available in women's athletics and check Notre Dame's records in them for 2009...no one did better overall.

Other schools being tossed around as possible additions are TCU, East Carolina, Villanova, Central Florida, Memphis and I even heard Kentucky mentioned. First of all, forget about UK. No way they'd give up their stranglehold on SEC basketball to join the BIG EAST. Not gonna happen. The idea of TCU joining is intriguing. They aren't in a BCS conference currently. They have some very excellent women's team also. They would be a welcome addition in women's basketball, softball, volleyball and soccer. They're ranked #23 in the preseason women's basketball poll. I'm all for it. Bring them in. A great TV market area as well.

East Carolina doesn't really bring much to the table in women's sports. They are fanatical about their football in Greenville but nothing there in hoops, softball and volleyball. They'd be a patsy that Notre Dame, UConn, the Cardinals' and Scarlet Knights would pound. The location fits...they're pretty close to a lot of the current BIG EAST members. Greenville is no place for a road trip, though. Their basketball arena is puny and I think they play softball behind a discount department store. I'll probably get blasted for the above comments. But, it ain't no Trager Field or Cardinal Park.

I like the though of Central Florida... just because of the location. Women's golf, soccer, field hockey...any of the outdoor women's sports would enjoy competing in Orlando. They love it in Tampa. Nothing wrong with another Florida school in the BIG EAST. Jersey has two, so does New York and Pennsylvania.

Forget about Memphis. They're currently horrible in basketball and their field hockey and volleyball programs aren't BIG EAST quality. Another patsy to beat up on. The trips would be the only redeeming feature. Good hoops facility and barbecued ribs.

Villanova is already a participant in BIG EAST women's sports...so no changes there if they're one of the football additions.

Some seem to think that TCU is already one of the two that will be added. I've read a lot of things about UCF already being invited as well. We won't know, obviously...until the BIG EAST Commish takes the podium and speaks the words. Watch it be a return of Miami and Boston College. That'd shake em up, huh? The bottom line is that this is all about football. No one give a hoot about how two additions would affect women's sports except those of us who follow women's sports. I say give us Villanova and Notre Dame. No changes there for women's athletics and no additions to an already unwieldy 16 team basketball conference.

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Breeders Cup! Yup, it's less that 48 hours away. We'll have some predictions and thoughts on the Friday card here at CARDINAL COUPLE for you on Friday Morning. We'll do Saturday's review on Saturday morning. We've got the chimps busy crunching the Racing Form, Beyer Figures, Tomilinson numbers and Brisnet data. Bill the Goat is on the backside of Churchill wandering around head butting owners, trainers and horses. Our director of wagering at CARDINAL COUPLE, Tommy Boy, has been locked in a soundproof room since Tuesday studying each and every horse that will run. (I guess someone should go check on him...) Remember, the information we provide is for entertainment purposes only. Sonja slept with the past performances sheet last night. I got the couch.

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Add Jazz Covington to the list of former UofL women's basketball players in the European league this fall. She's playing for Union Saint-Amond Porte du Hainaut in France. I wonder how you get all that on a jersey? After 3 games, Ms. Covington is averaging 18.3 a contest and they're 1-2. Speaking of former Cardinals, remember the Russian rocket Valeriya Musina? After 2 years at the 'Ville she spent a year at Long Beach State and finished up at Lane...down in Tennessee. She's been playing Euroball 2 years now. Played for Spartak Vidnow in Moscow in 2009 and is currently playing for CCC Polkowice in Poland. Always thought she could have been one of the great Cardinal guards but her game just wasn't suited to what Tom Collen was trying to get done at UofL when both of them were there. Good luck to all the past Cards over playing for Eurodollars.