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A Mortal Blow to the Big East?

UofL Cardinal alumni, along with fans of most of the other Big East schools, were shocked this weekend by the news that conference stalwarts Syracuse and Pittsburgh had applied for entry into the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) - and were rapidly accepted early on Sunday morning.

Later in the day came rumors that Connecticut and Rutgers were interested in joining the Orangemen and Panthers in the move to the ACC.

What happens to the Big East now? Will there even be a Big East in five years? Whither Louisville in all of this?

And what do you suppose that TCU - scheduled to join the Big East in 2012 - is thinking about all of this?

No one can yet say, and things are moving very quickly, but to get you up to speed on today's events, we invite you to read the outstanding articles below.

A Big East Obit (Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier-Journal)

A Truly Sad Weekend for the Big East (Dana O'Neil, ESPN)

RED Alert (Rick Pitino, from his blog)

Shoni's Story

Does the name Shoni Schimmel mean anything to you?

Shoni is a 5-foot-10 Native American point guard from Pendleton, Oregon - ranked as the No. 8 recruit in her 2010 high school class by ESPN. Her immense basketball skills, cultivated playing "rez ball," have led to her being compared to the legendary "Pistol" Pete Maravich.

Last June, Shoni accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of Louisville, the last of the Top 100 US high school recruits to select her college. The Cardinals won a heated recruiting battle with Oregon, Rutgers, UCLA and South Carolina to obtain her services.

On the basketball front, Shoni is already paying dividends for Coach Jeff Walz and the Lady Cardinals. Last Sunday afternoon, the freshman scored 26 points and had 6 assists along with 3 steals to lead Louisville to a 78-52 home rout of archrival Kentucky.

But Shoni's background is a lot more interesting than that of your typical gifted basketball player. Until her junior year in high school, she lived with her family on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon.

When Shoni's mother accepted a position as coach of the Franklin High basketball team, she brought Shoni and her seven siblings to the suburbs of Portland against the wishes of her own mother and grandmother, who remain on the reservation.

The video embedded below is excerpted from an hour-long special which originally aired on ESPN in March 2009, near the end of Shoni's junior year.

After watching it, you cannot help but want Shoni and her family to be successful in their efforts to prove that they can all achieve great things "off the rez."

It seems like this would be a great time for all of us with a connection to the University to begin paying more attention to UofL women's basketball.

UofL women win another upset, head to NCAA Championship game

What the University of Louisville men's basketball team was disappointingly unable to accomplish this year, the women's team has done.

The Louisville Cardinals defeated Oklahoma 61-59 in Sunday night's first semifinal at the 2009 NCAA Women's Final Four at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The Cardinals will appear in their first national championship game Tuesday versus the Connecticut Huskies, who absolutely demolished Stanford in the other semifinal.

The Cardinals played UConn twice this season, losing by sizable margins in each case. However, both of those games were played in Connecticut, and in the latter - the Big East final - Louisville simply ran out of gas. So let's hope for a much different outcome on Tuesday night.

Go Cards!

Feeling the Preseason Hoops Love

The University of Louisville men's basketball team received its highest preseason ranking in 11 years on Friday when it was voted No. 8 in the first USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll of the 2005-2006 season.

The Big East Conference has three teams in the top 10, with No. 2 Connecticut and No. 4 Villanova joining U of L.

And the Louisville women's basketball team is feeling some love as well, as it has received a preseason ranking of 18th by the Women's Basketball News Service, while CBS Sportsline listed the Cardinals just outside their preseason top 25 poll.

Lady Cardinals Make Quick Exit from NCAAs

UofL Sports.com: "The eighth-seeded Women of Troy showed off their balance, depth and quickness on Saturday in a 65-49 victory over ninth-seeded Louisville in the first round of the Kansas City Regional.

"Louisville's first tournament appearance in four years ended quickly. Sophomore center Jazz Covington, who averaged nearly 18 points per game, had a frustrating afternoon and finished with 13 points after some late layups once the game was out of reach.

"Missy Taylor scored 11 points and Connie Neal made three 3-pointers for the Cardinals (22-9), who were outrebounded 45-32 and shot 34.6 percent (18-for-52) from the floor."

Women Go To The Big Dance For First Time Since 2001

UofLSports.com: "The University of Louisville women's basketball had to take a deep breath and wait until the final 16 names were called to see if they would finally go dancing after a long four year break. The Cardinals return to the NCAA tournament field for the first time since the 2001 season. The Cardinals are the No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 seed USC in the first round held in Minneapolis, Minn. at Williams Arena on Saturday, March 19.

Lady Cardinals Advance to C-USA Championship Game

In the second semifinal match-up of the day, the University of Louisville women's basketball team held off a late rally by Houston to defeat the Cougars 56-48 and reach the finals of the 2005 Pepsi C-USA Women's Basketball Tournament for the first time since 1998.

Jazz Covington led the Cardinals with 16 points and Katie Olson added 13 points. Covington's last basket of the game was her 1,000th career point. Covington became only the second Cardinal in women's basketball history to achieve that feat as a sophomore. She is the fourth Louisville player in men's and women's basketball history to score 1,000 career points as a sophomore, Butch Beard, Wes Unseld and Gwen Doyle were the other Cardinal greats to do the same.

The Cardinals will face TCU in the tournament final TODAY at 4:00 PM CST. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

Louisville Women Advance to Semifinals

The University of Louisville women's basketball team defeated Marquette 69-54 in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament Friday evening in Charlotte's Halton Arena. Four Cardinals scored in double figures with sophomore Katie Olson scoring a career-high 20 points. Christina Quaye led the Golden Eagles with 23 points.

With the win the Cardinals notched their 500th program victory. The Cardinals will face Houston in the semifinals this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. CT.

Louisville Women Grab No. 2 Seed in C-USA Tourney

UofLSports.com: "After clinching their second straight 20-win season with a 61-58 victory over Cincinnati Friday night, the University of Louisville women's basketball team claimed the No. 2 seed in Thursday's Conference USA Tournament in Charlotte.

"In Friday's quarterfinal round, No. 1 DePaul will take on the winner of the ECU/Memphis game at 1 p.m. and No. 4 TCU will face the winner of the USF/Southern Miss match-up beginning at 3:30 p.m. No. 3 seed Houston will take on the winner of the Charlotte/Cincinnati game at 6 p.m., while No. 2 Louisville will close out Friday night against the winner of the Marquette/UAB contest at 8:30 p.m. (All Times Eastern)."

Louisville 61, Cincinnati 58

In the regular season finale for both teams, the Louisville Cardinals defeated the University of Cincinnati 61-58 Friday evening at Cardinal Arena.

The victory, the Cardinals' 20th of the season (20-7, 11-3 Conference USA), was spurred by 15 points and seven rebounds from Jazz Covington. Missy Taylor and Katie Olson each added 12 points.

Louisville will return to the hardwood next week in the 2005 Pepsi Women’s Conference USA Tournament. Their opponent will be determined when the tournament brackets are released on Sunday.