Biggest Regular Season Game Ever?

by 83fan on Feb 1, 2009 10:34 PM EST Comment 21 comments

Monday’s match-up will be the #1 team in America (having earned that ranking deep into the season) v. our own beloved team likely to be ranked #6 or even #5. That’s a composite ranking of #7 or higher. I cannot think of another Cards regular season game of such import based upon the rankings, and certainly, I don’t think there have been any home games this important. Not to mention that there is a good chance it will decide 1st place in the BE at the end of the season, and the winner of the game will put themselves in stong position to claim a #1 seed the NCAA in March. Last season's Georgetown game might have had more technically on the line, but neither team was sitting as high as the Cards will be tomorrow (G-town was #8).

The closest game to compare that I remember without research is actually the other sport that no longer exists at UofL. In 2006, the #5 Cards hosted the #3 Mountaineers for a composite #8 ranking. Now, because of the importance of the regular season in football, that game was much more important in every other aspect. But tomorrow should outrank it by 1 or 2 based on the polls.

Someone do the research.

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Just a little research on my own topic.

This season’s hightest total ranked game so far was at Syracuse (#8 v. #12), followed by Pitt (#20 v. #1). Those are ESPN (coaches’ poll) rankings because it’s easy to research.

Last season’s games are harder to determine on ESPN.com because they seem to have us ranked #13 for the entire season.

This is just another reason to love playing in the Big East. Match up of two ranked teams in C-USA and the Metro were rare birds indeed. This season it’s almost a shock when we aren’t playing a ranked team in conference play.

by 83fan on Feb 1, 2009 10:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Loved The Post

Is it Big?
Oh, yeah.
Biggest regular season game ever? Hard to quantify and “biggest” is ephemoral, ethereal, and some other good word I can’t think of right now.
For me is it the biggest? No.
Does that mean I won’t be wearing my Crazy Clothes ALL DAY LONG tomorrow? No.

by Roz on Feb 1, 2009 10:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I can't recall a regular season contest with this composite ranking

by frankpos on Feb 1, 2009 10:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

how about

When UMass came in as #1 back in ’96

I checked and we were ranked #22 when they roared into Freedom Hall with Calipari, Marcus Camby, and a bevy of other semi-professional players. So on the best composite ranking I guess that this game doesn’t match up. But on the enormity scale, this was the last game of the 96 regular season that UMass had just dominated as and I think they were even undefeated. We hung with them the entire game and they pulled away to win by three on free throws at the end I think. But everybody in the arena that day can attest that the energy from the tip to the buzzer was unparallelled

I still maintain that game was the loudest and most raucous game I’ve ever attended anywhere. If you remember it was tight the entire game and the Hall literally shook for two full hours. That game is the benchmark for me when it comes to hugeness in the Hall.

by drhustle on Feb 2, 2009 12:21 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

here are our top 10 matchups since 1980

February 3, 1980 #7 Louisville @ #9 St. John’s

November 22, 1981 #2 Depaul v. #3 Louisville (in Springfield, MA)

December 13, 1981 #4 Maryland @ #8 Louisville

January 29, 1983 #8 Louisville @ #6 Virginia

November 26, 1983 #6 Louisville @ #2 Kentucky

November 29, 1985 #5 Kansas v. #9 Louisville (in Madison Square Garden)

February 6, 1989 #8 Florida State @ #4 Louisville

Dec 12 ,1992 #3 Kentucky @ # 9 Louisville

November 27, 1993 #7 Louisville @ #2 Kentucky

January 30, 1997 #8 Cincinnati @ #9 Louisville

January 21, 2004 #6 Cincinnati @ #5 Louisville

These only include regular season and are based on AP rankings.

I think this verifies the rarity of what we will be seeing in Freedom Hall on Monday night

by drhustle on Feb 2, 2009 1:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Nice research.

It looks like the 1981 match-up between DePaul and UofL might rank higher by 1 or 2 points, but I honestly don’t remember that one (and I was about 7 years old), and that wasn’t a home game or a conference game.

And a few of those surprised me. Like what would be #3 on the list, the first regular season Dream Game (1983 #6 v. #2). I had no idea both teams were so highly ranked, and since we were obliterated, I’ve blocked the details of that game out of my head.

By the way, 5 of those are home games meaning that we normally get to do this about every 5 or 6 years. Enjoy it.

by 83fan on Feb 2, 2009 8:09 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

1981 Mark Aguirre -DePaul

DePaul got to #1 before getting knocked off by St Joe (?) in the semis (?)

and U. S. Reed made a tiny shot against U of L…

by frankpos on Feb 2, 2009 8:23 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Slimed

I always hate this day. Just as I always hated that overrated Bill Murray movie. I try to go through the day…as best I can…without SEEING some black robed vicar pull a rodent from its cage from somewhere in central Pennsylvania and then have the pundits talk about how many more weeks of winter we will have. So this morning I let my guard down and watched Fitzgerald’s TD on the highlights and the next thing you know…..ZAP! There they are in the gloom and the commentator pontificating about it. Damn.

Been a while since I got zapped with a mind movie of the Arkansas-Little Rock 1981 shot though. I think it’s still over on YouTube in faded color.
The day the music died.
And YOU did it, Frank.

Hey, are we gonna be alright, tonight?

by Roz on Feb 2, 2009 8:34 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Oh, I remember US Reed vividly.

I basically played nerf hoops all game and then sat down and cried after the shot went in. I’m glad I was only 7, because I would probably cry today at the same result and have less of an excuse to do so.

by 83fan on Feb 2, 2009 9:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, strike that.

The game was played in November 1981 which means it was the 1981-82 version of the Cards (who found their way to New Orleans, I believe). This was our chance at redeption after US Reed.

But I still remember US Reed.

by 83fan on Feb 2, 2009 9:32 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That Depaul game

was the opening game of the season, we lost and promptly dropped out of the rankings the two weeks later.

by drhustle on Feb 2, 2009 9:34 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow

Thanks

by Roz on Feb 2, 2009 8:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

drhustle

Where did you get your research? I read the Courier article this morning that claimed that the last time a team beat 2 AP #1s in the same season was 1998. I remember us doing it in 2004 when we beat #1 Florida at Freedom Hall and #1 UK at Rupp. But I suspect 1 of them wasn’t #1 in the AP poll, or that because Florida lost earlier in the week and we played them before they could be re-ranked. In any event, I wonder what the AP rankings in those games were.

by 83fan on Feb 2, 2009 10:51 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I guess UK was #1 in the ESPN Poll

they never got to #1 in the AP, only Florida

We were unranked when we beat Florida and #20 when we beat UK.

The rest of the list came from comparing the year-by-year results in the media guide (which only gives our opponents ranking) with historic AP polls on the web. It was a little confusing because I had to go with our ranking in the poll immediately before we played the top 10 opponent, and the dates weren’t always intuitive.

Anyways, Here is the site i used:
http://www.appollarchive.com/

by drhustle on Feb 2, 2009 12:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs