Yes, the rivalry has been dialed down about seven notches, but there's still something there and that's all because of what took place below.

6. 11/8/07: West Virginia 38, Louisville 31

A struggling 5-4 Cardinal team nearly went on the road and ruined the sixth-ranked Mountaineers' national title hopes, but Pat White rumbled 50 yards for the eventual game-winning touchdown with 1:36 to play.

The win was especially sweet for White, who claimed afterward that U of L linebacker Preston Smith spat in his face during the third quarter. The allegation led to subsequent denials by both Smith and Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe.

5. 3/9/07: Louisville 82, West Virginia 71 (2OT)

After inexplicably not being paired against one another in the regular season, the Cards and 'Eers met in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, presumably with West Virginia's NCAA Tournament fate on the line. Like so many others in this rivalry, the game was chock-full of controversy.

WVU used an 18-0 run in the second half to erase a 17-point deficit, and Darris Nichols' runner with 4.3 seconds left to make the score 58-56 looked for a moment like it might be the decisive basket. But then freshman point guard Edgar Sosa got the ball in his hands and went the length of the court to beat the buzzer with an overtime-inducing lay-up. Some Mountaineer fans said Sosa walked, others said that the clock didn't start when he touched the ball, but the play stood and the Cards ultimately prevailed two overtimes later.

Louisville would go onto earn a six seed in the NCAA Tournament while West Virginia was relegated to the NIT.

4. 10/9/93: West Virginia 36, Louisville 34

For any rivalry to be truly heated, there has to be at least a little bit of ancient history. This game, a 9-7 U of L win a year earlier, and a quartet of Mountaineer blowouts in the '80s is about as ancient as this feud gets.

The Jeff Brohm-led Cardinals brought a perfect 5-0 record into Morgantown to take on an equally unblemished Mountaineer squad. Tailback Robert Walker rushed for 161 yards and three scores as WVU used two late Cardinal turnovers to turn a 21-10 deficit into a 36-34 victory. U of L would go on to beat Michigan State in the Liberty Bowl, while West Virginia ran the table in the regular season before being blown out by Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

In a box somewhere there's a tape of a very young - but very serious and professional - me giving my depressed thoughts on the game as part of a low-budget/high-content news show I used to run. If I remember correctly, that commentary segued into a groundbreaking exposé that revealed what our Bulldog Spike was doing to make me mad.

The ratings were never great, but it was a tremendous achievement for (my living room's) television. The Wire of the early '90s you might say.

3. 10/15/05: West Virginia 46, Louisville 44 (3OT)

With Louisville having already suffered a stunning blowout loss at the hands of South Florida and West Virginia coming into the game unranked, the first gridiron meeting between these two as members of the Big East didn't have nearly the hype of the other games on this list, which is a shame since it very well may have been the most exciting.

Brian Brohm and Michael Bush helped Louisville to a 24-7 third quarter lead, causing some of the blue and gold faithful to head for the exits, a move they would eventually lament. Freshman quarterback Pat White took over for the injured Adam Bednarik in the fourth quarter, and he and fellow freshman running back Steve Slaton proved to be a duo the Cardinal defense had no answer for.

Slaton would finish the game with 188 yards rushing and a school-record six touchdowns, the last of which helped to put the Mountaineers up eight in the third overtime. After a Bush touchdown, safety Eric Wicks tackled a scrambling Brohm on the two-point conversion try to secure the victory.

Controversy, yet again, marred the aftermath of the game as Louisville backers claimed West Virginia had utilized an illegal onside kick following a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Big East acknowledged that an error had been made and issued a formal apology two days later.

The Mountaineers would not lose the rest of the season, and capped the year off with an upset win over SEC champion Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The Cardinals would win their five remaining regular season games, but fall to Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl.

2. 3/6/05: Louisville 93, West Virginia 85 (OT)

The rivalry became official seven months later, but if these two programs continue to do high-stakes battle for years to come then people will forever point to the 2005 Albuquerque Regional Final as the feud's jumping point.

Led by Kevin Pittsnoggle (God that sign) and Mike Gansey, the Mountaineers put on insane exhibition from beyond the arc and jumped out to a 20-point first-half lead. The Cardinals used a furious second-half rally to get back in the game, but leading scorer Francisco Garcia fouled out with four minutes remaining, and second leading scorer Taquan Dean was forced to leave the game multiple times with cramps. The game was put on the shoulders of home-grown senior Larry O'Bannon, who scored two of his 24 points on a driving lay-up to tie the game and ultimately send it to overtime.

Dean, O'Bannon and senior captain Ellis Myles completed the stunning comeback by outscoring the exhausted Mountaineers 16-8 in the extra frame. Rick Pitino became the first coach in history to guide three different schools to the Final Four as the Cards advanced to the national semifinals for the first time since 1986.

1. 11/2/06: Louisville 44, West Virginia 34

Designated as the Big East's "End Game" since early that summer, West Virginia and Louisville entered this Thursday night clash with equal records, top five rankings, and national title aspirations. With No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan set to play each other in three weeks, the popular opinion became that whoever prevailed inside Papa John's Cardinal Stadium would be four wins away from a birth in the national championship game.

The build-up during game week was like none other the Derby City had ever seen. Fans dressed in black and arrived at the stadium to tailgate/mentally prepare in the wee hours of the afternoon. They would not be disappointed.

In the game he'd been playing in his mind since he was a child, Brian Brohm was sensational, connecting on 19-of-26 passes for 354 yards and a touchdown. The Cardinals also used a Malik Jackson fumble return for a touchdown and a Trent Guy punt return for a score to capture arguably the biggest victory in program history.

Louisville's national title hopes were crushed one week later when they lost a 28-25 contest at Rutgers. Still, the memory of a sea of black swarming midfield with fireworks exploding in the background will live forever in the hearts of Cardinal fans and the minds of Mountaineer fans.

Here's to another chapter Saturday afternoon...and hopefully not like a really depressing, completely one-sided chapter.

1. When Louisville takes the field in Morgantown on Saturd---OH  MY GOD THE SITE'S DIFFERENT. I DON'T...I DON'T LIKE THIS....

2. Steve Kragthorpe opened his Monday press conference with the following:

"Sorry I'm late. I was actually on the phone with Jon Gruden. He wanted to know how tall Will Stein was."

Kragthorpe's press conference antics have bothered me almost as much as his teams' on-field performance, but this is funny. It's sort of like when a candidate you've supported but have always wanted to open up a lot more gives a tremendous, heartfelt concession speech.

3. The other big story to come out of the press conference was that walk-on freshman Will Stein may again get the call under center this Saturday at West Virginia.

I'm not saying Louisville has Will Stein fever, but...

Again, at this point in the season Stein is really the only shot the program has at a positive story, so I'm all for rolling with him.

4. Louisville will be facing a No. 1 team for the third time in under a year when the fighting Mike Rutherfords of Bellarmine University step into Freedom Hall tomorrow night.

I'd be surprised if Kyle Kuric didn't get the start over Reggie Delk, but I wonder if Pitino will do any more shuffling. He's said from the beginning that Sosa, Smith and Samuels are probably going to start each and every game, and he's planted his feet pretty deep in Swop's corner, so the rest of the lineup staying the same is probably a safe bet.

Regardless of who's out there, Louisville will get pushed.

5. Is the Louisville/West Virginia rivalry officially dead? Unless the Cards spring a huge upset and someone kicks Noel Devine in the stomach at some point during the game, I'd have to say so.

Kickoff is set for noon with ESPNU covering the game. The 'Eers have opened as 19.5-point favorites.

So these guys are like, really good.

No. 25 Indiana (7-6-1) fell behind early and could not get an offensive rhythm going in a 4-0 loss to No. 8 Louisville (10-2-2) on Wednesday night at Cardinal Park. 

Indiana found itself down 1-0, 5:54 into the match when a free kick from Kenney Walker found the head of Freddie Braun who put it home for the score.

Seven minutes later the Cardinals took a 2-0 lead with Mark Knight crossing the ball on the ground to Colin Rolfe, who got behind the defense and sent in a chip shot. Rolfe gave Louisville a 3-0 lead in the 57th minute as he made his way through the IU defense and placed a shot into the lower left. Louisville added its fourth goal of the night on a score from Knight at 82:27.

The Cards return to Big East action on Saturday when they face Rutgers at 7 p.m.

Card Chronicle Soccer Tournament Challenge anyone?

Below are the pictures the Courier-Journal has used the last two weeks to promote live chats with Rick Bozich, Eric Crawford and Jody Demling. I'm not sure if this is being done ironically or what, but either way I've got to have more.

Please tell me there's a C.L. Brown gazing out the window of a moving train shot in store for the near future.

In an effort to keep up, CardsFan922 and I have set up a photo shoot at an undisclosed location for later this week. I don't want to give too much away, but suffice it to say there will be a plethora of jean (shirt, pants, jacket, tie, socks, underwear) involved.

Serious side note: if you missed Crawford's impromptu live chat last Thursday night, go back and read it now because it was one of the better Louisville sports-related items to hit the Internet over the last couple of months.

Most of you probably didn't know this, but in other parts of the world the sport that we refer to as "soccer" is actually called "football."

Absorb this new knowledge, go back and read the headline again, laugh for hours.

For those of you who hadn't noticed, the Louisville soccer team is 9-1-2, ranked No. 7 in the country, and is a legitimate national title contender. The Cards' latest victim was none other than Kentucky, whom they bettered 1-0 at Cardinal Park on Wednesday night.

I've never been fully able to embrace soccer, but I will admit that it was my favorite sport to go watch in high school. I didn't understand any of the rules but I loved booing when the referee gave the ball to the other team, heckling opposing players from close distances, and being amazed by the fact that players could apparently shove each other multiple times without it being a big deal. I can only imagine that the same attractions are present in the game at the college level.

Anyhow, major congrats to the Louisville soccer team. Here they are being awesome:

This is less than fun.

How do I know the world is ending? In the past 16 months we've seen an earthquake, a hurricane, a massive ice storm and now a flood.

Really hoping that confession in 7th grade is gonna carry me.

So much better than hump day.

Rick Bozich says just about everything I would regarding the Greg Brohm situation. You know, without the word "chotch."

ESPN's Brian Bennett calls the split with Brohm, "one of the more inexplicable developments of the Steve Kragthorpe era."

Oh, and Bennett thinks the Cards will remain at home during the holiday season once again.

Major congrats to former Louisville center Eric Wood, who signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Buffalo Bills Wednesday afternoon.

"It’s been a long few days," Wood told Buffalobills.com. "My intentions weren’t to hold out, but that’s just kind of the way it happened. That’s not my style, but it is what it is. I just want to thank Mr. Wilson and Jim Overdorf for all their hard work to get me into camp, even if it is a few days late."

After missing seven practices the Louisville product is eager to get going as he was crawling up the walls knowing his team was practicing without him.

"It was like the worst feeling ever," said Wood. "It was like a bad dream reading about my own team on the internet. It’s something I never wanted to have happen. But at this point there’s not a whole lot I can do other than go out there and start working (Thursday)."

Wood is expected to participate in team’s scheduled walk through session Thursday morning before taking the field for practice Thursday evening at 7:10pm. He’s confident he can make up for lost time pretty quickly.

"At this point it’s my responsibility to make up the time I’ve missed," Wood said. "I had a playbook that I was looking through and I’ve been working out like crazy trying to get right. But it’s all about work from here on out and I’m sure the coaches will help me make up the time I’ve missed and I’m ready to put in the effort."

The Louisville basketball team's Nov. 17 duel with Arkansas was officially confirmed earlier this week.

Anthony Mason Jr. was granted a medical hardship by the Big East Conference on Tuesday and will rejoin the St. John's basketball team for a 13th season in 2009-2010. The Johnnies are one of three conference foes Louisville will face twice this season.

From WHAS:

WHAS11 today announced Drew Deener is joining the WHAS11 Cardinal Sports Network’s broadcast team.  Deener will be the play-by-play announcer and will join Doug James and Bob Valvano for WHAS11’s coverage of the 2009-10 University of Louisville football and basketball seasons.

Enjoy the last few months of not having your Billy Minardi Classic performance define the Derby City public's perception of you, Mr. Deener.

Ari, I'll miss the outfits...and the Valvano ass kissing.

Why not?