The heart-stopping three-month roller coaster ride that is the Louisville softball regular season has come to an end, and the Cards have emerged from the smoke as the third seed in this week's Big East Tournament.
U of L (33-23, 14-6) will face sixth seeded Syracuse (21-30, 9-11) at 10 a.m. in the first round of the three-day single elimination tournament in South Bend, Ind. The Cards swept a pair of games from the Orange on April 14 in New York, and lead the all-time series with the 'Cuse 4-0.
A perfect 20-0 in league play, Depaul enters the tournament as the undisputed favorite with second-seeded South Florida (43-21, 15-5), Louisville and the fourth-seeded defending champs from Notre Dame (29-21, 13-7) all looking to steal the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
An at-large qualifier for the NCAA Tournament a year ago, the Cards will almost certainly have to win a conference championship to extend their postseason.