Baseball
The Cardinal Nine fell to Kentucky 8-7 on Tuesday night, marking the third straight game in the series that has been decided by a single run. U of L led by two heading into the eighth but surrendered three runs in that inning and another in the ninth.
At 24-10 and 8-4 in the Big East, Louisville, thought to be a legitimate national title contender before the season, might be looking at having to win a second straight Big East Tournament in order to advance to the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year. The Cards currently sit tied for third in a down Big East conference, and are just 4-7 away from Jim Patterson Stadium.
The good news is that both Chris Dominguez and Justin Marks are still wearing Cardinal red, and that Dan McDonnell's teams have closed strong in each of his first two seasons at U of L.
Louisville begins a three-game series with Rutgers tomorrow at 3 p.m.
Football
--With the Spring Game just a day away (has there ever been less talk about a U of L Spring Game?), the quarterback battle has reportedly become a two-horse race between N.C. State transfer Justin Burke and JuCo transfer Adam Froman. Though each and every candidate has apparently struggled mightily with the deep ball throughout spring practice, the coaching staff reportedly have given the edge to Froman because of his speed and Burke because of his experience and intelligence.
--Darius Ashley's play is generating a lot of the same buzz we heard about Victor Anderson a year ago.
--Speedy Jacques Caldwell has been moved from wide receiver to corner and has been working with the first team since Johnny Patrick went down with an ankle injury.
--Card Chronicle favorite Rock Keys has made the switch from tight end to defensive line.
--Steve Kragthorpe's seat is hot.
Basketball
--Earl Clark has selected Blue Entertainment Sports Television NBA player agents Dan Fegan and Byron Irvinas his representation, according to SportsBusiness Journal.
--Here's your updated early entry list for the 2009 NBA Draft:
Player | School | Year | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Agent? |
Dominique Archie | South Carolina | Jr. | F | 6-7 | 200 | No |
DeJuan Blair | Pittsburgh | So. | F | 6-7 | 265 | Yes |
Chase Budinger | Arizona | Jr. | F | 6-7 | 220 | Yes |
Nick Calathes | Florida | So. | G/F | 6-6 | 195 | No |
Patrick Christopher | California | Jr. | G | 6-5 | 215 | No |
Earl Clark | Louisville | Jr. | G/F | 6-9 | 225 | Yes |
Dwayne Collins | Miami (Fla.) | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 240 | No |
Brandon Costner | NC State | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 230 | No |
Austin Daye | Gonzaga | So. | F | 6-11 | 200 | No |
DeMar DeRozan | USC | Fr. | F | 6-7 | 200 | Probable |
Eric Devendorf | Syracuse | Jr. | G | 6-4 | 180 | No |
Devan Downey | South Carolina | Jr. | G | 5-9 | 175 | No |
Tyreke Evans | Memphis | Fr. | G | 6-6 | 220 | |
Roderick Flemings | Hawaii | Jr. | F | 6-7 | 210 | No |
Jonny Flynn | Syracuse | So. | G | 6-0 | 185 | Yes |
Taj Gibson | USC | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 225 | No |
Blake Griffin | Oklahoma | So. | F | 6-10 | 250 | Yes |
James Harden | Arizona State | So. | G | 6-5 | 218 | Yes |
Paul Harris | Syracuse | Jr. | F | 6-4 | 230 | No |
Jordan Hill | Arizona | Jr. | F | 6-10 | 235 | Yes |
Jrue Holiday | UCLA | Fr. | G | 6-3 | 180 | No |
Damion James | Texas | Jr. | G/F | 6-7 | 220 | No |
James Johnson | Wake Forest | So. | F | 6-9 | 245 | Yes |
Mac Koshwal | DePaul | So. | C | 6-10 | 255 | No |
Jodie Meeks | Kentucky | Jr. | G | 6-4 | 210 | No |
Tasmin Mitchell | LSU | Jr. | F | 6-7 | 240 | No |
B.J. Mullens | Ohio State | Fr. | C | 7-0 | 275 | Probable |
Patrick Patterson | Kentucky | So. | F | 6-9 | 235 | No |
DaJuan Summers | Georgetown | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 235 | Yes |
Shawn Taggart | Memphis | Jr. | F | 6-10 | 240 | No |
Jeff Teague | Wake Forest | So. | G | 6-2 | 180 | No |
Hasheem Thabeet | Connecticut | Jr. | C | 7-3 | 265 | Yes |
Dar Tucker | DePaul | So. | F | 6-5 | 215 | Yes |
Greivis Vasquez | Maryland | Jr. | G | 6-6 | 190 | No |
Jeremy Wise | Southern Miss | Jr. | G | 6-2 | 165 | No |
Nic Wise | Arizona | Jr. | G | 5-10 | 175 | No |
It's safe to say that the Big East is losing a considerable amount of talent.
--And finally, Louisville is a two seed in the first of hundreds of meaningless mock 2010 NCAA Tournament brackets.