Cards will have to earn spot in Big East Tournament this weekend

After dropping two of three during a key weekend series at (now) Big East regular season champion Connecticut, the Louisville baseball team is in danger of missing the tournament they've won twice in the last three seasons.

Only eight of the league's 12 teams advance to the Big East Tournament in Clearwater, Fla., and U of L currently sits alone in 7th place, just a game ahead of both Seton Hall and South Florida.

On Sunday, the Cards ended an eight-game losing streak - the program's longest since 1996 - by knocking the Huskies off in extra innings to avoid the weekend sweep. The win was monumental as far as Louisville's hopes to have any postseason are concerned, let alone for their shot at reaching the NCAA Tournament for a fifth straight time. 

Following tonight's essentially meaningless game at Indiana, the Cards will host Notre Dame - which sits just 1/2 game ahead of them in the conference standings - for a regular season-ending three-game set. The first two games of the series will be carried on CBS College Sports.

There's good and bad news as far as the teams sitting directly behind U of L in the standings are concerned. Seton Hall will end its regular season by playing host to last-place Georgetown, which has already been eliminated from postseason consideration. South Florida, however, will face third-place Pittsburgh, which is 15-9 in the league and has already locked up a trip to Clearwater.

Though they're currently in danger of missing the tournament completely, the Cards do still have a shot at finishing as high as fourth in the league depending on what happens this weekend. Just one game separates 12-12 Louisville from 13-11 Cincinnati and West Virginia. The Mountaineers take on 10th-place Rutgers, while Cincinnati will face league champ UConn.

With just one weekend to play, here are your current Big East standings: