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Tuesday evening Cardinal news and notes

Colin and Townsend Underhill are attempting to bring positive March vibes back to the Derby City by raising L at Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janiero.

By Mike Rutherford

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I_medium The first two games of the 2015 ACC Tournament are in the book, and the challenge for the rest of the week has been laid out: have every game in the tournament be decided by 1 point.

No. 12 seed Boston College handed Georgia Tech its 57th heartbreaking loss of the season with a 66-65 win in the opener. The Eagles will face North Carolina tomorrow afternoon for the right to take on Louisville on Thursday.

In the second game, Buzz Williams and Virginia Tech pulled the mild upset of No. 11 seed Wake Forest, 81-80.

This was the first half of the first game. If VT somehow makes it to Thursday, Buzz is going to have lost about 90 pounds.

So here's what Wednesday's lineup now looks like:

Wednesday, March 11 (Second round)

Game 3: No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 Florida State, Noon, ESPN/ACC Network
Game 4: No. 5 North Carolina vs. No. 12 Boston College, 2 p.m., ESPN/ACC Network
Game 5: No. 7 N.C. State vs. No. 10 Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., ESPN2/ACC Network
Game 6: No. 6 Miami vs. No. 14 Virginia Tech, 9 p.m., ESPN2/ACC Network

I_medium The ACC coaches voted both Cardinal senior Sara Hammond and freshman Mariya Moore All-ACC second team, and both Moore and classmate Myisha Hines-Allen to the All-ACC freshman team.

I_medium The C-J's Jeff Greer talked with Russ Smith to get a better sense of what playing for Rick Pitino during conference tournament week is like.

"(Pitino) makes it easy because he's very direct with his scouting," Smith said. "At Louisville, you'll probably already be in the (NCAA) tournament. We built a resume during the season that allowed us to be in the tournament, so there was more focus on the next team and getting the job done. We raided every conference tournament."

Smith laid out what the experience is like for Pitino's players.

The players "have a curfew for sure," he said. Sometimes it'll be 10 or 11 p.m., sometimes Pitino won't want his players to leave their hotels at all, or even won't want them to leave their feet. The night before their first game, the players will watch film of the team they will play Thursday, Smith explained, then they'll review the film again in the morning on gameday.

The scouting process for the coaching staff began on Sunday when it became clear that U of L would play either North Carolina, Boston College or Georgia Tech. Louisville has played each of them this season and already has a scouting report, so Pitino's assistant coaches will cut up shorter clips of what each team does and, he admitted Monday, focus more time on the team they expect to play, which, in this case, is North Carolina.

But they won't know their opponent for sure until Wednesday night.

"Then, when we'd win, we would watch film that night on the next opponent and then again in the morning," Smith said.

I_medium Congratulations to Harry Douglas, who has agreed to a three-year deal with the Tennessee Titans.

I_medium ESPN's Andy Katz and Seth Greenberg made it through their entire ACC Tournament preview video without mentioning Louisville once.

I_medium I want all of your Mangok memes.

I_medium According to the KPI metric, Louisville is the best win for No. 1 Kentucky, and a top three win for both Duke and Virginia.

I_medium You may have already missed Louisville baseball's T-Shirt Tuesday, but you can still make Trading Card ... Wednesday.

I_medium Big ups to white vest girl from O'Shea's for being such a great ambassador for our city.

I_medium I do little else this time of year outside of watch, write or talk about college basketball, so I can't help it if the madness starts creeping heavily into my subconscious. Over the past week, I have had dreams which have included the following: Notre Dame winning the ACC Tournament, Louisville drawing Green Bay in the NCAA Tournament (Wardle!), and the Cards playing Kentucky in the national championship game.

If all three of those things happen .... well I don't know what I'll do, but I'll be really freaked out.

I_medium If Vegas were seeding the tournament right now, Louisville would be the top No. 4 seed.

I_medium Baby Trez is becoming bigger than all of us.

I_medium The Cardinal baseball team got life in the ACC started off on the right note last weekend, taking two of three from visiting Miami. The Cards then followed that up by taking down visiting Ole Miss today, 5-3.

I_medium Just when you thought the relationship between UK and t-shirts had gone as far as it could possibly go, this happens.

I_medium Tomorrow is pro day at U of L, and DeVante Parker is ready.

I_medium U of L signee Ray Spalding saw his high school career end on Tuesday when Ballard beat Trinity in the semifinals of the 7th Region Tournament. The Bruins were led by Jerry Eaves' son, Anthony, who scored a game-high 21 points.

I_medium Major props to Chronicloid Eric Gurevich, who flew to Virginia during the game on Saturday to prep for a stem cell donation that just took place outside of DC. Although he couldn't watch at home with family and friends, he still was able to watch the Cards win a huge game and, more importantly, have the unique opportunity to help save a stranger's life.

It's an incredibly easy process and anyone can sign up to be part of the registry, which you can do by going here.

I_medium You've heard about it and we haven't had a chance to talk about it because March, but yeah, Rick Pitino is coaching the Puerto Rican National Team.

I_medium Once again, this isn't the worst time to be a Louisville basketball fan.

I_medium Montrezl Harrell has been named one of five finalists for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.

I_medium Louisville is just 1-2 all-time in conference tournaments when playing as a No. 4 seed.

I_medium You are now entering the baby announcement portion of news & notes.

First up is the Kellners, who make the best possible decision and have Kevin Harned do the deed for them.

Next up is the Kurics, who go ultra-Cardinal to announce their upcoming twins.

Congratulations to these four, and to everyone else on earth who cheers for Louisville and is expecting a child.

I_medium Even if North Carolina gets past Boston College on Wednesday, the Tar Heels could be without big man Kennedy Meeks, who has been suffering from a fever.

I_medium U of L signee Asia Durr is one of five first team Naismith All-Americans.

I_medium Ed Hardin of the Greensboro News-Record says that Rick Pitino and Louisville are about to change the ACC Tournament as the folks down in North Carolina have known it.

He reminds us of the old guys. Pitino wings it the way Valvano did. He's a bit of a dandy, a little like the sharp-dressed McGuire or the sharp-tongued Williams. He's a riverboat gambler and a bit of a card shark like Prosser.

But more than anything, he's a basketball coach cut from cloth we recognize. Louisville's credentials, and those of its coach, read like something out of Tobacco Road:

  • 10 Final Fours.
  • 13 straight 20-win seasons.
  • Three straight 30-win seasons coming into this season.
  • 40 NCAA tournament appearances.
  • National titles in 1980, 1986 and 2013.

This isn't just any program coming to its first ACC tournament. And this isn't just any coach.

Louisville can win this thing because its coach will demand it.

We'll turn the volume up Wednesday. The madhouse is here from Chapel Hill and Raleigh. But if you listen carefully, you can hear him coming.

When Rick Pitino walks into the house on Thursday, the ACC tournament as we knew it will change dramatically. But for some reason, that seems OK.

We've seen this guy before.

It's like he's been here all along.

I_medium U of L's Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity is putting on a Spring Philanthropy next month, a Battle of the Bands at Tin Roof in St. Matthews on April 2. They'll be bringing in 9 different local bands that will duke it out for the title, and are currently seeking sponsors for the event. 100 percent of the proceeds from the event will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana. If any business or organization is interested in sponsorship, promotion, or donations they can contact tagock03@louisville.edu or reach out through the event's Facebook page.

I_medium After the brackets have been announced on Sunday, CN2 Sports will be airing a documentary on Louisville's 1980 national championship team, beginning at 8 p.m.

Here's the trailer:

I_medium If Louisville is looking to come as close as it could possibly come to replacing Montrezl Harrell next season, a transfer from High Point star John Brown would do the trick.

I_medium One of the biggest changes that needs to happen in college basketball is eliminating the championship games on Selection Sunday, since the Selection Committee has admitted in the past that it usually doesn't have time to take the results from these games into account. Thankfully the ACC has altered its tournament this year so that Louisville fans can keep their familiar routines for this week.

A new ACC tournament format is in place this year, starting with opening-round games being held Tuesday at the Greensboro Coliseum, and the 14-team event will conclude with Friday semifinals and a Saturday final being played in primetime rather than the afternoon. On the back end, it's similar to the old-school, eight-team ACC, which had a Saturday championship game from the first tournament in 1954 all the way through 1981.

The revised schedule also provides an extra day of rest for the league's NCAA tournament teams, but the biggest advantages are better exposure for the ACC and uninterrupted recognition of its champion.

"Now, with the tournament ending on a Saturday, it actually allows a team to take a break for a second and enjoy the accomplishment," Williams said. "I never got a chance to really sit back and enjoy the accomplishment because you were moving on to the next goal."

The new-look ACC tournament originally called for three opening-round games Tuesday. Syracuse's self-imposed postseason ban reduced the field from 15 teams to 14, and 12 games stretched over the first four days will lead us to a Saturday night final.

There won't be much buzz in the building Tuesday, even with Wake Forest playing in the second game, but the ACC certainly caught a break when Louisville upset Virginia in a regular-season finale. That prevented North Carolina from receiving a double-bye and instead put the fifth-seeded Tar Heels in the afternoon session Wednesday, with N.C. State opening the night session a few hours later.

UNC will be a heavy favorite to advance to a quarterfinal with Louisville on Thursday afternoon, and losing a regular-season tiebreaker with sixth-seeded Miami means that the seventh-seeded Wolfpack could face second-seeded Duke in another quarterfinal Thursday night.

That's a pretty entertaining series of possibilities, and we haven't even reached the Friday night semifinals yet.

I_medium The U of L soccer team's exhibition match against Louisville City FC has been rescheduled for Wednesday.

I_medium Like everyone else seems to be doing, Yahoo's Jeff Eisenberg predicts an ACC championship for Duke on Saturday.

I_medium And finally, I'm talking college hoops again tomorrow morning at 10:30 on Yahoo Sports Radio. You can listen on on Sirius/XM Channel 92, or streaming live here.

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