—Eric Crawford writes about the scene inside the KFC Yum Center on Sunday, where Louisville punched another Sweet 16 ticket by running away from Michigan.
—Don’t call her a “shooter.” Asia Durr is part LeBron, part Steph and part Harden, writes Ben Baskin of Sports Illustrated.
—Christen Cunningham and Khwan Fore both post messages of gratitude.
all good stories come to an end ✍ thank you #cardnation for taking me in & rocking with us all the way 5️⃣0️⃣2️⃣ ‼️Ls up pic.twitter.com/UbsAB9ln65
— christen cunningham (@yocunningham) March 24, 2019
I am extremely appreciative to the Louisville staff, my teammates and #CardNation for taking me in and giving me a home for my final year. I enjoyed every second of my time here and am… https://t.co/r4CyKoq1W7
— FORE (@khwanfore) March 24, 2019
—The Lexington Herald-Leader named U of L signee David Johnson as its Kentucky Player of the Year.
—Sweet 16 by conference:
ACC: 5
SEC: 4
Big Ten: 3
Big 12: 1
Pac-12: 1
AAC: 1
WCC: 1
—It’s almost impressive that Louisville could have a damn near historically bad defensive effort against one of the worst offensive teams on its schedule in the season’s most important game.
Louisville's 135.0 Points Per 100 Possessions Allowed vs. Minnesota is 2nd worst UofL Deficiency Efficiency mark in the KenPom era.
— hothot (@ULhothot) March 25, 2019
1. 146.2: 2017 VaTech
2. 135.0: 2019 Minny
3. 134.0: 2007 G'town
4. 133.0: 2012 Providence
5. 132.8: 2006 So. Carolina pic.twitter.com/Tjmhs2kbgS
—The scene inside the UCF locker room Sunday was heartbreaking, but also wonderful in a way.
—Ricky O’Donnell ranks the Sweet 16 in order of likelihood to win the national championship, and doesn’t have Duke at No. 1.
—I always get a lot of weird emails this time of year, but this one might be the weirdness. It also has me fascinated by March Ratness and debating a trip to Virginia.
She Shoots, She Scores!
Final Fur Tournament Returns to Science Museum of Virginia April 5 during Science After Dark
What:
The Science Museum of Virginia’s Rat Basketball Association is preparing for the March Ratness tip off with the 11th annual Final Fur Tournament. New this year: the games happen during Science After Dark, the popular monthly after-hours event.
Museum educators have trained female Norway Rats to pick up a small plastic ball and put it through a simulated basketball hoop. Whiskered players will represent the final teams of their college compatriots as they go head to head in this unique tournament. Just like the NCAA version, the Museum’s Final Fur Tournament has the potential for exciting shots, stunning upsets and unlikely champions.
Demonstrations during the event, happening at 6 and 7 p.m., include announcer commentary, crowd-pumping music, rat trivia and more.
The crowd-pumping music has to be Jock Jams, right? Like, there’s no way March Ratness has a fire, presently relevant playlist. But god I hope I’m wrong.
I will experience March Ratness at some point.
—Jaylen Smith is spending the spring continuing to work towards hearing his name called in the NFL Draft.
—Brandon Clarke is an animal.
Here's a look at the most efficient offensive players in the NCAA Tournament from teams advancing to the Sweet Sixton #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/wmpyT3MsLK
— Synergy Basketball (@SynergySST) March 25, 2019
—Five-star prospect Cole Anthony is down to five schools.
—LJ Nesbitt of The Crunch Zone serves up the “final verdict” of his always must-read BucketHatology feature.
—Despite the lack of upsets and dramatic finishes, ratings for the tournament continue to be solid, this thanks in large part to some blockbuster numbers from the Duke-UCF game.
Live game coverage across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV is averaging a 6.4/15 HH rating/share in the metered markets, the second-highest rating through the first weekend since 1991, when the NCAA Tournament expanded to its current television format (6.7/14 in 2015). The 6.4/15 HH rating, based on Nielsen metered market delivery, is up 8% over last year (5.9/13).
NCAA March Madness Live has set all-time records in live streams and live hours of consumption for the NCAA Tournament to date, with both seeing increases of more than 25% through the first full week.
Additionally, Sunday’s third game telecast window from 5:15-9:15 p.m. ET, highlighted by Duke’s down-to-the-wire victory over UCF, earned an 11.9/24 HH rating/share, up +35% from last year (8.8/18) and ranking as the second-highest rating for that game window in 29 years (12.1/23 in 2017).
—U of L swimming sensation Mallory Comerford won two national titles and the women’s swimming and diving team overall placed fourth at the NCAA Championships, the best finish in program history.
—Updated national championship odds from BetOnline:
Duke 5/2
Gonzaga 5/1
Virginia 5/1
North Carolina 7/1
Kentucky 10/1
Michigan State 10/1
Michigan 14/1
Tennessee 14/1
Purdue 20/1
Texas Tech 20/1
Auburn 33/1
Florida State 33/1
Houston 33/1
LSU 40/1
Virginia Tech 40/1
Oregon 66/1
—Louisville softball took the final game of a weekend series against Notre Dame on Sunday.
—One of Jordan Nwora’s most tame dunks of the season makes the cut for this video of the best ACC dunks of 2018-19.
—The Louisville baseball team avoided a weekend sweet at the hands of Georgia Tech by producing a walk-off win on Sunday.
—The ticket exchange for this weekend’s regional semifinal and final games at the Yum Center is now open.
—Nice highlight reel of Peyton Siva doing this thing over in Germany.
—Louisville may have lost to Minnesota last week, but at least some fans who made the trip to Des Moines got to hang out with Bill Murray afterward.
—This was such a cool moment.
A Louisville legend. pic.twitter.com/aVGmuSRBqJ
— Dominique Yates (@RealDYates) March 24, 2019
—Rick Pitino to Alabama is getting some legitimate buzz, and unlike in some past cases, Pitino isn’t outright denying it.
—Congrats to the four U of L field hockey players who were named NFHCA Scholars of Distinction.
—Any talk about Ryan McMahon potentially exploring a grad transfer appears to be put to bed.
—Big Red Louie says a final thank you to the Cardinal grad transfers.
—There were many old faces in new places for the U of L football team this spring.
—It’s McDonald’s All-American Game week, and Samuell Williamson is doing his thing.
Louisville commit Samuell Williamson with the jumper at @McDAAG pic.twitter.com/eS53ukeADs
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 25, 2019
—The Oakland Press reacts to the Michigan women falling to Louisville.
—Reid Detmers may not have a dazzling fastball, but he’s still been dominating opposing hitters so far this season.
—Aidan Igiehon is ready to start the next chapter of his basketball career.
Highschool basketball was a blessing, the ups and downs were all a blessing to me. Sad to think that that chapter has come to an end in my story. Next step Louisvile, KY #BackToTheLab ♂️
— Aidan Harris Igiehon (@Big_harris22) March 24, 2019
—Yet another Sweet 16 for U of L women’s basketball may not seem like a big deal at this point, but it should.
—Asia Durr did it all for the Cards over the weekend.
—So this was interesting ...
Tmrw at 11 am ET, we will be holding a press conference to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered. This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 25, 2019
And then this was more interesting ...
NEW: SDNY is charging Michael Avenatti for "attempting to extract more than $20M in payments from a publicly traded company by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial & reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met."
— erica orden (@eorden) March 25, 2019
So 14 minutes after Avenatti sent his original tweet, he was arrested.
Nike will never go down.
—And finally, if you’re looking to follow the U of L women to Albany this week, tickets are now available.