The NCAA Champs Are...

The Louisville Cardinals and Michigan Wolverines were the teams to play in the final game of the season, the NCAA Championship. The Cardinals won the Big East and gave their all to win it all as well, and they did by a score of 82-76.

The Wolverines Spike Albrecht wasn't even recognized as a player by the security at the game. The security had to get somebody to identify him and this turned out to be the best game of his life so far. He was 4-5 on 3 pointers and had 17 points in his large 28 minutes. Trey Burke also performed awesome for his Wolverines. He had 24 points this game as well as 3 steals and 4 rebounds.

The Cardinals had quite a game with Chane Behanan playing for 12 rebounds and 15 points. On top of that Peyton Siva had about the best game of the season for him with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Even Luke Hankock pitched in again with 22 points leading all scorers this game!

The Louisville Cardinals are the NCAA champions and that just tops off coach Rick Pitino's week with this and being inducted to the hall of fame!

By David B.

Shockers Can't Pull it off

The Wichita State Shockers had a double digit lead over the Louisville Cardinals at different parts of the game and in the second half they crumbled. They were outscored by only seven points, but with a half time score only one point apart they needed to be the team outscoring the Cardinals.

For once I can say truthfully that Russ Smith is not the leading scorer in this game. He met his match tonight, his name in Cleanthony Early who had 24 points and 10 rebounds, you should remember his name it might not be the last time you hear it.

Early's high scoring still wasn't enough because the Cards had two players with 20 or above, Luke Hancock with 20 and Russ Smith with 21. As for the Shockers, Ron Baker is a great kid and definitely a good basketball player. He had 11 points, 8 rebounds, and he is also one of the best freshman I've seen play this year.

Even though this team of up-setters is going home to Wichita, I think they are a great team, a threat, and a message seeds don't matter skill does. That is something this team has and so does Louisville, so congratulations Louisville for making it to the championship on Monday, and congratulations to the team that busted brackets around the nation!

By David B.

Pitino is Elected to the Hall of Fame

The Louisville Cardinals' head coach, Rick Pitino, has been elected to the 2013 Hall of Fame Class. Pitino won 662 games in his career as a college coach and he hopes to win two more in the NCAA Tournament as they will face the Wichita State Shockers, and if they win they will play Michigan or Syracuse.

This is Pitino's 7th Final Four appearance, and he is the first to take three colleges to the Final Four. John Calipari did this three times as well, but his trips with Massachusetts and Memphis didn't count due to infractions penalties.

The players joining him in the Naismith Hall of Fame this year include, Gary Payton a nine time NBA All-Star, Jerry Tarkanian who coached for UNLV, Guy Lewis a former Houston coach, and Spencer Haywood an Olympic and NBA Star.

By David B.

Ware Reacts Emotionally

ESPN.com The Louisville Cardinals' Kevin Ware as most of you know has suffered a horrific leg injury and has started his recovery. Due to how fast he has started to recover he has been cleared to travel with the Cardinals to play the Wichita State Shockers in Atlanta. Ware has recovered so fast only two days after the injury occurred he was on crutches not a wheel chair.

Kevin Ware- Released

The Louisville Cardinals Kevin Ware suffered a horrific injury in their elite eight game when he was contesting a three point shot. He was rushed to the hospital and now he is being released.

Kevin Ware said that now the hardest step in his recovery is complete, the first one. I have to say that I total agree that this is the hardest step and it will get better from here on out.

Ware left the hospital to everyone's surprise not in a wheel chair, but on crutches. Before he left the hospital today he tweeted "back to my brothers." Does this mean that he will be flying to Atlanta, Georgia to see his Cardinals play the Wichita State Shockers in the Final Four. Nobody is positive about this at the moment, but I think he will. Coach of the Cardinals, Rick Pitino, said that he would love to have Ware travel with the team.

Joe Theisman never played another game of football in his life after suffering a similar injury in 1985 on Monday Night Football. He definitely wasn't on crutches only days after the injury, so there is definitely hope for this young man.

By David B.

The Final Countdown

The NCAA Tournament starts to come to an end for another year, this year the final four is Louisville, Michigan, Wichita State, and Syracuse. The newest members are the Louisville Cardinals who defeated the Duke Blue Devils and the Michigan Wolverines who took down Florida in a landslide.

The Wolverines beat the Gators by exactly 20 points, 79-59. Nik Stauskas was the main reason that the Wolverines won, he 22 points and literally couldn't miss. He went 7-8 from the field and 6-6 from the 3 point arc. Trey Burke played just as well if not better, Burke had 7 assists, 8 rebounds, and 15 points, at point guard for the Wolverines of Michigan. Patric Young and his Gators were out of it almost the whole game and his 8 rebounds and 7 points couldn't do anything about it.

As for the Cardinals Russ Smith was probably the top performer in this game, his only competition was Mason Plumlee of Duke. Plumlee had 12 rebounds and 17 points, Smith had 23 points and a pair of steals. Gorgui Dieng played great for the Cardinals as well as Russ, maybe better. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds to push his team to a 22 points victory of 85-63.

Post who you think will win the tournament in the comments box as well as the runner-up!

By David B.

Smith and Siva- Once Again

The Louisville Cardinals got passed the first round just to have to play the Colorado State Rams. The Rams couldn't top the Cardinals, but they gave it their all. They may have only put 56 points on the board, but they played pretty well against this well coached team. Colton Iverson sure gave it his all with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks for his Rams.

Yet again Russ Smith was too powerful for the Cardinals to go down in flames. He had 27 points and 2 steals, even the lately useless Peyton Siva got 10 points and 5 assists. That just shows how powerful and dangerous this Louisville team is. This would all lead to Louisville's 82 points.

The Cardinals now have to face either the Oregon Ducks or Saint Louis Gaels, who do you think it will be? I think it will be Oregon, because they are winning by 16 currently.

By 'David B.

The Rebels Invade

Day 1 ended strong with the Oregon Ducks playing better than they have in a while, The Ducks put up 68 points against the 5 seed Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys could only put 55 points up in this  PAC-12 battle. Arsalan Kazemi had a HUGE game with 17 rebounds and 11 points for his Ducks. Marcus Smart played well also with 9 rebounds and 14 points for the Cowboys. The Cowboys would have standed a chance if they had not turned the ball over as much.

The Mizzouri Tigers had their turn to battle it out against the Colorado State Rams when they lost 84-72. Phil Pressey a senior guard for the Tigers had his last game turn out to be a good one with 20 points and 7 assists in the loss. Dorian Green played just well enough to put his team on top with 26 points for the Rams.

North Carolina A&T barely made the tournament and the team they had to play was, the Louisville Cardinals. The Cardinals had just won the Big East and they won this match up too, with a final score of 48-79. Russ Smith played extraordinary with 23 points and an unheard of 8 steals. He was the only real power player except for Blackshear of the Cardinals who had a great game with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

The Duke Blue Devils got the first whack at it today against the Albany Great Danes. Duke would prevail almost losing to a 15 seed like last year, but they didn't this time. The Blue Devils' Seth Curry played great with 6 rebounds and 26 points, Mason Plumlee did good as well with 23 points and 8 rebounds. The number that stood out to me though was Quin Cooks 11 assists all of those for the Blue Devils. Jacob Iati played very well in his teams' loss, he had 15 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds.

The Wisconsin Badgers just lossed and ruined many brackets after their loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. The final score was a disappointing 57-46, and the Rebel leader, Marshal Henderson paved the way with 19 points and Reginald Buckner helped quite a bit with 12 rebounds and 9 points. If Ben Brust had a hotter hand for Wisconsin a win would have been possible, but his hand was cold and that lead to a loss.

More news on the Tournament will be out as soon as possible!

By David B.

NCAA Tournament Seeds

The NCAA tournament seeds have been releases and the top 5 seeds are listed below.

Midwest                                                               South

1. Louisville                                                            1. Kansas
2. Duke                                                                  2. Georgetown
3. Michigan State                                                    3. Florida
4. Saint Louis                                                          4. Michigan
5. Oklahoma State                                                  5. VCU (Virginia Commenwealth University)

West                                                                     East

1. Gonzaga                                                             1. Indiana
2. Ohio State                                                          2. Miami
3. New Mexico                                                      3. Marquette
4. Kansas State                                                      4. Syracuse
5. Wisconsin                                                           5. UNLV

By David B.

Cardinals Attack

  Today, Big East foes were facing off in front of a crowd of 31,000.  After Syracuse had upset Louisville earlier in Big East play, the Cardinals were seeking revenge.  The Orange were riding on a two game-losing for the second time this season.  This game was low scoring and close throughout.  C.J. Fair got hot in the middle of the first half, with a halftime score of only 23-19 Louisville.  Syracuse couldn't get their shots to fall in, many of them rattling out of the rim.  Syracuse, however, came back in the second half strong and on fire.  They couldn't be contained and got the crowd fired up.  In fact, Syracuse was playing so well, the fans started to do the wave throughout the whole stadium.  However, in the last 90 seconds, Syracuse turned the ball over and Louisville took the lead.  The Orange couldn't score and couldn't contain the Cardinals.  Since Syracuse couldn't score enough, the final score was 58-53 Cardinals.  Gorgui Dieng did an amazing job for Louisville with 11 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.  None of the Syracuse players could contain him.  Michael Carter-Williams was the leader for the Orange, and had 11 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, and 1 steal.  I think the real players of the game should be Russ Smith from Louisville and C.J. Fair for Syracuse.  Russ Smith scored 18 points to go along with 1 steal, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds.  Peyton Siva only had 1 steal, 4 assists, and 1 rebound.  He didn't have any points in this game.  In the whole season against Syracuse, Siva only scored 2 points.  C.J. Fair had 19 points, 1 block, 1 steal, and 6 rebounds.  He got Syracuse fired up by scoring 6 straight points for the Orange while getting the crowd loud too.  I don't think he receives enough credit.  Fair is scoring many of the Orange's points and played 38 minutes against Louisville.  Also, DaJuan Coleman returned and played for the first time in about four weeks after suffering a knee injury.  Louisville did a great job of getting behind the 2-3 zone and getting passes into the paint.

By Ameen I.

Villanova Creeping Up

  March is just around the corner, and that means that March Madness is about to begin.  With the NCAA March Madness Tournament coming up it means there will be more and more talk about which teams will be the number one seed and which teams are on the bubble.  I think the team that has a very good chance of making it into the tournament this year is the Big East team Villanova.  The Wildcats have upset very good teams in the Big East.  For example, they beat Louisville, part of the Cardinals' three game losing-streak.  Villanova also upset the Syracuse Orange.  After beating Louisville, Villanova edged out the Orange in an overtime thriller.  The Wildcats had sent the Orange into a two game losing-streak and a three game road losing-streak.  They will be a team to look out for, with their ability to drain three-pointers in clutch moments.

By Ameen I.

Big East Thriller

  A classic rivalry took place; Louisville at Notre Dame.  Most of their recent meetings have gone into overtime, but this game was even more special.  Five overtimes.  With a low-scoring game, the halftime score would be 27-24 Notre Dame.  The Fighting Irish were really fighting for this win.  Louisville came out hot in the second half.  The Cardinals forced turnovers early in the second half, including a great steal leading to a dunk plus the foul.  The second half was all Louisville, until the last :50 seconds.  The reason being was Jerian Grant.  He scored 12 points in a span of about :50 seconds.  Grant had three three-pointers and a layup, plus a foul.  Jerian had a total of 19 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds.  He didn't score until the last minute.  Grant did foul out, but the Irish kept on fighting.  In fact, Notre Dame linebacker, Manti Te'o, was at the game, and was spotted when Louisville was coming out of he tunnel for the second half.  Pat Connaughton led the Irish in rebounding and assists.  he had a total of 16 points, 7 assists, and 14 rebounds; a double-double.  The reason the Irish won this game was Garrick Sherman.  He had the tip-in in the fourth overtime to send the game into the fifth overtime.  Scoring 20 points to go along with 6 rebounds, Sherman is going to be a great part of Notre Dame.  Jack Cooley had a total of 11 points, 1 assists, and 11 rebounds.  Again, another double-double.  Chane Behanan led Louisville in points and rebounds, with 30 points, 15 rebounds, and 1 assist.  Gorgui Dieng had a team lead 5 assists to go along with 17 points and 13 boards.  Russ Smith took most of Louisville's last shots, but none of his shots fell in.  He had a total of 21 points, 3 assists, and 10 rebounds.  The final score would be 104-101 Notre Dame in a thriller.  One of the referees was a referee for two games in one day.  He was a referee in the Depaul and Marquette game.  The referee drove three hours to South Bend, Indiana.  The referee that was supposed to be there was caught up in the snowstorm affecting all of the Northeast.  This game was the longest in Big East history in the regular-season.  The longest ever in Big East history was in the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden.  The matchup was Syracuse and Uconn in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament.  It went into six overtimes, with Syracuse on top.  The Irish have been golden all year long.  The following picture is Garrick Sherman in an interview with ESPN about his late tip-in.

By Ameen I.

Weekend Alert

The NCAA has an exciting weekend ahead of them, with two of the top teams in the nation facing off. The (1) Indiana Hoosiers and the (10) Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes do have some trouble not relying on Deshaun Thomas to much. When they have a great point guard Aaron Craft. Thomas and Craft played exceedingly well against the Michigan Wolverines when Craft had 8 assists and 11 points. While Thomas had 17 points leading Ohio State. The Hoosiers also have a great team with a young guard, Yogi Ferrell who is a great facilitator and he might have some trouble against possibly the best on ball defender in the NCAA, Aaron Craft.

The NCAA also has the (25) Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the (11) Louisville Cardinals. The Cardinals have a point guard Russ Smith who is once again a top player for the Cardinals and he will be a large factor in Louisville's offense. As he averages 18.2 points per game and 2.2 steals per game. Also Peyton Siva has an average of 10.6 points per game and 6.1 assists per game. On the other hand the Fighting Irish have Jack Cooley their leading scorer with 14.8 points per game and Jarian Grant who has 5.6 assists per game to go with 12.7 points per game.

By David B.

Cuse Pull it out

The Syracuse Orange would come into their game against the Louisville Cardinals ranked #6 and Louisville would be #1 in the country. That was about to change.

The Orange would be carried by their star guards Michel Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche. Triche would have 23 points and 6 rebounds. Carter-Williams would have 16 points, 4 steals, and 7 assists. On the Louisville side it was all Russ Smith. Smith would be the Cardinals only player in double figures with 25 points he would also have 4 steals. I think that the reason the Orange almost lost this game was because they had the ball stolen 12 times, which was key in how the tempo of the game would be.

The 'Cuse would be trailing most of the game, but staying close and then they would strike at the end of the game when Micheal Carter-Williams would get a steal , and take the ball to the hoop for a dunk. That would leave only 25 seconds on the clock. The Final score would be 70-68 'Cuse.

Micheal Carter-Williams (Left) and Brandon Triche Right

By David B.

Top Ten Shake Up

This weekend was a wild one.  Number 1 Duke went down to number 20 NC State and fell to number 3.  Number 2 Michigan went down to number 15 Ohio State and Michigan fell to number 5.  Ohio State went to number 11 and NC State went to number 14.  Rick Pitino's Louisville Cardinals went from number 3 to number 1.   Indiana went from 5 to 2.  After seeing Duke go down to NC State Duke went down to number 3  Next,  Kansas went from number 6 to 4.  Kansas has beaten Ohio State early on in the season.  The Syracuse Orange went from number 7 to number 6.  Arizona sunk from 4 to number 7.  Gonzaga didn't have much of a change but they went from number 9 to 8.  Minnesota fell from 8 to number 9.  Finally, the Florida Gators had a small change, but went from number 11 to number 10.  This weekend has been wild and high-ranked teams fell.  For others of you who like teams in the top 25, here they are:

1)Louisville
2)Indiana
3)Duke
4)Kansas
5)Michigan
6) Syracuse
7)Arizona
8)Gonzaga
9)Minnesota
10)Florida
11)Ohio State
12)Creighton
13)Butler
14)North Carolina State
15)San Diego State
16)Kansas State
17)Missouri
18) Michigan State
19)New Mexico
20)Notre Dame
21)Oregon
22) Virginia Commonwealth
23)Illinois
24)UCLA
25)Marquette                                                                            By: Ameen I.