Louisville Cardinals

I'll be first to admit - and any other right-thinking Louisville fan should too - no way did I see this coming. Watching Louisville rally to beat Florida on Saturday, I could barely believe it, the Cardinals were going to the Final Four. Was this really happening? Was this the same team that, almost literally, limped home in the regular season? Was this the team whose offense was inconsistent at best most of the year, who had to hold on to beat a bad Western Kentucky team, was beaten by 31 points at Providence and finished just 10-8 in conference?

Dec. 29, 1985 The Clark County Prep League wound up its first annual Holiday Tournament at College Park Gym with championship games in all three brackets. The tournament begun this year to raise funds for College Park Gym. Kentucky improved to 8-1 with its third straight victory Saturday, defeating the Louisville Cardinals at Rupp Arena, while Louisville fell to 6-3. Kentucky leads the intrastate series 12-5.

The Louisville Cardinals sure couldn't have kicked off the month of November in a better way. It has been a long year since the Cardinals lost a heartbreaker in triple overtime to the West Virginia, and they came out Thursday night looking to finally make amends. For starters, the crowd was absolutely electric. All of the fans choreographed a "black out" by wearing black to the game. For what is currently a moderate-sized venue, the crowd "black out" helped make the atmosphere an intimidating one for the Mountaineers.

This has to be Rick Pitino's worst nightmare. He broke the hearts of many Kentucky fans when he left the Bluegrass in 1997 to coach the Boston Celtics. He broke even more Big Blue hearts when he came back to Kentucky to coach the Louisville Cardinals. However, nothing is going to be as damaging to his reputation as the confirmation that he says he did have consensual sex with Karen Cunagin Sypher in 2003 at a Louisville restaurant where he had been celebrating with friends, including aide Vinny Tatum, a Mercer County native.

A month before the football season started, Boyle County brothers Travis and Bobby Leffew were trying not to look ahead to Louisville?s showdown with Miami. Both knew if their Louisville Cardinals were undefeated going into the game at Miami, they could have a legitimate chance to earn a spot in the Bowl Championship Series if it could beat the Hurricanes. "If we go into Miami unbeaten, we probably still won't have a lot of national respect," Travis Leffew said in August. "But if we go unbeaten and then go to Miami and win, people won't have any choice but to respect us. " "I'm sure not many people will think we can beat them," Bobby Leffew said.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky won't play its next game here at Rupp Arena until next year, but for now, Louisville has settled in as a temporary tenant. The Cardinals, the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the team to beat in the Midwest Regional, began what it hopes is a march toward a national title with a 79-48 rout of North Carolina A&T. The Aggies brought the Rev. Jesse Jackson along as their celebrity super fan, but it wasn't enough...

LEXINGTON - Kentucky receiver Keenan Burton always wanted to play for the Louisville Cardinals. "All I wanted to do was play for Louisville since I was small from Little League to my last high school game," said Burton, who played for Manual High School in Louisville. "It didn't work out, but coming to Kentucky is the best decision I could have made. " Burton has 1,744 career receiving yards and 18 career touchdown catches on his 135 receptions to rank in the top four at UK in each category.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky receiver Keenan Burton always wanted to play for the Louisville Cardinals. "All I wanted to do was play for Louisville since I was small from Little League to my last high school game," said Burton, who played for Manual High School in Louisville. "It didn't work out, but coming to Kentucky is the best decision I could have made. " Burton has 1,744 career receiving yards and 18 career touchdown catches on his 135 receptions to rank in the top four at UK in each category.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky won't play its next game here at Rupp Arena until next year, but for now, Louisville has settled in as a temporary tenant. The Cardinals, the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the team to beat in the Midwest Regional, began what it hopes is a march toward a national title with a 79-48 rout of North Carolina A&T. The Aggies brought the Rev. Jesse Jackson along as their celebrity super fan, but it wasn't enough...

I'll be first to admit - and any other right-thinking Louisville fan should too - no way did I see this coming. Watching Louisville rally to beat Florida on Saturday, I could barely believe it, the Cardinals were going to the Final Four. Was this really happening? Was this the same team that, almost literally, limped home in the regular season? Was this the team whose offense was inconsistent at best most of the year, who had to hold on to beat a bad Western Kentucky team, was beaten by 31 points at Providence and finished just 10-8 in conference?

Last summer, there was a lot of buzz about former West Jessamine basketball player Jarrod Polson walking on and earning a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Kentucky. This fall, West Jessamine graduates Jakson Deyer and Austin Dunn will join the University of Louisville's baseball team. Deyer will be a walk on and Dunn will join the staff as a bullpen catcher and perhaps work his way on the roster. “It's an outstanding opportunity for both of them,” West Jessamine coach Jody Hamilton said.

Dec. 29, 1985 The Clark County Prep League wound up its first annual Holiday Tournament at College Park Gym with championship games in all three brackets. The tournament begun this year to raise funds for College Park Gym. Kentucky improved to 8-1 with its third straight victory Saturday, defeating the Louisville Cardinals at Rupp Arena, while Louisville fell to 6-3. Kentucky leads the intrastate series 12-5.

This has to be Rick Pitino's worst nightmare. He broke the hearts of many Kentucky fans when he left the Bluegrass in 1997 to coach the Boston Celtics. He broke even more Big Blue hearts when he came back to Kentucky to coach the Louisville Cardinals. However, nothing is going to be as damaging to his reputation as the confirmation that he says he did have consensual sex with Karen Cunagin Sypher in 2003 at a Louisville restaurant where he had been celebrating with friends, including aide Vinny Tatum, a Mercer County native.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky receiver Keenan Burton always wanted to play for the Louisville Cardinals. "All I wanted to do was play for Louisville since I was small from Little League to my last high school game," said Burton, who played for Manual High School in Louisville. "It didn't work out, but coming to Kentucky is the best decision I could have made. " Burton has 1,744 career receiving yards and 18 career touchdown catches on his 135 receptions to rank in the top four at UK in each category.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky receiver Keenan Burton always wanted to play for the Louisville Cardinals. "All I wanted to do was play for Louisville since I was small from Little League to my last high school game," said Burton, who played for Manual High School in Louisville. "It didn't work out, but coming to Kentucky is the best decision I could have made. " Burton has 1,744 career receiving yards and 18 career touchdown catches on his 135 receptions to rank in the top four at UK in each category.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky receiver Keenan Burton always wanted to play for the Louisville Cardinals. "All I wanted to do was play for Louisville since I was small from Little League to my last high school game," said Burton, who played for Manual High School in Louisville. "It didn't work out, but coming to Kentucky is the best decision I could have made. " Burton has 1,744 career receiving yards and 18 career touchdown catches on his 135 receptions to rank in the top four at UK in each category.