Louisville Cardinals – The News Desk

Kenny Payne returned to save Louisville. Now a school and a city wonder what’s next

23Dec

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Kenny Payne returned to save Louisville. Now a school and a city wonder what’s next

LOUISVILLE — Kenny Payne sounded like a man looking for hope in a hard reality. His Louisville basketball team came close, so painstakingly close, to finally doing it — winning one of those games upon which corners are turned. Instead, No. 19 Texas pulled away late, handing Payne his 30th loss in 36 games as coach of the Cardinals. This was four weeks ago, what, in hindsight, feels like four years ago.Payne settled in for a postgame news conference at Madison Square Garden. There was a certain optimism to him that Sunday afternoon. He nodded and offered a knowing gaze. “It’s only going to get better,” he said. “It’s not going to get worse.”It was difficult to imagine then how wrong he was.The Cards lost to Indiana the next day. Then, uncomfortable home wins over New Mexico State and Bella...

Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 13: Conference title clashes will tell all

28Nov

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Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 13: Conference title clashes will tell all

The 2023 season comes down to conference championship weekend. We could have the simplest and most impressive College Football Playoff field in the 10-year history of the event, we could have complete chaos or we could have something in between, with a little bit of last-minute drama.Michigan’s win against Ohio State moves the Wolverines up to No. 2 in this week’s rankings and leaves four undefeated Power 5 teams entering the weekend. If Georgia, Michigan, Washington and Florida State win, it’s an easy selection. But the SEC, Pac-12 and ACC games could be very competitive and see undefeated teams lose, giving the committee its hardest decisions since 2014.Oregon still likely has the strongest case among one-loss teams. The Ducks were the top-ranked one-loss team by the committee last week...

Women’s college basketball power rankings: South Carolina returns to a familiar spot

22Nov

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Women’s college basketball power rankings: South Carolina returns to a familiar spot

If the hope was that two weeks of basketball would have given a clearer picture of the hierarchy in women’s college basketball this season, that has not been the case. In fact, most of my conversations since Nov. 6 have featured some variation of, “Wait, is Team X good?”Aside from South Carolina at the top — stop me if you’ve heard that before — every other projected contender has taken its lumps. While the Gamecocks roll through their opposition, most teams around the country need some time to figure out new rosters and systems. Growing pains were expected, like LSU and Virginia Tech integrating new transfers, or Maryland and Indiana dealing with the graduations of WNBA first-round picks.Nevertheless, on the whole, the quality of play around the country has been better than expected. But...

Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 12: Washington deserves more respect

20Nov

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Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 12: Washington deserves more respect

It’s time to put some respect back on Washington’s name.The Huskies are undefeated and have the best win in the country, based on these rankings, but they have continually sat outside the top four of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s in-season rankings. That needs to change this week. After pulling out a 22-20 win against Oregon State on a rainy night in Corvallis, Washington has the most impressive resume in the country. The Huskies move up to No. 2 in this week’s Athletic 133.Washington has wins over Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Oregon State and USC. Nobody can match that many good victories. Yes, the Huskies needed a pick six and a questionable penalty to escape Arizona State and played Stanford close, but no team blows everyone out every single week.Quarterback Michael Peni...

Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 11: Which 10-0 contender is the top dog?

14Nov

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Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 11: Which 10-0 contender is the top dog?

We’re finally in the stretch run. The biggest games have arrived, and the shakeup at the top is underway.Michigan finally played a notable team, taking care of Penn State in Happy Valley. Georgia crushed a top-10 Ole Miss team. Washington held on against Utah and Oregon handled USC. They all have more big games to come in the next two weeks before conference championships.After all of that, there is a change at the top here. Georgia is back to No. 1 in this week’s Athletic 133.The two-time defending national champs have rounded into form, beating up on Kentucky, Florida, Missouri and Ole Miss in their last five games. This past week was a reminder that Georgia at its best again looks like the best team in the country. Oh, and Brock Bowers, one of the nation’s best pass-catchers, is back. ...

College basketball coaching tiers 2023: Dan Hurley moves into Tier 1, John Calipari falls

26Oct

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College basketball coaching tiers 2023: Dan Hurley moves into Tier 1, John Calipari falls

In a sport with 362 teams, one would have to be a dummy to attempt any contextualization of the hierarchy of the coaches who lead the game.Fortunately, we’re not one, but three, such dummies.This is Year 2 of The Athletic’s Men’s Basketball Coaching Tiers. (See last year’s here.) This exercise is meant to go beyond the subjectivity of a numeric coaching ranking or the inherent callousness of the dreaded annual Hot Seat list.Instead, we break down coaches into tiers, trying to find lines of demarcation among groups of coaches, then take those tiers to multiple authorities throughout college hoops, glean their opinions, tweak the tiers as necessary and share our findings with you.Is it a perfect method? No.Will you probably be angry about your favorite coach? Probably.But we’re trying.Crite...

Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 8: Ohio State on top as Penn State, USC slide

23Oct

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Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 8: Ohio State on top as Penn State, USC slide

Sign up for the Until Saturday newsletter | Jayna Bardahl and The Athletic’s college football staff deliver expert analysis on the biggest CFB stories five days per week. Get it sent to your inbox.Week 8 turned out to be Survival Saturday within much of the top 10.Washington escaped Arizona State, thanks to a picked-up flag and a late pick six. Oklahoma escaped UCF by stopping a late two-point conversion. Texas escaped Houston with a fourth down stop. Florida State came back to beat Duke, a game that turned when Duke quarterback Riley Leonard was injured again.As a result, there is a shakeup in this week’s Athletic 133 and a new No. 1: Ohio State. The Buckeyes beat Penn State 20-12, holding the Nittany Lions to a 1-for-16 performance on third down. That gives Ohio State two wins over curr...

Ranking 133 college football teams at midseason: Washington tops a crowd of CFP contenders

16Oct

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Ranking 133 college football teams at midseason: Washington tops a crowd of CFP contenders

Sign up for the Until Saturday newsletter | Jayna Bardahl and The Athletic’s college football staff deliver expert analysis on the biggest CFB stories five days per week. Get it sent to your inbox.It’s rare that a monster game lives up to the hype. We’ve now had it happen two weeks in a row in college football, shaking up the rankings.Last week, Oklahoma beat Texas with a touchdown in the final seconds. This week, Washington beat Oregon with a late fourth-down stop, a touchdown and a missed Ducks field goal as time expired. We knew Washington looked like world-beaters up to this point. The Huskies just hadn’t played anyone notable. Placed in one of the biggest games of the year, Washington and Michael Penix Jr. delivered. As a result of the 36-33 win, Washington takes the top spot in this...

Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 5: Georgia’s close calls open door for new No. 1

3Oct

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Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 5: Georgia’s close calls open door for new No. 1

Sign up for the Until Saturday newsletter | Jayna Bardahl and The Athletic’s college football staff deliver expert analysis on the biggest CFB stories five days per week. Get it sent to your inbox.It’s been a while since we’ve had a season without a clear-cut No. 1 team this deep into the fall.Several teams can make a case, and there are still many big games to be played. But at this point, it’s time for a change. Texas is the new No. 1 in this week’s Athletic 133.There are two reasons for it. The first is Texas itself. The Longhorns went to Alabama and handled the Crimson Tide in what is the most impressive single win of the season. Texas also took care of business with blowouts of Baylor and Kansas in the last two weeks. Yes, Texas had a brief scare against Wyoming, but the other teams ...

Women’s college basketball top 25: LSU, UConn, UCLA lead 2023-24 rankings

29Sep

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Women’s college basketball top 25: LSU, UConn, UCLA lead 2023-24 rankings

The 2022-23 women’s college basketball season ended on a high note as nearly 10 million viewers tuned in to watch LSU and Iowa — two teams on seemingly fate-driven runs — collide in the national championship. The Tigers took home their first title under Kim Mulkey and then turned the offseason into more wins by signing the top two players out of the transfer portal and welcomed the No. 1 high school recruiting class to Baton Rouge.But now, it’s a new season. Every team is 0-0. And though the Tigers remain the top team in our preseason projections, several other programs — some perennial powers, some new faces and some programs with chips on their shoulders — look like they could be holding the trophy in Cleveland in April.As squads rebuilt, reloaded and re-tooled this offseason, The Athle...