Holy cow, what a weekend!
The past holiday weekend left fans of the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky with extra reasons to feel thankful. When all was said and done, both UK and U of L had extinguished odious football losing streaks, their basketball teams had delivered a fistful of victories, and for the second year in a row, the U of L men's soccer team stood one win away from the NCAA Final Four.
And oh, by the way, Kentucky stood poised to move atop both men's basketball polls, thanks to UNLV's thumping of No. 1 North Carolina in the Las Vegas Invitational championship game.
The thrill ride began last Friday morning. Not only had Louisville never beaten South Florida in Tampa, the games generally hadn't been close -- after the first, a 34-31 double-OT thriller, USF had won by double digits three straight times, the average margin reaching three touchdowns. When the Bulls built a 17-3 lead late in the second quarter, I for one thought, "Here we go again."
But Senorise Perry returned a pooch kickoff 54 yards to the USF 25, and the Cards capitalized on the short field with the first of Teddy Bridgewater's three TD passes, an 18-yarder to DeVaunte Parker, pulling U of L within 17-10 at halftime. U of L dominated the second half, outscoring USF 24-7 to clinch a share of its second Big East Conference championship. For his efforts, Bridgewater earned Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors.
That evening, the U of L men's basketball team stopped Ohio University 59-54 to remain unbeaten.
Saturday afternoon, UK hosted Tennessee in its annual season-closing game, one it had lost 26 consecutive times. With quarterbacks Morgan Newton and Maxwell Smith both banged up, the Cats turned to senior reserve wide receiver Matt Roark, an option QB in high school, to run their offense. Roark managed only 15 passing yards, but ran for 124, leading UK to the 10-7 upset.
The last time UK beat the Vols, current head coach Joker Phillips was a senior wide receiver for the Wildcats and receivers coach Tee Martin (later a quarterback at UT) was a first-grader in Mobile, Ala. Ronald Reagan had just been reelected President, and Google and Facebook still were years in the future. Roark and his classmates halted a run of 22 Wildcat senior classes who left UK without a win over Tennessee.
UK still owns the nation's longest string of consecutive losses to one opponent (25 to Florida), but thankfully can no longer claim the top two.
And as a capper on the weekend, the 12th-seeded Cardinal men's soccer team scored a 4-2 upset win at No. 5 Maryland, reaching the Elite Eight for the second consecutive year. Only a rematch with 13th seed UCLA stands between U of L and back-to-back Final Fours. While I think it's too soon to anoint U of L a a soccer powerhouse, Ken Lolla's program appears headed in that direction.
By the way, kudos to the Big East for placing three teams in the Elite Eight: No. 3 seed UConn, U of L, and No. 7 USF.
And oh, by the way, Kentucky stood poised to move atop both men's basketball polls, thanks to UNLV's thumping of No. 1 North Carolina in the Las Vegas Invitational championship game.
The thrill ride began last Friday morning. Not only had Louisville never beaten South Florida in Tampa, the games generally hadn't been close -- after the first, a 34-31 double-OT thriller, USF had won by double digits three straight times, the average margin reaching three touchdowns. When the Bulls built a 17-3 lead late in the second quarter, I for one thought, "Here we go again."
But Senorise Perry returned a pooch kickoff 54 yards to the USF 25, and the Cards capitalized on the short field with the first of Teddy Bridgewater's three TD passes, an 18-yarder to DeVaunte Parker, pulling U of L within 17-10 at halftime. U of L dominated the second half, outscoring USF 24-7 to clinch a share of its second Big East Conference championship. For his efforts, Bridgewater earned Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors.
That evening, the U of L men's basketball team stopped Ohio University 59-54 to remain unbeaten.
Saturday afternoon, UK hosted Tennessee in its annual season-closing game, one it had lost 26 consecutive times. With quarterbacks Morgan Newton and Maxwell Smith both banged up, the Cats turned to senior reserve wide receiver Matt Roark, an option QB in high school, to run their offense. Roark managed only 15 passing yards, but ran for 124, leading UK to the 10-7 upset.
The last time UK beat the Vols, current head coach Joker Phillips was a senior wide receiver for the Wildcats and receivers coach Tee Martin (later a quarterback at UT) was a first-grader in Mobile, Ala. Ronald Reagan had just been reelected President, and Google and Facebook still were years in the future. Roark and his classmates halted a run of 22 Wildcat senior classes who left UK without a win over Tennessee.
UK still owns the nation's longest string of consecutive losses to one opponent (25 to Florida), but thankfully can no longer claim the top two.
And as a capper on the weekend, the 12th-seeded Cardinal men's soccer team scored a 4-2 upset win at No. 5 Maryland, reaching the Elite Eight for the second consecutive year. Only a rematch with 13th seed UCLA stands between U of L and back-to-back Final Fours. While I think it's too soon to anoint U of L a a soccer powerhouse, Ken Lolla's program appears headed in that direction.
By the way, kudos to the Big East for placing three teams in the Elite Eight: No. 3 seed UConn, U of L, and No. 7 USF.
posted by Alan at 9:45 PM
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