Louisville to try and seal NCAA tournament bid against Marquette on Tuesday

I must first confess, I was born and raised in Syracuse and I’m an Orange fan to the core.  While most human beings on the planet have either type A, B or O blood flowing through their veins, I am of a select few whose heart pumps Minute Maid.

Now considering that Louisville is one of the two teams that handed us regular season losses, I should technically still be bitter with the Cardinals.  But I’m not.  Not on a day when the Orange have finally made it back to a number one ranking for the first time since 1990.  Not much can move me off of this cloud that I’m floating on over the sports world.  But enough about the #1 ranked Syracuse Orange (sounds good, right?)

I actually like Louisville’s team.  It’s not like Louisville is Georgetown and I was sworn to despise them no matter what the case.  I’ve been a fan of Edgar Sosa since Coach Rick Pitino started recruiting him.  But more importantly, I’m pulling for the Cardinals to beat Marquette Tuesday night.  After beating UConn this past weekend for its tenth Big East conference win, the Cardinals are probably one conference win away from sealing up an NCAA tournament bid.  Pitino has long preached that his team will need 11 conference wins to seal a bid.

Marquette coincidentally also has 10 conference wins.  However, as one of the hottest teams in the country right now with 8 wins in their last 9 games, their case to make the tournament is just a little bit stronger than Louisville’s right now.

And if Louisville doesn’t beat Marquette, well, they play top-ranked Syracuse on March 6.  You already know where I stand on that game.

Big East Brain Teaser

I might not have the best jump shot, but I’m pretty good at solving brain teasers and puzzles.  They’re fun to do and they’re great brain exercises!  If you have a minute, try to figure this one out and post your answer as a comment.  I’ll put up the correct answer sometime next week.  Let’s see who the real brainiacs of Waterford Place are!

The Wildcats, the Huskies, the Orange, the Hoyas, and the Cardinals are basketball teams in the Big East Conference. The Hoyas are in first place leading the Cardinals by three games. The Orange are ahead of the Wildcats. The Wildcats are behind the Huskies by one game. The Huskies are behind the Cardinals by seven games while still behind the Orange by three. What are the standings? (Including games behind).  This is purely fictional of course.