Friday Cardinal Couple -- Field Hockey gets 2017 National Championships

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- UofL to host 2017 Field Hockey championships

- Neutral sites for WBB beginning in 2014-15 

The University of Louisville has been awarded the National Championships for Field Hockey in 2017 for Division I, II and III. The news from the NCAA is a boost for the Cards and Louisville...even though it is a few years away. Trager Stadium is the gold standard when it comes to field hockey facilities and...with a little luck, good recruiting and some hard work...maybe Justine Sowry's stick swingers will be a participant.

Maybe by then the NCAA will also figure out how to plan an NCAA Field Hockey Tournament event. 16 or 32 teams would seem to be a good idea. Where they came up with 19 squads this year is anyone's guess.

Connecticut, Duke, Maryland and North Carolina were the FINAL FOUR teams this season and the Huskies defeated Duke 2-0 in the finals...held in Norfolk, VA. where ODU plays.

That's three ACC teams (one that's leaving in Maryland) and a BIG EAST squad. With UConn winning...it's the second year in a row that a non-ACC team has won the title...after a 10-year run of the ACC providing the National Champ.

Louisville has hosted four previous FINAL FOURS in Field Hockey...the last time in 2011


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The NCAA women's basketball regionals are going back to neutral sites.

No regionals here for the foreseeable future

The championship committee announced Wednesday that Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Greensboro and Albany will host the 2015 regionals. The committee received  criticism this Fall from some coaches about the move to have regionals on campus
for this season's tournament.

"The committee heard the concerns from the coaching community in protecting
neutrality at the regional rounds and acted accordingly," said Anucha Browne,
NCAA vice president, women's basketball championships. "In looking for ways to
improve the student-athlete experience, the committee felt a move to neutral
regional sites was in the best interest of the championship."

Stanford, Notre Dame, Louisville and Nebraska will host games in March with the
chance to go to the Final Four on the line.

Muffet is a fan of integrity

"I'm so pleased to see the committee recognize the importance of neutral sites in order to preserve the integrity of the tournament," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. "I believe they are as happy as the coaches are that we will be able to play on neutral courts for the regionals moving forward."

The first two rounds in 2015 again will be played on campus sites with the top 16 seeded teams in the tournament hosting the sub-regionals.

The Final Four will be in Tampa. There was talk of trying to move it up two days
to a Friday-Sunday format, but while still possible it is unlikely that it will
occur in 2015.

Sites for the Division II and Division III Final Fours were also unveiled. The
possibility remains that all three levels may play their championship games in
Indianapolis in 2016 over the same weekend.

(Thanks to Louisville S.I.D. for the feed alert)

paulie
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