They didn’t present quite the Goliath-like challenge that UConn gave the Vandals a season ago, but the Louisville Cardinals have asserted themselves as a contender within the highest tier of NCAA Division I women’s basketball.
And due to a rather questionable No. 3 seed, Idaho, given a somewhat expected No. 14 seed, was forced to duke it out with another one of the national heavyweights.
It was another battle Idaho coach Jon Newlee and the Vandals would find overwhelming. In Idaho’s second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the Vandals fell victim to an 88-42 loss, capping off a season in which they finished 25-9.
That mark included just one loss in conference play and a second straight WAC Tournament title, which this time around, was coupled with a regular-season conference title.
Newlee’s back-to-back feat will likely go down as the greatest in program history — at least thus far.
And what is his reward for the season — one that even ESPN bracketology experts predicted would earn a No. 13 seed?
Louisville. The same Louisville that worked its way into last season’s national championship game, where the Cardinals met the same UConn Huskies that Idaho played punching bag to in the Round of 64.
And this Louisville team may be a hint better than last year’s national runner-up squad. After all, three of the Cardinals’ four losses have come to — you guessed it — coach Geno Auriemma’s unbeaten Huskies. The other loss was to No. 10 Kentucky.
For the Cardinals, also ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25, the No. 3 seed came as a surprise. The idea that the NCAA tournament selection committee overlooked Louisville, then picked eight one or two seeds ahead of the Cardinals is laughable within itself.
While it originally appeared the Vandals might have been victim to an old-fashioned NCAA “snub” — Team Room C went silent when Idaho’s opponent was drawn — it’s without doubt that Louisville got the bad end of this deal.
Even Louisville coach Jeff Walz said so.
“What we’re trying to do right now is prove that we belong. I think a lot of that, with our seed, has to do with respect,” the coach told media members after disposing of the Vandals.
And surely the seeding process had its effect on Idaho, a team that may have been a few quality non-conference wins away from earning a No. 12 seed. Even without those RPI boosts, Newlee and company were justified in the moans and groans that represented their displeasure with the seeding process.
Even ESPN women’s bracketology expert Charlie Creme projected 14-seeded Idaho to meet No. 3 seed Nebraska in Seattle. The location, for obvious reasons, was ideal and the opponent more manageable — though still a tall task for the Vandals.
Yet for all we know, the Cornhuskers may have provided the same kind of thumping Louisville did.
For an Idaho team still climbing the ranks of national respect, a 14 seed is better than a 16 and Louisville is better than UConn.
It can only mean progress for a program that has made leaps and bounds of it after just two years.
Theo Lawson can be reached at [email protected]