CRAWFORD | ESPN leaks women's bracket, Louisville No. 1 seed in Albany

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The drama ended sometime around 3 p.m., when ESPNU inadvertently began posting the NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket as Dick Vitale was talking about the men’s tournament.

Before long, viewers with quick eyes (and cell phones) were piecing together the bracket. For Louisville, the news was good and bad. ESPN apologized for the gaffe on camera and moved the selection show from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The good, Louisville got a deserved No. 1 seed, the second straight year they have been named a top seed, and second year in their history. The bad news? They’ll be the No. 1 seed in the Albany Regional, and the No. 2 seed will be perennial power Connecticut, which has reached the Final Four every year since 2008 – a string of 11 straight.

ESPN issued this written apology via Twitter:

ESPN Statement Regarding the NCAA Women’s Tournament Bracket https://t.co/NpWbMoDCV2 pic.twitter.com/zffGXI6BTx
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) March 18, 2019

In essence, Jeff Walz’s comments about seeding ring true.

“For us, at the end of the day, you know, being a No. 1 seed is great,” he said. “It's a great honor. It just shows you what your body of work has been throughout the entire season. But wherever they send us, we know we're going to get the opportunity to play the first two at home unless this loss put us to a 5 seed, which I don't think it did. So, I feel pretty confident about that. And then it's one game at a time. I've said it the 12 years I've been here. If you can figure out a way to get to the Sweet 16, it's anybody's ballgame. They're great teams. And you've just got to play your best that night.”

Louisville being the No. 1 in Albany opposite UConn is little different from being named the No. 2 seed in the region with UConn the No. 1, except, perhaps, some slightly more favorable early matchups.

And first, Louisville has to get there.

To do that, the leaked bracket Louisville will have to win a couple of games in Louisville. They’ll face Robert Morris at noon on Friday in the KFC Yum! Center, a game they’ll have to play without head coach Jeff Walz, who will be serving a one-game suspension handed down by the NCAA Tournament committee after comments he made around tournament officials near the end of last season’s Final Four loss to Mississippi State.

Should Louisville win, it would face either Michigan or Kansas State.

The Cardinals expect to have the services of starting point guard Arica Carter, who missed their ACC championship game loss to Notre Dame with a strained knee. They also expect to have a healthy Sam Fuehring, who broke her nose in the ACC semifinal, then went down early in the title game with a sprained ankle.

Louisville finished the regular season 29-3, with two of those losses coming to No. 1 overall seed Notre Dame. U of L was ranked No. 3 in the women’s basketball RPI, with a strength of schedule of No. 5.

The Cardinals beat Connecticut during the regular season, 78-69, but that game was in the KFC Yum! Center.