UPDATE: The NCAA offered an expedited waiver for Louisville to attend the women’s game, but the school declined due to travel plans already in place, reports ESPN’s Brett McMurphy.
Louisville men’s team denied request to travel for women’s title game
A trip to New Orleans to see the women’s title game would be deemed an extra benefit by the NCAA.
Streeter Lecka
With one national title in the books, the Louisville men’s basketball team hoped to travel down to New Orleans to watch the women’s team battle Connecticut for a championship on Tuesday night. That request has been denied by the NCAA, though, according to Jody Demling of Cardinal Authority.
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A school-funded trip to New Orleans to attend the women’s title game would be deemed an extra benefit by the NCAA. Essentially, if the Louisville players want to go, they will need to pay their own way there.
What Rick Pitino’s squad will likely be missing is a chance to see Louisville in the women’s championship for just the second time in school history. The last time the Cardinals were there was in 2009, when they lost to Connecticut, 76-54.
A win for Louisville would match a Division I accomplishment that has only been pulled off in 2004, when both the men’s and women’s team from Connecticut won the national title. On Monday night, the Louisville men’s team defeated Michigan, 82-76, in the championship game.
The women’s game will tip-off at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN on Tuesday.
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