By Eddie Bobbit

As the end of the year approaches, it is time to look back on the year that was. The University of Louisville athletic teams had a series of triumphs and now look forward to the future more so than ever.

Men’s basketball

The youthful Cards had a rough start to begin the year. With losses to the University of Dayton, University of Massachusetts, and arch-rival University of Kentucky, many fans were questioning the direction of the team. Many people counted the Cards out midway through the season. However, a group of freshmen turned it all around. The Cards finished as the runners up in the Big East conference after a run led by freshman Edgar Sosa and sophomore Terrence Williams. Fans can look forward to next year as seven of the top eight leading scorers return.

Football

The headliners of the year were supposed to be the Derby City Duo of Michael Bush and Brian Brohm, but that didn’t come true. Bush went down early during the UK game and Brohm during the Miami University game. The team pressed on and remained undefeated until a late road trip to East Brunswick, N.J.

A late fourth quarter field goal ended the National Championship hopes. However the Cards did get a chance to play in the BCS Orange Bowl against Wake Forest University, and they took home their first ever BCS victory.

To add to it, the teams stadium is expanding to 63,600 seats.

“The expansion of Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium is such an exciting project. Not only am I honored to be the new head coach of such an outstanding program, I am just as excited to have a stadium that will accommodate so many Cardinal fans,” said new Head Football Coach Steve Kragthorpe.

Women’s basketball

For the first time in school history, the University of Louisville’s women’s basketball team was a consistent fixture of the Associated Press Top 25. The Cards continued a strong home winning streak through out the year, only to lose the final game against West Virginia University. In the NCAA tournament Arizona State University defeated the Cards in the second round.

Sophomore All-American Angel McCoughtry was named Big-East Player of the Year, and continued to add to her growing list of accolades.

However the Cards will lose three seniors and enter next season with a new coach. Former Head Coach Tom Collen resigned as the Cards coach to take up a coaching vacancy at the University of Arkansas.

New Coach Jeff Walz, who is highly regarded for his work at University of Maryland as an assistant, will look to fill the void left with three seniors graduating.

Those seniors include guard Katie Olson, forwards Jazz Covington, and Helen Johnson.

“To be honest with you, it was a really hard season for me. I battled through some injuries this year that limited my playing time.” Olson said.

Track and Field

One of the biggest story lines this year for Louisville was track and field, as they won the first national titles for U of L since basketball in 1986.

Sophomore Andre Black won the triple jump national title and fellow sophomore Tone Belt was victorious in the long jump at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships at the University of Arkansas The cards finished 10th at the Indoor Championships.

“Before I came here, people said that they had never heard of Louisville in track and field, but we’re really doing some great things with our team,” Black said.