Thursday on The Sportsline Rich and Larry previewed the big Big East showdown down in Louisville as the 5th ranked Cardinals hosted 3rd ranked West Virginia.  Brian Bennett of the Louisville Courier Journal checked in live from Papa John Stadium.  He talked about Louisville's impressive run to remain undefeated despite key injuries to RB Michael Bush and QB Brian Brohm.  Bennett said the defense has come up huge for the Cards, and expected them to hang on and beat WVU in a great game. 

Jack "Pops" Bogaczyk, former columnist of the Roanoke Times, and current Sports Editor of the Charleston Daily Mail also checked in live prior to kickoff.  Pops expected WVU's defense to struggle stopping Brohm and the Louisville offense, and also predicted a Louisville win.  "Pops" also talked about Rich Rodriguez and the rumors of him heading to Chapel Hill to fill the UNC vacancy.  Bogaczyk doesn't think its likely, saying that if Rodriguez were to leave WVU, it would more than likely be for the FSU job when Bobby Bowden calls it a career, or for Clemson.

Norm and the Recliners, the 2003 & 2004 Elite Divison Champions in The Sportsline Song Parody Contest also officially through their hat in the ring for the 2006 competition at Cattle Annie's in Lynchburg.  

And . . . Girl Trivia from Wednesday evenings show carried over into the Thursday show as well.  Mary, the disgruntled runner-up was still very bitter over the loss, and was especially hung up on the ruling for her answer on the tight end question. She even got her husband Ric into the fracas, having him look up rules on Wikipedia and send a condescending email to R&R.  

Rich found an explanation from NFL Referee Jerry Markbreit explaining exactly why Mary's answer was incorrect and still Mary and Ric refused to acknowledge the obvious ... nor did they offer an apology to Rich and Larry.  

Rich's read on the whole situation: Mary came in, not necessarily to win Girl Trivia and the tickets, but to prove how smart she was . . . and teach R&R a lesson.  Her strategy backfired as she tried to be smart, but wound up giving too much info on certain questions which made her answers incorrect. Then like typical woman, she refused to acknowledge her mistake and just blamed the men.  What else should we have expected.