Rick Pitino as Robin

Cardinals coach Rick Pitino (front center)/AP Images

As long as he stays where he is, he will always be Robin. As long as he stays where he is, he will always be the second most famous guy in town to Colonel Sanders. But now-a-days that does not bother Louisville’s head coach Rick Pitino. 


By Lauren Dellipoali 

He lead his Cardinals to the Final Four and they are the final Big East team remaining. After a tough loss to Syracuse to end the season, many did not predict the Cards to go far, but Pitino had faith, and how could he not?

Pitino has been around the block more than once. He used to coach at the rival school, Kentucky, and made the mistake of not guarding Duke’s Grant Hill in the infamous loss in 1992. He made up for that by winning the title in 1996, but then he jumped to the NBA before landing at Louisville.

With all Pitino has been through in his life from losing his six-month old son, to losing two brothers-in-laws to the famous extortion case, Pitino has been through it all. To him this is just a game, not life or death. The once hard-edged yeller from Long Island has toned it down, and is now simply enjoying the ride.

Pitino, 59, should be mentioned with guys like Krzyzewski, Boeheim and Calhoun on top on the wins list, but he’s not. His two NBA stints cost him years during which he could have added to his win total, which would likely be over 800. That doesn’t seem to bother Pitino as he recently said on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption that he doesn’t think about the wins he could have had, but he said he gained valuable information from his time with the Celtics and Knicks.

As the last Big East team remaining in this tournament, and as one of the few teams actually staying in the Big East, the Cardinals have shown the Big East and college basketball they are a force to be reckoned with. They may not receive the love and praise as their rivals Kentucky, and their town may always be better known as the birthplace of KFC, but Pitino and his team seem content with playing second fiddle.

NCAA Final Four Set

Washington Huskies/AP Images

With the National Championship game a week away, the Pac 12 has no representatives.

By Kristin Callahan

The Final Four is set. Kentucky from the SEC and Louisville from the Big East will face off on Saturday at 6:09. The Buckeyes of Ohio State from the Big Ten and the Kansas Jayhawks of the Big XII will compete for a spot in the national championship game at 8:49 on Saturday.

While not shocking, the Final Four does not include a team from the Pac 12. The Pac 12 only received one bid and that was the automatic bid earned by the Cal Bears. The Washington Huskies weren’t invited to the Big Dance but instead were invited to the NIT Tournament or the Not Invited Tournament. There was a time when being the regular season champions of a conference secured you a spot in the field of 64 but in this day in age where mid-majors are filling up the field and earning automatic bids, the regular season champs are often left out.

The Cal Bears were the only team to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Bears were a team that lost non-conference games to tourney teams Missouri, UNLV, and San Diego State and only had a win over Weber State. They began Pac 12 play with a win over a USC team that went 1-17 in conference play. The Bears was the best team the Pac 12 had to offer and they received a play-in game from the committee.

The conference has only one solution in the upcoming offseason and that is to get better. In order to gain the respect and attention they once received from the NCAA selection committee and sports fanatics around the country, the Pac 12 needs to start playing better basketball.

Nothing Lucky About the Run of Kentucky

Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist shoots over Baylor players/AP Images

Kentucky is moving forward and may take home the title.

By Trevor Hass

A few brave souls picked defending champion UConn over Kentucky in the third round. The Huskies didn’t even get to that game, and Kentucky beat down on Iowa State instead.

Another small percentage of the population picked Indiana over Kentucky. The Hoosiers did it once, why couldn’t they do it again? Indiana gave up 102 points as the Wildcats ran all over the Hoosiers.

A miniscule amount of those who filled out a bracket picked Baylor over Kentucky. It wasn’t even close. The Wildcats put the game away in the first half. They were up 20 heading into the break and never looked back.

The vast, vast majority of people picked Kentucky to make the Final Four, and that is exactly what happened.

There’s no beating around the bush here. The Wildcats are hands down the best team in college basketball and have five to seven players that will play in the NBA.

In fact, freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has already declared for the draft. Nowadays many freshmen go pro too early such as Duke’s Austin Rivers and Iowa State’s Royce White, however there’s no denying that MKG is ready. Kidd-Gilchrist scored 19 points against Baylor on 7-10 shooting and dominated inside and out.

Another player who will likely go pro is Anthony Davis. Wildcats fans had a scary moment when Davis took a tumble in the second half and injured his knee. It had potential to be a devastating blow, but Davis was back within minutes and didn’t miss a beat. He finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks and one trimmed but still noticeably grotesque unibrow.

Davis out-blocked 322 Division 1 teams this year and shattered the Kentucky single season record. He has 169 on the season and also shoots 63% from the floor.
The Wildcat offense is unquestionably better than the potentially implemented offense of the New York Jets with backup quarterback Tim Tebow. Kentucky also likes to run and they do so early and often, destroying opponents with their size, athleticism, and outright superiority.

It will be shocking if the Wildcats don’t win the tournament. Crazier things have happened, but if all goes as planned, they will go down as one of the best teams in NCAA history.