When the Louisville Cardinals last won the NCAA championship, Rick Pitino was 34 years old and concluding his first season as a high-major head coach with the Providence Friars. As they prepare to end that drought this weekend in Atlanta, he now is on the brink of earning induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
So almost an entire brilliant career, really, has passed since Louisville last stood atop the college basketball world. Pitino has been to the Final Four with Providence, (re)built a dynasty at Kentucky, flopped in the NBA but left with one heck of a payday and then returned to college to revitalize a fading Louisville program.
Rick Pitino and Louisville are the clear favorites to cut down the nets in Atlanta. (AP Photo)
This is his third Final Four with the Cardinals, but his first in which the road truly begins here. The 2005 and 2012 teams were certainly eager to take their shots on Division I’s grandest stage, but there is no doubt each was fulfilled to have made it that far.
“I think our mentality is way different,” said forward Chane Behanan, who started against Kentucky in last year’s Final Four. “We’re a way better team than last year.”
Louisville arrives at the Georgia Dome as not merely better than last year’s version, but as a better team than anyone else in the 2012-13 season. The Cardinals are 10-13 favorites to win the championship, which means they may be a great “bet” to win it all but they’re not the most inviting investment.
They are, however, the best choice to rank at the top of our annual list of the Final Four teams in order of their likelihood to win the NCAA championship.
by Sporting News
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