Morehead St. defeated Alabama St. 58-43 in the opening round game of the NCAA tournament, and will now play Louisville in a rematch from earlier in the season, which Louisville won 79-41.

In the first matchup, Louisville held the Eagles to just 29% shooting, including 3-19 from three point range. The Cards also forced 17 turnovers and blocked 10 shots.

The last time Morehead St. made the tournament, in 1984, Louisville eliminated them. Expect a similar outcome this time.

The Cards lead the all-time series 30-11, and are 2-0 in the NCAA tournament against the Eagles.

The game will be played at 7:10 PM on Friday in Dayton, OH.

For those out there who may consider No. 1 overall seed Louisville (28-5, 19-2) to be one of the more vulnerable No. 1′s to have an early exit in this year’s tournament might want to reconsider.

Sure, I’m one of the believers that this year’s championship is more wide open than it has been in awhile and I expect some jaw-dropping upsets to take place before it’s all said and done. But I doubt Louisville is going to be on the opposite end of any of those major upsets.

Though the Cards carry the burden of expectation as the No. 1 overall seed and a No. 1 ranking in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today coach’s poll, U of L head coach Rick Pitino has proven in the past that he is more than capable of putting his teams in a position to meet those expectations that go along with being a No. 1.

Four times has Pitino led teams into the tourney as No. 1 seeds, all during his tenure at the University of Kentucky. Three of those four reached the Final Four (93, 96, 97). Of those three Pitino led squads that made it to the Final Four, two of them (96 and 97) made it to the final game and in 96 his team won it all.

Oh yeah, Pitino’s lone No.1 seeded team that failed to reach the Final Four in 95, made it to the Elite Eight. Not too shabby.

Of course, as we’ve seen throughout the entirety of this year’s college basketball regular season, being tagged as the No.1 team in the nation has been like a plague to those who carried the crown. But Pitino has this group of Cards playing their best ball of the season when it counts.

These Cardinals possess many of the team characteristics that translate to deep runs in March. Depth, stellar defense, strong rebounding, balanced scoring, veteran guards and top-tier overall talent, especially in the front-court with Terrence Williams, Earl Clark and Samardo Samuels.

For U of L the time is now. Over the past four seasons, this group of Cards have gone through a substantial transition since entering the Big East in 2005.

From an NIT team in 2006, to a two and out to the NCAA in 2007, to an Elite Eight finish last season, to the No.1 overall seed 2009, senior leaders Williams and Andre McGee have been through it all, almost. Williams and McGee are now in the best position they’ve been in to take the next step and bring another piece of hardware back to the Ville for the first time since 1986.

And as the Big East conference regular season and tournament champs, I’m expecting them to make a serious push in accomplishing just that led by Ricky P!

Rutgers Pro Day will take place Monday at 2 p.m. at the Scarlet Knights’ practice bubble featuring many former RU football team members.

NFL Combine participants Kenny Britt, Tiquan Underwood and Courtney Greene are expected to attend the event, aiming to improve on their original combine numbers.

Other NFL hopefuls expected to attend include RU quarteback Mike Teel, defensive tackle Pete Tverdov, linebacker Kevin Malast and defensive backs Jason McCourty and Glen Lee.

Future Louisville point guard Peyton Siva led his team to the Washington 3A State Title and was named tournament MVP after recording 10 points, 4 steals, and 3 assists in the championship game.

Siva was also named Washington’s Mr. Basketball, and led his team to a 28-1 overall record.

Earlier in the season, Siva helped his team become the first out-of-state school to capture the King of the Bluegrass Championship, a tournament hosted in Fairdale, KY, since 1999. He was named tournament MVP in the event as well.

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Another first for the University of Louisville men’s basketball program happened today as they received the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press’ college basketball poll.

The Cards jumped up four spots after capturing the Big East Tournament title and having the teams ahead of them, with the exception of Memphis, fail to win their respective conference tournaments.

Louisville received 45 out of 71 first place votes, North Carolina and Memphis each had 11, Pittsburgh 3, and Connecticut 1.

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I attended Spring football practice the other day and spoke with running back Victor Anderson, the reigning Big East Freshman of the Year.

Although they have only been practicing for a few days, Anderson looked impressive, and seems to be in great shape.

“We’ve only been practicing since Sunday you know, but everyone is pretty crisp, we still have a lot of work to do at certain positions such as quarterback. We don’t have anyone with any experience coming back. But I think we are going to be alright, we’ve been working very hard. Despite none of the quarterbacks having any playing experience they’re looking good and everyone is in shape”, Anderson said.

I asked Anderson if he would be prepared to take on a heavier load given the uncertainty at quarterback, and if being the focal point of the offense would be a challenge to him.

“I think it’s going to be a complete team deal, that’s how it should be. Receivers, runnings backs, quarterbacks, everyone needs to step up and play as a team. I don’t think the focus should be around one guy”, Anderson said.

Anderson, who finished with 1,047 yards last season, gave his thoughts on competing with West Virginia’s Noel Devine for the Big East rushing title this season.

“That would be a good personal goal for me, but my first goal is to help my team win the Big East title and then win a BCS game. We’re marching in the right direction to do that. I’m not really worried about competing for any individual awards against someone else, I’m just excited about playing with this team and trying to win a Big East championship”, Anderson said.

Finally, Anderson addressed last season’s fallout at the end.

“We have to put that in the past and march forward. We’re going to march forward and work hard for this upcoming season”, Anderson said.

Louisville resumes Spring practice next week, and I’ll speak with Anderson again as well as others.

The Cardinals were voted No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll today shortly after receiving the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Louisville received 14 of 31 1st place votes, for a total of 752 points, 24 ahead of No. 2 Memphis who received 11 1st place votes. No. 3 North Carolina received the other 6 1st place votes.

The AP Poll hasn’t been released at the moment, but the Cards could land the No. 1 spot in it as well.

Capturing both the Big East regular season and tournament championships has netted Louisville the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Cardinals will begin play next weekend in Dayton, OH, facing the winner of the play-in game between Alabama St and Morehead St.

If Morehead St advances to face the Cards, it will be the second time this season they will have played. The Cards won 79-41 at Freedom Hall in November.

If the Cards advance to the Sweet 16 they will be playing in Indianapolis, giving them a geographical advantage over their potential opponents in the region semifinal and final.

Two other Big East schools also received No. 1 seeds, Connecticut in the West region, and Pittsburgh in the East. This is the first time in history that one conference has gotten three No. 1 seeds.

After winning the Big East regular season championship by defeating West Virginia on the road last Saturday, Terrence Williams still felt like his team was underappreciated.

While their were several members of the sports media who suggested the Cards still weren’t worthy of a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, Williams and the rest of the Louisville team seemed to know all along that they were one of the top four teams in the country based on their on-court focus throughout the Big East Tournament.

The No. 5 Cardinals completed their sweep of the Big East regular season and tournament championships last night by defeating No. 20 Syracuse 76-66 at Madison Square Garden.

Given that the conference as a whole once had nine teams in the top twenty five, and could land three number one seeds in the NCAA Tournament, what the Cards accomplished will certainly go down as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the program.

The Cards had to rally from an eight point halftime deficit after Syracuse closed the first half on a 13-2 run to lead 38-30. Syracuse was able to prevent the Cards from executing their full court press by hindering them on the offensive end.

But for the second straight game, Louisville came out strong to open the second half and never looked back. The Cards opened the half with a 13-3 run during which they forced three Syracuse turnovers.

With the game tied at 43, Syracuse missed six straight field goals and began showing signs of fatigue from playing so many minutes over the span of the tournament.

A three by Andre McGee at the 4:04 mark sealed the game for the Cards. McGee finished with 10 points, going 3-6 from three point territory.

Terrence Williams had another well rounded performance with 11 points,  7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 7 steals.

As for the Orange, they showed not only against the Cards but throughout the tournament that they are a team that can compete with any team in the country and have the heart and willingness to play through any conditions.

Jonny Flynn was named tournament MVP, the first time a player from the losing team has been named MVP since 1996. Flynn deserved the award, after setting the records for minutes played and assists in the tournament, and coming three points away from breaking the tournament scoring record.

Congratulations to both teams, and good luck to each member of the Big East conference in postseason play.

The No. 5 Cards (27-5, 16-2) will have a chance to win their first Big East Tournament Championship tonight after already capturing the regular season title.

After coming back from eight points down at halftime against No. 13 Villanova (26-7, 13-5) to win 69-55, Louisville will be favored to defeat No. 20 Syracuse (26-8, 11-7) tonight.

The Orange have played seven overtimes in their last two games, almost amounting to three games in two days.

Louisville was able to beat a fresh Syracuse team on the road 67-57 in January, and with the amount of pressure the Cards put on opposing teams, it will be interesting to see how much energy the Orange will have especially in the second half.

If Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf can somehow overcome the amount of energy they have expended over the last two days and be effective against the Louisville guard pressure, it could go down to the end. It won’t be easy though.

Given all the aforesaid circumstances, in addition to how well the Cards have been playing, I’m going to predict that the Cards win 71-60, capturing the Big East Tournament title and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.