After winning the Big East tournament on Sunday, the Lousiville Cardinals were named the top overall seed for the NCAA tourney. (REUTERS)
The 75th NCAA March Madness tournament is anybody’s ball game.
It has been a while since things were as wide open as this tourney projects to be.
Five teams held claim to the No. 1 overall spot in the rankings this season, a far cry from last year, when powerhouse Kentucky was the clear favourite all along, before eventually powering through in New Orleans.
This time, Kentucky isn’t even here — the Wildcats will play for NIT glory.
Louisville locked up the No. 1-overall seed in the tourney, finishing the job by rallying to knock off Syracuse in the title game of the final Big East tournament.
This is an impressive group, led by one of the best coaches around, Rick Pitino, who is 42-16 at March Madness, including a championship in 1996.
Building on a Final Four appearance that ended against the Wildcats, the Cardinals went 29-5, including 14-4 in the now-dead Big East, surviving the loss of defensive stopper Gorgui Dieng, who is now back in action.
