With Florida, Wichita State and Arizona considered as locks for the three number one seeds, will the defending national champions eventually get that last top seed ?
Cardinals coach Rick Pitino believes so.
"We'll probably be a No. 1 seed," he told ESPN College Basketball via BleacherReport.
Whether the Cardinals snag the last top seed or not, it cannot be denied that the team is one of the hottest in the country right now. On Saturday, the Cardinals handily defeated rival University of Connecticut, 71-61, to win the AAC. In winning the tournament, the Cardinals posted a combined winning margin of 100 points in three games.
While many observers have not been talking about the Cardinals this season, ESPN's Andy Katz believes this squad will be very dangerous in the NCAA tourney. He wrote: "Louisville is a force to be reckoned with in conference tournament play. The Cardinals have won three straight postseason tournament titles -- two in the Big East and one in the American. The Cardinals have won all their conference tournament title games by double-digit points for the second straight season. Add to that Louisville's two straight Final Four trips and one national championship, with a possibility of a repeat."
The Cardinals are led by senior Russ Smith and forward Montrezl Harrell. While Smith is the unquestioned leader, Harrell is the prodigious talent. Two coaches-Josh Pastner of Memphis and Mick Cronin of Cincinnati-called Harrell the difference maker and all-around talent in Louisville, per Katz. As the ESPN writer puts it: "Harrell has made everyone forget about Chane Behanan. Harrell has been sensational and not just because of his dunking. He finished with 22 points, 11 boards and 3 blocks in the title game."
Rob Dauzer of collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com gives a fair assessment of the Cardinals' recent play: "With Russ Smith playing the best basketball of his career; with Montrezl Harrell dominating the paint for the last month; with Chris Jones finally finding a way to mesh with Smith; with Luke Hancock healthy; with the Louisville defense hitting another gear; with all of that happening right now, we're realizing that there was a legitimate reason that the Cardinals were a consensus top three team back in the preseason."
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