Two titles down, one more to go for Louisville

NEW YORK -- Eric Devendorf cut through the lane for what looked like an easy lay-up. But he missed it. Which meant the same guy who had been burying shots from everywhere all week, both before and after the buzzer, could no longer convert, even from a foot away.

The good news?

Rick Pitino has had success at every collegiate stop. Can't be a coincidence. (US Presswire)

Jonny Flynn was right there, standing in the right place. So when the ball came his way it seemed like he'd stick it back, no problem. But Flynn fumbled it away and Louisville grabbed it. Then Edgar Sosa flew down the court and forced Syracuse to foul him with 8:22 remaining.

And that's when it was clear the Orange were spent.

Done.

Too tired to battle their way out of a double-digit hole.

"I'm not going to talk about that," said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. "Louisville played better than us in the second half."

Right.

When you got tired.

Just say it!

"If we got a little tired," Boeheim said later, "we might have gotten a little tired."

(Finally, a pseudo-acknowledgement. Now let's move on.)

Louisville won the Big East tournament with a 76-66 victory over Syracuse late Saturday here at Madison Square Garden, ending the Orange's improbable run to the title game that produced three wins and seven overtimes, six of which came in Thursday's epic battle with Connecticut. No question, Syracuse was the story of the week, even in defeat. But the story of the year is this Louisville team that lost to Western Kentucky in November and entered 2009 with an 8-3 record (featuring no notable victories) before winning 20 of their next 22 while claiming both the Big East regular-season and Big East tournament championships.

Seriously, how did that happen?

"We just stayed positive," said Louisville's Earl Clark, who got 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Orange. "And we kept listening to Coach P."

Coach P is Rick Pitino.

Perhaps you've heard of him.

He's now won nine conference tournament titles in 22 seasons as a collegiate head coach, doing it at three different schools (Boston University, Kentucky and Louisville) in four different leagues (North Atlantic Conference, SEC, Conference USA and Big East.) Up next -- barring a huge surprise from the selection committee -- is Pitino's fifth NCAA tournament No. 1 seed, and if you're thinking about picking Louisville to not make the Final Four you ought to know that three of Pitino's four previous No. 1 seeds resulted in Final Four appearances.

Consider yourself warned.

And how about this question: Will Louisville be the overall No. 1 seed?

That was the debate around MSG long after midnight, whether these Cards -- who were, again, 8-3 when the calendar turned -- are now in position to be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament based on the fact that they are the only BCS-affiliated school to win both their league's regular-season championship and tournament championship. In fact, the Cardinals were the only major conference champion to even make the championship game of their conference tournament after Washington (Pac-10), North Carolina (ACC), LSU (SEC), Kansas (Big 12) and Michigan State (Big Ten) were each bounced early.

"Being a part of this team is great," Pitino said. "I love the fact that we (took both titles) in the toughest year in the history of the Big East."

So now there's just one more title to go.

It's the big one, the one awarded on the first Monday in April,

And with the way the Cards are playing, they might just get that one, too.