By Ben Chroneos

I’m not normally a writer; I’m usually a picture-taker, but I just got back from U of L’s defeat of West Virginia and Final Four berth and I’m wondering what Bob Bowlsby is thinking right now.

Over the past three weeks I’ve been photographing U of L’s every move in the postseason, and while Louisville has pulled out victories each time, they haven’t been getting much in the way of respect for their hard work. I mean, everybody had that February cynicism about Louisville, especially after their first meeting with Memphis. But shouldn’t a regular season and conference tournament title help dispel such talk?

The day after Memphis’ Darius Washington, Jr., fell to his knees at the free-throw line, I made my way back to Louisville and started getting calls from people about who got what seeding. First they listed off the #1 seeds: North Carolina –– understandable, Illinois –– ditto, Duke –– okay, Washington –– Washington?

At first I was completely thrown by the news of a generally unknown, albeit skilled, team like Washington being given a top seed, but I forgot about that when I heard Louisville received a #4 seed. But, the selection committee is always drawn to teams like Duke, Kentucky and Kansas: they have a history of pulling out wins and Louisville hadn’t seen a Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight in seven years. It was even longer since a Final Four –– 19 years to be precise.

If the news of Louisville’s seeding wasn’t enough, I was then informed I had to go back to Tennessee for the NCAA tournament. The worries set in: was Louisiana-Lafayette as much of a threat as Pitino had warned? And if U of L survived that, could they survive a possible Georgia Tech match-up? It seemed as if that four seed was essentially a death sentence.

Louisville stumbled against UL-Lafayette to make it to the second round, but that was more than Kansas could do against Bucknell. After Georgia Tech proved themselves against GWU, I heard nothing for the next two days except how significant and challenging the second round would be for U of L. After a 22-point rout of Georgia Tech, it seemed as if the pundits were starting to take Louisville seriously.

In Albuquerque, either Louisville or Washington would get to prove themselves. Washington’s Thursday night game against Louisville once again proved there were some poor decisions made on Selection Sunday. Louisville was only one game away from St. Louis and Saturday would remind everybody why they’re known as the Cardiac Cards.

Too much confidence can be a dangerous thing, much like Kevin Pittsnogle’s 3-point shooting. U of L spent much of the first half learning what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a 3-point attack, being down by as many as 20 points at one time. West Virginia broke records that night, and played one of the best games of the tournament, yet U of L prevailed. And for the first time in a long time, Louisville finally earned the respect that comes with being one of the Final Four.

So, this one is for you Mr. Bowlsby. I doubt anyone cares anymore who got a #1 seed and who got a #4 seed, because in the Final Four, everyone’s a #1 seed.

 

Ben Chroneos is a junior majoring in Anthropology and Photo Director for The Cardinal.

E-mail him at: bchroneos@louisvillecardinal.com