By Josh Lipka

The NCAA Tournament is no stranger to upsets. Anyone in the right state of mind would have chosen the No. 4 seed University of Louisville to undoubtedly defeat the No. 13 seed Morehead State University, a university which only enrolled around 9,000 students in the fall of 2010.

Cardinal fans all over the land expected the Cardinals to go deep into the NCAA Tournament, after the regular season drew to a successful end with the team as the runner-up in the Big East Tournament. Entering the 2010-2011 season, the Cardinal roster presented a young and inexperienced team, but quickly stole the hearts of thousands. After many critics projected the Cards to finish strong in the NIT, head coach Rick Pitino and his ambitious bunch shocked many, sitting pretty in the Top 25 in both AP and USA Today polls throughout much of the season.

So what does this devastating loss mean for U of L? Well, quite frankly, this loss means more than a Cardinal fan would like to think. The Cardinals put on an entertaining regular season with several big wins, living up to the name of the Comeback Cards. But one poor performance in the NCAA Tournament put an end to hopes for a happy ending. What stings the most after all the excitement is the fact that the University of Kentucky has made it to the Sweet Sixteen, after a payback win over West Virginia University – the eighth Big East team to exit this year’s NCAA Tournament.

All a Cardinal fan can do now is hope a remaining Big East squad will pull through to assure the country that the conference is still respectable. Alternatively, we can start thinking about the 2011-2012 season. Both options are painful to ponder, considering the Cards are no longer participating in this year’s NCAA Tournament and the 2011-2012 season is far down the road. Regardless, here’s to new beginnings.

As far as the rest of this year’s tournament goes, keep your eye out for junior guard Kemba Walker, who averages 23.6 points a game, and his University of Connecticut Huskies. Perhaps the face of the Big East will be saved. And, if you are a Cardinal fan, you better hope UK loses so you don’t have to deal with the obnoxious Big Blue Nation, and everyone else who will jump on that bandwagon.