Sweet 16 Preview: Louisville vs Tennessee (10 PM)

Pics courtesy of TheDirty.com

The final game tonight pits the evil empire in Louisville versus the evil empire in Knoxville. People may talk about the teams involved, but we all know that this is all about the coaches. Rick Pitino is the man who took Kentucky to the brink of a dynasty and then left….to move to Louisville and….well, do ok, but not great. In my view, this three day period in Charlotte is huge for his legacy in the River City. Go to the Final Four and you have taken two different teams to the big show at Louisville and you can generally say he has been a strong success. Lose tonight or even Saturday, and you are the guy with two NITs and a generally disappointing regular season record. Tonight is big for Rick. As for Bruce Pearl (who looked as bizarre in high school above as he does now), this is a chance to show he is for real, and not just a Chris Lofton-driven regular season phenomenon. Win tonight and you are made a bit more valid as a top tier coach….lose and you are Purdue by a different name.

I got Louisville….by a lot. But I could be wrong….hit some threes and you are in the game Tennessee….put Ramar Smith at point and go cold from the outside and it dont look good. We shall see…..