No. 14 Boise St (25-8) vs. No. 3 Louisville (24-8)

Rick Pitino will lead his Louisville Cardinals into Birmingham, Alabama for a first round tilt with the Western Athletic Conference tournament champion Boise State Broncos on Friday.

Although the Cardinals are heavy favorites, Coach Pitino will have to refocus his players after a one-and-done performance in the Big East tournament or else the Cardinals will find themsleves flying back to Kentucky.

Boise State head coach Greg Graham entered the season with an unremarkable 60-63 record as Broncos head man. With recruits like NBA draftee Coby Karl (son of Denver Nuggets head coach George Carl) and Eric Lane, nobody questioned Graham's ability to evaluate and recruit talent. Yet he was unable to turn talent into wins.

This season Graham, who was on the proverbial coaching hot seat, managed to turn all that Bronco talent into a 25-win season that included three separate five-game win streaks. The 25 wins were the most for Boise State under Graham's reign as head man.

Senior forward Reggie Larry broke out, averaging a robust 19.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Larry not only led the Broncos in scoring in rebounding, but also led the team in minutes played and blocked shots.

Larry is joined by fellow forwards Matt Nelson (15.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Tyler Tiedman (14.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg) to form the most formidable frontcourt in the WAC.

The Broncos played four games against 2008 tournament teams and went 2-2 in those games with wins over BYU and San Diego, while losing to Washington State and Siena.

Louisville opened the season with a top-10 ranking and lofty expectations from both Cardinal faithful and insiders alike. With four returning starters from last season's 24-10 squad, many believed coach Pitino's Cardinals would be dancing in San Antonio.

Yet early season, injuries to key players such as PF Juan Palacios and C David Padgett, combined with pre-Christmas losses to BYU, Dayton and Purdue, resulted in Louisville falling out of the top-25 and off the Final Four radar.

In typical Pitino style, the Cardinals got healthy and finished with a flourish. They went a perfect 8-0 in February and suddenly found themselves back in the top-15.

They did, however, end the season with back-to-back heartbreaking losses to Georgetown by three and a gut-wrenching overtime loss to Pitt in the Big East tournament.

The Cardinals biggest challenge in this game is regaining their emotional and mental focus after such devastating losses. A first round exit will be tremendously disappointing considering the talent level.

The Cardinals did not have one standout player during the regular season. Instead, they spread duties around with different players taking on scoring roles in each game.

Louisville has four players that averaged at least 10 points-per-game, yet no player averaged more than 11.7 points. They also had five players average at least four rebounds per game, yet had no player average more than 8.1 per game.

While this can make Louisville's offense difficult to prepare for, it also leaves question marks as to who will take the shot when Louisville needs a clutch basket. This issue came to the forefront in their last two games when the Cardinals were unable to make important baskets down the stretch.

The Broncos proved their toughness in winning a triple-overtime thriller on the road in the WAC championship game. If they can keep this one close, one has to like the shot-making ability of BSU's Reggie Larry in clutch situations.

5Dimes.com opened with Louisville -13 with the 'total' opening at 146.

The winner of Friday's contest meets either No. 6 Oklahoma or No. 11 St. Joseph's in the second round on Sunday.

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