An evening and morning have passed for basketball-obsessed Louisville to consider the pairings for the 2013 men's basketball NCAA Tournament. Some themes that have developed are that the Louisville Cardinals' Midwest Region is the toughest despite being the overall No. 1 seed and the defending champion Kentucky Wildcats being left out of the field.
Aside from the obvious question—"Who wins?"—this year's bracket leaves a great deal to think about. Let's take a look at the pairing by the numbers.
U of L's Midwest Region was instantly pegged by analysts as the toughest, and a few Cardinals fans grumbled on social media Sunday night. They may have a point.
Let's toss out No. 16 seeds—none has ever beaten a No. 1 seed. (Apologies to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.) If the better seeds win out, no team has a tougher road to the Final Four than Louisville, going by RPI ranking. The Nos. 8, 4 and 2 seeds in the Midwest average a 13.3 RPI ranking. (In fact, the No. 2 seed Duke Blue Devils are the RPI's No. 1 team in the nation.)
