I believe this was the first time since 1996 that Louisville won in the NCAA as an underdog. They defeated higher seeded teams in both 2005 (as a 4 vs. #1 Washington) and 2008 (as a 3 vs. #2 Tennessee), but in each case the Cards were actually the betting favorite. The last time prior to 2005 they beat a higher seeded team was in 1997 as a 6 vs. #3 New Mexico, but I believe Louisville may have been favored in that game as well. If not, they were the slightest of underdogs. The last time they were definitely an underdog and won was 1996 as 6 seed vs. #3 Villanova and Kerry Kittles. DeJuan Wheat dropped 19 in that game after scoring a career high 32 the previous round against Tulsa.

In 2005, on their way to the Final Four, the Cards were a 4 seed and faced a 13 (ULL), a 5 (GT) a 1 (UW) and a 7 (WVU). This year their path has been the same and again only the 7 seed Florida stands in the way. Perhaps history repeats itself. If so, in the Final Four they'll again encounter the overall number one seed (Illinois), in this case Kentucky.