Tagged: Louisville Cardinals

Kentucky transportation officials have a hunch that thousands of people will descend onto Lexington's Rupp Arena for first and second round games of the NCAA Tournament, starting Thursday.

And, of course, there's roadwork on state highways to contend with.

Here's some advice issued Tuesday morning by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet:

The pairings are set for the women’s NCAA basketball tournament.

The Louisville Cards will face Middle Tennessee State Sunday in opening round play at the KFC Yum Center.     U of L is seeded fifth in its region.     If the Cards win they’ll take on either Dayton or St. Johns in the second round.

The Kentucky Wildcats are a number two seed and will take on Navy Sunday in Queens, New York.   If UK advances, the Wildcats will face either Purdue or Liberty in second round play.

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.)

The Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team will be the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, heading to Lexington where they'll play Thursday against either Liberty or North Carolina A&T.

In the Midwest Region, Louisville would play either Colorado State or Missouri in the second round. The Cardinals won the Big East Tournament on Saturday and enter the NCAA Tournament with a 29-5 record.  The Duke Blue Devils are the region's No. 2 seed.