Louisville celebrates its win over Florida (Getty Images)

PHOENIX — Even before Louisville knows for sure whether its Final Four opponent will be Baylor or Kentucky, Cardinals coach Rick Pitino received a question about what it would be like to play the rival Wildcats.

Pitino insisted he has admiration rather than jealousy for top-ranked Kentucky's success, but he acknowledged the matchup would inspire plenty of interest and emotion from both rival fan bases.

"There will be people at Kentucky that will have a nervous breakdown if they lose to us," Pitino said. "You've got to watch. They've got to put the fences up on bridges. There will be people consumed by Louisville."

[ Related: Rick Pitino's 'T' sparked Louisville rally against Florida ]

Kentucky and Louisville have met 43 times since 1913 and every year since 1983, but the Bluegrass State rivals have never faced each other in a Final Four. In fact, they've only met four times in the NCAA tournament, splitting four meetings with Louisville winning the most famous one -- the 1983 "Dream Game" in the Elite Eight that essentially relaunched the rivalry.

If Louisville does meet Kentucky, the Cardinals can draw confidence from how well they played at Rupp Arena in January. They hung with the Wildcats into the second half before losing 69-62, not a bad performance considering the opponent, the venue and the injuries that plagued Louisville throughout a 22-win regular season.

"We had a good regular season and I don't think the majority of our fans really appreciated our terrific season," Pitino said. "They looked down the road and [Kentucky] only lost one game. I keep trying to tell our fans, we're not Kentucky. We have no desire to be Kentucky. We think they're excellent. We think they're great. I coached there. It's great. But we want to be Louisville."

Rick Pitino and Richard Pitino (Getty Images)

PHOENIX — Not long after the unveiling of the NCAA tournament bracket, Louisville assistant coach Richard Pitino sent a text to Florida coach Billy Donovan.

"I said, 'Let's see each other in the Elite Eight,'" Pitino said. "I was half-joking when I sent it, but now we're here."

If the dominant storyline of Saturday's West Regional final is the mentor-protégé duel between Donovan and Louisville coach Rick Pitino, then an intriguing sidebar is the 29-year-old assistant caught in the middle. Richard Pitino looked up to his father and Donovan growing up, worked for both as an assistant coach the past few years and calls them the two most influential men in his life.

[Related: Rick Pitino the survivor has Louisville one win from Final Four]

Although Richard inherited his father's facial features, Long Island accent and snappy sense of humor, everyone who knows him insists it's actually Donovan with whom he has most in common as a coach. Richard's reputation as a tireless recruiter and detail-oriented scout is consistent with both Donovan and his father, but his laid-back everyman's personality and ability to relate well with players is more reminiscent of a younger version of the Florida coach.

"Richard is not like me at all when I was his age. He's exactly like Billy," Rick Pitino said. "His mannerisms are a lot like Billy. He loves offense like Billy loves offense. He's a great scout, a great preparer of game plans, like Billy was. He's very humble, like Billy was. He laughs like Billy. You know, like Billy told my wife, 'I really miss having fun with Richard.' He likes to have a lot of fun. He's very close with the players, like Billy was."

It's no surprise Donovan was an influence for Richard Pitino considering how highly Rick regards his former player.

Darius Miller (Getty Images)

For more than three months, Kentucky has been forced to endure the sight of Christian Watford's game-winning buzzer-beater on everything from commercials to highlight shows to game broadcasts.

On Saturday, the Wildcats got sweet revenge.

In a fast-paced, aesthetically pleasing game in which both teams shot well and combined for just 14 turnovers, top-seeded Kentucky outlasted fourth-seeded Indiana 102-90 to advance to the South Regional title game against third-seeded Baylor. Most encouraging for the Wildcats was they managed to win despite star freshman Anthony Davis playing just six first-half minutes as a result of foul trouble.

The biggest reason Kentucky won was it consistently got to the foul line and converted, making an incredible 35 of 37 free throws. Indiana's suspect perimeter defense couldn't stay in front of the Wildcats' perimeter players off the dribble, especially Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Doron Lamb and Darius Miller, who had a combined 64 points and sank all 23 of their free throws.

Kidd-Gilchrist's 24 points were especially significant since he had been all but invisible the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Credit Indiana for proving wrong those who thought a motivated Kentucky team would run the Hoosiers out of the gym. Watford lit up the Wildcats for 27 and freshman center Cody Zeller shook off first-half foul trouble to score 20 points, never allowing Kentucky to stretch its lead to a comfortable margin until the final minutes. 

Baylor's Quincy Acy has a reputation as one of college basketball's most powerful dunkers, so it was no surprise to see the senior forward deliver several of the tournament's best slams during Friday night's 75-70 win over Xavier.

First came a one-handed throwdown in the lane off a slick pass from point guard Pierre Jackson late in the first half. Then Acy one-upped himself early in the second half with a one-handed alley-oop tip slam over 7-footer Kenny Frease off a baseline inbound pass.

"He's probably one of the best dunkers in the nation," Jackson said. "Y'all probably seen the bench. We all get excited. On the defensive end, it just makes us want to get another one for him. Try to get another stop and get another one for Acy."

Acy's dunks were the highlight of a spectacular 20-point, 15-rebound performance from the Baylor senior. He helped the third-seeded Bears build an 18-point first-half lead and withstand several flurries from 10th-seeded Xavier, setting up an Elite Eight matchup on Sunday between Baylor and Kentucky.

[ Related: Baylor gets tough in face of Xavier rally ]

Often overshadowed by future lottery pick Perry Jones III or by talented freshman Quincy Miller, Acy remains the most dependable, hard-working interior threat the Bears have in their formidable frontcourt. He even set himself firmly in the lane and took a key charge on Xavier guard Mark Lyons with 3:45 left, helping Baylor preserve a semi-comfortable 10-point lead and advance to its second Elite Eight in three years.

Austin Rivers (Getty Images)

If this season's Duke team lacked the talent to make a deep NCAA tournament push, the Blue Devils might be in worse shape next year.

Freshman Austin Rivers, Duke's leading scorer this season, will forgo his final three years of college eligibility, sign with an agent and enter the NBA draft, CBSSports.com reported Friday. The son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers averaged 15.5 points per game and was the lone Duke guard consistently able to get to the rim off the dribble.

Couple that with the impending graduation of Miles Plumlee and reports that brother Mason is also considering entering the draft, and Duke's roster suddenly starts to look less intimidating than it has in years.

If both elder Plumlees leave, Duke's top returning frontcourt players would be senior-to-be Ryan Kelly and redshirt freshmen Marshall Plumlee and Alex Murphy, with Josh Hairston and Michael Gbinije able to play either forward spot.  The backcourt situation is a bit more promising with Seth Curry, Andre Dawkins, Quinn Cook and Tyler Thornton set to return, but the lack of size and lateral quickness of that group was one of the biggest reasons Duke struggled to defend the dribble this season.

The arrival of 6-foot-4 incoming freshman Rasheed Sulalmon will help, but so far the Houston native is the only 2012 commit Duke has landed. The Blue Devils are still in the running for No. 1 overall recruit Shabazz Muhammad and elite big men Amile Jefferson and Tony Parker, any one of which would certainly be in position to add much-needed talent and contribute immediately.

Rivers' decision is no huge shock even though he certainly has facets of his game left to improve. His ability to get to the rim will translate well at the NBA level and his jump shot is improving, but his defense and ability to facilitate for his teammates are both works in progress to put it kindly.

PHOENIX — Almost 16 minutes into a first half rife with turnovers and errant shots, Louisville received some offense from an unlikely source.

Seven-footer Gorgui Dieng, who had missed his only two career attempts from behind the arc prior to Thursday night, caught a pass at the top of the key, recognized the shot clock was dwindling and buried an uncontested 3-pointer. The shot was improbable enough that it left Louisville coach Rick Pitino pumping his fist and grinning  and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo reclining in his chair with his hands on his head and a pained look on his face.

Dieng had the confidence to shoot that three as a result of a conversation he and coach Rick Pitino had after a practice last week.

"He kept shooting threes and I said, 'It looks pretty good, Gorgui,'" Pitino said. "He said, 'Next year, I'm shooting a lot of threes.' I said, 'No problem as long as you make them.' When he made it [Thursday], I said, 'I thought it was next year.' He just smiled."

Dieng's unlikely 3-point shot was just one of several ways he contributed to Louisville's upset of top-seeded Michigan State on Thursday night. The 7-footer also blocked seven shots, grabbed nine rebounds and tallied 16 deflections, a team record according to Louisville's unofficial calculations.

Perhaps the most significant sign of Dieng's progress was the way he managed to avoid foul trouble, a constant problem during the 7-footer's first two seasons at Louisville. Michigan State's Draymond Green, Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne took the ball right at him throughout the game, yet he was cautious in the first half, allowing himself to take more chances when Louisville needed it most.

"I'm trying to do the little things that help this team win," Dieng said. "They were trying to get me in foul trouble. I understand that. That's why I took it easy in the first half. Then in the second half I was able to be more aggressive."

PHOENIX — Just because Buzz Williams has promised not to do any more victory dances after inciting a near riot in Morgantown a few weeks ago doesn't mean the Marquette coach doesn't have an unusual celebration or two left in him.

He offered a sample during Wednesday's open practice at the NCAA tournament West Regional in Phoenix when he did a mock snow angel at mid-court after burying a half-court shot at the end of the workout.

Williams' irreverent antics aren't the only thing that sets him apart from his coaching peers at the West Regional.

On the one hand, there's Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan, all of whom have been to three or more Final Fours and captured at least one championship. On the other hand, there's Williams, who has been a head coach for only five seasons and has yet to make it past a Sweet 16.

[ Related: Tar Heels dominate list of top-selling NCAA basketball jerseys ]

"I wish that would have been a question on the SAT, I wouldn't have had to go to junior college," Williams quipped.  "The word association on the SAT, I would have gotten that right.

"Coach Donovan has won 27 NCAA tournament games.  Coach Izzo has won 37.  Coach Pitino has won 40.  All of them have won national championships.  All of them have coached in the league or decided they didn't want to coach in the league.  And the league that I should be in is the Lone Star Conference, a Division II league in Texas.  I should be an assistant in that league.  So I don't belong.  I don't compare."

Marquis Teague, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones (Getty Images)

Ryan Greene and I go head-to-head over whether Kentucky or the field would be a better bet entering the Sweet 16. Here's my take on why the Wildcats are prohibitive favorites:

In a single-elimination tournament best-known for the annual upsets no one sees coming, suggesting the favorite is a better bet to win the title than the rest of the field requires one to completely ignore historical precedent.

So why then is it so difficult to envision anyone but Kentucky cutting down the nets in New Orleans on championship Monday?

Other teams appeared to be playing at near the same level as the Wildcats for most of the season, but the field of contenders has thinned in March.

[ Video: Friday's can't miss NCAA tournament storylines ]

Syracuse lost the defensive anchor of its vaunted two-three zone when it ruled center Fab Melo ineligible for the NCAA tournament. North Carolina lost the engine of its formidable transition offense when point guard Kendall Marshall fractured his wrist last Sunday vs. Creighton. And Duke and Missouri just lost, ousted by a pair of No. 15 seeds on the second day of the tournament.

Kentucky, on the other hand, is healthy, hungry and improving by the day.

Anthony Davis is a game-changing defensive big man whose offensive repertoire is blossoming. Darius Miller and Doron Lamb are more dependable shooters this season than any previous John Calipari team has had. Enigmatic forward Terrence Jones has played with more fire and more consistency of late. And if point guard Marquis Teague is the supposed weak link, then that 24-point, seven-assist performance he had against Iowa State has to be mighty scary for the naysayers.