Pitino: California is Dangerously Underrated

by Stephanie CrosbyUniversity of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino says his team is up against a dangerously underrated California team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.The Cards were given a nine-seed after an early exit from the Big East Tournament last week. They’ll face eighth-seeded California Friday night in Jacksonville.Pitino says he hasn’t looked at the rest of the brackets.“This is the first time in my life as a basketball coach I haven’t studied the field. First time," says Pitino. "I haven’t looked at the bracket, studied it because we’re up against it, we know that, and every waking moment we have we’re studying Cal.”The University of Kentucky clenched a one-seed in the tournament with a SEC Tournament championship win this weekend. They’ll play sixteenth-seeded East Tennessee State in New Orleans on Thursday evening.Murray State University landed the 13-seed in the San Jose bracket. They face four-seed Vanderbilt Thursday afternoon.