All that said, and the crazed rivalry with Kentucky aside, Crum believes Wildcats freshman Anthony Davis ranks among the best college players to ever play the game. That’s high praise, but Davis’ season is backing that up. He’s averaging 14.3 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.6 blocks per game and has helped Kentucky to a Final Four date with in-state rival Louisville on Sunday.

Denny Crumjoined 790 The Zone in Atlanta with Mayhem in the A.M. to discuss his relationship with Rick Pitino, if he and then-Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall were friends when coaching against each other, the pressure to win another NCAA tournament after winning your first, the toughness of the tournament and Anthony Davis’ place in college basketball history.

How well do you know Rick Pitino at this point?:

“I know Rick and we don’t have a lot of interaction. He’s busy coaching his team and I’m busy doing radio shows and working with the university still. … We just don’t see each other that much, but I’ve been friendly with him. I’ve never had any kind of an issue at all. He’s been nice to me. I don’t go to his practices and stuff because when you’re on this radio show, you get asked all kinds of questions and I don’t want to have to answer every question on there because I don’t want people thinking I’m trying to coach his team.”

Everyone talks about the lack of a relationship between Pitino and John Calipari. You now do a radio show with former Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall. How well did you guys know each other?:

“When you’re competing, you don’t get to know him that well, because you may meet him on the recruiting trail, but on a day-to-day basis, they’re 70 miles up the road and you’re just not around each other. But when you go to the coaches meetings and all the things involved with the Final Four, you usually see him. … You get to know him a little bit, but not as well as you would if you were in the same city and had lunch together occasionally or something like that. When Joe and I were competing, we were always friends and friendly. Yeah, we had a rivalry. In fact, it started in 1983 in Knoxville, Tenn., we played them in the finals of the regional and we beat them by 12 points in overtime. Since that time, Louisville has been playing Kentucky once every year.”

When you win a first national championship, does the mindset become even crazier about having to do it again?:

“You know, I was an assistant to Coach Wooden in ’69, ’70 and ’71. We had won it all three of those years. I’m not taking the credit, I was just an assistant coach. But I was a part of it. And I thought that was the way it was supposed to be. I took the Louisville job and my first team had a bunch of seniors on it and we went to the Final Four my first year at Louisville. And I thought, ‘Well, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.’ But you find out that you’re a lot better coach when you have better players, and I’m no exception. It’s a funny thing because you win it and you really feel good about that and you think you’ve got the world by the tail. … Pretty soon it’s in the past and now you’ve got to start and do it all over again.”

On the toughness of the tournament:

“People pick their brackets before the tournament and they think it’s about seeding. … Well, that isn’t going to work. There have been 16 upsets in the tournament, higher seeds beating lower seeds, in this particular tournament already. What it’s really about more is matchups and how well you’re playing right now. The beauty of our tournament is you get not only the schools that were best during the year, most of the time you’ll get the schools that are the best at year-end.”

You’ve been around the game for some time. Do you have a best one or two players you’ve ever seen?:

“Well, I’ll tell you what, this Anthony Davis has gotten to be in that category. He is such a dominant player. He rebounds, he shoots, he’s developed an outside shot, he passes the ball, he blocks shots like no one I’ve ever seen. He has great hands, long arms, doesn’t foul hardly at all. He’s probably, all-around, about as good as anyone I’ve seen. There’s a lot of good players, but I think he’s separated.”

That’s some compliment:

“Bill Walton was as good as anybody I’ve ever seen when he was healthy. … When he was healthy I don’t know if there’s ever been anybody ever better.”

Listen to Denny Crum on 790 The Zone in Atlanta here

Louisville Associate Head Coach Richard Pitino joined WQAM in Miami with Curtis Stevenson to talk about the comeback against Florida, how this team compares with some of the other teams his father has coached in the past, on the team’s defensive effort this season, what the team can take from an earlier meeting against Kentucky, what he makes of Kentucky star Anthony Davis, and what it means to the state of Kentucky to have Louisville playing the Wildcats in the Final Four.

On the team’s comeback against Florida:

“Yeah it really was amazing. We certainly went on a run, I think it was an 18-3 run, it was pretty simple, we started playing man-to-man and switching everything, trying to take away the three point shot. They didn’t make a three in the second half and we really chipped away at it. Chane Behanan and Russ Smith made big plays and for us to do that with losing our best player fouling out, Peyton Siva, really was remarkable because they controlled the game really for 32 minutes. For us to find a way to win that game was really unbelievable.”

How this year’s Louisville squad compares to some other teams Rick Pitino has coached in the past:

“It’s pretty similar to his 1987 Providence team. You hate to say it because it’s pretty cliché but nobody expected us to do this and I don’t think anyone picked us. We really, really overachieved. If you look at our roster, everybody always says we don’t have the talent to win games and this and that but you look back and we won 30 games, we won a Big East Tournament Championship, we made a great run to the Final Four, and hopefully were not done yet. These guys have a lot of heart, they just keep fighting through it, keep overachieving, and they’ve been a lot of fun to coach.”

On the team’s defense this year:

“We’ve had a great team this year in the sense of they have really focused on preparing and scouting the opponent. They have locked into that all year and I think that has really contributed to us playing good defense. You look at who we are playing Saturday and going into Michigan State, us and Michigan State were tied for two and Kentucky was one, so something is going to have to give here. We’re going to have to turn it up defensively and certainly we’re going to have to score some points.”

What he can learn about the first meeting against Kentucky:

“We will watch it and we’ve watched a little bit of it already. It’s comforting in a sense because if you look back to that game we really didn’t play well and we’ve become a much better team. They have certainly improved as well but we were not half the team we were back then. Peyton Siva was not the type of player he is now, Chane Behanan was in foul trouble the whole game so we have really improved but they have definitely improved as well. I mean their record speaks for themselves and the talent they have and their ability to get the most out of what they have so it’s going to be a war, they’re a great, great team, and we have nothing but respect for their talent and their coaching staff so it will be a lot of fun.”

On Anthony Davis:

“He’s one of the best shot blockers we will ever see so when you have a guy like that who changes the games it’s going to alter your game plan. He changes it and they have a lot of great players. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is probably the most underrated player out there. The fact that people don’t realize he is probably a top five player in the draft and he plays so hard and competes so hard. Then you have a guy like Darius Miller who comes off the bench who would probably be about 60 of the teams in the tournament’s best player so they have great, great players, they play extremely hard, and they’ve bought into winning and playing great defense.”

On the fans in Kentucky being so excited about this Final Four matchup:

“It’s two very rabid fan bases. I have been on both sides of it and experienced both sides of it. They both love their basketball and there’s no pro sports in here so that’s probably why it’s a bit more unique than Carolina, New York, and places like that. It’s big for Louisville and it’s big for Kentucky and I didn’t realize that until after we won that they had never played in the Final Four before so I think it will start heating up here pretty soon. It’s been relatively quiet but I’m sure starting tomorrow here people will start getting revved up.”

Listen to Richard Pitino on WQAM in Miami here

Kentucky, of course, is the clear No. 1 in the polls right now, and it turns out Rick Pitino believes with some certainty that they belong there easily. Pitino says the Wildcats are in a class of their own, with about 19 teams log-jammed behind them.

Rick Pitino joined ESPN Radio with Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo to discuss the identity of his team, the Cardinals’ success on the road, if he ever believed he had a top-four team on his hands, Kentucky’s dominance, winning in the NCAA tournament and the future of the Big East.

Have you gotten a sense at this point as to the identity of your team?:

“I think so. Sometimes, especially in the Big East — you’ve seen it with Seton Hall, you’ve seen it with West Virginia, you see it with us — sometimes the schedule dictates when you have your streaks and when you have your lulls. If you’re on the road in the Big East and you have a stretch where you play three of four on the road, sometimes you’ll go the other way, then you’ll get home and have a streak.”

On his team’s recent success on the road:

“It was the same thing last year. Since we joined the Big East, the one distinction that we’ve had, we’re the number one road team in the Big East since we joined the league. We’ve won more road games than any other Big East team. I can’t tell you why. I don’t really know why.”

You guys were 12-0 at one point and ranked No. 4. Did you see this team as a No. 4 team in the nation?:

“No, I didn’t, because of a couple factors. We were not healthy. We were winning certainly, but when you looked at how we were winning, we beat Vanderbilt in overtime and we blew out Long Beach State, which they were very hot at the team and very good. … We played some tough teams, but we just executed and did some good things. But I never looked at us as a top-four team so far this year.”

On Kentucky being head and shoulders above the field:

“I think Kentucky is in a class by themselves. Not only are they extremely talented, but they’re well-drilled on defense and the only way I see Kentucky going down is if you somehow do what we did in the first half and get Anthony Davis in foul trouble. Then they’re a very good basketball team … when he’s on the bench. … The rest of the teams, I think 2 through 20, I think we’re all in the same boat. We may not have been three or four, but I don’t know if we’re that much behind Kansas or that much behind Baylor.”

What’s the secret to why you’ve been able to have successful NCAA tournament runs at multiple places?:

“When we’ve played well, I always felt that we were risk-takers. We tried to pick up the tempo rather than slow down the tempo. We tried to gamble a little bit more in terms of changing our defenses. Most people coach in the tournament as if they’re getting ready for social security. Everybody plays it close to the vest. They’re concerned about not making a mistake. I think sometimes your players get a little uptight from that philosophy, so we try to go the other way at times when we’ve been healthy.”

Do you think the Big East will survive?:

“I think it’ll survive and I think it’ll be better in football, because let’s face it, Pitt and Syracuse, they have great tradition in football, but they have not been great the last eight to 10 years. Now you’re bringing in Houston, SMU, San Diego State, Boise State — programs that are now [better] programs in football. Where we get hurt is obviously you lose Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia [in basketball]. … [Syracuse] is the team that epitomizes the Big East. When you go to the Garden in the Big East tournament, Syracuse buys up all the tickets. Their fans are metropolitan-area people, so it’s mind-boggling to me how that happened. That being said, we took a great step in getting Memphis. … I’ve been pushing, obviously … is Temple. … To me, Temple is ideal.”

Listen to Rick Pitino on ESPN Radio here (Interview begins at 13:20)

Louisville has experience, with its top two scorers upperclassmen. The Cardinals also have a talented sophomore in Peyton Siva. They even have an experienced and talented coach in Rick Pitino. What he says the team is missing however, is size and rebounding, and he thinks that could affect their first-round meeting.

Louisville has drawn No. 13-seeded Morehead State, which boasts plenty of experience of its own. I’m not really buying that the Cardinals will struggle in this game, but think they could down the road against the likes of Kansas, but in a year full of parity, I won’t blame anyone for putting Louisville through to the national semifinals.

Rick Pitino joined ESPN Radio with Mike and Mike in the Morning to discuss what the Cardinals will need to do to make a run, the changing times as college basketball continues to move away from having experienced players, what the Cardinals will take with them from their Big East tourney run and his thoughts on Dick Vitale picking Louisville in the Final Four.

How will they be able to make a title run?:

“We’re a team that plays a lot of close games. We’re not an overpowering team. We’re good enough to stay in the game because we shoot the ball well, we pass the ball well, we create a lot of assists. … But we’re small and we have difficulty with big teams that rebound well. We’re going to have a heckuva opener with Morehead State. … They have two players that would be all-Big East.”

On the changing times where having four seniors is now an anomaly:

“It’s created great parity in the game. It’s certainly a reason why Butler can get to a Final Four. Utah State could make a big run in the tournament, Belmont. They have been brought up to the rest of us who sometimes have a one-and-done or two-and-done basketball player. … I also think it enhanced the interest in the game because 12, 14, 15 teams could win a national championship this year.”

What will his team take away from the Big East tournament?:

“The competition is awesome. … We came back a very tired, physically beat up basketball team and I think Connecticut is the same way. … I do think it has got us tournament ready and certainly we are going to gear down in the next few days and get our rest. But it is so competitive and so intense at Madison Square Garden. … It’s the best tournament in the world.”

If it’s good or bad that ESPN’s Dick Vitale has picked Louisville in his Final Four:

“Well, he’s pretty accurate. He’s been pretty good. He’s not like Digger Phelps where he is the kiss of death, so that’s pretty good for us.”

Listen to Rick Pitino on ESPN Radio here (Interview begins at 6:30)

With that said, it’s really time to start thinking about which teams might have a chance, including those that are getting a whole lot of pub. In the following interview, Louisville coach Rick Pitino picks his former player Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators, the top team in the SEC.

He probably could’ve have tossed his own team in that mix. He’s already guided the Cardinals to the Final Four once before, did the same in the past with Providence and won with Kentucky. This year, the publicity has gone to other Big East teams in Pitt, Notre Dame, St. John’s and Syracuse, but Louisville finished tied for third in the league and would have had a chance to win five straight games to end the regular season if not for a boneheaded final few seconds against West Virginia this weekend.

Who’s your darkhorse candidate for national champ?

Rick Pitino joined ESPN Radio with Colin Cowherd to discuss the current rules in place mandating that a player can’t go straight to the NBA, darkhorse candidates to win the national championship, the possibility of 11 Big East teams in the Big Dance and watching LeBron James play in high school.

Is there a good solution for the current rule where players can’t go directly from high school to the NBA?:

“There’s no substitute for disciplined organization, learning obviously the skills to become a college student and a college athlete. I agree with baseball and football. There’s nothing wrong with going right out of high school as far as I’m concerned, but if you do go to college, I think you should stay three years.”

Wouldn’t any kid that was close then automatically go to the NBA?:

“It’s better than what we have now. If you allow people to come in one year … you’re basically going to school for one semester. Second semester you end up dropping out, you don’t go to class, so basically we’re a farm team for the NBA. And we don’t really want that. … As an NBA coach, the last person I wanted to draft was a high school athlete unless it was a LeBron or a Kobe.”

Is there a team out there that nobody is talking about that he believes thinks could win the NCAA tournament?:

“Well, I’m a little biased, but everybody overlooks Florida. Obviously Billy Donovan played for me, but I think Florida’s the type of team with three seniors in the front court with a very quick backcourt. … They’re a team that could beat anyone on a given night. I look at Florida. Although they are ranked 14th in the nation, nobody talks about them as a potential national champion. But they have the experience in their head coach, they have the experience in the frontcourt, the returning backcourt. … Outside of [Ohio State] you could flip a coin.”

Is it a good thing that 11 Big East teams could make the tournament?:

“Well, we have 18 teams and we’re about to become 19. We’re really not a league anymore, we’re a corporation. … Having 11 and all of the teams were ranked at one time in the top 25 and probably eight were ranked in the top 15, you can see it in a given year.”

His impression of LeBron James when he saw him in high school:

“Up close, I couldn’t believe the size of him as a high-school basketball player. When you stand next to LeBron today, you see him on television and think he’s 6-5, but you’re talking about someone 6-foot-8, 6-8’5 and 250 pounds. He’s great at getting other people shots. But what happens to a lot of these great players and the same thing was true with Michael [Jordan] early on, these guys aren’t great shooters.”

Listen to Rick Pitino on ESPN Radio here

Unfortunately for Louisville, and me since I had the Cardinals as my team in my March Madness pool, Terrence turned in easily his worst performance of the year against Michigan State for a shot to get to the Final Four. Terrence was 1 for 7 from the field with 5 points and 6 rebounds. Most feel that Terrence considerably hurt his draft stock that day by not playing better on what was easily his biggest game of his college career.

The New Jersey Nets ended up selecting Terrence 11th overall on draft day, and earlier that day, shipped their biggest box office draw in Vince Carter off to the Orlando Magic for Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, and Tony Battie. This basically opens up the shooting guard and small forward roles that Carter occupied. Terrence will be expected to play big minutes right away.   His versatility on the court is very similar to Andre Iguodala.

Terrence Williams joined WFAN to talk about being selected by the New Jersey Nets and on if he knew how high they were on taking him.

On if he’s happy that New Jersey selected him:

“Oh yeah, most definitely. I’m happy with Mr. Frank and Mr. Thorn there. I’m happy with the whole trade that happened today. Courtney (Lee) to come there, Rafer (Alston) to come there, I’m most definitely happy.”

Terrence was asked about the Nets shipping off Vince Carter in a way to get Terrence more minutes:

“I think when that deal happened, I saw that they were going to put a lot of pressure on me to come in and play. I’ve been in a lot of pressure situations playing for Coach P (Rick Pitino) so I look forward to that.”

On if he knew how interested the Nets were in selecting him:

“I kind of heard they were. There was a couple of things I needed to work on and honestly I went to Charlotte right after there and I worked on those things and that’s why Charlotte was so high on me I believe. New Jersey they told me when I talked to them on the phone that they see a lot of potential in me and they know what I can do because the game film that they watched and what their scouts told them. At the end, everybody gets what they want.”

Terrence was asked if his final game in the NCAA Tournament hurt his chances on being selected higher:

“I think so, honestly. At the end of the day, I can’t get too hung up on that, what I did at Michigan State. I am human and I had a bad game. I wish I could replay it and relive it but you’ve got to move on. In New Jersey, that number 11, in the lottery to be taken, it means a lot to me so I’m not really worried about if I would have went higher if I would have won that game, I’m worried about the situation I’m in now.”

Listen to Terrence Williams on WFAN in New York with Steve Somers

After an unsuccessful stint with the Boston Celtics, Pitino returned to a Louisville program in 2001 that hadn’t really done much in the final years of the Denny Crum era. After close to a decade to leave his stamp on the Cardinals, Pitino has Louisville rocking and rolling, just two games away from their second Final Four in four years (2005). Getting to the Sweet 16 this year wasn’t a breeze however. The Cardinals had to stave off a pesky Siena team that was senior laden and not at all intimidated by Louisville’s superior athletic prowess. Pitino joined Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio Wednesday to talk about how he was pleased his team got pushed to the limits, and how he thinks that experience will serve them well moving forward beginning Friday against #12 seeded Arizona.

“The one thing I was concerned about more than anything is – I called three timeouts in the span of a couple minutes because I could see the seeds of doubt on my players’ faces. And I spent the three timeouts not talking about strategy or Xs and Os. I just tried to motivate them to make them understand that we were going to win the game. Because…when you’re down to Siena and they start thinking this could be the worst thing in the world – the #1 of the #1 seeds – you’ve got to convince them in those three timeouts that we’re definitely going to win the game.”

Rick Pitino – master motivator. Listen on.

Listen here to Pitino with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio

Watch highlights of Louisville vs. Siena

View Midwest region bracket coverage on CBS Sportsline

Reason why #1 seed doesn’t make it to the Final Four:   If Louisville shoots poorly and doesn’t put up points on the board, they can’t press on defense and their defense is by far their best offense.

Best bet in the first round:   Kansas -10 over North Dakota State

Player I’m most looking forward to playing in the NBA:  Chase Budinger.  Just to see if he can become one of the handful of decent white American swingmen.  This list is short:  Mike Miller and Mike Dunleavy.

Prediction for this bracket:  Louisville.  Since the beginning of 2009, they’ve been the best team in the nation.  Their defense is sublime.  If Michigan State wins this bracket, they basically will be hosting the Final Four.  Sleeper pick would be West Virginia.

Listen to Michigan State (#2) Head Coach Tom Izzo on ESPN Radio with Tirico & Van Pelt

Listen to Kansas (#3) Head Coach Bill Self on WHB in Kansas City with Kevin Kietzman

Listen to Utah (#5) Head Coach Jim Broylen on KFAN 1320 in Salt Lake City with DJ & PK

Listen to West Virginia (#6) Head Coach Bob Huggins on WHB in Kansas City with Soren Petro

Listen to Ohio State (#8) Head Coach Thad Matta on WBNS in Columbus

Listen to Siena (#9) Head Coach Fran McCaffrey on Fox Sports 980 in Albany with Roger Wyland

Listen to USC (#10) Head Coach Tim Floyd on KLAC/Fox Sports Radio with Chris Myers & Steve Hartman

Listen to Dayton (#11) Head Coach Brian Gregory on 1530 the Homer in Cincinnati with Lance McCallister (6:30 into podcast)

Listen to Arizona (#12) Head Coach Russ Pennell on KTAR in Phoenix with Doug & Wolf

Listen to Cleveland State (#13) Head Coach Gary Waters on WFAN in New York with Mike Francesa

Listen to North Dakota (#14) State Coach Head Coach Saul Phillips on the Dan Patrick Show

Listen to Robert Morris (#15) Head Coach Mike Rice on WSCR in Chicago

Listen here to Morehead State (#16 Midwest) head coach Donny Tydnall on KJR in Seattle