"That is nice rhetoric, but it is zero rhetoric in my opinion," Pitino said. "I think that Earl is bent on it. He's going pro. Trust me on that one.

"I'm not in agreement with it, but it's sort of like your son or your daughter. You don't approve of the person they are going to marry because you see all the blemishes and all of the future problems. They don't see it. They get married, and you hope it turns out to be a good marriage."

Ever since the ACC took Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College from the Big East, the conferences have had a strained relationship.

Since then, the Big East has had the better of the deal. From a football standpoint, the ACC have actually suffered (though has a conference title game) while the Big East has had teams in the BCS Championship hunt.

Same thing has kinda happened in basketball. UNC's win over Louisville last night in the Elite Eight ended a tough losing streak the ACC was suffering against the Big East.

In the 2008 tournament, both Clemson and Duke were ousted by Big East teams (Villanova and West Virginia, respectively). In both games, the ACC team was better seeded team.

In the 2007 tournament, both Boston College and North Carolina were eliminated by Georgetown in the only meetings the two conferences had in the dance.

In 2006, the conferences met once in the tournament: Villanova beat Boston College.

The last time that the ACC beat a Big East team in the NCAA tournament was back in 2005 when North Carolina beat Villanova in the Sweet 16. Since then, the Big East had won five straight tournament games in the series.

Tyler Hansbrough helped fend off a Louisville rally by scoring 28 points and grabbing 13 boards in North Carolina's win over Louisville, 83-73.

The East Regional Final matchup was like watching two games in one.

In the first half, Louisville pressed the Tar Heels which led to a ton of easy baskets. UNC simply threw over the press and beat the defense back for layups. When they did have to play a halfcourt game, Carolina could shoot anything they wanted because they dominated the offensive glass. Danny Green and Wayne Ellington were awesome, scoring a combined 20 points.

UNC went into the break up 44-32.

The second half was much different. The Cards made a great adjustment of having David Padgett (who Roy Williams successfully recruited to Kansas) at the high post and running screens off him. He found cutters open for layups and/or created a foul on the Heels. It also kept Carolina's big men away from the basket and Louisville found some offensive boards.