NCAA Tournament: Cal clobbers Louisville, shocks President Obama

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The University of California beat The Louisville Cardinals in an upset in the NCAA Tournament, 77 to 62. Cal clobbered Louisville, never once trailing in the contest played in Jacksonville. And in the process, had to shock President Barack Obama, who didn't even think twice in picking Louisville over Cal.

The win also slam-dunked the blog of New York Times College Basketball bloggger Pete Thamel, who last Monday questioned why Cal was even matched up against the Louisville Cardinals, and their supposedly superior bench.

Here's the CBS Sports video recap:

Louisville was supposed to be the more physical team, but Cal's Head Coach Mike Montgomery designed a game plan that never allowed Head Coach Rick Pitino's Terrence Jennings and Samardo Samuels to get going. Cal's Jerome Randle, Jorge Gutierrez, Theo Robertson, and Patrick Christopher, played to smother and outscore the Cardinals' big men.



But, as in any NCAA Tournament game, contests like this come down to a few moments. In this one there were two primary ones: Cal's Jerome Randle, hitting a long-distance three-pointer with just 3.7 seconds to end the first half, and the dual penalties of an intentional foul and a technical foul on Louisville's Pitino with just over 2 minutes to go. That second moment allowed Cal to increase its lead to 16 and salt the game away.

Now Cal plays top seed Duke this Sunday. Meanwhile, ESPN and the NY Times just can't believe what's happening to The Big East. Both Pac-10 teams Cal and the Washington Huskies, which beat Marquette the previous night, were not favored and made fun of by the East Coast press.

Who's laughing now? President Obama, pick Cal over Duke. Yes, we know about your long-time aide Reggie Love's love for Duke, but you're better off picking Cal.

GO BEARS!