Continuing to use the cheap brand of lingo you see in the header, isn’t the morning after Selection Sunday mmmmmmmmmmm good?

Unless, your team didn’t get its ticket punched. In which case, you spent last night watching “Walking Dead” instead of the Digger and Dickie V Show.

If you were watching, did you happen to catch the really embarrassing moment when Vitale seemed to space out while on camera, after starting to scream about a first round matchup that exists only in his mind? And, Digger didn’t disappoint. U of L was nowhere to be found near his Elite 8 picks. Imagine our surprise.

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It’s obvious Louisville’s still hard to comprehend 2d half turnaround against Syracuse to win the Big East tourney impressed a lot of folks.

The sports blogosphere.

The nation’s basketball punditry.

The Social Media Universe.

Most important, the Selection Committee, which rewarded the Cardinals with a perch on top of the top line.

I am bemused by the cacophony arising, the gist of which goes like this: “The committee certainly didn’t do Louisville any favors. Duke. Michigan State. St. Louis, the hardest 4 seed matchup, several conference champs . . .”

Hey, kids, calm down. That’s why it’s called the NCAA Tournament. This is serious stuff. There are no free passes.

Remember Rule #2? You only play who(m) you play.

That’s right. So all of you U of L fans concerned about Michigan State, Duke, Memphis, Creighton, Cincy and Valpo, don’t forget this: If — and that’s the operative word — if Louisville advances to the regional final, the Cards will only have to play one of those teams. Okay?

Worried about Oklahoma State, Oregon and St. Louis? If . . . if Louisville advances to the Round of 16, it will have to play only one of those teams.

Which brings me back, for neither the first time nor the last time, to Rule #2: You only play who(m) you play.

My classic reminder is the path the ’82 Cardinals took to the Final Four. Ralph Sampson and Virginia, a team U of L could play a hundred times that year without a W because of awful matchup problems, would have been the Cards’ Elite 8 foe, but for one little matter. U of L beat Minnesota in its regional semi. But UVa lost to UAB, opening a hole big enough for Refrigerator Perry to get to the national semis.

You only play . . . etc, etc.

Survive and advance. Which is, altogether now, Rule #1.

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Speaking of which, if you didn’t see the premier showing of the 30 on 30 flick last night about NC State’s ’83 title run, check the listings and watch.

Very interesting.

Louisville has a cameo. The Cards lost to Phi Slamma Jamma in the semis that year.

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While I was switching stations in the aftermath of the Bracket reveal last night, and actually turned the TV off for a bit, I was struck that the ESPN gang was gentle on Seth Greenburg, who became somewhat of a Selection Sunday celebrity through the years.

His Virginia Tech Hokies were seemingly always on the bubble. And seemingly by 7:00 pm, were the kids standing outside, looking through the window at the candy shop. So Greenburg would bray on and on about the injustice of the slight.

It will be nice in future years if his comfort level with his past increases. Then the gang can give him shit about it, like Raftery and McDonough give Jay Bilas about losing the ’86 title game.

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U of L’s VP for Sports Info, Kenny Klein, advised in an email last night that tickets for the Lexington subregional are still available.

Click here for more info.

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Let’s hear if for Scotty Davenport’s Bellarmine Knights.

They’ve advanced to the Division II Sweet 16. They play top seed, homestanding Drury tomorrow night.

A win and Knights would return to play an Elite Eight game in Freedom Hall.

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I would be remiss were I not to mention the plight of the Kentucky Wildcats.

The inevitable occurred. UK simply didn’t play well enough without Nerlens Noel to get to the Dance.

There just seems something appropriate that UK won’t even play its opening NIT tilt in Lexington. It takes a lot of athletic department resources to stage an NCAA weekend, and the university simply didn’t have the peoplepower to pull off a home game tomorrow night.

The season Kentucky has suffered seemed out of whack from the get go.

So the Cats slink off to Robert Morris to play in a 3000 seat gym.

Some call it poetic justice. Some call it sad.

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As much grief as I give the Courier-Journal, I need to say I really liked the the graphics they did this morning. Teams represented by jockey silks. Clever. Well executed. Good work.

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Be sure to watch out for LEO’s March Madness issue, which hits the stands and the dub dub dub on Wednesday.

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So, before I go, class, what did we learn this morning?

That’s right, where you can get tickets to Lexington. Good.

What else?

Yes. Good. The only opponent for you to worry about is the one your favorite team is playing in the first round. Everything else is hypothetical.

Right, there’s a LEO hoops coming. Good.

And, remember. I’ll be back early and often this week. And next. And the next.

– Seedy K