Louisville basketball coach happy for free trainers and gorgeous wife amid difficult schedule: ‘A very fantastic life’

Louisville faces rival Kentucky on Saturday.

The Louisville men’s basketball team ended a three-game losing run with a win over UTEP on Wednesday night. However, a tough series of games may put them back in jeopardy.

Nonetheless, head coach Pat Kelsey remains grateful.

During his post-game news conference following Louisville’s 77-74 victory over UTEP, Kelsey was questioned about coping with a challenging schedule that included losses to Duke on Sunday, UTEP on Wednesday, and a key game against rival Kentucky on Saturday.

What was his reply?

“I mean, we get a bunch of free sneakers, I wear sweatsuits to work, my kids are healthy, my wife’s hot – I’ve got a pretty good life,” Kelsey remarked, causing the room full of reporters to giggle.

“We get to play college basketball.” We get to play at the Yum Centre. We get to prepare for UTEP. My father used to say this all the time. I would remark, “Hey, dad, do you have to go to work today?” He would remark, ‘Son, I get to go to work today.'”

Kelsey noted that, while this stretch of the schedule has not been easy, he is happy of the team’s performance.

“The scheduling has been a little tricky. We’ve had some challenges, but the boys have been great. The process has been excellent. “The outcome will take care of itself.”

On Wednesday night, Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 22 points to help Louisville end a three-game losing run before facing No. 5 rated Kentucky.

This season, the Cardinals are 6-4 with Kelsey as head coach. He was hired earlier this year after Kenny Payne, a former Cardinals player, was sacked after going 12-52 in two historically poor seasons.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

BOZICH | Louisville set to meet Calipari, Indiana, Kentucky, and Pitino early in NCAA run

Louisville, Kentucky (WDRB) It’s 16 days till Selection Sunday, and the numbers to remember are three, six, and eleven.

These are the seeding numbers needed to bring together Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana, Rick Pitino and St. John’s, and Arkansas’ John Calipari in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s first week matchups.

It is not an unrealistic notion. Only a week ago, ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi predicted Calipari and Arkansas would face Louisville, with the victor moving on to play Kentucky in the Cleveland regional.

It’s just 349 miles to Cleveland, guys.

Lunardi announced his most recent estimated 68-team field on ESPN.com Friday morning. It’s possible that the Cardinals, Wildcats, Hoosiers, Razorbacks, and Red Storm will all be present to kick off the festivities. (Story link.)

Not all five. But at least two, perhaps three, and possibly four.

Are you prepared to follow along?

Let’s go. As traditionally, the tournament opens with four games in Dayton, Ohio, on March 18-19. Those games often involve a battle of 11 and 12 seeds, the last four at-large teams chosen, and two games involving all four 16 seeds.

According to Lunardi’s most recent projection, Mike Woodson’s Indiana squad has advanced to the 11th seed, where it will face Oklahoma, which Kentucky defeated Wednesday night.

Calipari’s Arkansas squad, which has flirted with the tournament cut line all season, has moved up to a 10-seed after victories against Texas and Missouri.

To guarantee a berth in the field, Indiana (17-11) will most likely need to win two of its remaining three regular-season games against Washington, Oregon, and Ohio State, as well as one more in the Big Ten Tournament.

Arkansas may easily drop back to the 11 line if they struggle in two of their remaining three regular-season games against South Carolina, Vanderbilt, or Mississippi State.

An 11-seed playoff meeting between Indiana and Arkansas would kick off the procession.

Why? Easy. The winner of that game advances to face a sixth seed. Lunardi’s most recent bracket still puts Louisville in Cleveland. But he has the Cards as a 7-seed in a rematch with West Virginia, whom Louisville upset at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Pat Kelsey’s team is also ranked seventh in the Bracket Matrix, which takes the average of 108 predicted brackets. The Cards’ transition from seventh to sixth seed is absolutely feasible.

UCLA, Ole Miss, Oregon, Mississippi State, Kansas, and Marquette, the most often ranked 6-seeds, should suffer a few more defeats, while Louisville has three winnable home games before heading to the ACC Tournament in Charlotte.

A 6- or 7-seed looks most likely for Louisville, however a 5-seed might become a talking topic if the Cards (22-6) defeat Clemson for the second time in the ACC Tournament. Lunardi ranks Brad Brownell’s Tigers as the ACC’s second-best team as a 5-seed in his most recent bracket. Lunardi’s bracket includes only one additional ACC team, Duke.

The 6-11 winner will face the 3-14 winner in round two.

Lunardi assigned Kentucky a three-seed. In news that I anticipate will be questioned in Madison Square Garden, St. John’s received just a 4-seed from Lunardi, despite Rick Pitino’s team winning 25 of 29 games and winning the Big East regular season championship.

Bracket Matrix loves St. John’s somewhat more than Lunardi. The Red Storm are classified as the final three seeds, one position behind Kentucky.

Hold all tickets that indicate how high the Wildcats and Red Storm will be seeded. Kentucky can gain valuable points with the Tournament Selection Committee by defeating No. 1 Auburn Saturday at 1 p.m. in Rupp Arena. A win against Missouri next Saturday would also cause a stir.

Pitino and St. John’s can solidify their status as a three-seed by defeating Marquette on March 8 and then dominating the Big East Tournament. The Big East is just a four-bid league, including St. John’s, Marquette, Creighton, and UConn.

Here is the dream formula to remember:

Calipari and Arkansas face Mike Woodson and Indiana in a Dayton play-in.

The winner of the game will face 6-seed Pat Kelsey and Louisville in the regional opening (preferably Cleveland).

The winner of the game will face either three-seed Mark Pope and Kentucky or three-seed Rick Pitino and St. John’s in the round of 32.

Make it happen, everyone.

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