Rick Pitino was right and the NCAA Tournament selection committee was wrong.

That much has become apparent by the way Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals, seeded no. 4 in the Albuquerque Regional by the esteemed committee, have steamrolled their way through the tournament. The Cardinals, who fancied themselves a possible No. 1 seed after winning the Conference USA regular-season and tournament championships, took it personally when they found out they were relegated to a no. 4 seed. Their three opponents in the tournament have felt their wrath.

The latest victim was no. 1 seed Washington, which was no match for the hot shooting Cards last night. Louisville, 19-0 this season when it makes at least 10 3-pointers, tossed in 11 shots from behind the arc against the Huskies and shot 55% from the field.

If the Cardinals, who have won 21 of their last 22 games, keep shooting like that, their place in the Final Four will be set.

Pitino has tried hard not to dwell on the seeding his team received, but he hasn’t been able to avoid the subject. He insists the Cardinals haven’t used it as motivation, but no one believes him, especially after his diatribe earlier this week in Nashville, Tenn., where Louisville won twice to advance to Albuquerque.

“We know that we should have been a two seed,” Pitino said, never raising his voice or changing his demeanor. “We know it. A mistake was made. But I respect the committee. They do the best job they can. I know what we should be and shouldn’t be. We don’t over-rate. We’re very humble people. But we knew we deserved a two seed. And you look at all the twos and threes getting knocked off.

“Really what does it matter? It’s over. They [the committee] do the best job they can. Every year there’s one team. Maybe you skip on us and give us a three seed. But a four seed, no, I don’t buy it. But that’s O.K. never focused in on that. After [the pairings were announced] I said that’ll be the last time we’re going to talk about it.”

Obviously, that wasn’t true. Pitino, a master tactician and motivator, knows a meal ticket when he sees one. He’s gotten tremendous mileage out of that no. 4 seed, but he won’t need it any more. The win over Washington put the issue to rest. The Cardinals proved the committee wrong.

In defending the committee’s decision to seed Louisville so low, chairman Bob Bowlsby, the Athletic Director at Iowa, challenged anyone to name a two or three seed the committee could have moved out in favor of the Cardinals. By the end of the tournament’s first weekend, Bowlsby had his answer: No. 2 seeds Connecticut and Wake Forest and no. 3 seeds Gonzaga and Kansas had all been ousted.

Pitino has taken a record-tying four teams (Boston University, Providence, Kentucky and Louisville) to the NCAA Tournament, guided Providence to an unlikely Final Four spot in 1987, and won the 1996 national championship while at Kentucky. But one could argue that he’s turned in his best coaching job this season.

With a roster that lacked depth after the defection of two recruits to the NBA, Pitino didn’t have the numbers to run his trademark full-court pressure defense. So like any good coach would, Pitino adapted. With a playing rotation of just six or seven players, Pitino needed a defense that would keep his team rested and out of foul trouble. Enter the 2-3 zone. Clearly Pitino learned his lessons from mentor Jim Boeheim, for the Cardinals’ zone has become a weapon.

Offensively, Louisville doesn’t have a true point guard or center, but juniors Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean have done a solid job getting the Cardinals in their offense and undersized post players Ellis Myles, Juan Palacios, and Otis George have gotten the job done with defense, offensive rebounding and timely baskets.

Pitino has always been willing to bite his lower lip and give his better players the green light to shoot. Garcia, who excels from three-point range or off the dribble, and Dean, one of the nation’s better three-point shooters (45%) are ready to crank up the clutch shots, and after three games in this tournament, they’ve made a lot of them.

Look for them to make a few more. This is a Final Four team. Rick Pitino knew it, and soon the nation will as well.

Mr. Dortch is the editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.