Louisville laughs off Sports Illustrated snub

NEW ORLEANS — In case Louisville needed further proof it's entering this Final Four as the underdog, all the Cardinals would have to do is look at a magazine rack.

Sports Illustrated released this week's edition with three regional covers, featuring Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Ohio State's Aaron Craft and Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor. The only Final Four team that didn't get a cover was Louisville.

The reason for the slight is actually fairly logical. It did not make financial sense for the magazine to produce and distribute separate Kentucky and Louisville covers because both schools are in the same market.

Louisville freshman Chane Behanan learned about the Sports Illustrated snub on Thursday but insisted it wasn't a big deal to him or his teammates.

"I guess they just forgot," Behanan joked. "We don't hate you for that. I guess they were just sleeping and forgot there were four teams."

There's one easy way for Louisville to make sure it isn't forgotten again. Spring two more upsets in New Orleans, and the Cards will surely make next week's Sports Illustrated cover.