Sometimes it comes down to luck. Enough good luck and you are a national champion. Toss in some bad luck and you fall one game short of reaching the Final Four.

So it was with a Louisville team that came into the season set to make a run at a national title, only to wind up being eliminated in the Elite Eight by the nation's No. 1 team, North Carolina.

Had not injuries to senior leaders David Padgett and Juan Palacios cost the Cardinals early victories, they might have been a No. 1 seed come tournament time, thereby eliminating a chance to face North Carolina until the Final Four.

But injuries came and with them a need for time to find exactly what made the team tick. As it was, it came on in February playing like the best team in the country and wound up being the Big East's final team standing in a disappointing NCAA for the conference.

Louisville became one of the nation's top defensive teams as coach Rick Pitino used his pressing zone defense to hold 18 teams to shooting less than 40 percent and scoring less than 60 points while pushing a fast-paced offense that was deeper than any team in the country and never let opponents catch a breath.

Forward Earl Clark became one of the nation's premier players as he began to learn how to score and Terrence Williams became one of the most versatile players in the college game.

When the 2008-09 season begins, Pitino has enough talent back that his team again will probably have a ranking among the top 10 and be considered a real contender for the national championship.

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