ATLANTA — If Louisville beats Michigan tonight in the NCAA Tournament championship game, Rick Pitino will become the first coach to win titles at two schools. He already is the first coach to take three schools (Providence, Kentucky, Louisville) to a Final Four.
Kentucky fans never held great hatred for Louisville. They saw the Cardinals as the second-tier program in the basketball-crazy state. But when Pitino, who led the Wildcats to the 1996 title, left after the following season for the Boston Celtics, then returned to Louisville, it changed the emotions in the state.
Pitino was the polarizing figure. Most Kentucky fans grew to hate Louisville. Cardinals fans had always despised the Wildcats because, for years, Kentucky wouldn’t schedule Louisville.
So what happens in the Commonwealth State if Pitino wins a title at Louisville to go along with his Kentucky title?
“If you win a title at Kentucky and Louisville he will forever be remembered in Kentucky by both sides,’’ said Louisville guard Russ Smith of Brooklyn. “I don’t think anyone in the state could hate him because he won titles at both sides.’’
* At the tipoff of tonight’s game, the Empire State Building will be bathed in the colors of the two championship participants. Tony Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings which operates one of the world’s most iconic buildings, said it takes about 16,000 LED lights to make it happen, but it is all computerized.
“You can run it off your iPad,’’ Malkin told The Post.
Malkin said half of the building will be lit up by Louisville’s red and white colors; the other half will be lit in Michigan’s blue and gold. After the game, the colors of the winning team will shine for the rest of the night.
This is the first time the Empire State Building has been lit up for an NCAA Tournament championship game.
“We’re always looking for important events,’’ said Malkin. “We did the Mets-Yankees. Last year we did the Ravens-49ers in the Super Bowl. When one team scored we showed their colors. When the other team scored we showed their colors.’’
* Think getting to the Final Four isn’t special? When Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall finished his postgame news conference after the Shockers’ 72-68 national semifinal loss to Louisville on Saturday night, he asked the NCAA moderator if he could take the placards that had his name and his player’s names.
“This may be the most important basketball game that I’ll ever coach,’’ said Marshall. “It’s definitely the most important to the date and it’s probably the most important that Wichita State’s ever played in.’’