March Madness 2013: Has Louisville Become the Unstoppable Team?

The word "unstoppable" should not be casually thrown around to describe sports teams, but with the way Rick Pitino's posse is beating up on their opponents recently, they may be getting close to earning that label.

This stretch goes back to a home win against Pitt on January 28, and their only loss came in a five-OT thriller against Notre Dame.

Louisville won the Big East tournament for the second year in a row, and they've won their first two March Madness games in decisive fashion.

When ESPN's Andy Katz described their third-round win over Colorado State, he said that "The Rams were swallowed whole by the Cardinals' pressure."

And these games have not been against mediocre teams. They include Marquette and two pairs of victories against both Notre Dame and Syracuse.

Per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), "Louisville forced the eighth-seeded Rams into a season-high 20 turnovers and out-rebounded Colorado State 29-24 -- no small thing considering the Rams came in with a nation-best plus-12 margin."

One of the great aspects of being able to play suffocating defense is that you can do that in every game. Unlike teams that depend on their offensive firepower or shooting accuracy, Louisville just has to bring maximum effort and they will be halfway towards a W every night.

Over the Big East tournament and their first two March Madness games, the Cards are scoring six more points per game than they did in the regular season.

Louisville shot 47.6 percent (10-21) outside the paint Saturday, its highest shooting percentage from that distance in the last four Men's Basketball Championships.

Louisville scored 42 points in the paint Saturday and has scored 86 paint points in its first two games of the 2013 Men's Basketball Championship. The Cardinals are the third team in the last four tournaments to score at least 40 points in the paint in back-to-back games (North Carolina, 2011 and Kansas, 2012).

If Louisville can maintain their offensive productivity in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games next week, it's safe to say that they will be headed to Atlanta for the Final Four.

They will be facing No. 12 seed Oregon next. From there, the Cards could face No. 2 seed Duke or No. 3 seed Michigan State.

With the way that they are playing, Louisville will be headed for their 10th Final Four where they will compete for the school's third NCAA Championship.

Via: - Mexican soccer