Let the madness begin.

The NCAA Tournament starts for the Ohio Valley Conference Champion Friday as the No. 12 seed Austin Peay Governors (23-7) look to upset the No. 4 seed Louisville Cardinals (24-6) at Birmingham, Ala., in first round East Regional action.

Austin Peay is making its first tournament appearance since 1987, but returning to the scene where the 14th-seeded Governors knocked off No. 3 seed Illinois and went on to lose to Rick Pitino’s Providence Flyers Final Four team 90-87 in overtime.

Sixteen years later, Pitino is now the Cardinals coach after being away from college basketball as head coach of the NBA’s Boston Celtics. However, the last time Pitino was involved in the tournament was 1997 when his Kentucky Wildcats cut down the nets in New Jersey.

Pitino is also the fourth coach in NCAA history to lead four different schools to the big dance and has won eight consecutive first round games.

“It’s my favorite time of year,” Pitino said in the press conference.”It’s as much fun as there is in sports – not only concentrating on your game, but watching some of the other things that go on.”

Austin Peay became the cardiac kids of the OVC Tournament by winning all three games by six points or less after capturing the top seed after winning the regular season title.

The Governors were picked to finish fifth in the OVC preseason poll, but had an excellent start and finish to their campaign this season.

Austin Peay began its season with an 81-80 upset of the NCAA Tournament qualifier Memphis Tigers and ended the season winning 15 of its last 16 games. A come-from-behind 80-76 loss to Eastern is the only blemish on the Governors resume since mid-January.

The Cardinals season would look like a tidal wave on a graph. Louisville was ranked as the number two in the country in the AP nearly a month ago after 17 straight wins, but the bottom dropped out on the Cardinals with four straight losses during a stretch where starting center Marvin Stone (10.6 points per game) was deemed ineligible after investigators looked into a relationship the Kentucky transfer had with a AAU coach.However, Pitino rallied his troops and won the Conference USA Tournament on its home floor at Freedom Hall.

This matchup will be a contrast of styles because the OVC-champ will attempt to bore television viewers and play a half-court game against a Louisville team that will look to push the ball.

The Governors will rely on a defense that has kept opponents under 64 points in eight of its last 10 games and the shooting of its pair of leading scorers – forward Adrian Henning (15.4 ppg) and guard Anthony Davis (14.0 ppg). The problem is Governors are at a major size disadvantage with their tallest player being 6-foot-6.

“It’s never been offense that made this team stand out,” Austin Peay head coach Dave Loos said. “It’s been our defense.”

Louisville began playing the same brand of basketball it accomplished a month ago when Stone and the starting center will allow the Cardinals to dominate in the post and beyond the arc with leading scorer – point guard Rece Gaines (18.4 ppg).

Since Gaines moved from shooting to point guard, he’s been crucial to Louisville being able to run the fast break and dumping the ball inside.

“I’m just excited to play in the tournament,” Gaines said.”I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

The winner of this contest will take on the victorious Mississippi State-Butler game Sunday.