“I doubt it,” he said on Thursday’s Big East conference call. “I think that there was a chance last year but from what I understand some of the members of the [Big 12] conference don’t want to split the revenue and they want to stick at 11, so at least personally I’m hoping we stay put.

“But you never know in this landscape today, I don’t decide those things.”

Pitino was answering a question about Louisville’s game at West Virginia Feb. 11.

“This is our third straight year that we have come to West Virginia,” he said. “I always request it every year. Generally you would see in the Big East that somebody would come back to you the following year, but [Big East Commissioner] John Marinatto’s a dear friend and I always tell him, ‘Look, don’t let West Virginia come to Louisville. I’d like to visit one more time.’

“And now it adds extra meaning because they’re going into the Big 12 so it will be the last time we play against each other.”

West Virginia and the Big East are suing one another over exactly when the school can depart the league for the Big 12. The league maintains that no school can leave before the 27-month exit period, which would be June 2014.

Meantime, Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com reports that Louisville is “aggressively pursuing a Big 12 invitation” to become the league’s 11th team.

“They are clearly the best fit,” a college football industry source told McMurphy.

Louisville would have to pay a $10 million exit fee to leave the Big East now that Navy is joining for football in 2015.

In recent months, Pitino, a New York native, has openly taken shots at Syracuse and Pitt for leaving the Big East and at UConn for even considering it.

In September, he told SNY.tv regarding UConn: “They’re leaving Camelot. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter

And like ZAGS on Facebook

NEWARK

That’s not to say 11 will make it. They probably won’t.

But 11 teams are currently at or near the .500 mark in the league, which generally is good enough to generate an invite to the Big Dance.

After Saturday’s wild day of action, the following teams are above or at .500, or within striking distance: Syracuse (9-1), Marquette (7-2), Georgetown (6-3), Notre Dame (5-3), USF (5-3), UConn (4-3), Louisville (5-4), Cincinnati (5-4), West Virginia (5-4), Seton Hall (4-5) and Rutgers (4-5).

After Louisville beat Seton Hall, 60-51, in a game of teams that were previously at the .500 mark, Cardinals coach Rick Pitino said it would be “awesome” if Seton Hall were to make the Big Dance for the first time since 2006.

“Their RPI is so good, all they gotta do is finish .500 and they’re going to the [NCAA] Tournament,” Pitino said of his former assistant Kevin Willard’s team, which has gone 1-4 since cracking the Top 25.

“That’s all they gotta do. Don’t have grand goals. Just get to the Tournament, I think it would be a remarkable achievement.’

Photo: Star-Ledger

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter

And like ZAGS on Facebook

“The only place I have found that to me was overpowering was Kansas,” Pitino said Thursday on the Big East con call. “Now, I have not taken a team to Duke. There really is not any place I’ve entered where it’s, ‘God, that’s just incredible, what an advantage that is.’”

He added, “There are some overpowering places, in terms of the amount of people, like Rupp Arena’s overpowering.”

Just ask Baylor about Kansas.

The Jayhawks beat the previously unbeaten Bears 92-72 at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night, becoming the lone unbeaten team in Big 12 league play.

Pitino was asked by a Syracuse writer about going into the Joyce Center at Notre Dame because the No. 1 Orange play there Saturday.

“I don’t think the Joyce is any more difficult than any other place, to be honest with you,” Pitino said. “The only place I’ve found [is Kansas] and that could’ve been I was playing with four walk-ons and lost by 50 points, so maybe that was the reason I felt that way.”

FREE THROWS

Pitino added that he’s unsure if Kyle Kuric (ankle) would play Saturday at Pitt. “I don’t think we have an identity because we’ve had so many different lineups, so right now we’re just trying to survive and win and we’ll keep on doing that,” he said.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter

And like ZAGS on Facebook

Relating a conversation he had with Willard in December 2010, Pitino told SNY.tv: “You better put your blueprint together and say what you’re building is not going to come to fruition until four or five years from now and you’ve got to be ready to take it.”

Fast forward a year and Willard is way ahead of Pitino’s timetable.

The Pirates are 13-2 overall and are coming off their first victory over UConn since March 2001. If they can take care of business in Saturday’s road game at Providence, the Pirates should be a Top 25 team by Monday.

“It means a great deal to me personally, but nothing surprises me when it comes to Kevin Willard because he’s one of the most brilliant young men I’ve had the good fortune to work with,” Pitino said Thursday on the Big East conference call.

“He has a tireless work ethic.”

Pitino pointed out that Willard forfeited his senior year of college to serve as a GA with the Boston Celtics.

“He started a lot different than most people,” Pitino said.

When Willard turned to Pitino for career advice two years ago, Pitino first advised him not to leave Iona for Seton Hall because the challenges were just too daunting.

“Actually, I wanted Kevin just to stay put,” Pitino said a year ago.

“When Kevin first approached me on it, I said to Kevin, ‘I’d rather not make that call. I’d rather you stay put. I think you have a great team at Iona and I’d rather you stay put and wait.’ My first conversation with him was discouraging.”

Over the past year, Gonzalez has fired shots at Willard for failing to take the team to the NCAA Tournament, and Pitino, defending Willard, then fired back, calling him “bitter, silly and adolescent.”

Last year, Gonzalez told ESPNewYork.com: “If I was back this year we would have won over 20 games and we would’ve went back to the NCAA [tournament]. To have a record like that with the talent that I left them is unacceptable.”

Of course, Gonzo never took Seton Hall to the NCAA Tournament, but don’t let the facts get in the way of a good line.

Still, in Gonzo’s defense, he did recruit three of the key players on the current Seton Hall team — seniors Herb Pope and Jordan Theodore and junior Fuquan Edwin.

But as Pitino pointed out, Willard’s time in South Orange has not been without issue.

“He’s building it the right away in difficult times,” Pitino said. “He has one player get shot [Jeremy Hazell] and another player loses his life and is brought back to life [Pope].”

Willard was criticized for his own recruiting efforts, but in fact some of his players are now becoming valuable contributors.

Sophomore forward Patrik Auda is averaging 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds.

Freshman shooting guard Aaron Cosby went 4-of-7 from deep for 12 points in the UConn game and is averaging 8.1 points on the season.

“One thing that Jordan has come to realize is that when he finds ’AC’ early’ and gets him going, he gets a lot of confidence,” Willard said.

“When we were recruiting Aaron, we were recruiting him as a combo guard but as he’s developed he’s really turned himself into a heck of a shooter. He really complements that first group really well….I think Patrik and AC fit in and play defense and really complement those guys well.”

At 13-2, Seton Hall now gets Providence on the road before returning home to face DePaul.

Both are winnable and the Pirates could be 15-2 or 14-3 before heading to USF Jan. 13.

“I think we’ll all very, very proud of Kev and very happy for him,” Pitino said of Willard, “because he’s getting his just rewards.”

FREE THROWS

A big Giants fan, Willard met Shaun O’Hara on Wednesday following Victor Cruz’s appearance in the Seton Hall locker room Tuesday. ”I met Shaun O’Hara yesterday so I’m on a Giants roll,” he joked…Asked by SNY about Andre Drummond’s ’Who’s Herb Pope?’ comment, Willard took the high road. “Andre Drummond is a terrific kid. He’s probably a better person than he is a basketball player….I’m just glad he’s not going to be in the league for three or four years.”

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter

And like ZAGS on Facebook

Rick Pitino

“When you’re 59, you’re realistic that you don’t have a whole lot of years left,” Pitino said before the No. 4 Cardinals played No. 12 Georgetown on Wednesday. “My contract’s going to run out in 2017. I’m not coaching anymore after that.”

Pitino has led three programs — Providence, Kentucky and Louisville — to the Final Four, and has also coached the Knicks and Boston Celtics.

He was given a four-year contract extension in August and will make $3 million in base salary until the end of the 2013 season. After that, he makes $3.9 million annually.

Pitino is 253-96 in his 11th season at Louisville, which reached the Final Four in 2005.

After Georgetown, Louisville plays Kentucky Saturday.

“One thing I’ve learned to do with my age, I really don’t look ahead,” said Pitino, who went 219-50 in eight seasons at Kentucky and won the 1996 national championship. “For years, I’ve been preaching the precious present and having to always subscribe to it.”

(The AP contributed)

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter

And like ZAGS on Facebook

Freshman guard Kevin Ware had his first practice today (Wednesday), one day after finals ended. He will be eligible to play Saturday when the No. 5 Cardinals play Memphis at the KFC Yum Center, although Cardinals coach Rick Pitino has indicated Ware may not play until the Dec. 23 game against Western Kentucky.

He figures to play some backup point guard behind Peyton Siva, but can also contribute at the two and three positions.

The addition of Ware should help Pitino’s club offset the losses of Wayne Blackshear (torn labrum) and Mike Marra (ACL).

A 6-4 combo guard from Conyers, Ga., Ware initially signed with Tennessee, but was released from his Letter of Intent after the Bruce Pearl firing. He later committed to Central Florida, but changed course after UCF came under investigation by the NCAA. The investigation led to the resignation of AD Keith Tribble. UCF coach Donnie Jones was also suspended three games.

Ware signed a financial aid agreement with the Cardinals in June, was denied a waiver and subsequent appeal for admittance in early September.

A first-team all-state selection as a senior last season, Ware averaged 13.2 points, 4.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals in helping Rockdale County High School post a 26-6 record and finish as the Georgia 4-A state runner-up.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter

And like ZAGS on Facebook

LOUISVILLE

But it also helped the Big East — or as Louisville coach Rick Pitino calls it, “The Big Country” — go a perfect 4-0 Friday in the Big East/SEC Challenge.

“I mean right now, the Big East, we could potentially take San Diego State into the Big East, so we’re going to call it the ‘Big Country,’” Pitino said. “It’s no longer the Big East, it’s the ‘Big Country Conference,’ seriously.

“Or the ‘Big Universe.’”

In Siva’s Universe, the huge shot he scored off a nice screen by Gorgui Dieng, was the kind every basketball player dreams of making as a kid.

“It makes me feel good because everybody’s been doubting the Big East,” an excited Siva said at his locker after putting up 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the win. “We gotta represent for the Big East. We’re trying to be the powerhouse before everybody leaves.”

No. 4 Syracuse, which is leaving for the ACC, won at home against No. 10 Florida, 72-68.

Cincinnati won at Georgia, 57-51.

And Seton Hall crushed Auburn at home, 81-59.

“Seton Hall is my team,” said Cardinals guard Chris Smith, a New Jersey native who tallied just 5 points in the win. “I actually signed a Letter of Intent to there with Bobby Gonzalez, but at the same time I’m Louisville first all day.”

(And no, I didn’t ask Smith for his best Gonzo story. My bad.)

The Big East is now up 6-2 this year, but Big East fans shouldn’t get too carried away just yet.

There are still four games to go Saturday, with Arkansas at UConn, Pittsburgh at Tennessee, LSU at Rutgers and West Virginia at Mississippi State.

Those games figure to be overshadowed by the big Carolina-Kentucky shindig in Lexington, but an SEC sweep — although unlikely, especially given that UConn is at home — would tie this thing up at 6-all.

The old series was tied at 8-8, so if the Big East wins at least one game Saturday, they can claim supremacy in the overall series at least until next year.

“I don’t think it really matters too much,” Pitino said. “I don’t think it’s any telling sign that we’re better than the SEC.”

Still, Pitino, a native New Yorker, has been outspoken all fall about the departures of Syracuse and Pitt, and the potential departure of UConn, which he told SNY.tv was “the dumbest thing he’s ever heard of.”

“For me, growing up in New York, I can’t envision Syracuse not being in the Big East,” Pitino said. “Same way, Boston College and all the other teams. To me, it doesn’t make sense. But I understand what football means to the country today.”

Football is driving the realignment of college sports — and Pitino continues to take comical shots at the ACC for stealing Syracuse and Pitt.

“They were so brilliant, the ACC,” Pitino said, “because they said, ‘Look, we know we’re not going to be the SEC in football. Let’s be No. 1 in basketball again. Let’s rob the Big East of two of their best traditions. So they were brilliant in doing it.

“So now we’ve gotta be equally brilliant and we’ll still have a great conference.”

With one more day in the Challenge, the Big East still has a lot it can prove.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter

And like ZAGS on Facebook

In this video interview from Big East Media Day, former St. Benedict’s Prep and Manhattan College guard Chris Smith talks about his unusual path to Louisville, his big brother, Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith, and the Cardinals prospects this season.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter

And like ZAGS on Facebook