History certainly wasn't on Georgia Tech's side.

In the past 25 years, only five teams that lost the national championship game made it back to the Final Four the next year. The gutty Yellow Jackets were not able to add to that list, running into Rick Pitino's burgeoning Louisville juggernaut.

The fourth-seeded Cardinals hit eight of their first nine shots, canned 10 3-pointers and played a tough zone that the banged-up Yellow Jackets couldn't solve. Georgia Tech (20-12) fell behind early and the hot-shooting Cards kept them down in the 76-54 second-round victory.

Tech couldn't get the ball inside U of L's 2-3 zone to big Luke Schenscher and couldn't generate penetration with Jarrett Jack playing on a gimpy ankle and B.J. Elder and Isma'il Muhammad still showing rust from sitting out from injuries this season. Elder never truly regained his pre-hamstring injury form and Muhammad, battling through knee pain, wasn't the same dominant player before the chronic pain showed up late in the year.

Tech's NCAA run this year consisted of a first round win over George Washington. Jack, Elder and Will Bynum combined to score on six straight possessions in the second half as Tech took control in the 80-68 first-round victory. The fifth-seeded Jackets, who didn't win a game by more than eight points during their 2004 tournament run, seemed again on their way despite the injury-marred season.

Jack, who first injured his ankle in the ACC Tournament, aggravated the injury against the Cards and was held to 11 points -- all in the first 13 minutes of the game. Elder, who missed nine games with a hamstring injury, but came back to play late in the season, never seemed to find his groove. He finished with a disappointing three points, hitting just 1-of-5 shots. Muhammad was scoreless.

And steady senior Anthony McHenry, who always seemed to save his best efforts for tournament play, went down with a back injury and was also scoreless.

"The injuries were tough to deal with as the season went on," admitted Jack, who could join seniors Elder, Muhammad, McHenry, Schenscher and Will Bynum in leaving this year, if he opts to forgo his senior season to test the NBA waters.

"Right now, I'm a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket," he said. "And next year, I would love to come back and do the same thing all over again. I know it's going to be up to me and Coach (Paul) Hewitt and my family to discuss what the best route for me is going to be. I would have no problems coming back and doing it all over again."

THE GOOD NEWS: The Jackets have plenty of time to rest up those sore knees, ankles and hamstrings. Of course, most of those guys and their injuries will be graduating this spring but coach Paul Hewitt has a great, young nucleus of talent with rising sophomores Ra'Sean Dickey, Anthony Morrow on Jeremis Smith in tow. If Jack comes back, Tech will be right back in the thick of things.

THE BAD NEWS: After last year's incredible run, there's much disappointment, particularly for a breakthrough senior class that consists of Elder, Muhammad, Schenscher, McHenry and Bynum.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We had a great year. I hate to use the word 'considering,' but we won 20 games managing the adversities we had all year. For this group to be in the tournament in back-to-back years ... there are a lot of positives things to build on. These guys couldn't have done more than we did tonight. We ran into a great team." -- Coach Paul Hewitt after the loss to Louisville.

KEY RETURNEES: Jarrett Jack would be the most key returnee next season, a senior guard to lead a young but talented team. If he opts for the NBA, Hewitt will have lost his top six players. But Hewitt has been stockpiling talent, particularly with a deep class last year that includes three rising sophomores who should immediately step up as starters -- post Ra'Sean Dickey, power forward Jeremis Smith and shooting guard Anthony Morrow. Rising senior Theodis Tarver is another key returning piece, as is defense-minded perimeter player Mario West, a rising junior.

ROSTER REPORT: Junior Jarrett Jack earned second team All-ACC honors after ranking second in the league in scoring (15.5 ppg), sixth in assists (4.43), sixth in field goal percentage (.507), third in 3-point percentage (.434) and third in free throw percentage (.867). Jack earned ACC All-Tournament honors, averaging 12.7 points in three games.

Senior center Luke Schenscher, the 7-1 Australian, finished fourth in the ACC in blocked shots (1.87) and seventh in rebounds (team-high 7.5). Schenscher led Tech with 13 points and five rebounds in his final game against Louisville.

Senior Isma'il Muhammad, trying to play through a chronic patellar tendonitis condition, was ineffective in the NCAA Tournament. He had two points in five minutes against GW, and was scoreless against Louisville.

Senior forward Anthony McHenry, who sometimes handled the ball at the point, had a 1.55-1 assist-turnover ratio but didn't have enough assists to be ranked among conference leaders.

Recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons rated Hewitt's 2005-06 class the third best in the ACC. The class includes 6-9 center Alade Aminu of Stone Mountain, Ga., 6-5 forward D'Andre Bell of Pacific Palisades, Calif., 6-2 guard Lewis Clinch of Cordele, Calif., and 6-1 guard Austin Jackson of Denton, Texas.