Kentucky scored a little-noticed Senate victory over North Carolina earlier this month.

When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pushed through a non-binding resolution congratulating his beloved Louisville Cardinals for winning the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the Senate also agreed that Kentucky is “rightly known as the college basketball capital of the world.”

The Senate adopted the resolution by unanimous consent in a nearly empty chamber in the wee hours of April 17, in the same manner as most non-binding commemorative resolutions. However, the Senate’s “hotline” procedure, which notifies senators and key staff of such measures, would allow any senator to object.

Neither North Carolina Democrat Kay Hagan nor Republican Richard M. Burr did so, even though that state might have grounds to quibble with the language offered by McConnell and his junior colleague, fellow Republican Rand Paul.

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While it’s way too early for this sort of thing, some pre-season surveys have Kentucky and Louisville heading into the 2013-14 season ranked one and two in the country.