The Louisville basketball team has played one game and their margin of victory in that contest - played against an SEC opponent away from home - is more than double the combined margin of victory of their football counterpart's three D-1 victories. Scoring lots of points and winning by lots of points is fun, and I remember that now.

The ball is bouncing once again in the Derby City.

So I'm not sure who started at the four for Louisville last night. He looked like Jared Swopshire, he even wore his number, but he didn't play anything like the Swop we've seen for the past 12 months.

Maybe it was playing in front of friends and family in St. Louis, but Swop looked about 20 times more confident than he ever has at any point in his brief Cardinal career. He made smart and bold decisions with the ball in his hands, knocked down open shots and came down with contested rebounds over some pretty big boys.

I've stated on here multiple times that Swop is at least a year away from being a solid Big East forward, and while I still doubt his ability to do a lot of what he did last night against the likes of Connecticut and West Virginia, if he can play at the level he displayed then he absolutely deserves a spot in the starting lineup.

A friend I took in the game with summed things up quite well at one point in the second half: "Swop just looks...cooler."

Reggie Delk again confirmed his status as the least predictable Louisville basketball player of all-time by burying 4-of-5 treys and scoring 20 points. He also did a tremendous job when he was assigned to Rotnei Clarke.

I thought before the season that Delk's performance would be a huge factor in how the season turned out, and while I don't feel nearly as strongly about that statement as I once did, it's an enormous lift when he's knocking down open shots, snatching rebounds and doing all of the other little things that players with his athleticism can do.

Pitino has talked about Delk being a guy whose performance is dictated largely by his confidence level, and if that's the case then last night may have been even more important than it appeared on the surface.

He didn't shoot the ball particularly well but I thought Edgar Sosa put together a nice game. He made a couple of poor decisions early but still finished with a team-high seven assists and turned it over only twice.

Sosa is this team's point guard and he will be for the entire season.

Even with Delk's big night, I love the three-guard starting lineup. Sosa, Knowles and Smith look extremely comfortable on the floor together and produced an assist-to-turnover ratio of 18:4 last night. I still wouldn't be surprised if Jennings replaces Swop in the starting five at some point, but I think the three-guard lineup is here to stay. As it should be.

The Big East is 29-0 right now. That's quite ridiculous.

What do you think the odds are of the entire league being without a loss come Selection Sunday? It's gonna be tough, but I think we've got a shot.

This will be the 9,674th time someone has said this in the past calendar year, but Samardo Samuels has simply got to turn himself into a better rebounder. Last night he was consistently out of position, he was out-muscled and he bobbled multiple boards he should have come up with cleanly. Granted, he was going up against a future first round NBA Draft pick, but without T-Will and Earl Clark, four boards simply isn't going to cut it.

No token photo. Get off your ass, AP photogs.

Apparently there were some network-wide problems that made CC impossible to access for a period during the game last night. In order to make amends, I'm going to go ahead and make all of our content free and open to the public.

You're welcome.

Jerry's excited about the season.

Seriously, can one guy be cooler?

Peyton Siva's and-one was highlight worthy, but he appeared a bit overanxious when the ball was in his hands and struggled to keep his man in front of him on defense. Still, he's a high school All-American with ridiculous potential who doesn't mind waiting his turn as long as his team is winning. 

We love you, Peyton. We love you a lot .

A Big East football win and a 30-point victory over an SEC opponent in the basketball season-opener in the span of four days. It's safe to say Cardwear Sporting Dog is legit.

When Preston buried the no-hesitation three on the first possession of the season, the urge I had to take my pants off was at a March '09 level.

Anyone else have an extremely strong desire to chug Bud Light and pound Reese's Cups after watching that game? I wonder what that was all about.

Rotnei Clarke is really good and we did an outstanding job on him last night. He has as pure a stroke as there is in college basketball and is actually much better at creating his own shot than I thought he was. Kudos to Knowles and Delk for keeping him under 20.

How pissed do you think the two Razorbacks on the end of the bench are that the guy from the golf team plays more than them?

On a related note, I have a friend - who shall again remain anonymous in order to protect him from becoming Louisville's biggest social pariah - who had the gumption to yell "fore" when the golfer missed a free-throw. If that wasn't bad enough, he later admitted that he'd been waiting to use the joke for the better part of the night.

Robert Daniel Sinnard of St. Matthews, the world weeps for you and all you come in contact with.

Mike Marra really needs to make a shot. Just one.

Keep shooting, my man.

How about Chris Brickley's take? That was insanely confident and well-executed.

It was equally awesome to see Sosa, his roommate, going nuts on the bench.

It's really cool to watch how much these guys genuinely like each other.

Ninety-six points, 15 threes, 25 assists, 16 turnovers forced, 30-point win, basketball season.

I'm crying because I'm happy.

The beginning of the season is always tricky, but if this dog can win a Big East football game, then I'm pretty sure she can bring home the beggin' strip this evening.

GO CARDS.

Louisville basketball.

Everybody else simply doesn't understand.

Sports Illustrated's college basketball preview issue doesn't hit news stands until next Monday, but because we're Card Chronicle and every piece of sports writing published anywhere has to go through us before it can be viewed by the public, we've got the goods on what the publication has to say about the '09-'10 Louisville Cardinals.

SI tabs Louisville as the 17th best team in the country and highlights Edgar Sosa in its preview of the Cards. Grant Wahl also pens a feature on John Calipari coming to Kentucky and his icy relationship with "the state's other big ego," Rick Pitino.

Both are solid reads and are available for you to check out below (Update: Links should be fixed).

The Very Best of Enemies

Louisville No. 17

Hall of Fame Showcase: LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (0-0) vs. ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS (1-0)

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Scottrade Center: St. Louis, Mo.

Television: ESPN2

Commentators: Dan Schulman/Bob Knight/Holly Rowe

Favorite: Louisville by 9.5

All-Time Series: Tied at 3

Last Meeting: Arkansas won 100-83 on 12/9/97

Arkansas Last Season: 14-16 (2-14)

Arkansas Starting Five

G Rotnei Clarke (So., 6-0) (51.0 ppg)

The sophomore sharp-shooter hit an SEC-record 13 three-pointers and scored 51 points in Arkansas' 130-68 season-opening victory over Alcorn State.

Now get ready for me to blow your mind and show you why I deserve to be making six figures for doing this....Rick Pitino has to make sure his guys know where Clarke is on the floor at all times when the Razorbacks have the ball. See, that's why you come here every day. You're thinking the site's all fun and games and then I completely flip it and throw out coaching advice that would make John Wooden retire out of shame. CardChronicle.com, baby. We take it there.

Clarke is more athletic than some give him credit for but he still isn't a significant threat to score off the bounce and he struggles to create his own shot against teams with athletic guards and wings, but he is a terrific passer and will take advantage if the Cardinal defenders overextend.

G Julysses Nobles (Fr., 6-1) (8.0 ppg)

Nobles is the starter at the point in his true freshman season due to the indefinite suspension of sophomore Courtney Fortson, who led Arkansas in scoring a year ago. Despite his age and slight frame (6-1, 170 lbs.), Nobles is billed as a very confident young man who has already assumed a leadership role on the team.

He looked like a veteran in the season-opener, handing out nine assists and turning the ball over twice. Head coach John Pelphrey was extremely pleased with the way Nobles passed up his own shot in order to create better scoring opportunities for his teammates. This type of play is huge for a team that already has enormous issues from the standpoint of chemistry.

C Michael Washington (Sr., 6-9) (14.0 ppg)

With all due respect to Clarke and Jemal Farmer (who scored 28 against Alcorn State), Michael Washington is the Razorback Louisville should be most worried about. The 6-9, 239-pound behemoth led the SEC in rebounding a year ago at 9.8 rpg and finished ninth in scoring (15.5 rpg), third in field goal percentage (.551%) and eighth in blocked shots (1.3 bpg) on his way to earning a second team all-conference nod. He went through the pre-NBA Draft process before ultimately deciding to return to Faytteville for his senior season.

Washington is a legit inside-out threat who can bang inside as well as knock down the outside jumper with some consistency. He'll give Samardo Samuels and Terrence Jennings all they can handle on both ends of the floor.

F Jemal Farmer (Jr., 6-5) (28.0 ppg)

Farmer, a junior college transfer, is another guy who was thrust into the starting five because of the disciplinary issues surrounding his teammates.So far, so good as the junior scored 28 points, snatched 12 rebounds and dished out six assists against Alcorn State. He hit 9-of-16 shots from the floor and connected on 9-of-10 free-throws.

He's reportedly very athletic (40-inch vertical), but outside of that and his opening game stats I know very little about Farmer.

F Marshawn Powell (Fr., 6-7) (17.0 ppg)

The crown jewel of John Pelphrey's '09 recruiting class, Powell (Charlottesville, Va.) was tabbed as the 47th best player in the country by Scout.com. Like Washington, he's a big body who can dominate the glass, but he's also got good range and the ability to put the ball on the floor if need be.

He recorded a double-double in his collegiate debut, scoring 17 points and hauling in 11 rebounds. Powell could very easily become an All-SEC calibre player, but this will be the first time he's faced front line like Louisville's in his basketball career. It will be interesting to see how he reacts.

Overview

Six months ago Arkansas was billed as a team returning all five starters, poised for a significant improvement from last year's in-conference disaster. All that changed a week ago when Pelphrey suspended five players, including perhaps the team's best player, Courtney Fortson, as well as fellow starter Stefan Walsh.

The suspensions paired with an injury to starting forward Michael Sanchez leaves Arkansas with just nine players, a roster that includes Stephen Cox, a member of the golf team and Brandon Mitchell, a former football player.

Still, the Razorbacks were tremendous in their season-opener, blasting visiting Alcorn State, 130-68. While the Braves figure to be one of the worst teams in one of Division-1's worst conferences, a 62-point win is still a 62-point win.

Louisville has Arkansas outclassed at just about every position and has an enormous advantage when it comes to depth, but Clarke is one of the ten best outside shooters in the country and Washington is probably going to be selected in the first round of next year's NBA Draft. Also important to note is that these guys started last year 12-1 with victories over No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 7 Texas. And then of course there's the issue of Louisville being 1-92 in their first game against a BCS conference opponent under Pitino.

The Cards have to get out and pressure the freshman Nobles. He's Arkansas' only reliable ball-handler and seeing as how the Razorbacks don't currently dress enough players to hold an intrasquad scrimmage, it's unlikely that he'll be able to spend too much time on the bench. I know Pitino likes to experiment during these early games, but given Arkansas' extreme lack of depth and experience I'd still expect to see the Cards press like its midseason.

I'll be a little surprised if the game's outcome isn't still in jeopardy with three minutes to play and very surprised if the evening doesn't possess at least a few anxious moments.

CC Prediction: Louisville 78, Arkansas 74

I'm just so happy.

12 a.m. Cal State Fullerton at UCLA ESPN / ESPN360.com
2 a.m. San Diego State at St. Mary’s ESPN / ESPN360.com
4 a.m. Northern Colorado at Hawaii ESPN / ESPN360.com
6 a.m. Monmouth at St. Peter’s ESPN / ESPN360.com
8 a.m. Drexel at Niagara ESPN / ESPN360.com
10 a.m. Clemson at Liberty ESPN / ESPN360.com
noon Northeastern at Siena ESPN / ESPN360.com
2 p.m. Arkansas Little-Rock at Tulsa ESPN / ESPN360.com
4 p.m. Temple at Georgetown ESPN / ESPN360.com
5:30 p.m. O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic: Binghamton at Pittsburgh ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
6 p.m. Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT from Durham, N.C. (Duke University)* ESPN / ESPN360.com
7 p.m. ESPNU Road to the Championship: Tennessee vs. Texas Tech (women’s game from San Antonio) ESPNU
7:30 p.m. Hall of Fame Showcase: Arkansas vs. Louisville (from St. Louis) ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
8 p.m. Gonzaga at Michigan State ESPN / ESPN360.com
8 p.m. Northern Illinois at Illinois ESPN360.com
9 p.m. O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic: Duquesne at Iowa ESPNU
9:30 p.m. ESPNU Road to the Championship: Connecticut vs. Texas (women’s game from San Antonio) ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
10 p.m. Hall of Fame Showcase: Memphis vs. Kansas (from St. Louis) ESPN / ESPN360.com
11:30 p.m. Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT from Tempe, Ariz. (Arizona State University)* ESPN2 / ESPN360.com

Who says the outside shot is his achilles heel?

And since it's Monday, how about the top ten T-Willisms?

10. On Louisville's midseason winning streak: "I've realized that if we just keep winning games, eventually we'll win the national championship"

9. Explaining how he followed an 0-for-4 first half with an 8-for-16 second half against Massachusetts as a freshman: "Before, I was thinking about the scouting report and how they are a great shot-blocking team, and I was just trying to get the ball up there. But then I was like, 'Terrence,' -- I call myself Terrence; I don't call myself T-Will -- I was like, 'Terrence, you jump too high to be nervous about somebody else.' "

8. On the importance of then-senior David Padgett: "David Padgett is the t-shirt of this team.  You wouldn't go outside without your t-shirt on, and we don't go out on the court without David Padgett."

7. Celebrating the return of Juan Palacios and David Padgett from injuries last season: "You go out into a game in which you know you've got Tello and David playing, your swagger's a lot different. You walk different, you talk different, you talk to a girl different. … You know they're going to back you up. They're going to say, 'Yeah, he's a great guy.' "

6. Explaining why he didn't declare for the NBA draft after his junior season: "There are too many sharks in the water in this year's draft. Next year there's a lot of fish and seaweed. Hopefully, I can be one of those sharks next year."

5. Finding the silver lining in a groin strain: "It's a good thing, because I really like massages and now I'm getting massages all the time."

4. On trying to lead newcomers: "Talking to these freshman is like talking to a pond - just because the water moves doesn't mean it's listening."

3. On breaking out of a shooting slump with a big game from beyond the arc: "No I'm not surprised at how I shot today.  If it's two in the afternoon and it's dark outside, then I'd be surprised."

2. On how much the team feeds off of David Padgett: "How much do people eat off plates? We feed off him a lot because he's our point-center, our point-forward, our point-shooting guard. He's everything because he rebounds the ball, he passes the ball, he leads us. He could lead us out of the closet, lead us to the ocean. He's just our everything."

1. On coach Rick Pitino's powers of persuasion: "He's the type of man where, if a dog couldn't talk -- which a dog can't talk -- he would make a dog think it can talk. That dog would keep barking for a long time thinking it was talking."

Here's the statement that will run in the next issue of ESPN The Magazine:

ONE WE FORGOT : One, two, 19, 48. Who's counting? Not us. In debating how far Louisville would fall in our college basketball rankings (Split Takes, Nov. 16), we inadvertently let the reigning Big East champs slip away altogether. (We meant to sit them at 26.) We regret the omission but blame it on the Cards' (and their coach's) under-the-radar summer.

We better get a BCS bowl or something out of this.