Wednesday Afternoon Cardinal News And Notes

Spread check: Louisville by 13.5.

A quick reminder that the ACC schedule reveal will take place at 3 p.m., but according FBSchedules.com, we already know that U of L will be hosting Wake Forest on Sept. 27.

Tonight marks Louisville's last trip to South Florida for the foreseeable future, which has many folks in Tampa feeling sad.

It's doubtful the University of South Florida will offer any parting gifts to its opponent after tonight's American Athletic Conference game at the Sun Dome.

But there should be a sense of loss.

The No. 12-ranked Louisville Cardinals, the defending national champions who have shared four different leagues with USF, are probably making their final visit to Tampa.

Beginning next season, the Cardinals are shifting from the AAC to the ACC, the super-charged basketball league that has plucked Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville from the old Big East.

"It's always great to play against a team like Louisville," USF senior forward Victor Rudd said. "Louisville, Memphis and teams like that in our league, they are the ones everybody knows about. You can measure yourself against programs like that. They're always good."

Our friends over at Voodoo Five examine tonight's game as well as Louisville's ties to the origin of the cocktail.

Shoni Schimmel's seven treys led a 93-52 rout of Houston by the U of L women's team Tuesday night. The Cards remain perfect in the AAC and are a now sparkling 19-1 overall.

SB Nation already has its first set of ACC power rankings up for the 2014 football season, and the Cards check in at No. 3 behind Florida State and Clemson.

3. Louisville Cardinals

2013 finish: 12-1, second in American, No. 15 in AP, Coaches Poll

Returning starters: 12

Will Gardner, Kyle Bolin, and Brett Nelson will all be in competition to take over for Bridgewater and lead the Cardinals to success in the ACC. Gardner, a rising sophomore, is the only one of the three who has seen playing time at Louisville, completing eight of 12 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns in 2013, while Bolin is a former four-star recruit and Nelson is a junior college transfer.

Whoever wins the job will inherit an offensive line with four returning starters, as well as star receiver DeVante Parker, who passed up overtures from the NFL to return to school.It's hard to think of a team with more change heading into the 2014 season than Louisville. Head coach Charlie Strong left for Texas, replaced by Bobby Petrino. Star quarterbackTeddy Bridgewater left for the NFL, replaced by one of three players who will likely battle it out during camp. The AAC (formerly known as the Big East) is also out as the team's conference, replaced by the ACC.

Only four starters return on the defense, and that unit will be tested with new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, brought over from Georgia. One starting defensive lineman, one starting linebacker and two starting cornerbacks return, but the rest of the defense has either graduated or left for the NFL. Some of the younger players, like former four-star prospect Gerod Holliman, will have to step up and bring some leadership to what will be a very young unit.

Shaqquan Aaron is excited to continue the trend of Seattle stars coming to Louisville to play for Rick Pitino.

The 2013 Louisville football team claimed five statistical national championships, and I would like to see shirts made for each accomplishment.

Nice to see a new train engine to serve as a daily reminder of the Year of the Cardinal:

The Cards are still all the way down at No. 21 in the latest rankings from Gary Parrish of CBS.

Running back Justin Crawford (2015) has decommitted from U of L.

Pat Forde names Louisville as one of his "road warriors" of the week.

Louisville (34) at Connecticut. The most memorable part of the game was UConn coach Kevin Ollie's ejection - after a very bad no-call - but this was an impressive performance by the Cardinals. With yet another player gone (point guard Chris Jones was injured), Louisville largely controlled the game in an amped Gampel Pavilion for its first signature win of the season. Final Four M.O.P. Luke Hancock has shaken off the early-season injury rust and averaged 16.2 points over the past six games, at times reprising the old Francisco Garcia, point-forward role.

A great story on former Cardinal and current Seattle Seahawk Greg Scruggs, who singlehandedly brought a late Christmas to a crime victim.

If any 'Cloids are heading to the game in Tampa tonight, make yourselves known.

All right, we finally have definitive proof that USA Today exists simply to troll Card Chronicle.

In a standard story about the lofty odds of picking a correct bracket, USA Today chose to lead with this picture (twice):

And then the kicker...

But it doesn't account for standard basketball logic, like No. 1 seeds always advancing in the first round or tournament champions usually having a top-four seed or Duke's dual advantage of having a legend like Coach K and never getting called for a blocking foul. If you know something about the NCAA tournament, the odds of a perfect bracket are more like 1 in 128 billion. (That's according to DePaul math professor Jay Bergen.)

This is getting sad, guys.

U of L makes a seven spot jump from No. 21 to No. 14 in ESPN's latest power rankings.

Marcus Smith has seen his stock rise a pretty large amount during this week's Senior Bowl festivities.

The hype is picking up for Louisville DE/OLB Marcus Smith. We mocked him to Philly in the 1st round a week ago.

— RotoWire NFL Draft (@NFLDraft2K14) January 21, 2014

.@JoshNorris' top 5 attending prospects entering SR Bowl week 5. Marcus Smith 4. Attaochu 3. Hageman 2. Donald 1. http://t.co/9KTWTNrwbZ

— Rotoworld NFL Draft (@Rotoworld_Draft) January 19, 2014

1. Dee Ford looks like a corvette, but mark it down - Marcus Smith will be a monster.

— RosterWatch (@RosterWatch) January 21, 2014

A Saints scout spent most of the post-practice session with Louisville OLB Marcus Smith.

— Dan Kadar (@MockingTheDraft) January 21, 2014

Five-star running back Damian Harris, who may wind up being the highest-rated football recruit to ever come out of the state of Kentucky, decommitted from Michigan on Tuesday. His mother told the Courier-Journal that she expects both UK and U of L to "be in the mix."

Bobby Petrino has officially brought strength coaches Joe Miday and Scott Wilks with him to Louisville from Western Kentucky. I'm assuming they broke something over each other's backs to celebrate.

Please consider taking just a few minutes of your time this Sunday to find out if you're a match for a little girl whose life you could save.

Former South Alabama cornerback commit Shaq Jones is expected to officially flip to Louisville today. He has already changed his Twitter profile to reflect the upcoming commitment. He will become the 19th pledge in U of L's 2014 class.

According to Jody Demling, former U of L commit Lukayas McNeil says he decommitted from Louisville a couple of days before Charlie Strong left because he found out Strong "lied to me." McNeil is still considering the Cardinals and will visit U of L on Jan. 31.

Via Jonathan Lintner, a comparison of Frehsman Gorgui and Freshman Mangok:

I agreed to stop posting it after the 2012 Senior Day loss, but I feel like I need to at least link it...Five Memorable South Florida Bulls.

And finally, beat USF.