Monday Morning Cardinal News And Notes

Five weeks from today...

Bobby Petrino will be making appearances on SportsCenter this morning at 10:20 and 11:20. You should watch if you have the capability.

The brass in Minnesota continues to say that Teddy Bridgewater is even more impressive than they expected him to be.

Mark Story spits some real ish about the Louisville/Kentucky rivalry, and in the process becomes one of the least popular men in Lexington.

1.) Between Kentucky and Louisville, there is no longer a "big brother" and a "little brother."

There are five power leagues in college sports, and UK (SEC) and now U of L (ACC) are each in one.

Since 2005, Louisville teams have played in three men's basketball Final Fours, three baseball College World Series, two BCS bowls, two women's basketball Final Fours and one men's soccer national title game.

So if Louisville ever was UK's "little brother," as Eddie Sutton famously claimed in the run-up to the 1986-87 Cats-Cards men's hoops game, it has long since grown up.

For Kentucky fans, that ought to be liberating.

From the time UK was pulled kicking and screaming into an annual basketball series with U of L in 1983-84, many Wildcats backers have viewed the relationship between Kentucky and Louisville as one in which any U of L success imperils UK's standing inside our state.

Well, 2012-13 saw Louisville enjoy a year for the ages, winning the Sugar Bowl and the men's basketball NCAA championship and playing in the women's hoops national title game and the baseball College World Series.

Breno Giacomini is getting used to his new role as the starting right tackle for the New York Jets.

The Daily Norseman collects some of the best recent quotes about and from Teddy Bridgewater.

There's a quick write-up on Trez in this month's issue of Slam Magazine.

According to Rivals' Blake Alderman, the new top three for Orlando athlete/recent Florida decommit Jalen Julius are Louisville, Miami and Ohio State.

The resemblance is actually pretty incredible.

Kevin Harned or Kyle Kuric? You make the call @CardChronicle. pic.twitter.com/y5ZHCTQNqa

— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) July 25, 2014

ESPN looks at three reasons why Miami will and will not win the ACC's Coastal Division.

Ray Spalding scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds Sunday night as The Ville AAU team advanced to the semifinals of the AAU National Championship with a 54-43 win inside Freedom Hall.

The Ville, which also features David Levitch's younger brother, Jax, will face Team Nashville at noon in Monday's first semifinal game. The title game will be at 5:20, and both games (as well as the other semifinal) will be played at Freedom Hall.

In six tournament games so far, Spalding has 99 points, 42 rebounds and 25 blocks. Pretty solid.

Miami checks in at a surprisingly low No. 49 in USA Today's preseason countdown.

GAME(S) TO WATCH:

Louisville: Losing to the Cardinals in the opener would set a very bad tone for the rest of the season - and perhaps be a harbinger of bad weeks to come. In the first month, the Hurricanes take on Louisville, Nebraska and Duke; in the second half, the Hurricanes take on Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Florida State. There is no time to break for air.

Jeff Greer takes a quick look at a couple of the most interesting position battles heading into fall camp.

Louisville-Miami is one of the ACC's top revenge games for 2014.

Yup.

Scholl RT @Patgorb: mall kiosk, Lexington, Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/pfNbTn3jpR

— Mark Blankenbaker (@UofLSheriff50) July 25, 2014

Former U of L ace and Big East Pitcher of the Year Justin Marks has been released by the Rangers.

Some additional info on the upcoming U of L men's soccer kickoff banquet:

Calvin Pryor had a scary moment on Saturday when he suffered an apparent head injury on the fourth day of Jets training camp. Though the word out of the Jets camp was that Pryor suffered a concussion, CP3 himself contradicted that report on Instagram.

More good news for the already stacked running back position.

This may have gotten lost in the ACC Kickoff shuffle, but Bobby Petrino said #UofL RB Brandon Radcliff will be healthy for preseason camp.

— Jeff Greer (@jeffgreer_cj) July 25, 2014

Mark Stoops says that his program's rivalry with Louisville "is very important," but that "sometimes people don't realize there's 11 other games."

ACC coaches in town for the AAU National Championship tournament think that adding U of L to the league makes it the unquestioned leader of the sport.

What do the ACC coaches who have been in Louisville this weekend at the AAU Nationals tournament think about the love that is only beginning to rage?

"Obviously with what coach (Rick) Pitino has done, what it will add, it will make this league unlike anything college basketball has seen," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

"I know the Big East was great in those days but this is unique with the four Hall of Fame coaches, and then the programs getting established, hopefully like ours, with the powerhouses, there is going to be some great, great basketball

"Not many off nights."

Bennett is talking about Pitino (two NCAA titles), Roy Williams at North Carolina (two NCAA titles), Jim Boeheim of Syracuse (one NCAA title) and Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (four NCAA titles).

Difficult. Extremely difficult. Too difficult?

"Doesn't matter if it is going to be too tough," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "It is what it is. You've got to deal with it. It's going to be great. If you can play well in our league and have any kind of success, you're going to have a chance to do well in the post season.

One of the biggest takeaways from the ACC Kickoff is that U of L is very happy to be in its new league.

Darrell Griffith is (literally) a work of art, currently on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan.

We've been fans of Mike Brey here ever since CardsFan922 said he met him at the airport and he was "nice," but now that affection is being taken to another level.

He handled his first 8-10 drinks remarkably well and the had the entire place talking about how cool he was, but then threw up all over himself while trying to finish "one last GT."

Mike Brey rules. Just not in the NCAA Tournament.

The Greenville News examines whether or not the ACC's Atlantic Division is the toughest in college football.

DeVante Parker is the lone Cardinal on Sports on Earth's list of the top 100 players in college football.

40. DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville. Fortunately Louisville doesn't lose all of one of the most talented passing combinations in the country. Gone is quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, but Parker elected to return for his senior season. The Cardinals spread the ball around, so Parker's numbers don't look particularly dominant -- 55 catches for 885 yards and 12 touchdowns -- but he's a top talent as a big, physical receiver with excellent ball skills. Even without Bridgewater, he's primed for a big season under new coach Bobby Petrino with promising sophomore Will Gardner stepping in at QB.

And finally, Phil Steele's latest bowl projections have Louisville facing Washington in the Sun Bowl. If that were to happen, it would be the second straight year that the Cards' bowl game fell on the same day as the U of L/UK basketball game.