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Friday morning Cardinal news and notes

Caroline Alice Edwards says it feels like she's spent her entire life counting down the days until the start of the 2015-16 college basketball season, and now she can't believe it's here.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium Spread check (Virginia): Louisville by 14

I_medium Spread check (Samford): Louisville by 23

I_medium Joe Lunardi's final preseason Bracketology for ESPN has Louisville as No. 10 seed renewing its rivalry with Cincinnati in the first round.

I_medium SB Nation's Stephen White says that Lorenzo Mauldin is the edge rusher that the Jets have been looking for.

This spring the Jets invested a third-round pick in Louisville outside linebacker/edge rusher Lorenzo Mauldin. Up until this last game, Mauldin's rookie year hadn't been anything to write home about. He was active for seven out of the first eight games, but he was only credited with five total tackles on the year before Sunday. I don't imagine the Jaguars were all that wary of Mauldin before Sunday. They should have been.

More important than just his production -- which was pretty damn good -- was the way in which Mauldin got to the quarterback against the Jaguars. Most of the other pass rushers on the Jets are power rushers who try to run through the offensive linemen. Maudlin utilized his athleticism to run around them. He seemed especially adept at dipping and ripping from the left edge of the defense. His ability to bend on a few of those rushes was also impressive.

Mauldin was credited with two sacks for the game, but he was actually in on three of them, earning a half a sack on two occasions.

I_medium Four of Jeff Eisenberg's 68 predictions for the upcoming college hoops season involve Louisville.

I_medium Scout has Louisville's current 2-man 2016 recruiting class in its top 25.

I_medium The NCAA men's basketball selection committee is moving its annual selection committee "bunker" to New York City.

I_medium Russ Smith was tasked with slowing down Steph Curry for a stretch Wednesday night. This is what he was up against:

I_medium Bucky's 5th Quarter (Wisconsin) ranked every team in college basketball from 1-351, and has Louisville at No. 14.

I_medium The powers that be at Miami are "under the impression" that Charlie Strong is interested in the head coaching position at The U.

I_medium Katina Powell's attorney probably wishes he could take this analogy back.

SJ: You say she's being vilified. People are not vilifying her for what happens. They're vilifying her because she came out and is talking about it as if she's throwing people under the bus.

LW: "So let me ask you this: Do you think it was a bad thing, and I'm Catholic so I can say this, do you think it was a bad thing when the young Catholic men who were molested by Catholic priests came forward because that institution was shook at its roots after that? So were they wrong for coming forward?"

SJ: You're talking about rape versus prostitution.

LW: "I'm talking about the concept of hiding something to protect an institution."

SJ: Were any of the women raped, though, Larry? Seriously?

LW: "No."

SJ: It's apples and oranges.

LW: "No, we're talking about the institution and truth and shining the light of day on truth. And it's the same thing. What you're talking about is, people are vilifying her because she came forward and told the story. That's no different than those young men coming forward and telling the story, and it shook my church at its roots and it changed my church at its roots, and that's why today I'm very proud to say that the Pope is a wonderful man that is offering a whole different view of things for the Catholic church. So hopefully, all of this will result in a re-evaluation of what we're doing on a regular daily basis with young people and sports and education. "

I_medium DeMarcus Cousins cussed out his head coach and now might be about to get him fired, because he's just a big kid having fun out there.

I_medium Help Louisville beat Kentucky (and Wisconsin) by voting for Katie George as the best setter in college volleyball.

I_medium Sometimes when you lose the pants you gain a Nantz....Jim is a father for the second time.

I_medium If you want to show your support for V.J. King sticking with his commitment to Louisville, his Paul IV team will be coming to town to play a game at Fairdale High School on Dec. 20.

I_medium Middle blocker Piper Roe, outside hitter Melanie McHenry, and right side hitter Megan Sloan have all signed national letters of intent to continue their volleyball careers at Louisville, according to head coach Anne Kordes.

I_medium Louisville-Michigan State makes CBS' list of the 30 best non-conference games before Christmas.

I_medium ESPN says that thanks to some star-studded underclassmen, Jeff Walz has taken Louisville women's basketball from underdog to powerhouse.

I_medium This blew my f'ing mind.

I_medium Steve Jones' post-Wednesday practice piece focuses on the relationship between linebackers Keith Kelsey and James Burgess.

I_medium Sports Illustrated's Campus Rush also focuses in on the "Bash Brothers."

I_medium Stylin'

I_medium Louisville is apparently the No. 1 city in American when it comes to insomnia, a standing which can probably be attributed at least 80 percent to U of L athletics.

I_medium Trumaine Washington, the reigning ACC Defensive Back of the Week, believes in "heart over height."

I_medium When you feel good about being on the "must-follow" college basketball Twitter list, but then you start to look around....

Shades of 4th grade when I went to a new school with my Colorado Rockies backpack (no idea why I had one) and literally every other kid in my class had an LL Bean backpack with their initials on it.

I_medium Pretty much everything Luke Winn writes is worth your time, but that's especially true with this profile of Wichita State point guard Fred VanVleet.

I_medium A pair of UVA's beat writers preview Saturday's game in podcast form.

I_medium Streaking the Lawn's preview graphic for the game is quite awesome.

I_medium As expected, the U of L women's basketball team signed a top five class on Wednesday. The staff celebrated with this video:

I_medium There has been a kickstarter launched with the intention of raising enough money to write an exhaustive book on the legendary Dirt Bowl.

I_medium The 2016 Louisville baseball schedule is out, and it is absolutely loaded.

I_medium U of L soccer defender Tim Kubel and midfielder Daniel Johnson were named as 2015 All-ACC selections on Tuesday afternoon, while rookie forward Tate Schmitt was named to the All-Freshman team.

I_medium Highly-rated junior college DE Chris Williams, who was once committed to Ole Miss, is visiting Louisville this weekend.

I_medium Frankie Hughes talks about Garfield Heights and his relationship with alum Trey Lewis.

I_medium Virginia's upset win over Louisville last season might be the only reason why Mike London is still the Cavaliers' head coach heading into the rematch.

I_medium Tickets to this year's Louisville/Kentucky basketball game in Lexington are currently going for an average of $441 a pop.

I_medium Chinanu Onuaku's new free-throw style is garnering him some positive national attention right now, but he knows he's going to hear about it in a less flattering light when Louisville plays on the road this season.

A 6-foot-10, Division I basketball player going straight-up granny style at the free throw line? Yes, the hecklers are going to have a field day with this one.

"Oh, I know they'll make fun of me," Onuaku said. "My teammates already laughed at me. I don't really care."

As a freshman last season, Onuaku was a horrible free throw shooter.

"I wasn't that bad," Onuaku said.

Um, yes, actually you were.

The big man shot 47 percent from the line. So when practice started this year, Pitino called the sophomore to his office. Pitino had cut a video for Onuaku of Hall of Famer and legendary underhanded free throw shooter Rick Barry. Barry, who remains mystified at the resistance to his style, still ranks third in NBA history, converting 90 percent of his free throws during a 14-year career.

...

Louisville, which opens Friday against Samford, has only two true road games through the end of December -- at Michigan State on Dec. 2 and at Kentucky on Dec. 26. That second one, no doubt, will be fun.

"I know it will be harder when I go on the road," Onuaku said. "But I'm ready for it. I don't care what people say as long as the ball goes in."

I_medium Congrats to Trumaine Washington, whose big performance against Syracuse earned him the Chuck Bednarik National Defensive Player of the Week award.

I_medium With this being opening night in college hoops, here's one last plug for the SB Nation 2015-16 college basketball preview, which took up the better part of my time for the last week and-a-half or so.

I_medium And finally, beat Samford.

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