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Friday afternoon Cardinal News and Notes

This is the face of a dog after being deprived of Louisville basketball for a full week in December. This is the face of Coach Cobb.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium Spread check (Music City Bowl): Texas A&M by 2.

I_medium Louisville is at No. 17 in the latest installment of Luke Winn's hoops power rankings for Sports Illustrated.

I_medium LSU has Ben Simmons. LSU is still bad at basketball. Ricky O'Donnell tries his best to explain this phenomenon.

I_medium Chinanu Onuaku is the No. 34 overall pick in the latest Draft Express mock draft, and the 23rd overall pick in the latest mock draft from ESPN's Chad Ford.

I_medium A lot of the reason next level scouts are high on Nanu is based off his play on the USA Basketball U19 team last summer, a team which was announced as the co-recipient of the USA Basketball Team of the Year award on Thursday.

I_medium ESPN has a quickie preview on the Music City Bowl that includes this section on Louisville.

Best moment: Coming back to beat Kentucky for a fifth straight win in their big rivalry game. Louisville trailed 24-7 at halftime after Kyle Bolingot off to a rough start at quarterback with two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. But a little Lamar Jackson magic turned bleakness into a comeback victory that the Cards won't soon forget. Jackson tallied 186 yards and scored two touchdowns to help them erase the deficit, ruining Kentucky's upset bid. It was the second straight year they posted a come-from-behind win against their in-state nemesis.

Lowest moment: Defensive performance in the second half againstFlorida State. A tough home loss to Clemson could have also fit the bill here, but there was no doubt in that game Louisville gave everything it had throughout the course of the game. That was not the case against Florida State, and that was a big disappointment to coach Bobby Petrino and his staff. Louisville trailed 7-6 at halftime and did a decent job containing Dalvin Cook in the first half. But the Cards gave up 34 second-half points and ended up getting blown out. When asked about the lack of effort afterward, Petrino said, "In my however many years coaching, it's really the first time I've seen it. I just don't get it. I really don't."

Key player: Keith Kelsey, LB. Kelsey leads the Cards with 100 tackles, including 12 tackles for loss, and was their only selection to the All-ACC first team. He is the most dependable player on a Louisville defense that has the capability of shutting people down when everybody is pulling in the same direction. Another player to watch is Jackson, who finished the regular season with a team-high 734 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, along with 1,613 yards passing and another 10 touchdowns.

Motivation level: High. Louisville had an up-and-down season but ended on a high note. The players are sure to be motivated to end with eight wins and a much better performance in their bowl than last year, when Georgia won 37-14 in the Belk Bowl.

I_medium With seven newcomers, Rick Pitino knows that his trademark zone is still a work in progress, which is why the team has relied mostly on man defense up to this point.

I_medium Congratulations to Louisville setter Katie George, outside hitter Erin Fairs, middle blocker Tess Clark and libero Molly Sauer, who were all named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-East Region FirstTeam. Junior hitter Janelle Jenkins was named to the All East Region Second Team.

I_medium For a limited time (until Dec. 14), our friends over at Strait Pinkie are selling this bad ass DeVante Parker shirt:

Get it here.

I_medium Your game preview for tomorrow afternoon from GoCards.com has arrived.

I_medium Decent numbers.

A reminder that King will be in town on Dec. 20 and playing at Fairdale High at 4 p.m. If you can't make it out, WBKI will be showing the a replay of the game at 6 p.m.

I_medium Travis Ford was ejected from his son's high school game in Stillwater last night.

I_medium Male High won at the buzzer last night, and Damion Lee was on hand to show some love.

I_medium It's the unrivaled creativity which has always kept patrons of The Thoroughbred Lounge coming back after all these years.

I_medium Iowa State came back from 20 down in the second half to stun rival Iowa last night, but the bigger story (arguably) happened after game.

Debate 1: The fans of a team ranked No. 4 stormed the court after defeating an unranked rival.

Debate 2: Said court storm resulted in a reporter suffering a broken leg.

Debate 3: Some people say cucumbers taste better pickled.

I_medium This piece from ESPN titles "The Final Act of Jim Boeheim" is very good and worth your time, but this passage concerns me.

ON NORMAL GAME days, his routine is always the same. He holes up in the bedroom, watching old movies or "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." If it's a night game, he has soup, grilled cheese, chips and Pepsi. If it's a day game, he doesn't eat. At some point he gets in the shower, which is the cue for Juli, his wife, to lay out his clothes. If it's a big game, she'll pick something snazzy from the tailor who comes over special from Rochester. Most of the time, she puts out what he calls "the uniform" -- gray slacks and a blue blazer. He has been wearing that outfit for decades. It comforts him. Jim Boeheim doesn't like change.

Not changing made him a legend in Syracuse and one of the biggest winners in college basketball history. Not changing also got him sued and suspended and put on probation. This is Boeheim's 40th year as Syracuse head coach, and one of his last. It will probably be his most complicated.

You're 71, Jim, pick out your own damn clothes.

I_medium Safe to assume that Louisville will make a play for recent Georgia decommit Malek Young.

I_medium Some monster burglarized the Owensboro Humane Society, and they could use any help you can give them.

I_medium I love great U of L fan stories, and this Reddit thread has plenty.

I_medium Awesome picture.

I_medium ESPN ranks Louisville at No. 39 on the hierarchy of college football recruiting difficulty.

I_medium 247 Sports breaks down a big weekend of football recruiting visitors for Louisville, which includes QB commit Tylin Oden.

I_medium Your nomination has been accepted.

I_medium Eric Crawford has more on last night's U of L-UK women's game.

I_medium Jeff Walz was extremely disappointed in the effort by his team, and let the world know about it after the game.

I_medium Spike Albrecht, who I'm sure you all remember from the first half of the 2013 national championship game, is calling it a career because of injuries.

I'll always love him for this:

Best of luck to Spike in life beyond basketball.

I_medium Good Bull Hunting reacts to the news of Kyle Allen transferring.

I_medium It should be a solid weekend of college hoops. SI's Seth Davis gives his picks for the biggest games.

I_medium And finally, beat Eastern Michigan.

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