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Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

Vincent Jackson (no relation to Lamar) has been letting all his boys know this week that Saturday night was just a minor setback for a major comeback.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium Bye week spread check: Still not fully over it by 3.5.

I_medium This was pretty awesome yesterday.

Thanks, Congressman.

I_medium SB Nation looks at how ESPN turned Clemson's entrance into an epic 9-minute production.

I_medium CBS college football formula guru Jerry Palm attempts to project what the College Football Playoff Rankings would look like if they came out today, and he's got Louisville at No. 4.

1. Ohio State: The Buckeyes have laid waste to their first four opponents, including a dominant performance at Oklahoma.

2. Alabama: The difference between Alabama and Ohio State to this point is that Ole Miss put a scare into the Tide.

3. Clemson: The Tigers have played the best schedule of the top three and have the best win, which came over Louisville on Saturday. Clemson hasn't really put a complete game together yet though.

4. Louisville: Lamar Jackson is still the top contender for the Heisman Trophy despite the loss at Clemson because the Cardinals are piling up points like nobody else.

5. Michigan: The Wolverines haven't left the friendly confines of the Big House yet, but they did pick up a big win over Wisconsin last week.

6. Texas A&M: Kevin Sumlin's seat has cooled off considerably after a 5-0 start that includes wins over UCLA and Arkansas.

7. Tennessee: The Vols have already knocked off Florida and Georgia, their top two competitors in the SEC East. Now, they will test themselves against the West, beginning with a game at Texas A&M this week.

8. Houston: Tom Herman will be the focus of the coaching carousel this coming offseason, but in the meantime, he is looking to make the Cougars the first Group of Five CFP participant.

9. Washington: The Huskies got their first real test of the season last Friday against Stanford. They passed with flying colors, primarily Cardinal.

10. Wisconsin: The Badgers have beaten LSU, won at Michigan State and gave Michigan a good fight.

I_medium The ACC.com gives us the best moments (video) from the conference's first month of the season.

I_medium In five years, the Bills are going to be the first NFL team ever comprised of 53 players from the same college.

Congrats to Gerald, who I still believe could be a really productive NFL tight end if given the right chance.

I_medium In a national interview earlier this week, Rick Pitino reiterated his belief that Louisville's self-imposed sanctions should be enough to satisfy the NCAA.

I_medium Lamar Jackson and Corey Ray both make appearances in this video of the best ACC plays of the last five years.

I_medium Shoutout to the hero who celebrated CC's 10th birthday in style behind the Celtics bench last night.

I_medium ESPN's Max Kellerman believes Louisville-Clemson was the best college football game since the USC-Texas Rose Bowl.

I_medium Ed Feng of Bleacher Report says Louisville still has the fourth-highest probability (42.85%) of any team to make the playoff, trailing only Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson.

I_medium Of all the teams in college football with one or no losses, Louisville is the most likely to make it from now until week 14 without tasting defeat.

I_medium Steve Jones of the C-J is the latest to tackle first down marker-gate.

After the play, however, the chain crew member who was manning that ground marker likely violated Atlantic Coast Conference protocol by appearing to cheer for Clemson when Quick went out of bounds a yard short of the first down, ensuring the Tigers' 42-36 win.

"That (need to remain neutral) is something that we will review with the gentleman that was on the sideline for this game and something we'll reinforce with all our chain-crew personnel moving forward," Clemson spokesman Joe Galbraith said.

ACC chain crews are hired by the host schools and operate during the games under the supervision of the ACC officiating crew. They are paid by the ACC, and the league provides ACC vests and attire for them to wear.

The celebratory reaction of the crew member and his positioning of the unofficial "line-to-gain" ground marker, which was about eight feet off the playing field (2 feet off the six-foot-wide painted sideline), became subjects of scrutiny among fans and media on Twitter and blogs in the 48 hours after the game. Many wondered if the marker had been visible enough for Quick as he sprinted toward the left sideline.

U of L quarterback Lamar Jackson said after the game that he thought Quick initially believed - like Jackson did - that he'd gained enough yards to get a first down, and Jackson said he thought Quick probably didn't see the line-to-gain marker, which is a rectangular red mat with a triangular point at one end.

But as Galbraith pointed out, NCAA Rule 1-2-7-d states that the use of an unofficial line-to-gain ground marker - which is on the opposite sideline of the official 10-yard chain - is only recommended and not mandated, and there is no specified distance off the playing field at which it is to be placed. (See Page 17 of the rulebook.)

"We feel the (unofficial line-to-gain ground) marker, as it's written in the NCAA rulebook, was in the proper spot or in line with the NCAA rules, which don't say a specific distance that it needs to be from the field," Galbraith said.

I_medium All Sports Discussion lists five things that need to happen for Louisville to make it into the College Football Playoff.

I_medium Tickets for the 2016-17 Louisville women's basketball season are now available.

I_medium Great time to enter the world.

I_medium The 8th-ranked Louisville men's soccer team kept rolling last night with a 6-0 thrashing of Belmont.

I_medium Everyone knows the NCAA can be ridiculous, but this ineligibility ruling against a war hero who should be playing basketball for Oakland this season is beyond egregious.

I_medium Louisville-Clemson was the most-watched U of L football regular season game ever.

I_medium Eric Wood remains the man.

I_medium Lamar Jackson is still the runaway favorite in USA Today's Heisman Watch.

I_medium It looks like the ACC may wind up sticking with an 8-game conference schedule for football after all.

I_medium The U of L women's soccer team is now ranked 21st in the country.

I_medium Fox Sports says when ranking the teams in the country best-suited to beat Alabama, Louisville is No. 2.

Of everyone on this list, Louisville seems the least likely to ever meet Alabama, which is good for the Crimson Tide, since Lamar Jackson would absolutely give the Crimson Tide fits. You know how Alabama has struggled with dual-threat guys in the past? Well, put that on steroids and that's what you've got with Jackson, who proved -- even in a loss to Clemson -- he is the best player in college football after throwing for 295 yards and adding another 168 on the ground.   

Also, don't sleep on the Cardinals defense. They've already forced 12 turnovers in five games and have a deceptively strong front with James Hearns (who leads the team with 4.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss), and DeVonte Fields.

Ohio State is No. 1.

I_medium Class of 2018 guard Emmanuel Akot has Louisville in his final four.

I_medium Lamar Jackson still sits atop Stewart Mandel's Heisman Trophy power rankings.

I_medium The national respect continues to pile up.

I_medium Louisville checks in at No. 4 in CBS' college football power rankings.

I_medium "Exchange" is actually about David Levitch.

I_medium If Charlie Strong's latest staff shakeup doesn't work in Austin, there's going to be nobody else left to blame.

I_medium Duke coach David Cutcliffe is typically a pretty laid back cat, but he kind of snapped after the Blue Devils' loss to Virginia last Saturday.

I_medium Cool story on the Waggener High football team getting a $10,000 equipment grant.

I_medium Still the Heisman favorite? No doubt.

I_medium Ranked matchups highlight the weekend that will be in the ACC.

I_medium This week's edition of The Numerical is here.

I_medium We lost, but this is still cool.

I_medium ESPN's Ryan McGee has a good read on Louisville-Clemson.

I_medium Scott Van Pelt's "One Big Thing" segment from Monday night's SportsCenter showed a bunch of love to Lamar Jackson.

I_medium Declared ineligible by the KHSAA after transferring from Taylor County to Ballard for his senior year, David Sloan will now have to head to Florida for his final year of high school basketball. You have to wonder if he had been transferring from Ballard to Taylor County and not vice versa whether or not things would have worked out differently (spoiler: they would have).

I_medium Your weekly high school game of the week poll for tomorrow's pick 'em is here.

I_medium Donovan Mitchell has missed Louisville's first four practices of the season because of a concussion.

I_medium And finally, R&R is live from 3-6 today discussing all sorts of crazy awesome stuff that will blow your minds. Listen here.

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