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Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

Baby Younger sporting that look of knowing that he's about to enter a lengthy weekend full of Cardinal sports and excess eating.

By Mike Rutherford

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I_medium Spread check (football): Louisville by 25.5.

I_medium Spread check (basketball): Louisville by 16.5.

I_medium As I type this, Wichita State is in the process of trying to make LSU quit basketball forever. Because of the tournament's bizarre schedule, the Shockers are now going to have more than 24 hours of rest before facing the winner of a Louisville-Old Dominion game that's probably not going to end until after midnight. That's not an ideal setup.

I_medium Bobby Petrino enjoys beating Kentucky.

I_medium You can find the schedule of events for Saturday's game here.

I_medium SB Nation's Ian Boyd takes a closer look at how Houston managed to sack Lamar Jackson 11 times, which might be the most amazing thing that's happened this whole season.

If you're looking to push the ball down the field with the passing game, the Cougars are a tough nut to crack.

They regularly get free rushers with their disguised blitzes, but they also always have DBs playing deep zones and waiting to jump misguided home run attempts. Their LBs tend to take fairly deep drops as well.

When the Cardinals got down early, they were forced to throw downfield, which is when you are most vulnerable to Houston's design. It was the perfect storm, and Bobby Petrino and his star QB were trapped in it all night long.

I_medium Lamar Thomas has said some pretty negative stuff about Bobby Petrino and Louisville since joining the staff at Kentucky, but he also brought Lamar Jackson to the Derby City, sooooo.

I_medium House of Cards is here to help you get ready for Saturday.

I_medium Crimson Quarry says that Indiana's loss to Fort Wayne Tuesday night was actually good.

I_medium Also worth noting is that David Levitch's younger brother, Jax, is a freshman at Fort Wayne. All that family does is rack up dubs.

I_medium One way to celebrate the biggest win in your school's history is to storm the court and ... drink bleach?

I_medium Cards fans continue to enjoy Atlantis.

I_medium Foreshadowing a championship game showdown?

I_medium Awful Announcing has an oral history of the Kick Six game from two years ago between Auburn and Alabama.

I_medium U of L previews the men's soccer team's upcoming Sweet 16 match against Notre Dame.

I_medium When did Jaylen Johnson get 7'3?

I_medium Should Duke's Harry Giles play at all this season? Jeff Goodman spoke to some NBA people to get their thoughts.

I_medium Steve Jones interviews the photographer who captured the famous "Lamar Leap" photo during the Syracuse game.

I_medium Love the equipment dudes and dudettes.

I_medium John Calipari is out here trying to get Mark Stoops beat by 100.

John Calipari's Wildcats are only four games into the regular season, but the Kentucky coach showed in his press conference Tuesday that he's already reached mid-season form with his jabs.

Last week, Kentucky assistant coach Kenny Payne admitted that he had not yet read his bosses new book, "Success Is The Only Option." Looking back on that, maybe Payne should have lied. He opened up a door for Calipari, who slammed it shut with a theory why Payne had not yet read it.

"He went to Louisville," Calipari said. "He doesn't read."

Stoops is in the corner like, "all right, that's .... that's enough, John."

I_medium The Crunch Zone analyzes the offensive linemen in Louisville's 2017 recruiting class.

I_medium Nope, not awkward at all.

I_medium Howard Schnellenberger cussed on air yesterday and then reiterated his belief that Louisville is on a collision course with the national title. You can listen to that interview here.

I_medium With six wins already in hand, Kentucky now feels like it has a free shot to spoil Louisville's 2016 season.

I_medium The Washington Post says that Lamar Jackson's Heisman hopes hinge on a Cardinal victory over Kentucky. It's a blanket statement that I don't agree with, but sure, why not.

I_medium Chip Patterson of CBS likes Louisville to cover Saturday's growing spread.

Kentucky at Louisville (-26.5): Finally bowl eligible for the first time under Mark Stoops, Kentucky is fighting for its pride in what will likely be a one-sided affair with the Cardinals. Lamar Jackson and this entire Louisville offense doesn't want to finish their impressive campaign with another clunker. They will likely open up the offensive engine and let it roar against a porous Wildcats' defense. Pick: Cardinals -26.5.

I_medium Because Kentucky won six games over Louisville played 100 years ago, a win Saturday would give the Cardinals their first ever edge in the all-time series standings.

I_medium Athlon is rolling with the Cards Saturday.

Final Analysis

Louisville doesn't have to worry about impressing the College Football Playoff selection committee anymore. Last week's loss on national television to Houston took care of that. However, the Cardinals still have pride and bowl positioning, so expect Bobby Petrino's team to be fired up for their last home game.

Kentucky has enough talent on offense with Stanley "Boom" Williams and Benny Snell Jr. to make it interesting. If the Wildcats can establish the run that will at least keep Lamar Jackson and the nation's most explosive and potent offense off of the field. This will be Jackson's last opportunity to show the voters that despite a little hiccup against the Cougars, he's still the clear-cut front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy.

Jackson should be able to pad his stats even more as Louisville pulls away from Kentucky in the second half to cruise to a sixth straight victory in this Bluegrass State rivalry.

Prediction: Louisville 45, Kentucky 24

I_medium I link this every year on Thanksgiving Eve, but it's still the best Onion piece ever.

I_medium Ramsey & Rutherford will not be at Fan Outfitters this afternoon as originally scheduled, but we will be on the air from 3-6. We will also be live at Gerstle's from 1:30 to 3:30 if the team is playing in the Atlantis championship game that day, or from 3-6 if the team is playing at another time.

I_medium And finally, beat Old Dominion.

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