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Thursday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

Adam ups the 2016 Summer Tour ante by taking it to four different states at one time. Well played.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium Athlon's Cover 2 Podcast examines the Louisville Cardinals and whether or not they're going to surprise anyone in 2016.

I_medium The best recent trend in sports is college football finally embracing common sense, a trend which continued on Thursday with the announcement that the College Football Playoff is moving away from the ridiculous decision to have its semifinal games played on New Year's Eve.

I_medium Overcoming obstacles only makes you stronger, Alice.

I_medium Our friends over at the 35th & KY Sports Show have a really interesting interview with Larry O'Bannon where the former Card makes some extremely intriguing comments about Reece Gaines and just how much he (O'Bannon) and Rick Pitino butted heads in his sophomore and junior seasons. You can listen to the full interview here:

I_medium The Big Lead has dropped its annual top 50 players in college basketball list, and no Cardinals make the cut, although Deng Adel gets an honorable mention.

I_medium Eric Crawford says James Ramsey's Louisville legacy should be remembered for more than just its final chapter.

I_medium The Courier-Journal examines Ramsey's "legacy of success and scandal."

I_medium Mark Stoops addresses Lamar Thomas' recent pot-shots at Louisville and interactions with Cardinal fans.

Eighty points.

I_medium In order to make room for Anquan Boldin, the Lions cut Damian Copeland today, just proving for the 9 millionth time that the Lions hate me and don't want me to be happy.

I_medium U of L lacrosse assistant Vicki Latino has been promoted to associated head coach.

I_medium Probably the best bobblehead ever created.

I_medium Louisville commit Cole Bentley is one of the top 10 candidates for Mr. Football in the state of Kentucky.

I_medium Former U of L recruit Markelle Fultz looked tremendous at the FIBA World Championships. I'm sure he'll have a fun time playing on a slightly above average Pac-12 team this season.

I_medium 2006 Pickle National Champions. Never forget it.

I_medium There are reports that former John Calipari assistant Orlando Antigua might be bought out of his contract at South Florida in the wake of the program's current academic scandal.

I_medium Micki Free tells the real story of the Chappelle's Show skit on Prince, which is almost exactly the same as the story Charlie Murphy told.

I_medium The Crunch Zone takes a pre-camp look at Louisville's quarterbacks.

I_medium Eat it, Grayson.

I_medium Easiest place to win a road game in the Big East? This will change when I'm head coach.

I_medium Russ Smith is heading to Turkey despite the State Department warning him not to. People also told him not to go 1-on-5 against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome and look how that turned out. Russ is about to and-1 the entire country.

I_medium U of L equipment out here throwin' daggers at Tom Brady.

I_medium If you coach a youth soccer team or have a kid who plays for one and you'd like that team to walk out onto the pitch (soccer term) with the Louisville Cardinals for one of their games this fall, here are the details on how to make that happen.

I_medium Kyle Robbins says that well actually, the PGA Championship is the best major tournament in golf.

I_medium DeAngelo Brown is the 14th-biggest freak (term of endearment) in college football.

14. DeAngelo Brown, Louisville, DT

Arguably the strongest man in college football, the 6-1, 310-pound Brown is being counted on to become an even bigger force for the salty Cardinals defense. Last year, he had 40 tackles and 6.5 TFLs and made second-team All-ACC. Despite Brown's stout frame, he still measured in at only 18 percent body fat, which is very low for a defensive tackle. In the weight room, Brown bench presses 515 pounds, squats 600 and hang cleans 325. More impressively, this offseason he benched 315 pounds 21 times.

I_medium The second round of the NBA Draft is a "f--ked up mess." Sam Vecenie explains.

I_medium Oregon State is the latest football program to follow in Louisville's footsteps and add a beer garden to its stadium.

I_medium I'm not sure we're fully understanding just how excited the folks down in Huntington are about Sept. 24.

The return game was scheduled for the 2014 season, but that would not pan out. Due to its move to the ACC, Louisville asked Marshall to reschedule that 2014 game in Huntington, and Herd athletic director Mike Hamrick obliged. That was a huge blow to Marshall's 2014 schedule, but the game is finally upon us and the Herd hosts the Cardinals on September 24 at 8 P.M. in front of a national TV audience on CBS Sports Network. Just how big is this game? Let's take a look.

Since its inception in 1991, Marshall has hosted a mere seven games against teams from a BCS/P5 conference at the time of the game. The Herd played only one of those games against a team from the ACC when it hosted Virginia Tech in 2011. So in terms of simply hosting a major conference team, this game is big enough. Marshall thrives on getting big chances like this at home. For example, last season the Herd hosted the Purdue Boilermakers in the season opener. Despite Purdue being down lately, the game was still a sellout with 38,791 fans (the third largest home crowd in Marshall football history) on hand for Marshall's first win over a Big Ten team in school history. But when really broken down, this game with the Cardinals gets even bigger. Louisville is a projected Top 25 team by many outlets and very well could bring a Top 25 national ranking into this game. Out of Marshall's seven previous games against major conference competition at home, only three of those teams were nationally ranked (WVU in 2007 and 2010, Virginia Tech in 2011).

The last time the Cardinals made the trip to Huntington was 1977. And 39 years later, they return in a game that has been much anticipated by Marshall faithful for a long time. On paper, Louisville appears to be the better team. Several college football preseason publications call for the Cardinals to be a sleeper team in the ACC. But you don't just stroll into Joan C. Edwards Stadium and walk away with an easy victory. Edwards Stadium boasts the highest home game winning percentage in the FBS at 85 percent and Marshall is 148-26 all-time at "The Joan." Despite Louisville appearing to have the better team, this game with the Herd has all the makings of being a trap game for the Cardinals. In fact, Bleacher Report listed this game third in its list of "College Football's Top 10 Nonconference Trap Games for 2016." Along with that, Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde listed this game as the biggest trap game of the 2016 college football season. With a showdown against Florida State at home the week before and a road game at Clemson the week after, the Cardinals' trip to Marshall is sandwiched in between those huge games. If Louisville overlooks the Herd, it probably won't turn out good for the Cardinals. Only time will tell how this game will go, but one thing is for sure. This is one of the biggest home games in Marshall football history and could be a record-setting night on many fronts in late September in Huntington, West Virginia.

I_medium Trinity High School standout Cameron has committed to play his college soccer for Ken Lolla.

I_medium Matt Norlander breaks down the top 10 hoopers in the class of 2017.

I_medium Butler High School's hair policy is absurd. Adam Duvall would not approve.

I_medium Props for sneaking in the bottom L here.

I_medium Lonnie Galloway is "ready to go to war" with his new group of wide receivers.

I_medium DeAngelo Brown gets some love from his hometown paper of note.

I_medium And finally, R&R Is live from 3-6 this afternoon/evening talking about the Ramsey resignation with a special guest. Listen here.

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