Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Bowl season gets underway in 24 hours. Here’s your updated bowl calendar.

—Pat Forde says that Louisville beat out Ole Miss and Tennessee to win the Dumpster Fire of the Year award for 2017. So, yeah, pretty good year.

—The latest installment of Lamar Jackson slander is here, and it’s sure to infuriate you.

—He good.

—USA Today says that NFL teams fail when it comes to drafting quarterbacks so often because they spend too much time looking for a QB who has “the look.”

—-The NCAA finally hit UNC with some massive penalties for the academic fraud that plagued its men’s basketball program. The only problem is that UNC here is Northern Colorado.

—Love Anas.

—Could we have spoken too soon about U of L’s accreditation status being safe? Perhaps.

—U of L is reportedly putting together a 10-person search committee to hire the next athletic director.

Russ Smith
Earl Clark
Sadat
The Dean’s Milk Chug mascot
Anastasia Saunders
Beau Zach Smith
Don Russell
DePaul
Peyton Siva’s Dad
Denny Crum

Done.

—Tru Washington highlights:

—Here’s the official U of L preview of Saturday’s game.

—U of L men’s soccer’s Tim Kubel is a Scholar All-American.

—Despite some NCAA tournament disappointment, it was still a record-setting season to remember for Cardinal volleyball.

—I don’t entirely understand what’s going on here, but beat Memphis State.

—ESPN writes about Louisville’s Dana Evans, who is a big part of the reason Jeff Walz’s team is off to a 12-0 start.

—Mark Giannotto of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes about the Louisville-Memphis State rivalry, which once burned incredibly bright but is now a mystery to players on both sides.

Memphis and Louisville will meet for the 90th time on Saturday at Madison Square Garden (11 a.m., ESPN2). The Tigers have only played one school more (Southern Miss), but nobody inspired the emotions Louisville did among fans and players alike.

The two programs moved to four different leagues together, and their encounters are as much a part of Memphis basketball lore as its two national championship game appearances.

It's also why the current state of this series, with no games scheduled beyond Saturday's neutral court affair and no sense of the battles these programs once waged, can be frustrating to those who lived through it.

“Every game was basically a war," said Matt Dillon, who has been broadcasting Tiger basketball games since 1973. “You looked on the schedule and Tigers fans would circle: 'Here’s Louisville.' It meant something. It meant going to the NCAA tournament. It meant the bragging rights for another year. Now, these guys have no idea or any clue what it’s like.”

—Charlotte fired basketball coach Mark Price yesterday. As a fan who grew up watching great UNCC teams compete against Louisville, it makes me sad that the 49ers basketball program has essentially vanished.

—The kids are all right.

—Madison Square Garden has been a friendly spot for Louisville in recent years. The Cardinals have won nine consecutive games in the world’s most famous arena.

—Memphis State’s official website previews tomorrow’s game.

—This is a Grade A celebration.

—Defensive tackle is a position of need for U of L football, and the Cardinal coaching staff is continuing to do work to fill it.

—Sports on Earth grades the ACC’s 2017 season, which, you know, isn’t over yet.

—And finally, R&R is on from 3-6 today ...

I’ll be in the corner quietly reading to myself during that time I guess. We’ll also have Andrea Adelson on at 3:30 and spend most of the rest of the show talking Memphis State.

Anyone else remember the Darius Washington game? Here’s the video for anyone who was wondering if it’s still out there.