Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Jeff Greer looks at what’s trending up and what’s trending down in the Louisville basketball world.

—Papa is no longer in the house. 2017 was a very rough year for high-profile Louisvillians in power.

—Lamar Jackson.

—Trinity basketball standout David Johnson, a former Louisville commit, is still “strongly considering” the Cardinals. That would be a nice place to start the recruiting revival.

—Deng Adel talks with Andy Katz about his background.

—Donovan Mitchell is already the lifeblood of the Utah Jazz offense.

—The Bellarmine Knights are up to No. 2 in the Division-II rankings.

—A late candidate for the best video of 2017.

—Jon Bois’ latest installment of Chart Party revolves around the Cleveland Browns being stuck in hell.

—It’s been nice to see how many teammates and fellow Louisville athletes have offered up their encouragement for Jaire Alexander today. Donovan Mitchell is among that group.

—Cal has been paying lots of money to get blown out at home by low major schools. Not a great start for Wyking Jones.

—Getting closer.

—So it turns out that Florida State technically isn’t bowl eligible, but due to a “monumental oversight,” the Seminoles are still going to playing in the postseason.

—I am very bummed about the loss of Dick Enberg. Whether it was college basketball, Wimbledon or the NFL, he was one of the defining sports voices of my childhood and early adult life. A true pro in every sense.

—Miss this guy.

—Drew Magary’s take on the actual Night Before Christmas is pretty funny.

—I’ve watched this like 30 times.

And then there’s this ...

So good it almost looks fake.

—In addition to starting the season 14-0 and moving up to No. 3 in the AP poll, the U of L women's basketball has earned a collective 3.27 GPA for the fall semester.

—I’m not feeling as confident about assigning Louisville the highest possible number of confidence points in the bowl pool I entered last night.

—Here’s the AP’s story on Jaire Alexander turning pro.

—U of L previews tomorrow’s game against Grand Canyon.

—OUR FORMER COACH’S HEADS ARE FALLING OFF.

—Here’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay on Lamar Jackson.

Jackson is, of course, last year's Heisman winner, and he is a unique prospect due to his remarkable abilities as a runner and a passer. He has eclipsed both 3,400 passing yards and 1,400 rushing yards for the second straight season, and to watch him is to watch a quarterback who can dominate a college game in multiple ways. Defenses have to account for him differently than they do any other quarterback because of his elite speed and dynamic running.

Kiper's draft ranking: No. 7 QB. From Kiper's take on the Heisman finalists: "From the NFL scouts I've talked to, I think teams are going to ask Jackson to work out as a quarterback and a receiver. They want to see if he could make the transition if he didn't develop enough as a QB."

McShay's draft ranking: No. 7 QB and No. 88 overall prospect. From McShay's preseason scouting report: "Jackson needs to continue to improve his accuracy as a passer. That's the bottom line. Right now, he's a phenomenal college quarterback mostly due to his running skills and athleticism."

Yeah, but those guys with lower completion percentages don’t have accuracy issues. If it’s Josh Allen it’s because he’s a project who didn’t have a good supporting cast. If it’s Sam Darnold it’s because ... he looked great in a bowl game 12 months ago? I don’t know, man.

—Your bowl viewing guide for today.

—I can’t believe I made it this far in the post without doing this ...

—AZ Central says the ‘Lopes are looking for a signature win on Saturday.

—And finally, beat Grand Canyon.