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Monday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

They're ready to close out February strong at Fort Aguada in GOA, India.

By Mike Rutherford

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I_medium The Louisville baseball team kicked off its 2017 season with three wins in Clearwater over the weekend, including a 10-7 triumph over No. 22 Maryland.

I_medium The U of L women's basketball team rolled over North Carolina at the Yum Center on Sunday thanks to 28 points from Asia Durr.

I_medium Someone better let Theo know.

With Baylor losing twice since the NCAA gave a sneak peek of its seeding, a No. 1 seed is up for grabs. Conventional wisdom figures it will be claimed by the team that emerges from the ACC regular season or tournament crucible.

In the latest Bracketology, Joe Lunardi has Carolina replacing the Bears as a No. 1 seed, and the Tar Heels maintained a slim one-game lead over Louisville and Duke in the ACC standings after Saturday's win.

"You don't want to act like we don't care because it [seeding] helps," Pinson said. "We did it last year, we understand that we're the only team in the ACC that controls its own destiny right now. Everybody else has to watch us to see if we lose."

The way Jackson is playing, Carolina won't be losing many.

I_medium Louisville is a No. 2 seed facing Dunk City in the latest ESPN bracketology.

I_medium I am a huge fan of watching Rick Pitino watch Minnesota games. Enormous.

The Gophers beat Michigan in overtime, by the way, to secure their 20th win of the season.

I_medium Boston College athletic director Brad Bates has stepped down.

I_medium NBC's Rob Dauster looks at five major storylines in college basketball, including the ACC POY race, which heavily features Donovan Mitchell.

3. Who you got in the ACC Player of the Year race?: Because it's not easy to pick someone.

Let's start with Luke Kennard, who is probably the most likely player from the league to earn a spot on an all-american team. But so much of his work was done early on in the season, before the start of conference play, which would bring us to Donovan Mitchell, who has been just sensational over the course of the last month, helping to buoy the Cardinals despite the fact that they spent quite a bit of time playing without both of the point guards on their roster. But then there is Justin Jackson, who has played the best basketball of his career in league play this year and is the best player on the team that currently looks primed to win the conference regular season title outright.

Those three are probably the favorites.

But what about Notre Dame's Bonzie Colson, whose ability to star at the four in the ACC despite standing just 6-foot-5 is astonishing. Or Wake Forest's John Collins, who has gone for at least 20 points in ten straight games and has notched a double-double in six of those ten games. Or Dennis Smith Jr., who is putting up crazy numbers for a terrible team.

I'd lean Jackson over Mitchell and Kennard at this point, but I change my mind almost daily.

I_medium Louisville is No. 7 in the latest college hoops power rankings from Jeff Goodman over at ESPN.

I_medium Pat Forde gives us 12 major takeaways from the weekend that was in college hoops.

I_medium The ACC is changing the voting process that determines who wins its major postseason hoops awards.

I_medium Kevin Olsen, the Charlotte quarterback that Louisville fans might remember for laying into his offensive line during the second half of the 2016 season-opener at PJCS, has been arrested on rape and cyberstalking charges.

I_medium Great story here on a Louisville teen who has won a national volunteering honor while battling her own health issues.

I_medium Rolling into the new work week like

I_medium Syracuse lost to Georgia Tech and the Prince of March on Sunday, making it evident that the Orange are going to make their fans sweat out another Selection Sunday.

I_medium Shoutout to the Louisville ice hockey team on winning its third straight conference title.

I_medium John Feinstein has a terrific read on Towson basketball player John Davis, whose basketball career was cut short earlier this month when he was shot in the knee.

I_medium Louisville signee Jordan Nwora had 38 points on Saturday in a win for his Vermont Academy team.

I_medium Cardinal Quiz Bowl just keeps rolling.

I_medium NBC's Bracketology has Louisville as a No. 2 seed staring down a potential rematch with Wichita State in round two.

I_medium Jeff Greer takes an updated look at U of L's NCAA tournament resume.

I_medium Gorgs.

I_medium The U of L men's tennis team snagged its first ACC win with a 6-1 trouncing of Boston College.

I_medium Buzz Williams left Louisville with some extremely complimentary things to say about the Cardinals.

"I think Louisville is a one-seed, no worse than a two-seed," Williams said. "This is one of the best arenas in the country. Coach Pitino has been in the Hall of Fame and deservingly so. He's ahead in every way. So we have our hands full if we are playing with a full boat."

The Hokies weren't playing with a "full boat," missing leading rebounder Chris Clarke.

Williams also took time to praise Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell, who was the response to Virginia Tech's high-powered offense, scoring 26 points.

"He's an elite level player. Elite level," Williams said. "He can score on all three levels. Great body. Great body control. Very physical. Because he's so strong, he's deceptively, in my opinion, an elite level athlete. He's very good."

I_medium Louisville softball fell to 7-2 on the season with a 4-3 loss to Ohio State on Sunday.

I_medium Eleven of the 12 writers over at Tar Heel Blog like North Carolina over Louisville on Wednesday.

I_medium USA Today tabs Louisville-UNC as the game of the week.

Game of the week

No. 7 Louisville at No. 9 North Carolina, Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

Slumps are relative, of course, but Baylor's recent results might have created an opening on the No.-1 seed line of the bracket. The Tar Heels, now a game up in the ACC standings following a pair of 20+-point wins during the past week, appear to have the best qualifications to take that spot. They'll add to those credentials if they can manage another top-tier win on their home floor.

The Cardinals, however, have aspirations for that most favorable regional seed themselves. Louisville has won three in a row, though they've all been close. Louisville will need Donovan Mitchell to be at his disruptive best against UNC's primary facilitator Joel Berry.

I_medium And finally, R&R is back today from 3-6 recapping the weekend that was and looking ahead to a monster week in Louisville sports. You can listen here.

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