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Wednesday evening Cardinal news and notes

Spike Davis and the fine folks of Cozumel, Mexico are feeling confident about Louisville's chances of winning the ACC tournament this weekend.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium A rainy day here in Louisville significantly delayed the start of game one on the second day of the ACC tournament. No word on whether or not this could have an effect on the start of Louisville's game tomorrow, but stay tuned for updates.

I_medium Eric Crawford explains that, no, this thing is never going to be over.

Even when the NCAA process is over for the University of Louisville, school officials will have one more obligation.

On Tuesday, when a reporter asked Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino about his experience in the school's 11-hour hearing in front of the NCAA's committee on infractions on April 20 - the first time Pitino has ever appeared before that body - he didn't want to talk about it.

"It was one of the most difficult days, and I don't even want to relive any of it," Pitino said. "So I'd rather not answer the question. And I don't mean that it went bad, it just was excruciating, long, tedious."

In fact, Pitino is prevented from discussing what was talked about that day by NCAA rule.

But Louisville officials, and perhaps Pitino, will have to hold at least one more discussion on the process, after it is complete, beyond discussing the final sanctions with the media and public.

The Atlantic Coast Conference will hold a review, after the infractions process has run its course.

ACC commissioner John Swofford said that the conference will not add to any NCAA sanctions - a practice that the ACC and other leagues once had. But he said that the league will ask U of L to sit down with officials from other conference schools to talk about its dealings with the NCAA.

"Any time one of our schools has any degree of NCAA problem, once it's over with, the school involved, their representatives sit down with their colleagues at the other institutions, and they share what went on, and what they learned from the process, and what might prohibit it from happening again," Swofford said. "So it's, you know, a best practices sort of arrangement, where the other schools learn from what happened at a particular school, whether it's Louisville or another school in the conference. And that's intended to be very positive. You can always find a positive in just about any negative. Sometimes it's hard to do."

I_medium Guy is literally Michael Scott. LITERALLY.

Literally.

I_medium The Big Ten moving its tournament up a week means the AAC championship game will be setting the table for the selection show on CBS this year.

I_medium U of L previews the baseball team's ACC tournament opener tomorrow.

I_medium This explains the dreary weather in Louisville.

I_medium While Michigan did get Wagner back, they're losing versatile big man D.J. Wilson to the league. The Sporting News says that may not be such a bad thing for John Beilein and company.

I_medium Calvin Pryor was a no-show at the first day of Jets voluntary-OTA practices, placing his roster spot in some jeopardy.

I_medium More good news on the Teddy front.

I_medium Former Louisville commit Desean Blair who ended up signing with Missouri wants other kids from Florida to avoid making the same mistake that he did.

I_medium So somebody made up a Twitter profile for a fictional football recruit named "Unique Brissett," and 247 Sports ended up giving him three stars.

I_medium Buzz ain't scared.

I_medium Former U of L grad transfer target Mark Alstork is headed to Illinois to play for Brad Underwood.

I_medium ESPN gives the best piece of stadium trivia for each member of its preseason top 25.

17. Louisville

Every time Louisville scores a touchdown, a train horn sounds. There is something special about that sound, as deafening as it might be. The horn was salvaged from the South Louisville Rail Yard, which stood on the property before Papa John's Cardinal Stadium was built more than two decades ago. -- Adelson

I_medium This is pretty cool.

I_medium Craig Ewing writes about Brendan McKay for LEO Weekly.

I_medium NC State's Omer Yurtseven is returning to play for Kevin Keatts.

I_medium Donovan Mitchell is up a spot in The Sporting News' updated NBA Draft big board.

17. Donovan Mitchell, G, Louisville (previous: 18): Mitchell is one of the best athletes in the class, and his 6-foot-10 wingspan helps to make up for his size. He's a strong instinctual defender who creates plays, as well as a reformed shooter who hit 37 percent of his attempts this season from deep. If he can add to a solid game off the bounce, he has a chance to become a starter.

I_medium John Swofford says the NCAA tournament hurts college basketball's regular season. Evidence says otherwise.

I_medium This story about Roger Moore that's been making it's way around the internet today is terrific.

I_medium CBS lists the 17 most irreplaceable players in college football. You're all familiar with No. 1.

1. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville: There'd have to be a hell of a good reason to leave the reigning Heisman Trophy winner off this list and at least a good explanation if he's somewhere lower than third. Jackson, by himself, was worth a lot of wins. That's irreplaceable, but it goes beyond that. Last season, Jackson played on level so comically above everyone else that the Heisman race was legitimately over by November. It was briefly 2010 Cam Newton-esque. As it so happens, November was Jackson's worst month, but Jackson's good was so good that no one could offer legitimate competition without totally kidding themselves.

I_medium "What's life in Kentucky really like?" They ask.

I_medium The story of Eastern Washington hooper Jake Wiley is pretty unreal.

I_medium Not bad.

I_medium The Cardinal tennis duo of Sean Donohue and Parker Wynn is set to begin play at the NCAA Doubles Championship.

I_medium The season may be 100 days away, but that's not going to keep Athlon from releasing its full preview of Louisville.

Final Analysis

After climbing as high as third nationally in mid-September and ranking fifth in the College Football Playoff poll after Week 12, the Cardinals wobbled down the stretch. Too many sacks. Too many fumbles. Too many missed tackles and blown assignments.

The defensive issues have been assigned to Sirmon, who has only one season of experience as a coordinator. Summers built solid offensive lines for Petrino at Arkansas and during his first run at Louisville. The head coach has drilled his team over the 22 fumbles lost. Odds are the Cards are looking at another third-place Atlantic Division finish behind Florida State and Clemson.

NATIONAL RANKING: 18

ACC ATLANTIC PREDICTION: 3

I_medium And finally, the release of the 2017 U of L women's soccer schedule is here, while the men's slate is here.

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