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Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

That's Greyson Baker intently listening to his family's travel plans as they get ready for Omaha this week.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium The latest Cardinals to hear their names called in the MLB Draft (as of the time of this writing) are catcher Colby Fitch and center fielder Logan Taylor. Fitch went in the 13th round to the Philadelphia Phillies with the 383rd overall pick, and Taylor went four rounds later to the Chicago White Sox.

I_medium Kade McClure is happy to be a member of the White Sox organization, but he has his mind on other things at the moment.

I_medium U of L running back Jeremy Smith spent some time behind the camera for Spectrum Sports at the super regional last weekend.

I_medium CCBM amusement park ride pics remain some of the best CCBM pics.

I_medium ESPN looks at the best college basketball job in all 50 states. They got Kentucky wrong, but it's ok to be wrong about stuff sometimes.

I_medium Every now and then you forget just how ridiculous Lamar Jackson's numbers are, and then you see something like this.

We're talking about a quarterback who wasn't a full-time starter as a freshman, who now is about to become Louisville's all-time leading rusher in three seasons.

I_medium The latest installment of the perpetual "NCAA is Ridiculous" show comes in the form of the body forcing Central Florida's kicker to choose between football and his popular YouTube channel.

I_medium For those of you with satellite radio:

The College World Series features the eight Super Regional Champions - Cal State Fullerton, Florida, Florida State, Louisville, LSU, Oregon State, TCU and Texas A&M. The teams compete in a double elimination format with the two finalists facing off in a best-of-three championship series June 26-28 that determines college baseball's national champion.

In addition to the live play-by-play, SiriusXM College Sports Nation's college baseball show, Perfect Game, will air live from Omaha during the first week of the tournament. Hosts Braden Gall and Baseball America's John Manuel will broadcast a special edition of the show this Friday from 7:00 to 10:00 pm ET, offering a comprehensive preview and interviews with coaches and players from all eight teams, and can be heard daily through Tuesday, June 20th. For a full schedule of coverage visit www.siriusxm.com/collegesports.

I_medium Brendan McKay and Drew Ellis reflect on what it was like to hear their names called on the first night of the MLB Draft.

I_medium Steve Wiltfong of 247 Sports says Louisville's most recent recruiting targets and triumphs are a direct result of the Cardinals' 2018 opening opponent. He also likes recent QB commit Jordan Travis.

As Bobby Petrino and company continue working towards their 2017 season-opener against Purdue, the Louisville staff is also keenly aware of who its team plays first in 2018: Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide.

Making the task of opening the season against 'Bama even more harrowing is the likelihood that the Cardinals will be working with a brand new defensive line. All four of Louisville's projected 2017 DL starters will exhaust their eligibility at season's end. So that's the position Petrino and his staff have prioritized in the 2018 recruiting cycle, and the Cardinals took a big step toward accomplishing that goal on Sunday when they added JUCO targets Antar Thompson and Jared Goldwire along with Dejmi Dumervile Jean out of powerhouse high school program Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas.

The 6-foot-5, 310-pound Thompson and the 6-foot-7, 280-pound Goldwire and the 6-foot-5, 367-pound Dumervil Jean join the 6-foot-6, 285-pound Michael Boykin, who one source called a "no-brainer" NFL guy. These older, physical JUCO guys, will give the Cardinals a chance to bang up front with the Crimson Tide. All three rank as top 20 JUCO prospects according to the 247Sports Composite and will enroll early, giving them eight months to get ready for Nick Saban and company. As Dumervile Jean continues to reshape his body, he has the tools to control the middle of the defensive line for Louisville for years to come.

While there is a lot of excitement around Louisville regarding the defensive line class they're putting together, there is also a ton of buzz coming from around the program regarding their new quarterback commit Jordan Travis.

The Cardinals were the first Power Five program to offer the 6-foot-2, 185-pound North Palm Beach QB, and he gave Petrino his pledge this past Saturday over scholarships from North Carolina, Georgia and Rutgers among other.

One source called him a "steal."

I_medium The taco-burrito exchange rate is out of control.

I_medium The C-J serves up a quick take on all eight of the teams heading to Omaha.

I_medium His dad may be one of the most obnoxious people on earth, but Lonzo Ball is cool.

I_medium U of L soccer's annual "Kickin' it with JT and Friends" clinic is going down on Saturday, July 22.

I_medium Cute hockey fan kids are killing the game today.

I_medium Great Keith Wynne read from a couple years ago about Louisville baseball fan Rob Partin having a jersey hung in his honor in Omaha.

I_medium Get to know new/old Louisville O-line coach Mike Summers a little better.

I_medium Louisville has made the top seven for linebacker Ben Wilson.

I_medium Get hyped.

I_medium The Sporting News has U of L football at No. 12 in its preseason top 25.

I_medium The DeVante summer hype continues.

I_medium Stewart Mandel says if you ranked the Power 5 conferences based on coaching talent, the ACC would trail only the Big Ten.

I_medium Kyle Guy's man bun is no more.

London Perrantes made sure to let UVA fans know that he wouldn't be making a similar move.

Whatever just start letting us score more points.

I_medium Bleacher Report says Louisville-Clemson is the third most-anticipated rematch of the 2017 college football season.

What Happened in 2016?

In what was perhaps the most entertaining game of the 2016 season, Clemson scored four TDs in the span of less than eight minutes to take a 28-10 into intermission. Eventual Heisman winner Lamar Jackson evidently found a phone booth at halftime and transformed into Superman, leading the Cardinals on a 26-0 run to take the lead. But the Tigers found something left in the tank to undo the comeback, eking out a 42-36 victory. Both squads amassed more than 500 yards as Jackson and Deshaun Watson put on a back-and-forth show.

What's Changed?

Aside from Louisville retaining Jackson, pretty much everything has changed. Both teams lost 10 starters and will enter the season with unknowns all over the place. With this game taking place in Week 3, it may well come down to whether Louisville's Seth Dawkins and Jaylen Smith or Clemson's Tavien Feaster and Hunter Johnson are able to better establish themselves as stars early in the year.

Prediction: Louisville 38-27

The Cardinals will likely enter the season just outside the top 10 in the AP poll, but this is the game that establishes a) Louisville as a CFP contender and b) Jackson as the favorite to become the first two-time Heisman winner since 1975. He had a combined 457 passing and rushing yards in this game last year, and that was with Clemson's Ben Boulware flying all over the place for 18 tackles.

This year, Jackson comes even closer to 500 total yards as Louisville's freight train of an offense is too much for the defending national champions.

Ohio State-Michigan is No. 1.

I_medium Maybe the most accurate tweet I've ever seen.

I_medium The U of L women's track and field team just wrapped up an incredibly successful 2017 season.

I_medium DRays Bay talks about the five things they learned from an interview with Brendan McKay.

I_medium This picture is pretty fantastic.

I_medium Ballard High star/U of L signee Jo Adell is Perfect Game USA's national High School Player of the Year.

I_medium And finally, FanSided ranks Louisville as the team to beat in its College World Series power rankings.

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