Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—The U of L women are the No. 1 seed in the Lexington Region in the latest ESPN Bracketology.

—Lamar Jackson draft opinions are going to be the death of us all.

This, of course, comes on the heels of Mel Kiper not having Jackson in the first round of his televised mock draft special on ESPN, which is an actual thing that exists.

—Jackson’s staying cool about it all.

“It is annoying because quarterback is all I played all my life,” Jackson said. “People look at my legs and they see I can make big plays, but they don’t really see my arm, and I make big plays with my arm. I scored more touchdowns with my arm than my legs so …”

For those scoring at home, Jackson had 69 passing touchdowns and 50 rushing touchdowns in his career.

As for his own message to anybody who doubts his ability:

“Just find out when I get there.”

—Jazmine Jones’ infectious energy and trademark bench hype helps invigorate the entire U of L women’s team.

—U of L swim and dive hosts Kentucky in the Battle for the Bluegrass Saturday at 1 p.m. Wear red if you can make it out to the meet.

—This is just ridiculous.

Donovan is incredible, and I’ll admit it: It’s really fun to have multiple reasons to pay attention to the NBA on a nightly basis.

—Jeff Greer breaks down Louisville’s NCAA tournament resume, which looks markedly different than it was 12 days ago.

—Terry Rozier spent some time this morning putting in work at a Boston Dunkin’ Donuts.

—J-Town offensive lineman Emmanuel Sowders has announced that he will walk-on at Louisville.

—MarketWatch says that Louisville is rapidly turning into an innovative city for retirees.

—Shoutout to Jaylen.

It’s also oddly comforting that announcers are still butchering poor Ryan Arcidiacono’s last name. Life after becoming a March Madness legend isn’t always as glamorous as you’d think.

—SB Nation Bracketologist Chris Dobbertean says that even though it’s only Jan. 19, just 11 teams have realistic shots at being a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday.

—Winter life in Louisville. Kid gets it.

—Donovan dunked all over the Kings the other night.

—Keonta Vernon is the heart and soul of Grand Canyon basketball, but we already knew that.

—Pro Football Focus’ latest mock draft has Lamar Jackson going No. 6 overall to the New York Jets.

6. NEW YORK JETS (5-11)

QB Lamar Jackson, Louisville

The opinions on Jackson vary around the league, but he’s a capable passer with outstanding, next-level athleticism, as evidenced by his top rushing grade among quarterbacks in each of the last two seasons. While his down-to-down accuracy needs work, he’s capable of making tight-window “NFL throws,” and that skill combined with his running ability should give offensive coordinators more than enough to build around.

—Shoutout to Louisville native Jonathan Hay on having the No. 1 jazz album in the country according to Billboard. One of the tracks on the album is actually dedicated to the current state of Cardinal basketball.

—Trez continues to morph into a fan favorite in Los Angeles.

—GoCards.com recaps Louisville’s road triumph over Pitt Thursday night.

—Eric Crawford has five takeaways from the win over the Panthers.

—The NCAA is doing the same Selection Sunday “sneak peak” that they did a year ago. Keep rolling and maybe we’ll wind up in it again.

—The women’s committee did their own reveal yesterday, and Louisville is currently the No. 3 overall seed in the field.

—The “best two-way MLB Draft prospect since Dave Winfield in 1973,” Brendan McKay is No. 5 on MLB Pipeline’s left-handed pitcher prospect list.

—Andy Katz explains why the start of the college basketball season is changing in 2018-19, and also looks at the news that players are going to start getting a mandatory three days off during the holidays.

—Agree with all of this.

Also, I don’t believe any “meaningful change” wound up occurring “before 2018” as promised.

—Central High School product Keelan Cole has gone from a kid who barely played in high school to a budding NFL superstar about to play a large role in the AFC Championship game.

—U of L class of 2019 QB commit Jaden Johnson is already assigning himself the role of class leader, which I’m cool with.

—Six U of L baseball players are among the top 250 recruits for the 2018 MLB Draft.

—The Louisville men’s tennis team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 6-1 win over Toledo.

—Cardinal snow man season is in full swing.

—The Bellarmine Knights won their 53rd straight home game last night.

—This is a great read on Tyler Hilinksi and depression.

—Shocking.

That was a sarcastic “shocking,” by the way.

—I haven’t always been nice to Rick Barnes, but I really enjoyed this quote.

—If you’re looking for some Friday night entertainment, Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz are hosting the Knicks tonight at 10:30 on ESPN.

—And finally, John and I are on location at the LAC on Westport Rd. today from 3-6 talking Cardinal sports. Dan McDonnell and Jeff Walz will both join the show. Listen here.