Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Boston College by 13.5.

—Here’s what Steve Addazio said about Louisville during his weekly press conference.

—Asia Durr has never had a doubt about spending her college years at U of L.

—There was a solid Wes Unseld segment in part one of ESPN’s “Basketball: A Love Story,” which aired last night. You can watch it online here.

—Four-star Ballard High School linebacker Jared Casey will announce his college decision on Thursday. Casey is down to Louisville, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Oregon.

—The NCAA March Madness Twitter account has always been bad, but yesterday it reached a new low.

Indiana would have been wrong too, but at least the Hoosiers won two national titles in the ‘80s. Louisville had twice as many titles and twice as many Final Fours as UNC in the ‘80s. Ridiculous.

—Keeping Casey in town would be a big deal for a U of L staff that seems to be in jeopardy of missing out on a rare loaded crop of local talent.

—The annual Jack O’Lantern Spectacular opened up to the public last night, and I thought this was pretty cool:

Chris Mack also gets some love.

—If you had Dan Wetzel in your “first to write the Louisville death penalty column” pool, congratulations.

—Bobby Reagan says Louisville getting the death penalty would be ridiculous.

—SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell writes that while the death penalty is unlikely, Louisville seems more likely than not to get hit hard by the NCAA again.

—The U of L men’s soccer team toppled Georgia Southern 1-0 Tuesday night thanks to this PK goal from Geoff Dee.

—By a judge’s ruling, show-cause penalties are now illegal in the state of California. I ... I didn’t realize states could do this.

Soooo, just for kicks, why don’t we start working on some state legislature that would, I don’t know, make retroactively taking wins and championships away a thing that is also illegal. Also, just for fun, let’s try get postseason bans banned too.

—U of L Athletic Association board member Tom Meeker told the CJ’s Tim Sullivan that he doesn’t think Louisville has the money to buy out Bobby Petrino right now.

“The university is not in a position to buy him out,” Tom Meeker said Monday.

Money is tight. Donations are down. The Hickman Camp Fund, whose $16.8 million balance represented more than two-thirds of ULAA’s available funds at the end of 2017, lost more than half of its value through basketball coach Chris Mack’s buyout from Xavier University and U of L’s settlement with former athletic director Tom Jurich.

ULAA business manager Jeff Spoelker said Monday that the Hickman Camp Fund had dwindled to $8 million as of June. With $168 million in debt service already scheduled through 2044 and Rick Pitino’s breach-of-contract lawsuit still pending, ULAA appears loath to take on additional liabilities.

So while Petrino has risen to the No. 6 ranking on coacheshotseat.com, this may be a more accurate reflection of public opinion than board sentiment.

“Fans are part of the campus community,” Meeker said. “They have to be heard. ... (But) I’m not on the board to make easy decisions.”

The Buffalo Bills signed former Louisville tight end Keith Towbridge to their practice squad on Tuesday.

—If you’re in desperate need of reading something that will at least temporarily make you feel ok about the state of the world, read this story on Jack Doyle and a group of Indianapolis Colts throwing a party for a group of homeless children.

—Promotions have been announced for the final U of L men’s soccer home games of the 2018 season.

—Boston College will wear these Doug Flutie-era throwbacks for Saturday’s game against Louisville.

—Louisville is dead last in the 247 Sports ACC power rankings.

—The annual U of L baseball Pizza Bowl kicks off on Wednesday.

—The 22nd-ranked Louisville volleyball team looks to move to 7-0 in the ACC with a home win over Notre Dame tonight.

—Jeff Greer dove deep into the background of Rick Pitino’s Twitter account.

—At this point, why not? Let’s just keep talking shit all season regardless of on-field results. We seem to be committed to the character.

—Donovan is not as much of a fan.

—Kelsi Dahlia (formerly Worrell) followed up her American Record breaking performance from Eindhoven in the women’s 100 fly by going one better on the final day of the stop in Budapest and breaking the World Cup Record and winning the gold over world record holder Sarah Sjostrom.

—Matthias Schmid of the U of L men’s golf team posted his sixth top-10 finish of the season to lead the Cards at the Intercollegiate at The Grove.

—UMBC continues to relish its extended moment in the spotlight.

—Roy Williams, he being the man in charge of the program who steered players towards fake classes for nearly two decades, is shocked and appalled by the portrait of college basketball’s shady underworld that is currently being painted in court. Ok dude.

—Tom Brady says the NFL is now “a glorified college football” with elements from the college game now being utilized more and more at the highest level.

—Louisville City FC took down North Carolina FC 2-1 Tuesday night at Slugger Field. Forward Cameron Lancaster notched both LouCity goals, and in the process set a new USL single season scoring record.

—NBC ranks Chris Mack as the best offseason hire in college basketball.

1. CHRIS MACK, Louisville

Chris Mack may have not been here before, but it was something close. When he took over Xavier from Sean Miller in 2009, there were high expectations associated with succeeding a wildly successful coach. The situation is different for him now in Louisville – he’s following one of the most accomplished coaches in the history of the game at one of its most storied programs and amid NCAA (and FBI) scrutiny – but the idea is the same. Win now, and win big.

Mack seems equipped to do both. He kept things rolling at Xavier, making the Musketeers a powerhouse, first in the Atlantic 10 and then in the Big East. He’s already scoring wins on the recruiting trail, which is going to be more indicative of his long-term success with the Cardinals than anything. He’s a proven winner and seemingly the perfect man to take over a high profile job in a tough situation.

—Hawaii didn’t want Wyoming to know that starting quarterback Cole McDonald was injured until the last possible moment, so it had an impostor QB come out and warm up in McDonald’s full uniform before the game. I love it.

—Despite their quarterback issues, it seems unlikely that the Denver Broncos will go after Teddy Bridgewater.

—Former Louisville RB commit Greg Bell is transferring from Nebraska.

—Some more preseason love for U of L women’s basketball.

—Jaylen Smith says one of the biggest keys for the Louisville football team during this rough time is to avoid pressing.

—Of the five programs who lost quarterbacks to the first round of the NFL Draft last season, Louisville is having the worst season. Even worse than Wyoming.

5. Louisville

The Cardinals faced perhaps the toughest challenge, replacing a player who produced 7,203 passing yards, 3,655 rushing yards, and 96 total touchdowns in the last two seasons. He made the entire offense go with his ability to hit receivers down the field and operate the power/zone-read run game.

Replacement Jawon Pass is a strong talent. The redshirt sophomore was a four-star who’d been biding his time behind the Heisman winner. So far he’s completed 85 of 155 passes for 1,059 yards at 6.8 per attempt with six TDs and seven INTs. Pass tends to do exactly that and isn’t anywhere close to Jackson in the option run game, which has now largely been shelved.

Pass has had a tough go of things for two main reasons. The first is that the run game has struggled to create angles without the threat of the QB as a runner. The other is his own carelessness with the football, such as this INT that ruined what would have been a game-clinching drive and set up Florida State’s own game-winning possession.

Beyond 2018?

It’s not clear whether Jawon Pass will hold down the starting job or if redshirt freshman Malik Cunningham, who’s much closer to Jackson as a runner than is Pass, will take the job. Then there’s the uncertain future of head coach Bobby Petrino, which could make a considerable difference in what Louisville will attempt. There is raw talent, but it’s largely unrealized.

—And finally, Yahoo lists both Louisville and Florida State among its five most disappointing teams in college football this season.