Monday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: NC State by 15.

—Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples writes about the Petrino tenure at Louisville, and its end on Sunday.

—Nice to see the voice of a generation kicking off the game one highlight video.

The key is to say “baby” as much as you can.

—Louisville’s Asia Durr and Sam Fuehring both make the women’s Naismith Award watch list.

—After some anxious moments, the ACC men’s soccer championship trophy arrived safely and soundly in Louisville.

—LJ Nesbitt over at The Crunch Zone reacts to the Petrino firing.

—Jeff Brohm is the obvious choice for Louisville, but he won’t be a cheap one.

To describe the last few years in Louisville’s athletic department as tumultuous would be accurate, but also a bit of an understatement. Rick Pitino, who won an NCAA title and went to three Final Fours, was fired amidst an NCAA scandal. Former athletic director Tom Jurich, who helped take Louisville from Conference USA to the ACC and helped create one of the strongest athletic departments in the country, soon followed. Then there was the school disassociating itself from a longtime booster and trustee “Papa” John Schnatter. Petrino’s dismissal is the final step in completely overhauling the department, and Brohm -- along with new basketball coach Chris Mack -- will be seen as the coach to lead it into a new era.

But it won’t be a cheap era. Louisville didn’t just fire Petrino, it bought him out for $14 million. That is not an insignificant amount of money, and that price is one reason why some at the school bristled at the idea of firing him in the first place. Jurich received $4.5 million when he was bought out. The school has also spent money to renovate Cardinal Stadium. Now, after spending all that money to create the job opening, Louisville will have to pay more to get Brohm.

Brohm is currently making $3.8 million a year at Purdue, according to USA Today. That’s slightly less than what Petrino had been making, so we know Louisville is willing to spend that kind of money on its football coach. The problem is that if Louisville wants to but Brohm out of his current deal, it would cost them an additional $4.4 million to do so before Dec. 5, 2018. The good news is that number drops to $3.3 million on Dec. 6, but even at the “discount,” if Brohm signs a five-year deal worth roughly $4 million per year (which would be a family discount), the act of going from Petrino to Brohm will leave Louisville with a $37.3 million bill. And that doesn’t even include the money for Brohm’s assistants and money that must be paid to settle a loan as part of Brohm’s contract.

That’s a lot to spend for a school that’s already spent a lot of money.

Still, you have to think it’s a cost Louisville is willing to pay. No offense to other possible candidates out there, but I have a hard time believing the school decided to pay Petrino $14 million to go away so it could settle for Plan B or Plan C. That’s just the price of doing business in amateur athletics these days.

—Louisville ranks dead last (No. 130) in the FBS in covering the spread. The Cards are the only team in the country that have failed to cover more than once.

—Two of Louisville’s biggest remaining commits from the 2019 class say they’re sticking with the Cards.

—Vince Tyra says that U of L will have to “endure the liability” of firing Bobby Petrino.

—Lamelo Ball playing at Kentucky would make at least 95 counties in the Commonwealth burst into flames, which is why it has to happen. Clear this man.

—Donovan remains the best.

—The names on the CFP championship odds list continue to dwindle.

Odds to Win the 2019 CFP National Championship

Team 11/5/18 Current Odds (11/12/18)

Alabama 5/13 5/13

Clemson 5/1 9/2

Michigan 13/2 13/2

Notre Dame 11/2 13/2

Georgia 20/1 18/1

Ohio State 20/1 20/1

Oklahoma 22/1 28/1

West Virginia 100/1 60/1

Central Florida 150/1 150/1

Washington State 150/1 150/1

LSU 1000/1 Off the Board

—TNIAAM reviews Syracuse’s demolition of Louisville, which now feels like it happened a month ago.

—Jeff Greer goes behind the scenes (ATHLETIC LINK WARNING) with Chris and Christi Mack on their first Louisville game day.

Chris and Christi’s parents, along with other relatives, plan to meet Christi at the house and drive to the Yum Center together. It only adds to the day’s craziness that Christi is dealing with contractors milling in and out of their house as they continue work on the basement. But she laughs at the idea that any of it would faze her. At this point, she is a pro.

“I love game days,” Christi says. “Our kids love it. They love seeing (Chris) do what he loves.”

Once he arrives at his office, Chris likes to keep a specific schedule. The pregame walk-through is scheduled for 2 p.m. After that, he wants a couple of hours to himself. In that time, he mixes up his routine but keeps the list of options short. He might get a workout in. He might sit on the couch and run through various scenarios that might arrise, such as which player to put into the game if Player X or Y gets into foul trouble. He usually texts Christi around 3:30 to check in and see how the kids are doing. (Christi jokes that Chris always manages to call or text her when he is in his most relaxed state and she is in the middle of pregame family chaos at the house.)

The primary goal of Mack’s post-walk-through routine is settling the mind, clearly thinking about the game ahead. It serves as a review of his mental notes, like a student reprocessing his material before an exam.

“All those scenarios — there’s a million of them,” Mack says. “You can’t prepare for everything. I try to do the best job that I can, knowing that things are going to happen that are out of your control, (to think about) how best to react to them so I don’t look like I’m losing it on the sideline.”

That part of Mack’s routine is familiar. It won’t change despite moving 90 minutes southwest of his hometown and into the ACC. But this specific routine, this pregame buildup on this Thursday, is one he won’t experience again at Louisville. Of that he is cognizant.

“Oh, he’s excited, believe me,” Christi says. “But when you feel like you’ve done all you can to prepare your team to this point, you don’t get as nervous.”

—The CJ’s Danielle Lerner lists three keys for Louisville in tomorrow night’s game against Southern.

—All of the events at the KFC Yum Center will now be sensory inclusive, which is cool.

—How likely is it that Jeff Brohm takes the Louisville job? A Purdue writer and a Louisville writer argue about it.

—The U of L volleyball team swept Wake Forest over the weekend.

—Shoni and Jude still rule.

—The New York Times says that not being a judge of character bit Louisville in the Bobby Petrino debacle.

—The U of L women’s soccer team led most of the way in their NCAA tournament match against Tennessee last Friday, but was ultimately dealt a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat.

—Love you, Gorgs.

—WDRB takes a definitive trip through Bobby Petrino’s tenure at Louisville.

—It’s gotta feel good to be Jeff Brohm right now.

—After dropping 31 a few nights ago, Louisville commit Josh Nickelberry exploded for 44 points in a game over the weekend.

—Petrino being fired while his “Inside the Cards” show aired on WAVE-3 was some unfortunate timing.

—This kid is going to be an incredible internet commenter ... you know, if sports websites still exist when he gets older.

—Eric Crawford serves up his five biggest thoughts on the Petrino firing.

—Jeff Brohm was asked about the Louisville opening multiple times during his weekly presser, and the man deflected like a champ.

“I’ve heard the noise just like everyone else,” Brohm said, during his regularly scheduled Monday press conference. “Unfortunately, it’s important for me not to comment on any speculation. Right now I have a job and we have work to do – and a lot of it.”

“We’re going to put forth the effort to do that. We’ve got a great opponent this week and then we’ve got to go to IU and we’re going to have to play much better than we did last week. I’m going to stay focused on that. I’m very appreciative of the job I have right now.”

Brohm came to Purdue two years ago as a hot name. His stock has only grown in the 23 months since.

In Year 1, he took a football program that won just nine games in the previous four seasons and led the Boilers to their first winning season since 2011 and first bowl game since 2012. This year, Purdue has knocked off three ranked team: No. 23 Boston College, No. 19 Iowa and No. 2 Ohio State.

“Any time things come about, it’s a product of how your team is doing and how they’re playing,” Brohm said. “When you’ve done some good things, sometimes this is going to happen. I get it. I understand it. It’s part of the process. It’s important and for our team to worry about our next opponent.”

—Rick Bozich praises the job Vince Tyra has done up to this point.

—Card Chronicle legend Bryce Cotton is still getting buckets.

—Bubba Mack is the live mascot Louisville needs to bring the program back to where it’s supposed to be.

—And finally, we’re kicking off what guarantees to be at least three weeks of pure, dumb madness this afternoon from 3-6. I’m excited for every second. At least right now. I’ll probably be over it by 4:15 tomorrow. Listen here.