—Spread check: NC State by 16.5.
—Malik Cunningham, who left the Syracuse game with an injury and did not return last Friday, was back on the practice field and appearing perfectly healthy Tuesday afternoon.
—Louisville signee (more on that later today) Samuell Williamson dropped 35 points last night.
—The fact that Louisville football’s partially open practice produced the most excitement anyone has seen from the team all season long is ... encouraging?
"The spirit will be up."
— LouisvilleFootball (@UofLFootball) November 14, 2018
Bringing the energy and effort in prep for game 1️⃣1️⃣.#GoCards pic.twitter.com/ydWqQNnX5X
—Jake Lourim of the CJ attempts to describe the different feel surrounding the team and the program over the last 48 hours.
—Stephen A. Smith says that Montrezl Harrell is the closest thing the NBA has to Dennis Rodman right now.
This kid @MONSTATREZZ is the CLOSEST thing we have to @dennisrodman! pic.twitter.com/CApQU2Uhwr
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) November 13, 2018
—College Football News ranks the top teams of every decade. Louisville is the No. 23 team of the 2000s, and currently the No. 26 team of the 2010’s, although I’d assume that is about to dip.
—Louisville’s basketball national championship odds have doubled and are now 200/1.
Odds to win the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
Team 11/5/12 Current Odds (11/12/18)
Duke 5/1 2/1
Kentucky 5/1 7/1
Kansas 7/1 8/1
Gonzaga 17/2 12/1
Nevada 8/1 12/1
North Carolina 15/1 12/1
Virginia 18/1 12/1
Villanova 16/1 18/1
Tennessee 28/1 30/1
Oregon 33/1 35/1
Michigan State 33/1 40/1
Indiana 40/1 45/1
Syracuse 40/1 45/1
UCLA 40/1 45/1
Auburn 45/1 50/1
Wichita State 55/1 55/1
Florida 55/1 60/1
Michigan 33/1 60/1
West Virginia 40/1 60/1
Cincinnati 80/1 90/1
Florida State 80/1 90/1
Purdue 55/1 90/1
Virginia Tech 80/1 90/1
Kansas State 100/1 100/1
Marquette Off the Board 100/1
Mississippi State 75/1 100/1
Wisconsin 100/1 100/1
Arizona State 100/1 125/1
Clemson 100/1 125/1
Iowa State 200/1 125/1
LSU 100/1 125/1
Maryland 100/1 125/1
Miami (FL) 80/1 125/1
NC State 100/1 125/1
Notre Dame 150/1 125/1
Ohio State 85/1 125/1
Penn State 125/1 125/1
St. John’s 100/1 125/1
Texas 100/1 125/1
TCU 125/1 125/1
Texas Tech 70/1 125/1
Vanderbilt 100/1 175/1
Washington 200/1 175/1
Arizona 100/1 200/1
Butler 125/1 200/1
Louisville 100/1 200/1
Memphis 200/1 200/1
Seton Hall 150/1 200/1
Xavier 100/1 200/1
Baylor 125/1 300/1
Loyola Chicago 200/1 300/1
Texas A&M 100/1 300/1
—Former U of L interim president Greg Postel is stepping away from the school for a fellowship.
—Georgia Tech’s loss to Tennessee last night was the ACC’s first defeat this season. The league is now 30-1 after eight days of play.
Thanks, Pastner.
—Cal Baptist scored its first Division-I victory by hitting a halfcourt shot on a court that said “Expect a Miracle” under the basket where the shot went in. That’s not bad.
In their first ever D1 vs D1 game, @CBUmbb hit a half-court buzzer-beater to WIN! pic.twitter.com/bmnoLIVjTA
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) November 14, 2018
—This was the other biggest college basketball highlight from Tuesday night.
Ewing going full Key & Peele sketch in the handshake line. pic.twitter.com/wd7l05cEhG
— Mike Rutherford (@CardChronicle) November 14, 2018
—Rick Bozich says Louisville looks ready for Vermont.
—Five ACC teams are ranked in the top 11 of Andy Katz’s new Power 36 rankings.
—The dirtiest play we’ll see this season in college basketball went down last night at the Division-III level.
—This guy isn’t even a Louisville fan.
Clemson after they beat a 2-6 team pic.twitter.com/CqIUB4uUTu
— Quigs (@BigSeanQ) November 12, 2018
The movement is spreading.
—The latest Yahoo Sports podcast focuses on the question of whether or not Bobby Petrino will ever coach again.
—The U of L men’s and women’s swim and dive teams (both ranked in the nation’s top 15) are headed to Bloomington this weekend for the IU Invitational.
—This is hilarious.
Our weekend director always buys the sports department a cookie cake when there’s a busy day involving UofL news. This says a lot about 2018... pic.twitter.com/gqpCEgVjO8
— John Lewis WDRB (@JohnWDRB) November 11, 2018
—Former Louisville linebacker Mark Sander has stepped down as the head football coach at Bullitt East.
—Asia Durr is the headline player on this week’s “Starting Five” from NCAA.com.
Asia Durr, Louisville
2018 ACC Player of the Year, Asia Durr picked up where she left off last season, averaging 28.5 points per game as Louisville scored wins at Western Kentucky and Chattanooga last week.
Durr opened the season on Nov. 6 by scoring the first 11 points for Louisville as the Cards started the game with an 11-2 run at Western Kentucky. She finished with 33 points, which set a school record for points in an opener, on 12-21 shooting, 7-15 from deep, in just 21 minutes of action as Louisville prevailed 102-80.
She followed that by scoring 24 points in a 75-49 win at Chattanooga, 14 of which came during a 30-10 third quarter. Durr finished 7-14 from the floor, 5-10 from deep, with three assists and four rebounds.
The All-American now has nine career 30-point games and 39 career 20-point games. Her 1,800 points ranks seventh in school history. She has 290 made 3-point field goals in her career, which ranks her second in program history.
Louisville returns to action Nov. 19 when they travel to play at Boise State.
—The NBA tried to eliminate tanking by changing its draft lottery odds. It’s not going to work.
—London Iakopo and Dez Fitzpatrick both say things have been better in the days since Bobby Petrino was fired.
Cardinal football players Jordan Iakopo and Dez Fitzpatrick on the change they’ve noticed in the football building the last couple of days. pic.twitter.com/kxEYcXhdFt
— Tom Lane (@TomLaneWDRB) November 14, 2018
—Congrats to Louisville junior Dorcas Wasike on being named the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country Southeast Regional Women’s Athlete of the Year.
—Jeff Greer asked for basketball questions, so naturally he got bombarded (ATHLETIC LINKKKKK) with questions about Jeff Brohm. A few hoops questions did manage to slip through.
I appreciate it when Louisville is in a preseason tournament with other Power 5 schools, such as the NIT Season Tip-Off this year. I know the program has preferred the exempt tournaments when they get (two to four) easier opponents at home before playing somewhere, or three at home with one neutral-site game. Have you heard any word on what Louisville will do in the 2019-20 season? It looks like Mack enjoyed these tournaments in his time at Xavier. — Richard W.
That’s true: Mack likes scheduling tough. He prefers to get a few challenges on the slate to prepare his team for league play, and he isn’t afraid of playing true road games. Xavier did just about every year he was there. He also liked to get the Musketeers into an event, as you mentioned, and that typically yields a few “guarantee games” against weaker opponents and then one or two games on a neutral floor.
Now, something to think about going forward: The ACC is moving to a 20-game schedule next season. Not only does that reduce each team’s nonconference schedule down to 11 games, but it also makes the overall schedule tougher with two more league contests. The incentive to play another challenging nonconference game or two drops. Louisville does play Western Kentucky next season, and it’s safe to assume the Kentucky rivalry will continue. The ACC-Big Ten Challenge most likely will produce a tough road game for Louisville. There were rumblings about Northern Kentucky finding its way onto the schedule in the future, too, because of Mack’s friendship with John Brannen. But I haven’t heard or seen anything about a big nonconference tournament. I imagine we will in the coming months, if Louisville is in one. Another thing to consider: Louisville is up next summer or fall for another foreign trip. Maybe Ireland?
—Louisville athletes is smart.
—Court-level highlights from last night.
: Highlights from tonight's 104-54 win over Southern.#GoCards pic.twitter.com/mjMt7SB3vX
— Louisville Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) November 14, 2018
—Class of 2020 shooting guard Dimingus Stevens has been offered a scholarship by Louisville.
—And finally, we’re back on the radio from 3-6 this afternoon talking about last night’s win and other nonsense. You can listen here if you don’t have anything else to do.