Monday evening Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Michigan State by 5.

—The NCAA released its first NET rankings — the rankings that will take the place of the RPI this season — on Monday, and they are just as hilarious as you might imagine. Ohio State is No. 1, Loyola-Marymount is No. 10, Radford is No. 22, and Kentucky is No. 61. Louisville is No. 117, sandwiched in between Pacific and Rider.

These will obviously get better as the season goes along, so why the NCAA chose to release them now, I’ll never understand ... as is the case with 99% of the things the NCAA does.

—Numbers guru Nate Silver is appalled.

—The CJ’s Danielle Lerner went behind the scenes with Louisville basketball in Brooklyn.

—The Louisville volleyball team is headed back to the NCAA tournament for the 27th time. The Cards are headed to Champaign, Ill. where they’ll face Dayton in the first round.

—For the third time this season, Malik Williams is your Louisville basketball practice MVP.

—The ACC-Big 10 Challenge tips off tonight. Here’s everything you need to know.

—We’re down to just six teams getting CFP odds from Bovada:

Team 11/19/18 Current Odds (11/26/18)

Alabama 2/5 5/13

Clemson 7/2 7/2

Notre Dame 7/1 9/1

Georgia 18/1 12/1

Ohio State 40/1 15/1

Oklahoma 20/1 18/1

Central Florida 150/1 Off the Board

Michigan 13/2 Off the Board

Washington State 125/1 Off the Board

West Virginia 500/1 Off the Board

—Tyson Helton is Western Kentucky’s new head football coach.

—SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey takes a look at all the coaching vacancies in college football.

6. What happens if Louisville doesn’t snag Jeff Brohm?

There’s talk beyond Purdue head coach Brohm, as financial discussions have slowed progress for a move the overwhelming majority of the coaching industry predicted would happen once the Cardinals fired Bobby Petrino.

If Brohm stays put at Purdue, there’s still a long list of candidates, including Brown, Satterfield, Tucker, and Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell.

One name who you can probably take out is former head coach Charlie Strong. Despite whispers that the Cardinals might get the band back together if they miss on Brohm, don’t count on it. Strong’s very public link to a divorce settlement involving a former Louisville trustee means there is little love lost between the two parties.

—Kansas has to be the first preseason No. 1 team ever to not lose, beat two top 10 teams, and get leap-frogged by two different teams in the same month. This time it’s Gonzaga, which is the new No. 1 team in the AP top 25.

—Proving that 99 percent of sports fans are miserable, Clemson fans aren’t totally satisfied with the fact that the Tigers are 12-0 heading into the postseason. This makes Dabo Swinney angry.

‘…to you people who suggest it felt like a loss, y’all need to check yourself too. I’ve been here 16 years and for all those people out there who want to complain about five wins in a row and by winning by three touchdowns, man that’s shameful,” he shared, according to Big Spur.

“I’m going to say it one more time: we’ve had eight 10-plus win seasons, we’re 12-0. Third time in the history of this school we’ve won five state championships in a row. And when that’s not enough for some people, that’s sad. That’s sad.”

“There’s been some articles pushed my way and some comments, I’m not gonna stand for that. Our program is not going to be like that. Our players work too hard. The goal is to win, period. I don’t want to ever be a program…ever…that doesn’t appreciate winning.”

Dabo went on to note there are a ton of teams around college football that would love to be undefeated and be the program that Clemson currently is before dropping this bomb to the pessimistic fans out there.

“12-0 ain’t good enough? Then it’s time for me to seek other places. Make sure you get that.”

I know a place looking for a head coach that would absolutely appreciate a 12-0 regular season right now. We’ll even storm the field after every game. It’s super weird, but whatever.

—Busting Brackets has Louisville at No. 11 in its ACC hoops power rankings.

—The Cards are getting a pure shooter in Quinn Slazinski.

—Louisville signee David Johnson heads up the Courier Journal’s preseason All-Metro Team.

—The U of L women’s basketball team is finally playing in the Yum Center tonight as Miami of Ohio comes calling at 7 p.m. Here’s a preview.

—There will be a student pep rally tomorrow night before the Michigan State game.

—Gritty photoshopped into a bunch of Christmas movie posters is the holiday pick-me-up I didn’t know I needed.

—Louisville basketball is one of the big winners from the early signing period.

—”Get More Better” should be the official slogan of Louisville athletics as we head into 2019.

—For the second straight year, Louisville volleyball’s Wilma Rivera has been named the ACC Setter of the Year.

—Tickets for the 2019 Louisville baseball season are now on sale.

—Swish Appeal reviews the week that was for women’s basketball in the ACC.

—Likewise, Barry.

—The Lansing State Journal gives an overview of Louisville vs. Michigan State.

—The CJ gives three keys for Louisville beating the Spartans.

—The new episode of The Palpable Buzz podcast is here. Ricky and I debate who should be the new No. 1 in college hoops and recap all the madness of Feast Week.

—LJ Nesbitt of The Crunch Zone has his final Buckethatism of the season.

—Weird.

—Asia Durr is “rested and re-gathered.”

—Six U of L field hockey players received National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I All-West Region honors.

—Learning nothing from its conference brethren, North Carolina is bringing back Mack Brown.

—Safe to say Michael Crabtree is sold on Lamar Jackson after the rookie’s second straight solid performance in a win.

—The Ravens won’t say if it’ll be Lamar or Joe Flacco who gets the start this weekend against Atlanta.

—And finally, The Louisville Cardinal recaps U of L’s collective fall sports season.