Thursday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Louisville by 8.5.

—Louisville sent out a press release this morning announcing that interim athletic director Vince Tyra will be holding a press conference at 5:30 to “provide an update on several topics.” The word is that none of those topics have anything to do with the NCAA’s response to U of L’s appeal.

We’ll carry the presser during R&R this afternoon on 790.

—The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that one of the undercover agents in the FBI’s college basketball probe is being accused of misconduct.

Starting in the spring of 2017, the FBI agent now under scrutiny spent months undercover in the investigation, posing as a business partner of the government’s lead cooperating witness—Pittsburgh financial adviser Marty Blazer. On July 29, while on an undercover trip to Las Vegas, the agent met in a hotel room with a group including Mr. Blazer, an aspiring sports agent and an assistant coach at the University of Southern California, according to the criminal complaints.

Within days of that meeting, the agent abruptly appeared to stop working on the undercover operation, some of the people familiar with the investigation said. His absence was explained to the aspiring sports agent as an overseas trip, according to the complaints last fall.

Maybe everyone sucks and nobody should do anything.

The trial dates for Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person and former referee and clothing company founder Rashan Michel have been set for damn near a year from now. This thing won’t be finished until the new Kardashian baby is coaching U of L.

—Jairus Brents, Louisville’s surprise late signee, has very high expectations for himself (video).

—Are we sure we don’t need to be suiting any of these guys up?

—Louisville is a No. 8 seed taking on Texas A&M in the latest Bracketology from Joe Lunardi.

—GQ looks at the diet of Donovan Mitchell, who is apparently a caesar salad superfan.

—Jeff Walz wants you to support the Kay Yow Fund to help kick cancer’s ass.

—Couldn’t be happier that Mangok got a shout near the end of this video.

—Justin Thomas beat out Lamar Jackson and Brendan McKay to earn the honor of 2017 Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year. For what it’s worth, I had those top three, but I voted McKay No. 1.

—I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I’m guessing St. John’s is the first team in history to snap an 11-game losing streak that included a 17-point home loss to DePaul with back to back wins over top five teams. They are, officially, the first team in the AP Poll era a team with an 0-10 or worse record in conference play beat the No. 1 team in the country.

This is just a bonkers visual:

Shout out to Shamorie Ponds.

—In related news, Villanova’s defense might be an issue no one has been talking about.

—West Virginia is going to legalize sports betting in April. Kentucky will get there around the same time the new Kardashian baby is coaching U of L basketball.

I’ve already used that? Well I don’t have any other “it’s going to be a long ass time and that’s really annoying” jokes so I’m not changing it.

—The Sporting News says Louisville has been the ninth-best college hoops program of the 21st century.

Total score: 40.5

Last year: 9

Final Fours: 3 (2005, 2012, 2013*)

Trending: TBD. The Cardinals still rank 10th in the nation in winning percentage since 2000-01, but Rick Pitino is gone after an offseason scandal. That threatens the long-term future of the program under first-year David Padgett.

Duke is No. 1 and North Carolina is No. 2.

—Women’s Hoops World lists Asia Durr as one of the country’s most indispensable players.

—The sights and sounds from last night’s win over Clemson at the Yum Center.

—U of L’s Bionca Dunham has always been driven to prove doubters wrong and become her family’s first college graduate.

—Duke-North Carolina is tonight and I would have been fired if I didn’t write something about it, so here’s this.

—This is pretty wild.

—I dreamt recently that Louisville was playing Arkansas in the NCAA tournament. Given the weird history with my sports dreams turning into reality, I’m placing this tidbit here for the sake of posterity.

—Each athlete at this year’s Winter Olympics is being given 37 condoms, which is ... well it’s something.

—You never see this shit from a CCBM.

We’re all about experiencing life in real time over here.

—A Central Arkansas player produced an assist-less triple-double last night.

—The future is here.

—With Clemson in the rearview, Jeff Walz and his team can finally turn their full attention to Monday’s showdown against Connecticut.

—The U of L softball team opens its season this weekend at a tournament hosted by Central Florida.

—My Prussident.

—Our friends at the Georgia Tech blog From the Rumble Seat preview tonight’s game.

—GT’s official site also previews the tilt.

—It appears as though Colorado State is poised to fire the infamous Larry Eustachy.

—This is both awesome to see and a welcome reminder that there are people out there dealing with bigger things than what a lot of us have probably been complaining about today.

Keep getting stronger, Andrew.

—Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, who have spent most of the past year in bitter disputes, sealed their first big compromise this week and sealed it with an agreement to addend a Louisville-Syracuse basketball game together.

—The big St. X o-lineman is headed to U of L.

—With signing day over, the CJ attempts to project Louisville football’s 2018 depth chart.

—And finally, beat Georgia Tech.