—It’s game day once again for Lamar Jackson. The Ravens kick off the preseason against the Bears tonight at 8 on NBC in the Hall of Fame Game. Lamar will play, but John Harbaugh isn’t saying how much.
—Chinanu Onuaku was traded from the Rockets to the Mavericks for cash yesterday. If he makes the roster, Nanu could be reunited with former teammate Ray Spalding.
—It’s looking more and more like this is the end of the Urban Meyer era at Ohio State.
—Donovan remains the best.
I have a brother that’s a little delayed in his development.
— Andrew Simeona (@DeezyUte) August 2, 2018
At the Apple store today he was told by a rep what he'd have to pay to have his iphone repaired. He couldn't afford it. Spida overheard and covered the cost for him. Donovan is simply the best #takenote pic.twitter.com/NIKvoRBhlM
—Congratulations to Louisville baseball on receiving the 2018 American Baseball Coaches Association Team Academic Excellence Award.
—ESPN is airing an all-access series on Alabama football as the Crimson Tide prepares for the 2018 season. Should be an interesting watch for Cardinal fans when it comes out.
—Reags over at Barstool ranks the top 10 college basketball programs of the last decade and has Louisville 6th.
6. Louisville: 8 NCAA Tournaments, 5 Sweet 16s, 4 Elite Eights, 2 Final Fours, 1 National Title, 3 Regular Season Conference Titles, 4 Conference Tournament Titles, Average Seed: 3.62
I told you I don’t care about vacated title. We saw Louisville win that title and they didn’t cheat on the court, so I’m counting it. They have success in the Big East and ACC, winning 3 regular season titles and 4 conference tournaments. When it comes to the NCAA Tournament, they typically get to the second weekend and have the title. They still have some clout when it comes to a top-10 ranking in my book.
—Jody Demling ranks his favorite Louisville basketball recruiting targets from the class of 2019, a list headlined by Rocket Watts.
—Matt Norlander of CBS has a good feature on U of L recruit Drew Timme.
—BetOnline.ag has Louisville as an 80/1 shot to make the College Football Playoff.
Odds To Make 4-Team Playoff
Alabama -300
Arizona 55/1
Arizona State 125/1
Auburn +450
Baylor 125/1
Boise State 50/1
Boston College 55/1
Central Florida 40/1
Clemson -140
Colorado 250/1
Florida 17/1
Florida Atlanta 125/1
Florida State +750
Fresno State 200/1
Georgia +175
Georgia Tech 80/1
Houston 140/1
Iowa 60/1
Iowa State 80/1
Kansas State 50/1
Kentucky 90/1
Louisiana Tech 300/1
Louisville 80/1
LSU 12/1
Marshall 250/1
Maryland 150/1
Memphis 125/1
Miami 7/1
Michigan +350
Michigan State 6/1
Minnesota 125/1
Mississippi State 12/1
Missouri 40/1
Navy 250/1
N.C. State 60/1
Nebraska 33/1
Northwestern 80/1
Notre Dame +650
Ohio State +140
Oklahoma +450
Oklahoma State 33/1
Oregon 14/1
Penn State 5/1
Purdue 80/1
South Carolina 45/1
South Florida 125/1
Stanford 9/1
Syracuse 150/1
TCU 14/1
Tennessee 175/1
Texas +650
Texas A&M 12/1
UCLA 40/1
Utah 40/1
Virginia Tech 14/1
Wake Forest 65/1
Washington 3/1
Washington State 80/1
West Virginia 12/1
Wisconsin +425
—Former U of L catcher Will Smith has been promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers.
—Nicole Auerbach says that whether Urban Meyer knew about the 2015 incident involving former assistant Zach Smith is almost inconsequential.
Urban Meyer has some explaining to do, again, and accountability due.
A week after the Ohio State coach denied knowledge of abuse allegations against his then-assistant coach Zach Smith, continued reporting from former ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy, published on Facebook, shows that multiple people in Meyer’s inner circle knew about it — and at least one person said Meyer did, too.
It’s problematic if he knew. It’s also problematic if he didn’t.
Ohio State announced Wednesday evening that Meyer has been placed on paid administrative leave while the university conducts an investigation into the allegations. Offensive coordinator Ryan Day will serve as acting head coach.
At this point, we do not know for sure what Meyer knew in 2015. But we do know that Shelley Meyer, Urban’s wife, was well aware of Zach Smith’s history of violence against his now ex-wife, Courtney Smith, alleged abuse that dated back to 2009 when she was pregnant with the couple’s first child. The two were close and in contact often.
—U of L is sending three swimmers and coach Arthur Albiero to compete at the Pan Pacific Games.
—Danielle Lerner starts her preseason series for the CJ with a closer look at V.J. King.
—Pretty cool.
Same great action. Even better views.
— Louisville Athletics (@GoCards) July 31, 2018
virtual tour of the Cardinal Stadium expansion sightlines ➡️ https://t.co/LduKFz18XZ pic.twitter.com/VcfkdPTehh
—Purdue is recruiting like a serious threat under Jeff Brohm.
—Jeff Borzello gives us 10 takeaways from the July recruiting period.
—New U of L softball coach Holly Aprile has the token Cardinal-themed vacation photo down already.
L’s Up and Surf’s up #PGFNationals #GoCards pic.twitter.com/CCqx1Y3FT3
— Holly Aprile (@UofL_CoachHolly) August 1, 2018
—According to Duke’s official 2018-19 roster, Zion Williamson weighs 285-pounds. That’s 35-pounds heavier than LeBron James and more than every player in the NBA but one. He can also do between-the-legs dunks.
I don’t care if he shoots 8 percent on jump shots, I’m excited to watch this dude dunk on everyone in the country besides Louisville.
—U of L has offered a scholarship to outside linebacker C.J. Ware from Nashville.
—This is an all-timer.
This could end up being the top 1% of 1% of ironic T-Shirts. pic.twitter.com/n4g76LZkD8
— Freezing Cold Takes (@OldTakesExposed) August 1, 2018
—Outkick the Coverage previews the ACC, which it sees as Clemson and everybody else.
—Louisville has made the top five for a highly-touted New Jersey WR.
—This one hurts.
Just glad Louisville is doing the right thing with the Papa Johns replacement name. Long overdue. pic.twitter.com/LzMnP6re4o
— Sean Keeley (@SeanKeeleyIsMe) August 1, 2018
—”Can the offense be better without Lamar Jackson” has officially become the never-ending summer topic of debate for 2018. The CJ takes a closer look.
—Former St. X offensive lineman Wyatt Smock is transferring from Vanderbilt to Louisville.
—Weird.
LOL. Gotta love KSR using rankings from different recruiting sites to fit their agenda. pic.twitter.com/0u2Qv9DcbP
— Cracker McJackson (@wwpky) July 31, 2018
—Our frienimies (that spelling can’t be right but I’m not looking it up) over at Blogger So Dear (Wake Forest) preview Louisville.
—Louisville City FC has named John Hackworth as club’s second-ever head coach.
—It sort of looks like CC when we go with the “5 up” setting, so naturally I like the change.
We got a makeover ...
— Louisville Athletics (@GoCards) August 1, 2018
the new https://t.co/8wG3hj7Esv! pic.twitter.com/f2ZUPDUbh1
—Teddy Bridgewater is still at No. 1 on the New York Jets QB depth chart, but ESPN is predicting that the Jets will deal the former Card.
—And finally, Bobby Petrino will hold his first official press conference of the 2018 season this afternoon at 1:30. If you miss it, we’ll have the audio during R&R from 3-6.