Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Louisville by 10.

—Louisville’s flight was delayed for four hours yesterday but the Cards finally made it into Winston-Salem safely Tuesday night.

—Matt Norlander of CBS writes that Louisville had the best January of any team in the country, but also makes note of the gauntlet that lies ahead.

Louisville’s great January turns to February gantlet

While Baylor had the most surprising power-conference run of January, Louisville had the best. The Cardinals have gone 6-1 in the month of the wolf and are now 15-5 overall with a 6-1 ACC mark, putting them atop the league and snuggling with Virginia, Duke and UNC in the loss column.

Jeff Greer of The Athletic took a look at Louisville’s performance so far (better than expected). But here comes quite the grind. Louisville’s upcoming slate is a burden:

@ Wake Forest on Wednesday

vs. UNC on Saturday

@ Virginia Tech on Monday

@ Florida State on Feb. 9

vs. Duke on Feb. 12

So three road games, and the two home tilts come against two of the three best teams in the conference. The Cardinals, fortunately, have some slack to give after accruing Quad 1 wins over Michigan State, North Carolina (road win), Seton Hall (road win) and NC State.

—Donovan Mitchell will play in the Rising Stars Game on the Friday of NBA All-Star weekend.

—The CJ talks about what might be next for Teddy Bridgewater.

—ESPN held a quick, eight-person tournament for the best celebrity fan in college basketball last night. Bill Murray knocked off Ashley Judd in the finals.

Saturday’s Groundhog Day. Perfect time to hang a new banner inside the Yum Center.

—Louisville football is looking for new equipment managers. If you’re a full-time freshman student at U of L who’s interested in helping out, email uoflequipment@gmail.com

—Here’s the GoCards.com preview of tonight’s game against Wake Forest.

—U of L students are invited to a pregame party before the women’s game against Connecticut Thursday night.

—Here’s what the Cards will be wearing for Thursday night’s showdown.

I want to like it more than I actually like it.

—NC State has named Boo Corrigan as its new athletic director, which is a perfect ACC AD name.

—U of L swimming is gearing up for a showdown with Indiana.

—This looks like a picture from a Stephen King movie.

—The best story from Super Bowl week so far is Brandin Cooks giving two tickets plus all travel expenses to one of his “teammates” -- the Rams locker room janitor.

—This in-depth story on the heroes of the Thai cave rescue provides a welcome reprieve for anyone desperate to read something heavy that won’t make them depressed or angry.

—Chris Mack has your game day GIF for Wake Forest.

—UConn star Crystal Dangerfield and Asia Durr are very familiar with one another.

—Big Red Louie hosts a U of L basketball roundtable.

—Even though she’s usually the smallest player on the floor, Dana Evans aims to help out in the rebounding department for U of L.

—The ACC Digital Network takes a look at the “red hot” Louisville Cardinals.

—Rick Bozich says Chris Mack is the midseason ACC Coach of the Year.

—Penny Hardaway continues to make headlines for things that are only semi-basketball related. This time it’s the former NBA star saying that he has a target on his back because other coaches are jealous of him.

—Samuell Williamson’s play continues to garner attention in Texas.

Also, shoutout to former Louisville sports anchor Pat Doney.

—Shaka Smart has new life in Austin after Texas’ upset of Kansas Tuesday night.

—Last night in the ACC:

No. 3 Virginia 66, No. 23 NC State 65 (OT)
No. 9 North Carolina 77, Georgia Tech 54
Clemson 82, Pittsburgh 69

—Tonight in the ACC (besides Louisville-Wake):

No. 12 Virginia Tech at Miami (7 p.m./ESPN2)
Syracuse at Boston College (8 p.m./ACCNE)

—The return of Chris Mack and Dino Gaudio to Winston-Salem seems to be the biggest storyline for tonight’s game.

—Never forget.

—Louisville is ranked as a top city for gamers.

—I love this caption.

—Louisville is at No. 14 in ESPN’s updated college hoops power rankings.

—And finally, beat Wake Forest.