Tuesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—In 2019, Louisville football will face the reigning national champion for a third straight year and for the fourth time in six seasons.

Also, we’re champions too.

I had been told previously that this is the way this thing works.

—U of L baseball has named its captains for the 2019 season.

—Adam Zagoria reports for Forbes that although some very powerful people at UCLA want Rick Pitino to be the Bruins’ next head coach, the school’s Board of Regents would never go for it.

“[The boosters] did their due diligence and found out that Pitino wasn’t going to get the necessary approval,” said one source. “So they’re just saving face, saying, ‘Oh yeah, we never wanted Pitino.’”

That same source previously said that UCLA boosters Casey Wasserman and John Branca wanted Pitino, now coaching EuroLeague power Panathinaikos of Greece, to replace the fired Steve Alford.

”One hundred percent, Casey wanted Pitino,” the source said. “Pitino wasn’t going to get approved. Of course they wanted Pitino but they weren’t going to get Pitino approved by the Board of Regents.”

A second source affiliated with UCLA concurred that Pitino wouldn’t be approved by the Regents.

”I know that Rick’s name has come up before [in 2001],” the second source said. “Honestly, I just don’t see it happening even if Casey or whoever wanted that to happen.”

That source added: “From a purely basketball standpoint, Pitino’s a no-brainer. I mean, if we could have a [John] Calipari or Bill Self or Rick Pitino or Billy Donovan, that’s a no brainer. Even though Rick out of all those candidates is the one that’s available, in terms of history it just would never fly beyond athletics. It just wouldn’t.”

—Jan. 17 at the KFC Yum Center is going to be Jeff Walz Bobblehead Night. The U of L women will be facing Virginia that night.

—Choose Bearnos for a meal today and 20% of your purchase will go towards a very worthy cause.

—Noted Bracketologist Chris Dobertean has Louisville as a No. 7 seed and the tournament’s No. 28 overall seed in his latest bracket projection.

—Final bowl records by conference:

C-USA 4-2 (.667)
Sun Belt 3-2 (.600)
MWC 3-2 (.600)
Big 12 4-3 (.571)
Big Ten 5-4 (.556)
ACC 6-5 (.545)
SEC 6-6 (.500)
Pac-12 3-4 (.429)
AAC 2-5 (.286)
MAC 1-5 (.167)
Independents 2-1

It’s also worth pointing out that the ACC Atlantic Division was 4-1-1 (Boston College was up 7-0 when its bowl game was canceled)

—Dan Wollken says Nick Saban knew going into last night’s game that he didn’t have the better team, and he coached like it.

—Super Book USA has Louisville at 500/1 to win the 2019 College Football Playoff.

—Four women’s basketball teams, including Louisville, all have a case to be the No. 1 team in the country right now.

—The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s pregame write-up on Louisville-Pitt describes it as a game of “two rebuilding programs.”

“I know as he continues to build the program in his image — getting the guys in that he wants that play the way he wants to play — they’ll continue to get better,” Capel said. “Louisville is one of the traditional powers in college basketball. There’s a lot of history in that program and a lot of pride in that program. I know he’ll do a great job of restoring that.”

Capel and Mack not only joined a difficult league, but they made what was already a cutthroat conference that much more competitive. Of the ACC’s 15 men’s basketball programs, 10 now are led by a coach who has made it to at least one Elite Eight (Capel accomplished the feat at Oklahoma, Mack at Xavier).

As the two acclimate to their new schools and conference, bumps will come along the way, just like they have in the combined eight losses the two teams have this season. Long term, both hope brighter days are ahead.

“Any time you take a new job at a new school, just gaining your footing with relationships with your players, people you work with in and around the athletic department every day — everything’s new,” Mack said. “Trying to make that as routine as possible as you’re trying to convey a philosophy, convey a way of doing things to your players, to your fellow co-workers, it takes time.”

—If you couldn’t tell from those quotes, the respect is mutual between Chris Mack and Jeff Capel.

—We’re bringing the whole 2013-14 AAC to Greece.

—Following in Tony Bland’s footsteps, former Arizona assistant Book Richardson has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Once again, solid news for programs that didn’t get caught up in the FBI’s original probe.

—Streaking the Lawn has Louisville at No. 7 in its new ACC power rankings.

7. Louisville Cardinals (10-4, 1-0 - Last Week: 7)

Chris Mack’s team followed up a big loss in their rivalry game against Kentucky with a dismantling of Miami at home to start ACC play. While they’ve lost to most of their name-brand out of conference opponents, they do have wins over Seton Hall and Michigan State to balance out their resume some. If they hold steady in conference play, I think they’ll be a tournament team in Mack’s first year.

—There are no facts anymore.

—With Chris Mack at the helm, the Louisville defense presents Pitt with a different type of challenge than it has in years past.

—Cardiac Hill says that the Panthers’ frontcourt options are dwindling.

—Again, I’ll never get tired of these.

—The Louisville Cardinal looks back at the first month of the Scott Satterfield era at U of L.

—Calling it right now: This random V.J. King picture sighting at a bakery in Philadelphia is going to turn his whole season around.

—This Florida man who was arrested after sending death threats to Tyler Trent’s mom is the absolute lowest of the low.

—Thursday’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between Notre Dame and Louisville will be the primary topic during tonight’s Jeff Walz Show, which is going down from 7-8 at the Chili’s on Bardstown Rd.

—The postgame Source Awards spoof made me happy that Clemson won.

—Never forget: Louisville held Trevor Lawrence to 59 passing yards. That may wind up being the lowest output of his 45-year career.

—Good read here on Marquette star Markus Howard and his appointment to the NCAA Oversight Committee.

—These videos have been awesome all year.

—Tonight in ACC hoops:

No. 1 Duke At Wake Forest (7 p.m./ESPN)
No. 12 North Carolina At No. 15 NC State (9 p.m./ESPN)

—And finally, we’re back on the radio from 3-6 this afternoon. You can listen here.