Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Louisville by 5.

—One Foot Down has an advanced stats recap of Louisville-Notre Dame.

—GoCards.com offers up its primary takeaways from Scott Satterfield’s Monday press conference.

—Carlik Jones is your first gold jersey recipient of 2020-21.

—A look at how Cards in the NFL fared in week six.

—U of L has offered St. X sophomore DE Micah Carter.

—SEC basketball coaches are getting tired of coaching against unpunished opposing head coaches who everyone now knows are cheating.

Despite the baggage, Pearl has landed the highest-rated recruit of any SEC coach this fall, and Wade currently has the highest-rated SEC class for 2021. Those developments have spiked the temperature of some of their competitors.

“Auburn’s got to go down at some point,” said one SEC coach.

“I get sick to my stomach every time we play LSU,” said an SEC administrator. “It’s revolting when I see Will Wade walk into our gym.

And the notion that the FBI probe was going to fix, or at least diminish, the rampant cheating in college hoops? SHOCKINGLY, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

But as of now, there are no sanctions at South Carolina or Auburn, and no Notice of Allegations at Alabama or LSU. Against this backdrop, insiders say a conference rife with compliance issues is recruiting basketball players with impunity right now. While the feds might have scared some schools straight for a while, it hasn’t been a lasting change.

“Things may be worse now than they were before the FBI stuff,” said one industry insider with deep ties in both the recruiting and coaching realms. “It’s like they receded after it initially hit, then nothing happened and now they’re pushing the boundaries even further. The league is only getting worse.

“The SEC is a s--- fest right now, so coaches can’t be too hypocritical because everyone else is doing it, too. It’s pretty bad throughout.”

Multiple sources said league members have communicated their frustrations to commissioner Greg Sankey, who also wants the ongoing infractions cases in the league to be resolved. Sankey would not comment on individual cases when SI asked him about them in August, but he did emphasize that, in general, the process needs to move more quickly. “I think the commissioner is beyond the end of his rope,” said one league source. “He’s beside himself.”

—For Louisville’s offense to get back to rolling, it must be better at avoiding 2nd/3rd and long situations.

—The Covid vaccine has been discovered, and it’s this video of Beau Zach Smith dunking all over Memphis State.

—Former Winthrop players say (Athletic link) Gregg Marshall’s abusive behavior predated Wichita State.

—Christopher Ingraham does a deep dive to find the worst first pitch in Major League Baseball history.

—2020 Pizza Bowl highlights:

—Shakin’ the Southland’s ACC power rankings have Louisville down two spots to No. 13.

—Louisville is No. 88 in U.S. News’ Best Places to Live rankings.

—That bird ... that bird is too large. These are not good.

—Florida State is billing this weekend’s game against Louisville as the fight to get back to .500.

—Tomahawk Nation has some FSU practice notes from the start of the week.

—This seems pretty good.

—The Green Bay Packers have signed James Burgess from the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad.

—Old Louisville’s “haunted scavenger hunt” helps you explore a spooky part of town.

—Former Louisville LB and first round NFL draft pick Marcus Smith shares the story of his battle with anxiety and depression on The Players Tribune.

I want to be there for the men who grew up not knowing about mental health, or completely avoiding it. Depression, anxiety, suicide — these issues are big, and impossible to tackle on our own. But I know if I can play a small part in the fight — if I can lend an ear or pull a car back from going over the edge — then I will know that my journey has been worth it.

So, if you’re in it right now, like really in it, and you can’t see the end of it….

Just know that I’m here. I’m still here.

—Dez Fitzpatrick and Dwayne Ledford spoke with members of the media following practice on Tuesday. You can see those videos here. Bryan Brown and Kei’Trel Clark will talk with the media following Wednesday’s practice.

—A top five Homefield debut.

—Tomahawk Nation looks at the Louisville-FSU series.

—Chop Chat believes the Louisville game is a “critical” one for Florida State.

—And finally, the CJ takes a stab at predicting Louisville’s final six games.