Tuesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Louisville by 18.

—Syracuse’s freshly-released depth chart for Friday night reveals freshmen starting at several key positions, including quarterback.

—Via the CJ’s Shannon Russell, it looks like Evansville is now locked in as Louisville’s opening night opponent for next Wednesday. The Purple Aces, who are replacing Southern Illinois in the Wade Houston Tip-Off Classic, will also face Prairie View A&M on Nov. 27.

—Louisville’s Dana Evans and Hailey Van Lith are two of the 50 players on the preseason Naismith Trophy Watch List.

—Roosevelt Wheeler is happy to be a Cardinal.

Wheeler is officially signed and sealed.

—Here’s the NCAA’s official release on the relocating of the 2021 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

—Like pretty much every other major American sporting event, The Masters saw record low TV ratings in 2020.

—Gregg Marshall got paid nearly $8 million by Wichita State to resign after numerous allegations of physical and verbal abuse towards his players surfaced in recent weeks.

What a deal. Get $8 million after the whole world found out you punched a kid in the back of the head, and hey, you’ll be getting another (probably pretty good!) head coaching job in the next 20 months.

—The new Louisville City FC logo is here.

—A look at how former Cards in the NFL fared in week 10 of the season.

—The U of L women’s golf program has added a pair of signees.

—The University of Louisville athletic department, in conjunction with Cardinal Authentic, will host a Pop-Up Tent Sale November 18 and 20 in the Cardinal Stadium parking lot.

—U of L student-athletes achieved a record 91 percent graduation rate to match the Cardinals’ best mark in the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) Report, which was developed 16 years ago to account for transfers into the university who graduate and those who leave in good academic standing. The Cardinals’ GSR, most recently reported for freshmen who entered in the 2013-14 academic year, has risen 25 percent since the reporting began 16 years ago.

—A lot has changed in 2020, but Russ on the Shelf gracing CC Headquarters during the holidays is not one of those things.

—The latest episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone podcast is here.

—Ricky O’Donnell’s final NBA mock draft for SB Nation is up.

—LSU’s football program might be pretty awesome on the field, but it’s pretty disgusting off it.

—The Cards will have to handle Hollingsworth here in a couple of weeks.

—Jowon Briggs, maybe Virginia’s most talented defensive player, is entering the transfer portal.

—CBS is counting down the 68 best college basketball programs of all-time, starting with No. 68-51. The first two are a pair of heavyweights: Pitt and DePaul.

—While nothing is finalized yet, Indianapolis seems like the perfect location for a centralized March Madness because of the numerous hoops options within the city.

Indy is almost perfect—perhaps the only thing lacking is a major airline hub. Located near the country’s middle, travel is fairly convenient from almost anywhere. The centralized downtown is ideal for hosting major events, which is why the city has become a popular convention destination. NCAA headquarters are right there. And it is college basketball Holy Land, a state that may love the sport more than any other.

Also vitally important: No other city would have enough competition venues for 68 teams playing 67 games. If the tourney is organized like normal, there would be a need for eight first-and-second-round gyms, something Indy and its surrounding neighbors can make work.

There is Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Final Four is scheduled. There is Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where the Pacers play and where the Big Ten tournament has often been held. There is historic Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler, one of the shrines of the sport. There is Indiana Farmers Coliseum, where IUPUI is playing home games and where the Horizon League had its 2020 tournament. There are many of the nation’s largest and best high school gyms in the general area, not to mention facilities at Division II Indianapolis and NAIA Marian University.

If the NCAA takes the tournament outside the I-465 ring around Indy, the possibilities only increase. Indiana University’s Assembly Hall and Purdue’s Mackey Arena are an hour’s drive away.

—The Evansville Courier & Press has more on the Purple Aces opening their 2020-21 season against Louisville.

—There’s no clearcut No. 1 pick for this year’s NBA draft, but the data indicates that LaMelo Ball is probably the safest play.

—The TNIAAM podcast previews Friday night’s Louisville-Syracuse game.

—Given Louisville’s complete lack of any sort of baseball history before his arrival, it’s hard for me to see how Dan McDonnell isn’t at least No. 2 here.

—The start of the 2020-21 Kentucky high school basketball season is expected to be delayed.

—Hassan Hall is back at practice for Louisville, which is good news for the Cards after the departure of Javian Hawkins.

—The AP previews the ACC women’s basketball season.

—Not a bad list to be a part of.

—TuTu Atwell’s status for Friday night is still up in the air.

—The paper of record in Richmond covers Roosevelt Wheeler’s commitment to Louisville.

—And finally, the CJ has a look at Louisville’s potential new running back rotation now that Javian Hawkins has opted out.