Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—College Football News projects Louisville vs. Washington in the Holiday Bowl.

—DeVante Parker’s 2020 season is off to a hot start.

—John Calipari’s only retort to Chris Mack on Tuesday:

Based on the Louisville men’s basketball Twitter account’s tweet, it appears as though Dec. 26 will indeed be the date for the Cards vs. the Cats.

—Speaking of, “Whatever is Most Convenient” shirts are now available.

—Benjamin Perry, the highest-rated commit in U of L football’s 2021 recruiting class, has received an offer from Oregon.

—Duke Basketball Report previews Louisville.

—Louisville women’s soccer standout Delaney Snyder is mastering the mental side of the game.

—Dana O’Neil is all about the Chris Mack-John Calipari drama.

Tap, tap. Is this thing on? Why yes, Chris Mack. It most certainly is. That is to say, it’s on. Gloriously, I might add.

For the past six months, college basketball has idled in an interminable holding pattern, bogged down by necessary but tedious logistics. Bubbles and pods and MTEs, oh hell. The sport needed a jump-start. It needed an igniter. It needed a bald man swiveling in an office chair, turning to a camera on a random Tuesday night.

Mack’s video, not the Kentucky Derby, is now the fastest two minutes in sports, for it surely spread around college basketball faster than Secretariat could get around Churchill Downs. It is magnificently sarcastic and fantastically petty, direct rivalry hatred injected into all of our veins, the kind of which begs for a rebuttal (or maybe that’s me, hoping).

And I am here for all of it — every last oh-no-he-didn’t-just-say-that second.

It is the most normal college basketball has felt since March, and oh, how we missed this absurdity, this pure silly nonsense.

No talk of spit tests, just pure venom spittle.

God bless us.

—The U of L women’s soccer team is back in action Thursday at 4 p.m. against Syracuse. The ACC Network will provide live coverage of the match.

—Saturday Blitz has three takeaways from Louisville’s loss to Pitt.

—DaJuan Wagner Jr. (Milt’s grandson) is the No. 1 player in the class of 2023, according to 247 Sports.

—Shakin’ the Southland’s ACC power rankings have Louisville at No. 9.

#9 Louisville (1-2, 0-2) LW: #8 Next Game: 10/9 @ Georgia Tech 7:00 PM ESPN

Year two for Scott Satterfield is off to a rough start as the Cards were edged 23-20 by Pitt. Definitely too early to write Louisville off, but it’s looking like we may have overhyped them a bit coming into the season. The Cards have a week off to prep for a Friday Night matchup next week at Georgia Tech. Good thing, since Malik Cunningham was carted off the field near the end of the game with Pitt. The good news is that he can move and feel everything. Cunningham is expected to make a full recovery.

—Spalding University is celebrating its 100th year in downtown Louisville with Founders’ Day Weekend.

—Louisville has offered class of 2022 DE Popeye Williams out of Indiana.

—Caden Curry, another class of 2022 defensive end, has also picked up an offer.

—U of L continues to spend its bye week addressing the key issues that have led to its 1-2 start.

“To be honest, the guys were hurt and down,” head coach Scott Satterfield said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “It was obviously very disappointing, I mean you lose to what is a very solid Pitt team.”

During Louisville’s 23-20 loss to the Panthers, the normally high-flying offense was held to just 223 total yards. While the loss was certainly demoralizing, Satterfield and the team were quick to put that game behind them and keep their focus moving forward.

“But you can’t let a loss or two losses affect your team,” he said. “You’ve got to continue to look forward and continue to grow and get better.”

—Kentucky Speedway was dealt a huge blow on Tuesday when it was announced that the track would be losing its Nascar race for 2021.

—Jerry Eaves and his son, Frank, will appear on the upcoming season of “The Amazing Race.”

—And finally, congrats to Louisville’s Mercedes Pastor, who has been named the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I National Offensive Player of the Week.