Tuesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check (bowl game): Louisville by 1.

—Louisville offensive lineman Adonis Boone has confirmed that he’s returning to U of L for another season.

—UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers will miss 6-8 weeks with a tibial plateau fracture. That means she’ll be sidelined for the Huskies’ game against Louisville on Dec. 19.

—Another day, another board meeting, another “no action taken” message at the end of an executive session.

Also some potential rule-breaking!

Six game suspensions for everyone.

—Fresh off an ACC championship, Pitt’s offensive coordinator is resigning.

—The TV schedule for the NCAA volleyball regional semifinal and final rounds are set. The Cards face Florida at 1 p.m. on Thursday on ESPNU. If they win that match, their regional final match will take place on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.

—New Mexico State beat arch-rival New Mexico at the buzzer and then stomped on the Lobo logo afterwards.

Love a good hoops rivalry.

—Four-star class of 2022 point guard Desmond Claude plans on visiting Louisville this month.

—A second Publix is reportedly coming to Louisville.

—The latest Hoop Vision newsletter has some really good stuff on Chris Mack making good on his promise to change his offensive style, but also looks at why that change in style has yet to produce the desired results.

The early numbers indicate that McMains is succeeding in that mission; the Cardinals currently rank 27th nationally in offensive pace.

And a look at the film shows that the spacing has also been changed. Perhaps the most noticeable attribute of Louisville’s offense this season is the emphasis on placing players in the deep corners.

Early in possessions, Louisville has emphasized running to the deep corners — often using a 5-out approach in transition.

Still, as the Cardinals have clearly taken steps to play with increased pace and more spacing, the results of the new style have been underwhelming.

According to Hoop-Math, Louisville’s transition shooting — (defined as attempts that occur within the first 10 seconds of possessions that start with a steal, a defensive rebound, or a made basket by the opponent) — has actually been less efficient than their shooting in a halfcourt setting. The Cardinals have posted an eFG% of 48.1% in transition and 48.6% in the halfcourt.

The main reason for the transition struggles has been the three-point shot. Exactly 50% of Louisville’s shots taken within the first 10 seconds of a possession have been from behind the arc. On those early deep attempts, they have shot just 31%.

—U of L football commit Selah Brown from Male High School is the Kentucky 6A Player of the Year.

—Rick Bozich writes about the Vince Tyra situation and the latest strange brew for U of L athletics.

—Stunning that Wake-Pitt didn’t move the needle as much as Bama-Georgia.

—Tomahawk Nation profiles Vince Tyra.

—Florida’s official website previews Thursday’s Sweet 16 volleyball match against Louisville.

—Snow could be coming to the area overnight tonight.

—The second shot here is insanity.

—Tim Sullivan writes that the much-discussed non-compete clause in Vince Tyra’s contract should not prevent Vince Tyra from bouncing to Tallahassee.

—Inside Pack Sports serves up five thoughts on Louisville’s win over NC State on Saturday.

—Pack Insider also reacts to the loss.

—I am very excited about Tiyon Evans.

—Evans expects to be a big time impact player for Louisville in 2022.

—Louisville has offered three-star safety Ja’dais Richard out of Louisiana.

—Dethroned by Johnny Jones.

—When it faces Air Force on Dec. 28, Louisville will be taking on another team that is strong in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

—CBS ranks all 42 bowl games and has the First Responder Bowl at No. 23.

23. First Responder Bowl: Air Force vs. Louisville

Dec. 28, 3:15 p.m. — Again, the biggest question when it comes to an option team in a bowl game is the opposing team’s run defense. While Louisville’s isn’t as bad as that of Missouri, it’s not great! That’s going to be a problem for the Cardinals against Air Force, which ran the ball 87.5% of the time this season (only Army rushed it more often at 88.2%). But a guy named Malik Cunningham should keep this game interesting for all involved.

The Louisville QB is one of the more exciting players in the country, and as he goes, so go the Cardinals. Cunningham threw for 2,734 yards and 18 touchdowns this season while rushing for 968 yards and 19 touchdowns. If he throws for 266 yards and rushes for 32 yards in this game, he’ll be the first Louisville player to throw for at least 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season since some guy named Lamar Jackson. Whatever happened to that guy?

—John Harbaugh says the obvious: Lamar Jackson needs to get back on track.

—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is back from 3-6 this afternoon on 1450 The Big X. Should be another cool, laid back three hours. You can stream the show here.