Wednesday evening Cardinal news and notes

—NET Rankings Update: No. 42 (no change).

—A new Card Chronicle Podcast episode dropped this morning. You can still enjoy the Syracuse talk.

—Louisville is hiring Auburn’s John Bicknell to be its new offensive line coach. Bicknell was the O-line coach for the Tigers last year after spending the previous three seasons in the same position at Ole Miss.

Still no word on offensive coordinator.

—The ‘Cuse folks over at TNIAAM react to tonight’s game being canceled.

—Louisville stays at No. 3 in The Athletic’s women’s basketball power rankings.

1. NC State, 12-1 | —

2. South Carolina, 14-1 | —

3. Louisville, 16-1 | —

4. UConn, 11-1 | —

5. UCLA, 10-2 | —

Our No. 1 stays atop the ranking

In mid-January, when the AP poll placed Louisville at the top of the rankings, I moved NC State into the No. 1 position in The Athletic’s Power Ranking. I felt then, as I do now, that NC State had faced better competition and fared better against that competition. The important part to add now: NC State, when Elissa Cunane is playing, is a really balanced team. That was particularly clear Monday night against Louisville, even with only seven NC State players getting time.

The Wolfpack had four players in double digits and 50 percent of their field goals were assisted. Cunane is the best player on the team, but every player allows those around her to play up to their potential in a way that both maximizes the team’s ceiling and lessens the pressure on individuals. The Wolfpack showed definitively against Louisville that they are the best team in the country right now.

—Ricky O’Donnell has David Johnson going to the Phoenix Suns at No. 22 in his latest NBA mock draft.

—The Louisville baseball team is No. 6 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason poll.

—Dana Evans is one of 10 candidates for the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award.

—I was looking forward to seeing these in action.

—Deng Adel has made the Australian Olympic basketball team.

—U of L offensive lineman Jackson Gregory has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

—The CJ’s Cameron Teague Robinson writes about how Louisville football is spending one hour a week doing off-the-field training on topics like finances, investments and more.

—The Crimson Tide certainly appear to be setting themselves up to be one of college football’s top programs in the years to come.

All kidding aside, 11 top 100 players in a single class is absurd.

—The latest mock bracket from Making the Madness has Louisville as a 10-seed facing currently undefeated Drake in the first round.

—ESPN has filed a lawsuit against Arizona over the school’s refusal to release its NCAA’s Notice of Allegations.

—The latest episode of The Crunch Zone podcast is here.

—All experts agree that the scary incident earlier this season where Florida’s Keyontae Johnson collapsed on the court had nothing to do with Covid-19.

—The Lakers are absolutely obliterating opponents with their new lineup that more heavily features Montrezl Harrell.

—Louder than Life is returning to Louisville in 2021, but the other Trifesta festivals are not.

—The official Indiana athletics account sent out a tweet rewarding Hoosier fans with a free Arby’s roast beef sandwich because the basketball team scored 70 points in a loss to Illinois Tuesday night. The tweet was quickly deleted, but Crimson Quarry has an oral history of its long-lasting impact.

—The ACCDN breaks down the top candidates for ACC Player of the Year, a group that includes Louisville’s Carlik Jones.

—Louisville’s Makenli Forrest has been named the ACC Women’s Co-Field Performer of the Week.

—T.J. Quinn is elated to be following in his father’s footsteps at U of L.

—The February version of National Signing Day doesn’t mean nearly what it did a few years ago, but it’s still a nice time to remind everyone that U of L’s 2021 class is pretty good.

—We got our asses kicked, but those uniforms were so awesome.

—ACCSports.com plays stock report.

—Last night in the ACC:

Notre Dame 79, Wake Forest 58
Clemson 63, North Carolina 50

—Tonight in the ACC:

No. 16 Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh (7 p.m./ACCNx)
No. 14 Virginia at NC State (9 p.m./ACC Network)

—Two Chiefs players decided to get haircuts ahead of the Super Bowl— and then their barber learned he’d tested positive for Covid-19 in the middle of the appointment. A Super Bowl week nightmare.

—How the Louisville women respond to their first loss of the season will show just how serious a national title contender they really are.

—Kids today will never know what it was like finding out for the first time that you’d be able to play with the Louisville Cardinals in a video game.

—Deion Branch is the guest on the latest episode of Larry O’Bannon’s podcast.

—Louisville’s BetOnline odds to win the national title have actually jumped from 50/1 to 66/1 over the last month. That’s the same number Kentucky is getting at the moment.

Sure.

—Greatest city in the world.

—Cardinal Authority highlights some in-state football players from the class of 2022 to keep an eye on.

—And finally, even though we won’t get any U of L men’s basketball for at least another week, the women will be back in action tomorrow night against Boston College. Here’s a preview.