Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—NET Rankings Update (women’s): No. 4 (up 1)

—NET Rankings Update (men’s): No. 108 (up 1)

—The latest women’s bracketology from ESPN has Louisville down from a No. 1 seed to a No. 2 seed. It also has Kentucky as the first team out of the field of 64, if you’re into that sort of thing.

—Swish Appeal recaps NC State’s Thursday night win over Louisville.

—A number of notable U of L nuggets from Tim Sullivan:

—Louisville Report looks at the points of emphasis for tomorrow’s game against Notre Dame.

—The U of L women’s tennis team is hosting Marshall and Cincinnati today.

—Texas Tech is pulling out all the stops for its first meeting with former head coach Chris Beard.

—The Athletic’s latest bracket watch features just four ACC teams — Duke, Miami, Wake Forest and North Carolina.

—Highlights from last night’s collapse against NC State are here, although I can’t imagine why anyone reading this would want to view them.

—U of L’s postgame notes from the win over Boston College:

Louisville now leads the all-time series against Boston College 10-4, including a perfect 5-0 mark at home.

The Cardinals held Boston College to just 54 points, their fewest points allowed since giving up 54 at Clemson on Jan. 27, 2021.

Boston College shot just 29.2 percent (19-for-65) on the night, the first Louisville opponent to shoot under 30 percent since Evansville shot 29.8 percent on Nov. 25, 2020.

It was the lowest opponent shooting percentage since Miami finished at 27.9 percent on Jan. 7, 2020.

BC made just 4-of-20 three-point attempts on Wednesday.

Louisville has held its last two opponents to 8-of-38 (21.1 percent) from the outside.

The Cardinals forced 10 turnovers and converted them into 21 points, tied for their second-highest points off turnover total of the season.

Louisville grabbed a season-high 38 defensive rebounds in the victory, the most for the Cardinals since pulling in 40 against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 18, 2019.

The Cardinals won for just the second time this season when losing the rebounding battle (Navy).

UofL finished with 15 assists, matching its season high in ACC play (NC State twice, Georgia Tech).

—New U of L co-defensive coordinator Lance Taylor will be meeting with the local media for the first time this afternoon at 2:50.

—Cardinal lacrosse coach Scott Teeter has agreed to a contract extension through 2025.

—The NCAA announced Thursday that it’s no longer allowing schools to take their cases to the IARP because “significantly more cases than expected have been referred to the independent process.”

It’s six. It’s six cases. Over two years. And one of them has been resolved, so it’s five cases now.

It’s unfathomable how inept these people are.

—The Penny Hardaway experiment at Memphis State continues to trend towards ending in disaster.

The Tigers, who began this season ranked No. 12, lost to SMU last night to fall to 9-8 overall and 3-4 in AAC play.

—Racing Louisville FC has agreed to terms with its top overall pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft, securing midfielder Jaelin Howell to a three-year contract.

—Expect Dre Davis to be healthy and available for tomorrow’s game against Notre Dame.

—Cool shot of U of L’s current No. 2, walk-on Sam Bearden, posing with Russ Smith years before Bearden could have ever known he’d be the last Louisville player to wear Smith’s number.

—Dominique Yates is headed from the Courier Journal to WLKY.

—U of L football has offered yet another California standout.

—Here’s the quick AP preview of Louisville vs. Notre Dame.

—Best offense, baby.

—Matt MacGavic is taking the Cards over the Irish by a bucket.

—Russ Smith is the guest on the latest episode of the Cardinal Authority podcast.

—Based on this tweet, I think it’s safe to say Louisville’s spring practice schedule is going to be later this year than the past three under Scott Satterfield. Also, the spring game appears to be “officially” back.

—Louisville has offered class of 2025 QB Austin Simmons out of Florida.

—Is the ACC’s refusal to sign off on an expanded College Football Playoff all a ploy to try and get Notre Dame to join the conference? The Athletic’s Andy Staples believes so.

Here’s what I also don’t buy: That the ACC’s hesitance is tied completely to the fluctuating nature of the sport’s governance. Its vote for CFP expansion — in a system requiring unanimous decisions for change — is the last shred of leverage the ACC has when it comes to the possibility of Notre Dame joining as a football-only member. The second a 12-team CFP with six at-large spots passes, Notre Dame never needs to consider joining a league in football ever again. Phillips said last week that trying to rope in Notre Dame isn’t a concern. Such statements insult everyone’s intelligence. For the ACC, getting Notre Dame to join in football — which might allow for an adjustment of the never-ending media rights deal — is the only concern.

Notre Dame cherishes its football independence for all the reasons enumerated in the column linked in the prior paragraph, and the Irish have no reason to even consider joining the ACC in football. But if he stalls the CFP expansion, at least Phillips can show his bosses (the ACC’s presidents) that he’s trying his best even though his quest is probably doomed to fail.

—After suffering a concussion earlier this week, Donovan Mitchell will miss his second straight game for the Jazz this evening.

—I have no idea what to make of this.

—It’s going to be extremely cold with some light snow this weekend in the ville.

—Tickets to “Thunder at Slugger” are now on sale.

—Friday Irrelevance, triple helping:

—Eric Crawford gives his take on Louisville’s almost unfathomable fourth quarter unraveling in Raleigh last night.

—Our own Keith Wynne will be with me in studio for this afternoon’s Mike Rutherford Show on 1450 The Big X. You can stream it right here from 3-6 or listen on the radio at 1450AM or 96.1FM.

—And finally, beat Notre Dame. Go Russ.