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—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 interim athletic director Josh Heird says U of L is close to creating a Name, Image and Likeness department to support his No. 1 priority: putting U of L in "best position possible to attract the best talent" in recruiting.
— Tim Sullivan (@TimSullivan714) January 21, 2022
University of Louisville athletics financial statement shows $22.5 million in gifts for first half of 2021-22 fiscal year, a 62% increase from the first half of 2020-21.
— Tim Sullivan (@TimSullivan714) January 21, 2022
University of Louisville interim president Lori Gonzalez says the search for a permanent athletic director may be completed before the search for a permanent university president, which she says could take 18 months.
— Tim Sullivan (@TimSullivan714) January 21, 2022
—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.
I’m Coming To Lubbock, Texas On February 1st For The @TexasTechMBB Versus @TexasMBB Men’s Basketball Game At 8pm! And Guess What? I’ll Be LIVE ON THE MIC! Don’t Miss It! WOOOOO! @GorillaLawFirm pic.twitter.com/OdjcbnGhOz
— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) January 21, 2022
—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.
Penny Hardaway's answer to if he can get the job done at Memphis.
— Cassie Carlson (@CassieCarlsonTV) January 21, 2022
"Stop asking me stupid f***ing questions about if I feel like I can do something. If I had my roster like they did, then I feel like I can do whatever I want to do." pic.twitter.com/WA79u6Y7bc
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.
UofL's current #2 and the reason #2 is getting retired at UofL this weekend. I doubt Sam ever thought he'd wear Russ' number at UofL when this picture was taken 6 years ago. pic.twitter.com/Ufq91QIugG
— Matt Bearden (@atmattbearden) January 20, 2022
—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.
2021 ACC Superlatives from Beta_Rank:
— Rob Bowron (@beta_rank_fb) January 21, 2022
Best: Clemson
Worst: Duke
Best Offense: Louisville
Worst Offense: Duke
Best Defense: Clemson
Worst Defense: Duke
Best Special Teams: Clemson
Worst Special Teams: Duke
Toughest Schedule: Louisville
Easiest: Boston College
—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.
Excited to visit @UofLFootball this March! @MarkIveyUofL90 @DeRailSims pic.twitter.com/xb8sOBZlWa
— Michael Dipasquale (@mikeyd1019) January 20, 2022
—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.
They're still going on HB 1 in the House. Raymond says there are some good things in the bill but it's missing more things that should be in there. References omission of loan forgiveness for teachers and nurses and social workers". Also "a new basketball coach in Louisville."
— Joe Sonka (@joesonka) January 20, 2022
—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:
WATCH: Man travels to his favourite Jamaican food spot during the snowstorm just to find out it’s closed. pic.twitter.com/0wCHxpYwCk
— 6ixBuzzTV (@6ixbuzztv) January 19, 2022
Giant Sequoias with human for scale.
— Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) January 10, 2022
Credit: Quin Schrockpic.twitter.com/KWa9u3I6SO
Told his ass let it charge he ain’t wanna listen to me Ight then big dawg ♂️ pic.twitter.com/SjlTzRmICR
— Problem Child (@Rasheem21) January 7, 2022
—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.