Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check (basketball): Cincinnati by 8.5.

—Spread check (football): Kentucky by 3.

—The fourth-ranked Louisville volleyball team wraps up its regular season tonight at 6:30 in South Bend against Notre Dame. A win will assure the Cardinals of at least a share of the ACC regular season title. Here’s a preview.

—Cards vs. Cats preview graphic:

—The Starting 502 Podcast reacts to Louisville’s latest record-setting loss.

—Brett McMurphy’s latest bowl projections have the Cards taking on Purdue in the Pinstripe Bowl.

—CFP chair Boo Corrigan talks about the committee placing Louisville at No. 25 in their latest rankings.

On putting Louisville in the top 25 over a more deserving Big Ten team with better results against common opponents

BOO CORRIGAN: Yeah, Louisville has won five of the last six games. They’re 5-3 against teams ranked above .500. They also have that win over UCF. Two of their losses were to Florida State and Clemson, and the comparable in making sure that we’re going through the teams quite frankly that are in that 7-4 area and making sure that we’re doing all we can to figure out which ones deserve in there. But there’s no talk of conference or any of that in what we’re doing. We’re trying to find the best 25 teams.

—Louisville defensive end commit Adonijah Green is reportedly considering Ole Miss.

—The FCS transfer portal is open and Louisville has extended an offer to Texas A&M Commerce WR Andrew Armstrong. Armstrong, a sophomore this past season, posted 1,020 yards and 13 touchdowns on 62 receptions in 2022.

—It should never, ever, under any circumstances be this bad.

—The LHL’s John Clay previews Louisville vs. Kentucky in podcast form.

—Louisville Report’s Matt McGavic is predicting a 13-point Cincinnati win tonight.

—Eric Crawford shares his thoughts on Louisville’s humiliating loss to Texas Tech.

Nothing good is served by losing games on national television and having the entire college basketball world talk about how bad you are. That in itself can have a chilling effect on recruiting.

Louisville’s coaches are going to have to shelve whatever philosophy is prevailing now and come up with a way to compete. Install some sets. Get the right players the ball in the right places. Shorten up the game. Muck up the game. Change defenses and eat up time. Win ugly, but win.

This isn’t Norman Dale being stubborn to break players down. This is trying to win a game so that players feel good about things to take the next step, and the next one. Until you can find Jimmy Chitwood in the transfer portal or something.

A couple more things. Everybody knew that Louisville was going to struggle this season. But they shouldn’t be struggling this much. They’re bad, but not this bad. Suggesting that they be given better tools to compete is not caving in to expedience. It’s acknowledging the human need not to get one’s tail kicked every night.

Second, what you’re seeing on the court, it’s not necessarily what Payne is teaching. These coaches know basketball and know good basketball. They know fundamental basketball. But for whatever reason, it isn’t hitting home with this group of players.

We’re approaching the point when the reason doesn’t matter anymore to most fans. In fact, we’re probably already there.

—Louisville’s ACC-Big 10 Challenge matchup with Maryland next Tuesday has been slotted for a 7 p.m. tip on ESPN2. Kevin Willard and the Terrapins are off to a 5-0 start.

—There’s been nothing official from U of L or the players, but I’d say Trevion Cooley and Jalen Mitchell no longer being listed on the Louisville roster is a pretty solid sign that neither will be back for next season.

—Happy 10th anniversary to the butt fumble.

—Duke Basketball Report wonders if this is already a lost season for Louisville.

—U of L student-athletes achieved a department-record 92% Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the latest report released by the NCAA.

—The proper energy for the rest of rivalry week.

—Cardinal Authority has five takeaways from Scott Satterfield’s pre-Kentucky press conference.

—The Courier Journal sports staff makes its predictions for Saturday, and all four writers are taking the Cards over the Cats.

AC: Louisville wins, 31-24. Even with the Cardinals’ struggles to reach the end zone, they’ve found different ways to score points whether that be on offense, defense or special teams. They’re playing with a ton of confidence right now and can put a stamp on a turnaround season by beating rival Kentucky for the first time since 2017.

RB: Louisville wins 31-28. Kentucky’s defense, as it does almost without fail, will keep the Wildcats in this one to the very end. But the season-long issues on offense and special teams are too much to overcome against a group playing as well as Louisville. Those problems will rear their head once more at the most inopportune time Saturday: The Wildcats, who have had five kicks blocked this season (tied for most in the 131-team FBS), will have a game-tying field goal batted down as time expires.

BD: Louisville wins 24-20. It’s not going to be easy for Louisville to get points. For all Kentucky’s offensive flaws, the defense — particularly when it’s reasonably healthy — is legit. But it’s hard to imagine the Cats putting together much of an offensive threat against the Cards’ defensive front.

BH: Louisville wins 17-14. Kentucky hasn’t exceeded 21 points in more than a month, and that trend could continue against Louisville’s stout defense if the Wildcats don’t get a defensive or special teams touchdown. U of L’s offense could be down Malik Cunningham, but the Cardinals’ superiority (and UK’s struggles) in the kicking game will be the difference-maker in Scott Satterfield’s first Governor’s Cup win.

—One trend says the Cards will top the Cats this year.

—Here’s what Jeff Walz had to say after his team went 1-2 in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

—Louisville’s two embarrassing performances coming in Maui and at times where there were no other major sporting events going on means that the Cards’ record-setting (for all the wrong reasons) start has drawn some serious national attention.

The Cards have also received attention from Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption, and I think every show/podcast that covers college basketball at some point this week.

—Three U of L field hockey players earned National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-West Region honors. Julie Kouijzer and Aimee Plumb were selected to the first team while Emilia Kaczmarczyk was named to the second team.

—Talkin’ week.

—The Comeback compiled the most notable reactions from Louisville’s lopsided loss to Texas Tech.

—The latest episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone podcast is here.

—One positive from the week has been that the Cardinal fans in Maui have been great.

—RIP to former Kentucky governor John Y. Brown, who famously wore a half Louisville/half Kentucky hat to the 1983 dream game. Brown was 88.

—Here’s a transcript of Kenny Payne’s postgame comments from yesterday.

—Scott Satterfield and Bryan Brown both made their case for Yasir Abdullah to be the ACC Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday.

—Rick Bozich dives into the question of why Kentucky has dominated the football rivalry with Louisville in recent years.

—Malik Cunningham is still “day-to-day.”

—Here are Scott Satterfield’s full comments on Kentucky from yesterday’s press conference:

—A pair of Cardinals have been named ACC Swimmers of the Week.

—Rueben Owens says he had another great visit to U of L last weekend.

—Happy Thanksgiving Eve, 20-somethings.

—Locations for the 2027-2030 Final Fours have been announced, and whoa boy, Las Vegas is getting a Final Four.

—After a couple of days on the sidelines, the Mike Rutherford Show will return this afternoon. We’ll be on from whenever the Western Kentucky game finishes up until 6. You can stream here.

—And finally, beat Cincinnati.