Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Louisville was far from perfect in its 1-point loss to Syracuse, but its collective energy and effort level were both markedly improved.

—The Louisville baseball team is No. 7 in the preseason top 25 from Perfect Game.

—U of L’s Kei’Trel Clark and YaYa Diaby have both been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.

—It certainly looks like the back tap that ended last night’s game was a clean play.

El was terrific for the most part last night, but you’ve just gotta make that pass.

—John Gasway makes the argument in favor of expanding the NCAA tournament to 90 teams. He’s wrong, but it’s a compelling argument.

—Mike DeCourcy is on the right side of the debate.

—The U of L women’s basketball team kicks off a homestand on Thursday against Georgia Tech.

—Another Cardinal alum is joining Jeff Brohm’s coaching staff for next season.

—Nolan Smith says Louisville’s historically dismal start to 2022-23 hasn’t hurt the Cardinals on the recruiting trail.

—Highly-touted U of L CB signee Aaron Williams is excited to find out what Jeff Brohm can do at Louisville.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Williams is coming off a senior season that saw him help lead St. John Bosco in Bellflower, Calif., to a state championship and national championship ranking. In the CIF Open Division championship, Williams had a pick six while new Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm watched from the sideline.

“That was big time for me,” Williams said of Brohm. “It really showed how much he really wants me as a player.”

The early impression of the his future head coach helped firm up his commitment to the Cardinals prior to the early signing day.

“Great, great person,” Williams said. “You know, he talked basically about him at Purdue and that they can’t get the recruits that they can get now and he had success at Purdue. I’m excited to see what he can do at Louisville. I hope that he can turn it up all the way.”

—It was written before the Syracuse game was played, but Rick Bozich thinks Louisville gets its first ACC win this week.

—It looks like Bobby Petrino may be coming to Texas A&M to be Jimbo Fisher’s offensive coordinator after all.

—Just a bit off, doc.

—I talked college hoops on the BetQL Daily podcast earlier today.

—Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance was a special night by a special player.

—Kevin Durant showed his appreciation for Mitchell’s performance on Twitter.

—College basketball’s AP poll needs a complete overhaul.

—It appears Devin Leary is taking the Will Levis approach to being Kentucky’s quarterback.

—Kansas State dropped 116 points on Texas during “statement night” last night in college basketball.

—Louisville’s own Jon Bois is the focus of this New York Times feature.

—Last night’s final 10 seconds were a far cry from the finishes of some of the classic Louisville-Syracuse meetings in a different basketball life.

—New jerseys and game shorts have been added to the U of L auction site.

—The rest of the college basketball world seemed to enjoy the closing seconds of the Louisville-Syracuse game far more than the fans of either side did.

—TNIAAM has three takeaways from last night’s Syracuse win.

Nah, you can have the ball

This was one of the messiest games of basketball I’ve ever seen. Syracuse had seemingly solved its turnover problems that plagued the team in the first month of the season. But the Orange played too fast for their own good. The same can be said for Louisville, as the Cardinals entered the game giving up the most turnovers in the ACC. Both teams scored over 15 points off turnovers in a game where neither team shot the ball exceptionally well from the floor. It’s as if no team wanted to actually take care of the ball to win the game.

—Louisville City’s 2023 home opener will be on Saturday, March 25.

—The State of Louisville looks at how the U of L men’s basketball team can spring some upsets in ACC play.

—William Fowles wants Louisville fans to forget about losing DeAndre Moore to Texas.

—Fowles is “a pigskin catching machine.”

—Here’s what Kenny Payne had to say after last night’s loss to Syracuse, including his explanation of the final 8 seconds.

—Josh Stepp is officially making the move from Louisville to Scott Satterfield’s staff at Cincinnati.

—”Gee thanks.” —Louisville big guys

—Brent Axe shares his recap of Syracuse’s 1-point win at the Yum Center.

—The Baltimore Ravens are desperate for Lamar Jackson to return.

—And finally, Louisville Report’s Matt McGavic joins me in studio for today’s Mike Rutherford Show. You can catch it from 3-6 on 1450 AM, 96.1 FM or streaming here or on the TuneIn app.