Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Jeff Brohm is one of 26 coaches on the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award watch list.

—Louisville-Notre Dame is the 18th most-watched game of the college football season so far.

—The Louisville offensive line has been named to the Joe Moore Award midseason honor roll.

—Ashton Gillotte is a member of the CBS Midseason All-America team.

—Kenny Payne’s Cardinals are hoping to get off to a better first step in year two.

Payne had not settled on a starting lineup when he sat down with reporters Tuesday afternoon. And he said he hadn’t practiced with a projected starting backcourt or frontcourt in place because he wanted players to have to “fight” through adversity.

As for what he wants to see when the Cardinals tip off Wednesday night at 7, Payne said he’ll be looking for energy.

“I want the guys to play with a confidence, with a fire,” Payne said. “I want them to show that all the conditioning that we’re doing, we can play fast. I want us to be physical. I want us to be connected. I want there to be chemistry on the floor, chemistry on the bench from the players cheering for those that are in the game. I want us to look like a unit that cares about each other. Those things are important, because if we’re going to be a really good team, it’s not going to be one guy or two guys. It’s going to be a group of guys that have all bought into each other and that they’re doing this together.”

Players stressed the “together” theme, too. Mike James also said that players want to send a statement to fans right away, that things have improved.

“Definitely want to come closer as a team, learn more about each other,” James said. ”Some lineups haven’t, like, been together on a court yet. So just playing against somebody else will be good for us before we start our first actual game. I just want to come out and get everybody’s confidence. So, we should win these two games by a good amount. I just want to get everybody’s confidence up on the offensive and defensive end, just knowing what they’re doing and what they’re supposed to do.”

—On3’s Jamie Shaw ranks Tre White as the No. 7 transfer in the ACC for the 2023-24 season.

—JoJo Stone, the seventh-ranked WR in the 2024 class and a player who has consistently been linked to Louisville in recent months, has decommitted from LSU.

—For the third straight year, Louisville baseball has hauled in a top 10 recruiting class.

—Flag football will be a part of the 2028 Olympics.

—I will be there.

—The CBS preseason All-America hoops squad features a pair of players from the ACC.

—The U of L men’s soccer team notched a 4-0 road win over Oakland Tuesday night.

—Racing Louisville midfielder Savannah DeMelo has been called up to the U.S. Women’s National Team for its late October camp, U.S. Soccer announced Wednesday.

—A horse named Bango could become the winningest horse in the history of Churchill Downs if he takes the Betting on Sunshine Stakes next month.

—The Cardinal football team is back at it on a bye week.

—The latest episode of the From the Pink Seats podcast is here.

—Pedro Bradshaw, who plays for the Pacers’ G League team, attributes his pro success and his work ethic to the lessons he learned playing at Bellarmine.

—Speaking of Bellarmine, Scott Davenport said on Tuesday that BU has filed a waiver with the NCAA in an attempt to gain postseason eligibility a year early

—Skyy Clark is the guest on the latest episode of C.L. Brown’s podcast.

—A survey of college football fans reveals that most blame TV networks for conference expansion.

Conference realignment

Do you believe TV networks are biased toward certain conferences?

Yes: 82.7 percent

No: 17.3 percent

Do you believe TV networks play an active role in driving conference realignment?

Yes: 95.5 percent

No: 4.5 percent

Can’t say I’m surprised by these results. A year ago, the bias question drew the same numbers. But the question about driving realignment has risen from 87 percent yes last year to almost 96 percent this year, no question a result of the Pac-12’s demise.

Whether you want to cast blame on networks, school presidents or other parties, it’s obvious that concerns about network bias and invisible hands permeate everywhere throughout the sport. And fans don’t like hearing analysts on these networks lament realignment when it’s TV money that is feeding it.

Some reader comments:

“I will always despise Fox and ESPN for destroying the Pac-12.”

“TV money is clearly the driving factor behind realignment, and the chase for money is going to ultimately harm the sport. It will be a slow hurt, but it will hurt college football.”

“Announcers seem to be getting more biased towards certain teams than ever before.”

—The U of L women’s golf team finished fifth at the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate tournament.

—Questions still linger about how and why NC State supported ACC expansion, allowing it to happen. Records NCSU released provide the most complete accounting yet.

—The CBS preseason All-Transfer Team for the upcoming college hoops season features a number of names that Cardinal fans lusted for during the offseason.

—Kick of the year.

—Rick Pitino says he has everything to make St. John’s back to being a contender in just one year, and that winning is his top priority.

—Western Kentucky fell to Rich Rodriguez and Jacksonville State on a last second field goal on Tuesday night. The ‘Tops are now 3-1 in C-USA play.

—A pair of U of L volleyball players picked up ACC weekly honors.

—The U of L women’s soccer team will travel to face No. 8 Clemson on Thursday night. Here’s a preview.

—Louisville men’s basketball season schedule posters are now available at area Kroger locations.

—This is hilarious.

—Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson took a closer look at the most intriguing results from Week 7 in college football.

—At 75/1, the U of L women’s basketball team has the highest national championship odds of any team ranked in the preseason top 20. The Cardinal men are a 150/1 shot to win it all.

—Brett McMurphy’s latest bowl projections have Louisville facing Tennessee in the Gator Bowl.

—South Carolina coach Shane Beamer broke his foot in a tantrum after his team’s loss to Florida.

—The locker room looks awesome.

—Louisville’s Kiki Jefferson is one of 20 watch list candidates for the 2023 Cheryl Miller Award.

—Mike James and JJ Traynor will join Kenny Payne in representing Louisville next week at ACC Media Day.

—Olivia Cochran and Merissah Russell will be the player representatives on the women’s side.

—Matt McGavic highlights some items to watch for in Louisville’s exhibition opener.

—And finally, beat Simmons College.