Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Notre Dame by 5.5.

—Natalie Pierre is the only member of the Courier Journal sports staff picking Louisville to upset Notre Dame.

—The U of L offense is expecting a “great challenge” from the Fighting Irish defense.

—Notre Dame has been absolutely dominant against the ACC in 2017.

In the last seven Notre Dame vs. ACC games leading up to last weekend, the Irish won them all by at least 13 points. Five were by 21 or more.

A lot of teams lose to Notre Dame in the regular season. When the streak began in 2018 until 2021, Notre Dame went 43-2 in the regular season. It went undefeated twice.

But since the start of last season – its first without Brian Kelly – Notre Dame is 13-5 in the regular season: 3-0 against its ACC ranked opponents, but 0-3 against other ranked Power 5 teams. And since the 30-win streak began, Notre Dame is 8-0 against the ACC’s ranked opponents and 4-7 against ranked opponents from other Power 5 conferences.

Of Notre Dame’s last 24 regular-season wins, 11 have come against the ACC. From 2019-23, Notre Dame is 9-5 against ranked opponents in the regular season. But that’s 6-0 against the ACC’s ranked teams and 3-5 against all others. Oh, and those non-ACC ranked wins? Navy in 2019, Wisconsin in 2021 and BYU last year.

Notre Dame has knocked off ranked ACC teams eight times in that stretch. It has handed nine ACC teams their first loss of the season, including doing so four times in the last five meetings with ACC foes. Notre Dame is 4-9 against ranked opponents since 2018 and 8-0 against ranked ACC opponents.

Heck, Notre Dame even beats teams before they can even GET ranked. North Carolina was undefeated and unranked when Notre Dame knocked them off last year, thwarting a 3-0 start and excitement building around Drake Maye.

In 2021, Notre Dame beat an unranked Virginia team off to a 6-3 start by 25. Notre Dame was in the ACC in 2020, but it still gave No. 7 Clemson its first loss (Clemson would return the favor) and No. 18 North Carolina its third (the Tar Heels would not). In 2019, it gave 4-0 Virginia its first loss and edged a 5-2 Virginia Tech by 1. In 2018, Syracuse was No. 15 and 8-2 only to get smoked by 33 points by the Irish.

—Irish Breakdown shares its thoughts on Louisville.

—The NCAA is changing the transfer portal windows to 45 days per sport per year, down from 60.

—The sixth-ranked Cardinal volleyball team will face North Carolina and Duke on the road this weekend.

—1.89 million people watched Louisville topple NC State last Friday.

—For the first time since the KFC Yum Center opened in 2010, a new U of L basketball court graced its floor Thursday.

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

—Sebastian Moss of the Louisville men’s golf team shot a final round 67 to post his third-straight top 10 finish of the fall as the Cards finished play at the Fighting Irish Classic on Monday.

—You know it’s a big game when ole Mark Rutherford starts poppin’ up on your TV.

—It’s a historic weekend for football in the Bluegrass State.

—The U of L men’s soccer team raced back from a second half deficit to pull off a last-second 3-2 win over Kansas City on Monday night. Highlights are here.

—The annual Louisville Women’s Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon will take place on Monday, Oct. 23 in the Grand Ballroom of the Galt House Hotel. Tickets are available here.

—Guy’s good. Guy’s really good.

—The ACCDN’s weekly 2-minute drill video is here.

—Louisville diver Else Praasterink has been named ACC Diver of the Week and Cardinal swimmer Kim Herkle has been voted ACC Swimmer of the Week.

—Jason Frakes ranks the top teams in KHSAA football after seven weeks of play.

—Give me all the hype videos this week.

—Brian Brohm says it’s a huge honor to have his number added to Louisville’s Ring of Honor on Saturday.

—These grades of NC State’s offense against Louisville are predictably brutal.

—Three bowl games are affected by the Kellogg’s breakup, completed yesterday. The Pop-Tarts Bowl and Cheez-It Bowl sponsors are now owned by parent company Kellanova, while the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl sponsor is owned by the WK Kellogg Co.

—This is a fantastic idea for a game recap video.

Here’s hoping the Notre Dame video team enjoys a Sunday/Monday off this week.

—Jeff Brohm says that Jack Plummer being “battle tested” should help him in a big game like Saturday night’s.

—ESPN’s Bill Connelly looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the 2022 remaining unbeaten teams in college football. He has Louisville ranked as the 15th-best among the group.

15. Louisville Cardinals (5-0)

SP+ and FPI rankings: 29th and 27th

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 117th

What the Cardinals did in Week 5: def. NC State 13-10

Last week’s ranking: 16

Biggest statistical strength: Epic explosiveness. Against Georgia Tech and Boston College, they mixed three rushes of 30-plus yards with eight such passes. Indiana and NC State defended them well but still got hit for a couple of big ones. Louisville is inconsistent but capable of scoring from anywhere on the field on any play.

Biggest statistical weakness: You make big plays against them too. Among unbeatens, only Florida State, USC and JMU have given up more gains of 30-plus. In marginal explosiveness, the Cards rank 10th on offense but 105th on defense. They give away a lot of the gains they create.

Next big test: Week 6 vs. Notre Dame.

—Louisville Report has the Cards at No. 5 in its latest ACC power rankings.

—The Washington Post chose Louisville to center this depressing report on falling life expectancy in the U.S.

It’s Notre Dame week, guys. Come on.

—U of L football season ticket sales continue to climb with Jeff Brohm steering the ship.

—It’s like I’ve been saying for years: The BCS was flawless and we need to bring it back.

—Jack Plummer has been the 16th-best QB in college football so far this season according to this metric.

—Several top in-state prospects are among a large group of visitors are expected for the Louisville-Notre Dame game on Saturday.

—The U of L women’s soccer team will host No. 2 Florida State on Thursday night. Here’s a preview.

—Jeff Brohm doesn’t mess around on first down.

—The CJ’s Alexis Cubit looks at how Louisville football’s 30 newcomers have fueled the Cards’ 5-0 start.

—Jeff Brohm was one of Kirk Herbtreit’s top performing coaches in week five.

—Cardinal Authority looks at where Louisville football currently stands in the national stats.

—The advanced stats say that Saturday night’s game should be a thriller.

—True fall football weather is coming to L&N Stadium on Saturday night.

—Brett McMurphy’s updated bowl projections still have Louisville playing Kansas State in Pop-Tarts Bowl.

—Louisville’s Sebastian Moss has been named the ACC Golfer of the Month.

—Further evidence that Louisville should have beaten NC State by more last Friday:

Also Cincinnati is dead last in this graphic for the second time this season. No one produces more “how the hell did we lose that game” moments for a fan base than Scott Satterfield.

—So far, the money being bet on the Louisville-Notre Dame game is being pretty evenly spent between the two teams.

—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is rolling along this afternoon from 3-6 on 1450/96.1. Podcast sensation Danny Sinnard will be in studio for the second half of the show. You can stream it here.