—Spread check: Louisville by 3.5.
—Through five games this season, Louisville football is both living and dying by the explosive play.
—After a pair of ACC sweeps, the Louisville volleyball team is back up to No. 3 in the AVCA top 25 poll. The Cards will host Cal (Thursday) and No. 14 Stanford (Sunday) this week.
—Louisville men’s basketball is No. 9 in Ken Pom’s preseason HUMAN rankings.
—Five-star hooper King Gibson, who had Louisville on his final list of schools, has committed to Will Wade and LSU.
—Matt McGavic is predicting a one-point win for the Cards over FSU.
—Jeff Brohm says Louisville has to simplify things if it wants to get better in the secondary.
—Nice touch by the ACC here.
—Louisville is thefourth-most injured teamin college football, according to Roto Wire.
—Jeff Walz says this is the deepest team he’s ever had at Louisville.
—Some notes from Pro Football Network’s Louisville-NC State game grades:
- Tre Richardson posted an 89.1 Impact Grade vs. NC State, the 7th-highest of any WR in the country in Week 5.
- Tre Richardson’s 89.1 was the highest Impact Grade of any player on either side of the Louisville–NC State game.
- Louisville has 4 players ranked in the top 25 nationally at their position: Tre Richardson (WR, 18th), Jaleel Skinner (TE, 11th), Keyjuan Brown (RB, 16th), Lincoln Kienholz (QB, 18th).
- Johnnie Brown III’s 86.1 vs. NC State was his best game of the season (previous high 77.1).
—For the first time since 2022, it feels like Jeff Walz and Louisville have legitimate Final Four aspirations, C.L. Brown writes.
—Louisville’s defense is allowing the most passing yards a Cardinal team has since at least 1962. Is there any hope for a change?
—Class of 2028 infielder Beau Guinyard has committed to Louisville baseball.
—Tip times are set for the 2026-27 U of L women’s basketball season.
—Louisville City FC completed the USL trophy set Sunday, beating defending champion Hartford Athletic, 1-0, to claim the USL Cup and become the first club to win all three major league honors.
—Upsets are down in college football at a historic rate so far this season.
—The Starting 502 Podcast previews what Karter Knox will bring to the table for U of L this season.
—The rest of this week in Cardinal athletics:
Tuesday, October 6
- Men’s Soccer vs. DePaul – 6 p.m. ET (Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium)
- Field Hockey vs. Bellarmine – 6 p.m. ET (Trager Stadium)
- Men’s Basketball at ACC Tipoff (Charlotte, N.C.)
Wednesday, October 7
- Women’s Basketball Luncheon – 12 p.m. ET (Galt House)
Thursday, October 8
- Men’s Basketball Luncheon – 12 p.m. ET (Galt House)
- Men’s Basketball Media Day – 1:45 p.m. ET (Planet Fitness Kueber Center)
- Volleyball vs. California – 7 p.m. ET (L&N Federal Credit Union Arena)
- Men’s Tennis at ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship (College Grove, Tenn.)
- Women’s Tennis at ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship (Mason, Ohio)
Friday, October 9
- Field Hockey at Syracuse – 1:30 p.m. ET (Syracuse, N.Y.)
- Lacrosse at Ohio State – 5:30 p.m. ET (Columbus, Ohio)
- Swim & Dive at College Swimming League – 6:30 p.m. ET (Knoxville, Tenn.)
- Football vs. Florida State – 7 p.m. ET (L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium)
- Men’s Tennis at ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship (College Grove, Tenn.)
- Women’s Tennis at ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship (Mason, Ohio)
- Cross Country at Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational (Madison, Wis.)
- Women’s Golf at Evie Odom Invitational (Norfolk, Va.)
Saturday, October 10
- Rowing at Derby City Head Race (G. Garvin Brown III Rowing Center)
- Women’s Soccer at Clemson – 6 p.m. ET (Clemson, S.C.)
- Men’s Soccer at Syracuse – 7 p.m. ET (Syracuse, N.Y.)
- Men’s Tennis at ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship (College Grove, Tenn.)
- Women’s Tennis at ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship (Mason, Ohio)
- Women’s Golf at Evie Odom Invitational (Norfolk, Va.)
Sunday, October 11
- Volleyball vs. Stanford – 1 p.m. ET (L&N Federal Credit Union Arena)
- Lacrosse vs. Cincinnati – 12 p.m. ET (UofL Lacrosse Stadium)
- Men’s Tennis at ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship (College Grove, Tenn.)
- Women’s Tennis at ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship (Mason, Ohio)
- Women’s Golf at Evie Odom Invitational (Norfolk, Va.)
- Softball at Eastern Kentucky (Richmond, Ky.)
—I’m pretty confident that this isn’t possible, but Roto Wireis predictinga Louisville vs. Clemson matchup in the Gasparilla Bowl.
—After fumbling twice against NC State, Louisville running backs coach Chris Barclay believes Keyjuan Brown will respond the right way(insider).
—John Calipari has made over $125 million coaching college basketball. But his argument for the Protect College Sports Act is even richer.
—Couldn’t be happening to a better guy. Bryan Hudson rules.
—Trinity and Christian Academy continue to top the Massey rankingsfor the state of Kentucky.
—Class of 2029 point guard CJ Sweeney is transferring from Moore High School to Spire Academy in Ohio.
—Basket Under Review’s Brian Rauf makes bold predictions for every conference in college basketball.
ACC
LOUISVILLE MAKES THE FINAL FOUR, DUKE WINS NATIONAL TITLE
Two big swings in one league, because why not. Pat Kelsey went portal shopping again and came back with Jackson Shelstad, Flory Bidunga, and Karter Knox, a Final Four-caliber haul. I know critics will point to Kelsey’s NCAA Tournament history as a reason to doubt the Cardinals, but that stigma follows everyone until they eventually break through. Heck, Dan Hurley and Todd Golden were both looked at in a similar light in recent years, too! This team has the talent and fit to break through.
Duke added John Blackwell (19.1 ppg at Wisconsin) and future lottery pick Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje to the core of last season’s top overall seed. They also have a more athletic and dynamic guard room than in previous years, which partly explains the recent March collapses. Scheyer keeps knocking on the door, and this is the year it opens.
—Matt McGavic of WHAS shares his top takeaways from Jeff Brohm’s Monday press conference.
—Lincoln Kienholz was the second highest-graded quarterback by Pro Football Focus in week five of the college football season. Wake Forest’s Gio Lopez was the only signal caller who received a higher grade.
—The news is not good on the Ja’Hyde Brown front. The time to panic about Card Chronicle’s favorite son not actually suiting up for the Cards is officially here.
—The University of Louisville supports the Protect College Sports Act. Some of its professors have thoughts.
—Bud Elliott writes that a bigger playoff won’t kill college football’s regular season. Bad incentives will.
—Donovan Mitchell has signed a new multiyear contract extension with Adidas
—The NIT is going from 32 to 24 teams this season.
—This is very good.
—Lincoln Kienholz is No. 10 inthis re-rankingof every power conference starting quarterback.
—Louisvilleis No. 7in this preseason college hoops ranking system.
—The CJ’s Brooks Holton looks at where former U of L basketball transfers will be suiting upthis season.
—Basket Under Review has Louisville at No. 3 in its ACC preview. Flory Bidunga is first team all-conference and Jackson Shelstad is third team.
—Richard remains the funniest Pitino.
—FSU Wirelists five things Seminole fans should know before Friday night’s matchup with the Cards.
—SB Nation has U of L at No. 8 in its weekly ACC football power rankings.
—Cardinal Authority looks at how former Cards in the NFLperformed in week four.
—Florida State played like “its old self” in last week’s blowout win over Virginia. Now the question is whether or not the ‘Noles can snap their 10-game road losing streak.
The challenge for Danzy and the Seminoles is now to replicate its performance on the road against Louisville.
That’s been an issue for the program, which is currently on a 10-game losing skid. The last win away from Doak was against Florida in November of 2023, and if the Seminoles are going to end that run, it will require a performance similar to the one against the Cavs.
In Danzy’s eyes, the team is taking the confidence boost the win gave them, but he’s not hung up on the result as it has no bearing on Friday’s contest.
“Just keep pushing forward and getting better every week. Forget about last week, we got this week. This would be a big win for us,” Danzy said. “We just got to put our heads down, forget about the last win, that’s doing nothing for us this week, and just do our jobs.”
The Cardinals enter the game with a 2-3 overall record and are 1-2 in the ACC. Despite that, Danzy and Norvell aren’t overlooking the opponent.
Norvell, who is 2-2 vs Louisville as FSU head coach, called the team the “best three loss team in the country” when referencing the multiple one score losses the program has.
Both he and Danzy know the win over Virginia means nothing without sustained success, and that’s what Norvell is preaching to his team during a short week.
“This is going to be a real hard-nosed, tough ACC matchup. Friday night all eyes on us,” Norvell said. “I want to see continued growth and see us go put our best foot forward.”
—After setting records with his legs, Ashton Daniels’ arm feels like the key to a Florida State win over Louisville.
—The Jeff Brohm Radio Show is live from Roosters in Fern Creek tonight from 7-8. You can listen on 970 WGTK or 93.9 The Ville.
— And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is continuing to talk through it this afternoon from 2:30-5:30 on 1450 The Big X. You can watch live on the Thornton’s YouTube Stream, here.
