—It was already known, but the Courier-Journal has confirmed that U of L athletics spent well over the $20.5 million NIL cap last athletics season. They weren’t the only local school to overspend.
—Brody Foley has been named to the preseason watch list for the Mackey Award, which goes to the best tight end in college football.
—A pair of Cardinals make Bill Connelly’s list of the 40 most important players for the 2026 college football season.
28. Lincoln Kienholz, QB, Louisville. Jeff Brohm’s Cardinals
are my personal lean for the ACC No. 2 spot, but the return of only three offensive starters means the Cardinals will be relying on quite a few high-upside transfers to score points. Granted, that’s usually not a problem for a Brohm offense, but in Kienholz he has a passer with more athleticism and upside than last year’s starter, Miller Moss, but also a player who has attempted just two non-garbage-time dropbacks in the last two seasons. Is he ready?
29. Isaac Brown, RB, Louisville. Kienholz will at least have one of the most well-rounded running backs in the country sharing the backfield with him. Brown was the main reason Louisville ranked 10th in rushing success rate last season, but in just nine games he also ripped off runs of 78, 73, 68, 62, 53, 52 and 31 yards. Six of those went for touchdowns. He’s a game changer and potentially a title-race changer.
—The Louisville volleyball team is currently slated to play 10 nationally televised matches in 2026. The party starts on Friday, Aug. 21 with a Sweet 16 rematch against reigning national champion Texas A&M that will start at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
—After a hard-fought bidding war, NBC has retained the TV rights to the Preakness Stakes. The race will now be run on the fourth Sunday of May.
—Knights Hall got a makeover ahead of the 2026-27 athletic season.
—Awful news from the world of horse racing where jockey Robby Albarado passed away at the age of 52 on Tuesday. He had just undergone a heart procedure days earlier.
—Illinois star David Mirkovic, a likely preseason First Team All-American, will miss much of the run-up to the 2026-27 season after having foot surgery on Tuesday.
—The Ole Miss SI site says that Louisville is the perfect week one opponent for Pete Golding.
Ole Miss is going against a team that doesn’t have its identity yet. The Rebels will likely come away with a win because they are a much more seasoned team who have had more time playing in their schemes.
It will be a great game for Trinidad Chambliss to become comfortable with his new receivers, who will be going against a solid secondary. This game will also show how John David Baker’s new style of offense will run against a Power Four defense.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of new transfers will get the chance to start or be rotated in for the Rebels. This will allow guys to show Golding what they can do for this team.
The Rebels should win this week one matchup. It isn’t a cakewalk, but they have a better team, and Golding will find out a lot about his squad in this important first matchup.
—SI’s Kevin Sweeney writes that the NCAA should simply admit defeat on the 5th year eligibility rollout.
—Former Card turned Miami Dolphin will miss the entirety of the 2026 NFL season because of injury.
—Pretty cool to St. X at one on the boys side and Sacred Heart at No. 2 on the girls side. Trinity also makes the boys rankings.
—The ACC Digital Network previews Louisville in video form.
—Three-star CB Asaiah Brown has scheduled a visit to Louisville this fall.
—The Louisville Ballet is celebrating its 75th anniversary, which is cool.
—This is an absurd ranking.
—Louisville is among a trio of schools prioritizing 2028 Oldham County LB Jess Officer.
—Brooks Holton’s preseason player-by-player preview series continues with a closer look at DeShayne Montgomery.
—I will never not watch this highlight video when it pops up on my timeline.
I now own the jersey that Art is wearing for all those made field goals.
—Jason Frakes writes about what we learned at the CJ’s annual high school football media day.
—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show rolls along this afternoon from 2:30-5:30 on The Big X. The Thornton’s YouTube stream is here.
