It's a new year and BIG changes are coming soon to the front page of this web site.
It will take some getting used to, but this is something we have all been waiting on for YEARS (literally) and the front page will FINALLY get an upgrade in 9 days (just after the national title game).
For those of you who have been with us for a long, long time, I appreciate you sticking with us through the lack of updates and the incorrect stats and the outdated rosters and all of that. We will finally be on the new Yahoo! system and I can't wait.
What this means for you:
- MUCH better mobile experience. All stories, links, stats, message boards and everything will be optimized for mobile which means you can surf this site, share this site and post on this site from your phone MUCH easier than you used to be able to.
- Easy formatting for us - which means when we are on the road we can post stories and video MUCH faster than we could previously.
- A unified stat experience coming which means soon all stats and rosters and info will be synched with Yahoo! Sports system which means they'll be accurate.
- A few days of minor confusion as you get used to the new front pages.
Here's a sneak preview for premium eyes only: https://louisville.n.rivals.com/
This new format will continue to evolve and be updated in the next 3 weeks so what you see today may not be the final, final version, but it is a good indication of what the new front page will look like.
(Editor's Note: Don't set your new bookmark or favorite yet because the DNS records will all update on Jan. 12.)
Now on to the real Quick Hits:
- Louisville is genuinely concerned about the possibility that 3 different assistant coaches may make a move this off-season. The administration is working on keeping the assistants in town, but other schools are close to making offers (some may have already).
- Keep an eye on Miami's offensive hires, Missouri and Ole Miss' defensive hires and any HIGH level college defensive coordinator openings or NFL openings (of course).
- I still think there is a concern that Louisville loses 1, 2 or 4 defensive underclassmen (Kelsey, DeBrown, Fields and JHC). Other local pundits (Jody and Paul) have said they don't believe any of the four will turn pro, but I am not as sure. DeAngelo Brown already having his degree in his pocket could be a game changer for him.
- All of those guys are waiting on their appraisals from the NFL. It'll be really interesting to see if any of them get a 1st or 2nd round grade. If they do, they're gone - in my best estimation. And even if they don't, they'll all four still consider it.
- Louisville returns all but one regular offensive starter for next season (A-A-ron Epps graduated), and the coaches are ecstatic about the potential on that side of the ball. The young offensive linemen actually handled A&M fairly well, which portends really good things for their future.
- So Louisville is the only school in the nation to beat any SEC West team in a bowl so far this year. That division was far and away the toughest division in college football. The SEC East, on the other hand, was the lowest rated Power-5 division. Remarkable how different those two divisions were this season.
- As an aside, I am still blown away that Kentucky didn't go bowling this season. Year 3 of Stoops they loaded the schedule with EIGHT home games, played in the worst division in Power 5 football, had their rival at home after their rival lost 10 NFL draft picks and STILL couldn't make a bowl. Crazy.
- The moment when Lamar Jackson got up from getting blasted by Myles Garrett and smacked him on the rear then threw a touchdown pass on the next play was the single defining moment from that Music City Bowl for me. Jackson is such an incredibly confident kid.
- Bobby Petrino was furious about the officiating mistakes in that Music City Bowl. He actually understood the Burgess call - didn't like it, but still understood it - but the spotting the ball mistakes and the frequent reviews and the lack of communication were all really bad in that game. Big 12 crew.
- Trevon Young had surgery to repair his hip and will be out for a long time. 10 years ago - 5 years ago - guys didn't come back from those kinds of injuries. I sure hope technology and surgery techniques make it easier for him to come back to play at some point in the future.
- It sucked that James Burgess had to spend his last game in a Louisville uniform sitting in the locker room. Sucked. I get why they called it the way they did, but I truly don't believe that was his intent.
- Stacy Thomas played well in his place and is the future at that position.
- If nobody turns pro as a junior, Louisville's secondary will be MONEY next season. And if Grantham returns, I could easily see the Cardinals being in the top 5 again in interceptions. JHC, Chucky, Dee Smith and Khane Pass back there with Wiggins, Alexander, Washington and the newbies on the wings? Tough.
Onward to basketball...
- Rick Pitino had been boiling for a while about the Powell case and the Bozich articles. Friday just happened to be the day he decided to talk about it.
- KSR called Pitino's responses a "meltdown." It definitely wasn't a meltdown. It was planned, thought out and well-reasoned. He clearly wanted to get that off his chest.
- Trey Lewis spraining his ankle stinks. He'll probably miss a game or two. The good news is that Louisville's toughest part of the schedule doesn't start until Jan. 30.
- The biggest news out of Friday to me was Pitino acknowledging that he believes something happened and Pitino saying he has not been interviewed yet by Chuck Smrt or the NCAA. Both of those I found very interesting.
Schedule rankings:
- The Cardinals have 18 ACC league games on the schedule and only two of those games are against teams rated above 100 in the Ken Pomeroy computer system. Six of Louisville's 11 games from Jan. 30 through March 5 are against the Top 13 teams in the country.
- Pitino said the top of the league is still very strong, but the rest of the league seems to be improved over last season. That appears to be the case with Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons finished last season 13-19, but Wake is 9-3 so far this season with wins over Indiana, UCLA, Arkansas and LSU.
- The Sagarin Ratings have the ACC rated the second-toughest league in America right now (just behind the Big 12). Five ACC programs are in the Top 13 of those ratings, with Virginia at No. 3, Louisville at No. 7, North Carolina at 10, Miami at 11 and Duke at 13. Pittsburgh is No. 19 in the Sagarin Predictor Ratings and No. 23 in the regular Sagarin.
- And in the RPI, Louisville's schedule includes 13 games against Top 75 teams including all of the Cardinals games between Feb. 8 and the end of the regular-season, an eight game stretch Rick Pitino called "a death march."
Advanced Metrics:
- Louisville stands at least a 74% chance of winning each of its next 7 games: Wake Forest (93%), NC State (75), Clemson (78), Pittsburgh (83), Florida State (87), Georgia Tech (74), Virginia Tech (84).
- According to KenPom (my favorite), Damion Lee is currently 12th in the nation in overall offensive rating. No other Louisville player is in the Top 60 nationally. (Trey Lewis is 62nd).
- Other top 20 players we will see this year? UNC's Marcus Paige, UNC's Isaiah Hicks, Sheldon McClellan and Ivan Cruz Uceda from Miami and Brice Johnson from UNC. James Robinson from Pitt is 28th, Isaiah Wilkins from UVA is 29th and Grayson Allen from Duke is 30th.
- Chinanu Onuaku keeps getting in foul trouble, but he is very good in the time he is actually on the court. When he is on the court, he rebounds 18.4 percent of Louisville's offensive rebounds. That's 7th best in the nation and 2nd among Power-5 leagues (only WVU's Jonathan Holton is better).
