Mike RutherfordTue, November 25, 2025 at 6:59 PM UTC·5 min read—Spread check (football): Louisville by 3.
—Eric Crawford sets the stage for one of the weirdest Battle for the Governor’s Cup game weeks we’ve ever seen.
—Louisville is No. 4 in CJ Moore’s weekly hoops rankings for The Athletic.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—The Players Era Festival might feel soulless, but it’s the future of Feast Week basketball.
“I’m an old-school guy, so goodness gracious, I walk into Lahaina (Civic Center) and I get emotional,” said Pearl, the recently retired Auburn coach who won the event with the Tigers last November. “You dream that one day, as a head coach, you might coach in Maui.”
Or, at least you used to.
But today, Maui and other long-established multi-team events like the Battle 4 Atlantis are facing an existential threat. This week’s Players Era Festival in Las Vegas pays players directly — at least $1 million combined per team in name, image and likeness deals. The tournament doesn’t disclose how player payouts are determined, but they will go through NIL Go, the compliance clearinghouse launched by the College Sports Commission and managed by the accounting firm Deloitte.
In just its second season, the tournament has made schools question the alternative of spending hundreds of thousands on Thanksgiving week trips to faraway islands, especially in an era dominated by dollars and sense.
“These kids are like professional athletes,” said Lea Miller-Tooley, the CEO of Complete Sports Management and a longtime event organizer who also founded Battle 4 Atlantis in 2011. “They don’t care about swimming with dolphins. They wanna get paid.”
—Highlights from last night’s win over Eastern Michigan are here.
—Four-star linebacker Karsten Busch from St. X has decommitted from Louisville, which is a brutal blow for U of L’s renewed efforts to keep the best local talent home.
—The 7th-ranked Louisville volleyball team renews its rivalry with No. 4 Pitt on Wednesday. A win over the Panthers and then a win over Stanford at home on Saturday would give U of L an outright ACC championship. You can check out the current standings here.
—The Mikel meet-and-greet over the weekend appeared to have gone swimmingly.
—Depth charts for Louisville vs. Kentucky are out.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—Zach Bryan is bringing his tour to L&N Stadium in 2026.
—The early AP preview for Louisville vs. NJIT is here.
—A UK win over Louisville in the Governor’s Cup would complete Mark Stoops’ best coaching job yet, says C.L. Brown.
—Creighton’s radio announcing team did not care for this call near the end of the team’s Monday loss to Baylor.
—DeVante Parker will have his No. 9 honored during Saturday’s game against Kentucky.
—Without departed star Zakiyah Johnson, can Sacred Heart win a sixth straight KHSAA girls basketball state championship? The CJ explores.
—A pair of Cardinal volleyballers picked up ACC Player of the Week honors.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—Seems like a genuinely good guy, pretty good basketball coach, but all-time weirdo. I’m not sure if that combination can work at Kentucky.
—U of L volleyball star Cara Cresse was selected fifth overall by Indy Ignite in the first round of the Major League Volleyball draft on Monday.
—Racing Louisville’s Bev Yanez is the NWSL Coach of the Year.
—Caullin Lacy is a finalist for the Jet Award, which goes to the best return specialist in college football.
—The official mint julep glass of the 2026 Kentucky Derby has been unveiled.
—Samuel L. Jackson is still a diehard Lamar fan.
—Meet the man who spent his summer visiting all 120 Louisville Metro Parks to learn more about the city.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—Regardless of Miller Moss’ health status, Jeff Brohm expects to use multiple quarterbacks again this Saturday against Kentucky.
—Louisville Report looks at how former Cards in the NFL fared in week 12.
—ACC men’s basketball scores from Monday:
No. 3 Houston 78, Syracuse 74 (OT)Seton Hall 85, No. 23 NC State 74Kansas 71, Notre Dame 61SMU 89, Radford 72
—ACC action today:
Rutgers vs. Notre Dame (1 p.m./TNT)No. 23 NC State vs. Boise State (2:30 p.m./ESPN2)Syracuse vs. Kansas (3:30 p.m./TNT)No. 16 North Carolina vs. St. Bonaventure (6 p.m./FS1)Florida State vs. Cal State Bakersfield (7 p.m./ACCNx)Wake Forest vs. Campbell (7 p.m./ACCNx)No. 18 UCLA vs. Cal (10 p.m./ESPN)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—New records detail the threats made to Jeff Brohm by a Texas bettor who lost money on the Cards’ loss to Cal.
—Four true freshmen saw the field during Louisville’s blowout loss at SMU.
—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show returns this afternoon from 2:30-5:30 on 1450/96.1 The Big X. You can also watch live on YouTube here.
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