ESPN Big East blogger Andrea Adelson has just released her updated post-spring power rankings and Louisville sits atop the list at #1. Not that this is some sort of huge surprise, especially given the absence of West Virginia from the league, but it’s still incredibly exciting to see the Cardinal brand being restored back to its rightful spot atop the conference. With the recent news that the wiseguys out in Vegas have slotted the over / under on Louisville wins at 9.5, Charlie Strong and his team will go from underdogs to favorites and the pressure will be quite a bit different than it’s been over the previous two seasons. I still point to 2013 as the year in which Cardinal football will be at its absolute pinnacle, nonetheless, I’ll gladly take being preseason favorites this year and we’re certainly in for an exciting ride.

1. Louisville: Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater looked better than ever this spring, giving me renewed confidence the Cardinals are going to be the preseason favorite in the league. The secondary should be exceptionally strong, and the offensive line should be better. Questions remain at running back and with depth in the front seven. But of all the teams in the league, I think the Cardinals have the most stability headed into the season. Plus, it hugely helps to have Charlie Strong entering Year 3.

2. USF: Big jump for the Bulls. I know I said I refused to buy into USF until the Bulls actually do something. But what they have returning is hard to ignore. Generally speaking, teams with 18 returning starters — many of them seniors — do really well. So do teams with veteran starting quarterbacks. While USF still has some major question marks on paper — can B.J. Daniels develop, what happens at running back, where is the depth at linebacker –the Bulls look like they have a shot.

3. Rutgers: At one time, I had Rutgers as my preseason favorite. But I am a little nervous about the situation at quarterback. I thought there would be a resolution this spring, but neither Chas Dodd nor Gary Nova did much to impress. Mohamed Sanu is gone, there are more shifts on the offensive line and the running game has to prove something. I think the defense will be the best in the Big East. The offense is scaring me right now, which is why I moved the Scarlet Knights down.

4. Cincinnati: The Bearcats do return talent, and players who saw some significant action last season. But they also lose 21 seniors, including Big East Offensive Player of the Year Isaiah Pead and Co-Big East Defensive Player of the Year Derek Wolfe. I don’t have any doubts that the Bearcats will have a good season. I just don’t know if they will win another championship.

5. Pitt: If there is any team with “ifs” all over the roster, it is the Panthers. They have a new head coach. They are returning Tino Sunseri at quarterback. Nobody knows how Ray Graham is going to do after major knee surgery. The offensive line has to be better. There is not much depth on the defensive line. If all of these come together, the Panthers could be really good. If they don’t, they could be really bad.

6. UConn: The Huskies will be good on defense. But what about quarterback? I feel like a broken record saying the same thing over again. Quarterback uncertainty always makes me hesitant to rank a team in the top half of the league. I was hesitant last year, and I am hesitant again this year.

7. Syracuse: I have said this before, but it bears repeating: I think Syracuse is the hardest team to gauge in the Big East. The Orange have to be more consistent on offense. They have to find a running game to help ease some of the burden off quarterback Ryan Nassib. Does Ashton Broyld give them enough to get them more explosive plays? The defense still has depth concerns in the front seven.

8. Temple: I worry about how the Owls will make the transition to the Big East in Year 1. I think Temple has a good team, but the Owls also lost a lot of their best players and has depth concerns on the offensive and defensive lines. That is enough to worry any coach in Year 1 in a major conference.

On this podcast, your original All-UofL sports talk show discusses Louisville hoops with assistant coach Kevin Keatts and Cardinal pigskin with commit Kyle Bolin.  Discussion topics include:

Keatts

-What changed for the team to make the Final Four run

-Who is expected to step up during the off-season

-Great expectations for next season

-A full scouting report on Luke Hancock

- Terry Rozier Update

-The kind of players the staff will look to recruit for the 2013 class

-Dark Slime Tutorial

Bolin

-What made Kyle commit to the UofL program / how his recruitment played out

-Where he will be camping this summer

-How he has taken the lead on recruiting other players to UofL

-What he admires about Charlie Strong and staff the most

-His Style as a QB / spread vs pro style passing game

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

*iPhone/iPad users, or if you have any trouble accessing it, listen below

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:37:23 — 44.6MB)

Montrezl Harrell received his release from VT today

- Lots of news today in the world of college basketball recruiting. First up, Scout.com has released an updated list of their top 100 players in the class of 2013 and there was plenty of movement among Louisville commits and targets. The Cardinals’ lone 2013 commit, Anton Gill, continues to move up the rankings and is now slotted at #32. Honestly, depending on how this summer goes and how he fares at Hargrave Military Institute next season (word leaked out today that a certain UofL recruit will be joining him), it’s not far fetched at all to think Gill can continue his ascent up the list and wind up as a 5-star rated player or perhaps even a McDonald’s All-American. Here’s a quick look at where some of the other key Louisville targets were ranked:

I think these are most of the names that the staff will be concentrating on this summer as the AAU circuit heats back up, but as always, I’m sure that a few new names will arise as well. We’ll keep you updated.

- On a side note, was it maybe a blessing in disguise that Louisville didn’t end up landing Bullitt East product Derek Willis? The 6’9 power forward dropped from a fringe top-30 player all the way to #91. Ouch.

- Also, I spoke earlier of a new teammate for Anton Gill at Hargrave Military Institute. Raleigh native and Louisville target Greg McClinton will join Gill this fall and play for Kevin Keatts’ former team. McClinton remains heavily interested in the Cards, but a lackluster spring left him out of the top 100 rankings so it will be interesting to see how the staff continues with his recruitment. As we all well know, these rankings aren’t always the gospel. Often times lower ranked players go on to become stars and higher ranked guys flame out due to high expectations and the pressure of family, friends and handlers.

- Finally, there have been tons of rumors about Louisville possibly being interested in adding a late addition to the 2012 class. That addition would be Montrezl Harrell, a top-50 player who was committed to Virginia Tech until head coach Seth Greenberg was fired last month. Harrell has been seeking his release from his letter-of-intent, and apparently today he got his wish. Obviously adding Harrell would mean that someone would have to be moved to a walk-on, and with all the sensitivity surrounding the Jared Swopshire situation, I have a hard time believing that the staff makes this move. Then again, he would fill the one spot on the roster in which depth is a question mark – power forward. We’ll keep an eye on things and we’ll update you if he ends up visiting Louisville in the next few weeks. Again, the connection here is that Harrell played for Keatts at Hargrave two years ago and there is obvious familiarity between the two.

All-world college football guru Phil Steele is in the middle of his preseason countdown of the top 50 teams in college football and today he placed the Cards at #34. In the time it took me to write this post, Steele probably learned more about football than I’ll ever know, so it’s hard to argue with this placement. And in all honesty, I’m not concerned at all about where this Louisville team starts off, instead, I’ll be much more interested to see where they’re ranked around the first week of December as they begin bowl preparations. Anyway, he still picks the Cards to win the Big East and pegs Teddy Bridgewater, Hakeem Smith and Mario Benavides as first team all-Big East selections. Also, in typical Phil Steele fashion, don’t expect some dazzling, grammatically correct, pulitzer prize-winning column here…..the man is accurate and succinct, and that’s all that matters. Here’s a portion of the write-up and you can read the entire thing here.

QUARTERBACKS – The Cardinals have had some excellent QB’s in the last 16 yrs including Chris Redman, Dave Ragone, Stefan LeFors and Brian Brohm, who all earned Conf Off POY honors and were drafted by the NFL. In ’09 they had to replace their starter and then both of the proj’d replacements transferred after the spring (0 car att ret). Three diff QB’s played and comb to hit 56% with a 9-11 ratio. 5’10″ Will Stein started gms 8 and 9 and threw for 450 (55%, 0-1). In ’10 Adam Froman (PS#75JC), who had 7 st in ’09 (1354, 60%, 6-5), took control
but missed 4 gm (inj). He threw for 1,633 (61%, 11-4) while Stein was #3 hitting 9-14-72. The QB’s improved their ratio to 22-7. LY only Stein ret’d but I proj’d true frosh Teddy Bridgewater (PS#7, IFS) as the st’r. Stein st’d the opener and Bridgewater came in for 1 series, threw an int and did not return. Stein threw for a career high 349 vs FIU but then inj’d his shoulder vs UK and the Bridgewater era began as he helped lead UL to their 1st win over UK in 4Y (2 td passes). Stein att only 5 passes after that. Bridgewater (2129, 64.5%, 14-12) started the final 10 setting a
UL frosh passing rec (Chris Redman 1773 ’96). UL finished #2 in the BE in pass eff and this year both QB’s return. Bridgewater now is experienced and is one of the BE’s best.

RUNNING BACKS – HC Charlie Strong would prefer to have one feature RB and in his first yr (’10), he had that in Bilal Powell. Powell (#3 rusher ’09), rushed for 1,405 (6.1) finishing just shy of breaking Howard Stevens’ 1971 (10 gm) mark of 1,429 despite missing nearly 2 full gms. Powell had seven 100 yd gms tying the UL record (Frank Moreau ’99, Walter Peacock ’73) while Jeremy Wright was #2 with 327 (5.5). Victor Anderson (PS#30) had 1,047 (5.7) in ’08 but just 473 (5.3) in ’09 and 286 (4.5) in ’10. Anderson was the frontrunner LY and led the tm in rushing but with just 539 (4.7). They moved QB Dominique Brown (PS#64), who ran the wildcat, to RB and he finished #2 with 533 but with a pedestrian 3.8 ypc. Wright finished #3 (334, 4.6). The unit had just one 100 yd rusher (Wright, 108 vs Rut) all year with P Chris Philpott’s
40 yard run on a fake punt being the longest run for the team over the first 7 games! Even with the loss of their starter, I
look for improved production from the RB corps.

Mike Huguenin of Yahoo Sports is writing an ongoing series detailing the top newcomers in each of the major college basketball conferences and today he mentioned Louisville’s Luke Hancock when detailing the Big East. Hancock, who will be rehabbing a shoulder injury suffered in a recent pick-up game until August, has generated quite a bit of buzz since transferring from George Mason last summer. Head Coach Rick Pitino added to his mystique by calling him the “best all-around player on the team” and naming him as co-captain last month. Here’s the excerpt on Hancock, along with a few other familiar names from the recruiting trail. You can read the story in its entirety here.

Luke Hancock

8. Louisville SF Luke Hancock
Particulars: 6-6/200, Jr.; transfer from George Mason, preceded by Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy
Buzz: Hancock should be a solid veteran addition to a loaded Louisville roster. Hancock is a heady player who doesn’t necessarily do anything great but does everything well, especially pass. He has 3-point range but probably is most effective in a sort of point forward role. He can be an effective perimeter defender but can be overpowered by bigger forwards in the paint.

D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera

7. Georgetown SG D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera
Particulars: 6-3/210, Fr.; four-star prospect from Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy
Buzz: Georgetown lost its top three scorers and looks starved for a guard who can put the ball in the basket. Smith-Rivera is a physical backcourt player with good range. But he’s also savvy enough to use his strength to get into the lane and finish. He’s a solid ballhandler and should be a nice fit in coach John Thompson III’s deliberate offense.

Ricardo Ledo

2. Providence SG Ricardo Ledo
Particulars: 6-5/185, Fr.; South Kent (Conn.) South Kent School
Buzz: Ledo is part of a highly touted Friars recruiting class. Ledo is a big-time scorer; he has excellent range and has advanced offensive skills off the dribble for an incoming freshman. Holdover G Vincent Council will team nicely with Ledo and fellow five-star freshman Kris Dunn to form what should be one of the most prolific backcourts in the nation.

Huge show on tap tonight at 6 on ESPN 680 and ESPNLouisville.com, as your original All-UofL sports talk show will discuss Louisville hoops with assistant coach Kevin Keatts and Cardinal pigskin with commit Kyle Bolin.  Discussion topics include:

-What changed for the team to make the Final Four run

-Who is expected to step up during the off-season

-A full scouting report on Luke Hancock

-The kind of players the staff will look to recruit for the 2013 class

-What made Kyle commit to the UofL program

-Where he will be camping this summer

-How he has taken the lead on recruiting other players to UofL

All this and more tonight from 6:00-8:00.  Hit us up on twitter @LvilleSprtsLive and/or 267-9680 to share your thoughts.

As the Top 5 series continues, the focus shifts to the running backs.  Like the wide outs, this is an area where UofL has amassed a lot of talent.

5. Ralph Dawkins (1990-’93) 525 carries for 2,159 yards, 4.1 ypc.  Number 22 was the first star of the 90′s, often posting big numbers aginst the nation’s elite like Ohio State and Tennessee.  His low center of gravity allowed him to get behind his offensive line, then burst out in the open.

4. Deon Booker (1985-’88) 497 carries for 2,363 yards, 4.8 ypc.  Booker was an un-sung hero of sorts because he played at Louisville when quite frankly they weren’t very good.

3. Bilal Powell (2007-’10) 436 carries for 2,338, 5.4 ypc.  This player transformed his life from running with gang members in huigh school to being drafted in the NFL. Coach Strong termed him “the face of the program” and he didn’t disappont, leading the team on the ground to 7 wins and a Beef O’ Brady’s Bowl win.  He is currently playing for the New York Jets.

2. Frank Moreau (1995-’99) 499 carries for 2,599 yards, 5.2 ypc.  This brusier bulldozed his way into UofL’s record books while splitting time between  Coach Cooper and John L.  He helped the offense out-score the opposition to enable the Cards to go to the Motor City and Humanitarian Bowls. He briefly played for the Kansas City Chiefs.

1. Michael Bush (2003-’06) 435 carries for 2,514 yards, 5.8 ypc.  Another hometown product who wanted to put his on stamp on the program.  He came in as a Quarterback and left as arguably the best running back in school history.  Not only could he run over over people, he could juke them out of their socks.  He was a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield. Bush put these numbers in just three years….Just think if he didn’t beak his leg; the Cards would have been playing in the BCS National Championship. Signed with the Chicago Bears in the off-season.

Much was made about UK fans gobbling up tickets to the Yum! Center this March to watch their team in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.  Let’s not forget that in 2007, UofL fans started a takeover of their own.  In 2013, CardNation will descend upon Lexington as that is the likely destination for a highly seeded Louisville team in the NCAA tourney’s opening weekend. Water picture courtesy of Brett Dawson of The C-J; Rupp Arena picture courtesy of @RU4UofL

Red water flows outside Rupp Arena….

First, we will take over the Lexington Center….

Then your arena, again….

That ol’ barn looks a lot better in red.

Future Card QB Kyle Bolin was listed on Sporting News’ Top 8 2014 Pro Style Quarterbacks.  Here’s the rundown:

Kyle Bolin

Lexington Catholic (Lexington, Ky.)

6-3/185

Bolin says: “(Coaches) mostly talk about my footwork, decision making, accuracy and football instincts when it comes to the key attributes of my game.”

His take on schools: Bolin committed to Louisville and coach Charlie Strong last fall, but Cincinnati and Illinois were also hot on his heels. “Growing up, my parents really stressed character, so that was a main quality I looked for in a coach when deciding on a school. Coach Strong is a firm believer in character, and that’s what impressed me the most about him.”

CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman hosts a nightly college basketball talk show on Sirius / XM satellite radio and last night he featured Louisville’s own Peyton Siva as a guest. Here’s a few highlights and you can listen to the entire interview here.

- Trying to focus on keeping the young guys humble and not letting the Final Four go to their heads

- Doesn’t pay any attention to conference realignment

- On Luke Hancock: “He’s very crafty. He can do a little bit of everything, he can shoot, he can pass, plus he’s bigger.”

- Says this summer all he’ll be doing is working out…..he’ll attend the Chris Paul camp, work on his shooting and “live in the gym.”

- Talks about his excitement for the potential and future career of Angel Nunez.

- Goodman once again eats crow about his infamous Gorgui Dieng comments the summer before his freshman season. Here they are, in case you never saw them a few years back:

“It’s truly sad when Louisville fans are celebrating the eligibility of Gorgui Dieng. It’s Gorgui Dieng. Then again, Pitino needs bodies.”

“Louisville fans: I am happy for Gorgui Dieng; just meant that it’s sad what it’s come to that fans are celebrating as if it’s a superstar.”