On Monday, Bucky Brooks of the NFL Network released his list of the top 30 draft eligible college football prospects, and Louisville’s own Teddy Bridgewater came out on top in terms of NFL potential.

1) Teddy Bridgewater*, QB, Louisville: To observers not already familiar with the best pure passer in college football, the Sugar Bowl served as Bridgewater’s coming-out party. He displays elite arm strength, touch and accuracy, though he is most impressive as the unquestioned leader of the Cardinals.

Dan Kadar of SBNation also released his 2014 mock draft and once again Bridgewater finds himself at the top spot.

The immediate snap judgement about next year’s draft class is that it’s going to be better than this year’s. Of course, that’s what you’d expect an NFL Draft fanboy to say. Regardless, there was no Jadeveon Clowney or Teddy Bridgewater in the draft this year. Not even close.

1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville

If the Jaguars happen to finish with the top pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, it means Blaine Gabbert was an utter failure. Undrafted free agents Matt Scott and Jordan Rodgers are nice stories, but Bridgewater looks like the next great quarterback prospect.

Those in the Louisville community have always known Bridgewater’s potential, but it seems that after his Sugar Bowl performance, the rest of the nation is starting to get the picture. Teddy Brigdewater is the real deal and could be leading an NFL franchise in the not-so-distant future.

Benavides will get his shot with Kansas City

Four former University of Louisville football players have signed deals as undrafted free agents following the conclusion of the 2013 NFL draft. Center Mario Benavides agreed to terms with the Kansas City Chiefs, utility lineman Alex Kupper inked a deal with the Houston Texans, defensive back Adrian Bushell signed with the Oakland Raiders and running back Jeremy Wright got scooped up by the New York Giants. Benavides returned from an injury-plagued junior season to start all 13 games as a redshirt-senior en route to first team all-Big East honors. To get a betters sense of his value, according to UofLsports.com, with Benavides in the line-up, the Cards averaged 30 points per game and 418 total yards of offense. Kupper, a former walk-on, was an invaluable component to the offensive line throughout his career. Amazingly, at one point or another, he started at all five spots on the line and filled in wherever he was needed. Incredibly durable, Kupper started 26 straight games to end his career and was named second team all-Big East. Bushell came to Louisville after first spending time at the University of Florida and the junior college ranks, and left as one of the best cover corners in the Big East and the entire nation. He was an all-Big East selection in both of his seasons here at Louisville and was 4th on the team in tackles this year (with 62) and led the team in pass break-ups with 13. Wright, who could have played another year at Louisville, decided to leave early after leading a late-season charge and carrying the majority of the weight after fellow backfield running mate Senorise perry went down with an ACL injury in late October. For the season, Wright rushed the ball 211 times, netted 824 yards and had 10 touchdowns.

I haven’t seen any confirmation on this, but I saw where a few people mentioned that this is the first time a team has won a BCS game and then had none of their players drafted. With the arrival of Charlie Strong and the recruiting efforts of the staff these days, that will likely be the last time you see an entire draft go by without hearing multiple UofL players’ names called.

Photo – AP

While it’s certainly debatable whether spring game attendance has any bearing on a team’s national impact or how it will look once the actual season begins, there’s no debating that it’s at least a decent barometer for the excitement level around certain programs. For one extreme example, look no further than the cousin-touchers up the road. They were essentially a D-2 program last year and managed to win just 2 games the entire season. They had abysmal attendance and overall interest was at an all-time low. However, after a coaching change and a solid recruiting haul, interest has been piqued again they somehow managed to get 50K (6th most in the nation) out to the palace that is Commonwealth Stadium for their spring game. It probably also helped their cause that the basketball team crashed and burned like the Hindenburg in the first round of the NIT, therefore any – and I do mean any – distraction was a welcome distraction. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum are perennial powers like Oklahoma (29,000), LSU (28,000), Virginia Tech (30,000), Michigan (18,000) and Wisconsin (12,000) who drew awful numbers despite the fact that they’ll field talented teams once the season begins and will draw huge numbers when the games actually matter. So, essentially, it’s extremely difficult to tell how much it really means. I think each each and every program is a bit unique and, after drawing 33K, Louisville is certainly in good company (12th in the nation). On top of that, they are a year from entering into the ACC, retained their coveted head coach and are fresh off a BCS Bowl win. Momentum is strong, recruits are filing in and the team should be favored in every game it plays this year.

Life is pretty f’ing good.

And another one….

The 2014 recruiting class added another 3-star prospect to the fold today when 6’4/185 lb. WR Desean Blair committed to Strong’s staff.  The wideout hails from Jacksonville, FL and had offers from Vanderbilt, Iowa State, and  Maryland among others.  UofL’s class now ranks 12th nationally.

*Highlight reel notes that Desean went to Terry Parker HS; now currently attends Sandalwood HS.

While Notre Dame will be a member of the ACC, their football program will remain a partial independent, playing 5 ACC school annually.  The ACC released their 5-game slate through 2016 and the Cards get first crack at the Irish in South Bend in 2014.  Based on Notre Dame’s schedule, the potential dates for the Cards to play them are September 20th, October 18th, November 8th, or November 22nd.

More reaction on how the Notre Dame-ACC relationship can benefit all.

In addition to those games, Louisville snagged a huge spot in Year One of the three-year rotation — potentially adding two more Top 25 teams onto the Irish schedule from the ACC. Not a bad way for the Cardinals to start off their first year in a new league, especially with the subpar nonconference slate they have for 2013.

You’d be pissed too if you had to play UofL’s schedule

Always an entertaining twitter follow and certainly a bit off the beaten path, the guys over at EDSBS (Every Day Should Be Saturday), an SB Nation affiliate, just posted a mild-mannered critique of Louisville’s 2013 schedule. And by mild-mannered I mean they stuck a knife down the center of its backbone, fileted it cleanly and are cooking its charred remains over a wood-burning stove as we speak. But, to be quite honest, it’s not like they’re wrong. In a year in which the Cardinals certainly have BCS Bowl level talent and possibly more, it’s a tad draining to know that Kentucky is likely going to be the best out-of-conference opponent on the slate. Just read that last sentence again and let it soak in. Though, to be fair, as the article points out, this isn’t exactly Louisville’s fault. As ESPN reported on Monday, Charlie Strong and Tom Jurich tried to schedule Texas A&M, Alabama and Wisconsin this year, all to no avail. So instead of Teddy Ballgame vs Johnny Football, we’re stuck with Eastern Kentucky and FIU.

What’s that you say? No, no, the crowds will definitely be sober for those games.

Week one: Ohio Bobcats. “This might be the best team we face all year,” said Charlie Strong. Frank Solich laughed. “No, Charlie, you guys will play…oh god, Charlie, I’m so sorry.” Strong held him as he wept; Solich breathed in the rich, comforting aroma of the Louisville coach. He would never feel so safe or loved again.

Week two: East Kentucky Colonels. Danny Hope used to coach at EKU, long ago when Steve Jobs and Johnny Cash were alive. Now it is 2013 and they have no Hope, no Cash, and Steve Jobs’ head in a jar of 90 proof bourbon. Don’t ask, it’s some weird Kentucky shit.

Week three: Kentucky Wildcats. In the second quarter, Mark Stoops will look up at the empty stands and realize those 50K at the spring game probably were just there for the free dental clinic.

Week four: FIU Golden Panthers. “You mind if we let Isaiah Thomas coach this game?” Charlie looked puzzled. “Why would you ever do that?” “You ask why. We at FIU ask: why not?” FIU AD Pete Garcia smiled, and then rode off on his pet ostrich, Camembert.

Week five: [open date] [still more positive impact on strength of schedule than EKU]

Week six: Temple. Matt Rhule spelled out his name to the Papa John’s security guard. “R-h-u-l-e.” “What’s the extra ‘h’ for, pal?” “Hurt, as in pain.” The guard let him through. “YUP THAT’S TEMPLE’S FOOTBALL COACH,” said the giant talking slice of pizza labeled “SECURITAY”.

Week seven: Rutgers. There is no funny story here because this is a Thursday night game against Rutgers, and that there is no fucking way Louisville is not blowing a flawless season against an easy schedule by not flipping this particular biscuit into the shitpile. IT’S WHAT RUTGERS IS THERE FOR.

/Rutgers loses Pinstripe Bowl

Week eight: UCF. Week eight: It was unseasonably warm that night. Teddy glanced to the opposite sideline. What was the coach mouthing? It looked like…well, it looked like “drown puppies.” The heat had to be playing trick on Teddy’s eyes.

Week nine: USF. A lonely BJ Daniels just sits outside the stadium just trying to throw empties into a garbage can, only to overthrow them directly into the arms of a sunburned homeless man playing safety. <—Jon Gruden going through some things, singing “Times Like These” out-of-tune while crying.

Week ten: [open date] [Teddy Bridgewater gets 400 yards passing doing absolutely nothing]

Week eleven: UConn. UConn somehow wins this game despite having only 32 yards of passing and only the advantage of pure unadulterated horror:

(via Holly)

Week twelve: Houston Cougars. Things were pretty quiet these days at the switchboard, but people still called Information, and Roy was still going to provide them with it. His light flashed – an incoming call. “Yes, I’m just wondering what time the game against Houston kicks off.” Roy smiled to himself. “Well, ma’am, this isn’t that sort of information line, but I can tell y-” Ninety straight seconds of fart noise from the other end drowned out the rest of his response.

Week thirteen: Memphis. “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into Memphis football.” Franz Kafka frowned at the page. “No, no, too frightening. Let’s go with cockroach instead.”

Week fourteen: [bye week] [Charlie Strong gets five pounds stronger on the bench press without even working out once]

Week fifteen: Cincinnati Bearcats. Y, en diciendo esto, y encomendándose de todo corazón a su señora Dulcinea, pidiéndole que en tal trance le socorriese, bien cubierto de su rodela, con la lanza en el ristre, arremetió a todo el galope de Rocinante y embistió con el primero molino que estaba delante.

It had generated a lot of buzz over the last few days, and now UofL released a picture of the new field design.  Notable changes are the black end zones, the “L” on opposite sides of the conference logo, and the color of the turf between each 10-yard segment, and of course, the Cardinal bird head at mid-field.

Additionally, LB Coach Brian Jean Mart tweeted out a picture of the rings for the Sugar Bowl and Big East championships.

Notre Dame will be joining the ACC on July 1st.  Of course, their membership means all sports but football (and hockey), but they will be playing a guarantee of 5 ACC schools in football annually.  The Chicago Tribune reported that the Cards and Irish will meet in 2014, although we don’t know if it will be in Louisville or South Bend.  Notre Dame re-signed with NBC to broadcast their home games through 2025.  Now, the question being asked  within ACC circles is, “Will this decision affect a potential ACC Network?”  The answer is unclear.  The ND/NBC television contract means that the peacock network will broadcast all Irish home games, leaving the other/road games up for negotiation.  The ACC will look to use ND in any capacity while the league talks to ESPN about forming their own channel.  Based on past media reports, the Irish will play at Florida State in 2014 and at Clemson in 2015, along with four other ACC schools.

After news came out earlier this week that Louisville tried unsuccessfully to schedule games with Alabama, Texas A&M, or Wisconsin to boost this year’s slate, UofL fans yearned for 2014 to arrive quicker than ever.  That marks the ACC schedule as the Cards will be placed in the tougher Atlantic division.  Here’s what the schedule will look like in 2014:

HOME: Duke, Florida State, Kentucky, NC State, Wake Forest, Opponent TBA

AWAY: Boston College, Clemson, FIU, Marshall, Virginia (permanent Coastal division partner), Syracuse

*It remains to be seen if UofL will try to move/postpone the Marshall game to try to schedule a 7th home game.

In other news, PJCS is getting new FieldTurf put in as the original surface, which was initially installed about 10 years ago, gets removed.

Photo – UofLCardNation on Cardinal Authority

While there is nothing official yet, the word on the street is that the new field design could look like this:

Rendering – mivsdaily on Cardinal Authority

Coach Strong and staff have it rolling on Floyd Street.  Three straight winning seasons, a Sugar Bowl championship, a final national ranking of 13th, and a likely top pre-season top 10 spot in polls.  Charlie has already secured 6 verbal commitments for the 2014 class, and according 247 sports, the class currently ranks as 14th best in the country.  It will need to finish as a strong class as the Cards move to the ACC after the upcoming year.