I’m not sure if this is real or not, but whoever got this ink done may have gone a little too far. I salute the dedication to the Cardinal Nation, but don’t be surprised if Theodore Bridgewater is a little creeped out by this.

Marquis Haynes, a 6-4 200 pound defensive end from Jacksonville, Florida is slated to make his college decision on Saturday afternoon. Haynes will reportedly choose between Louisville, West Virginia, South Florida and Minnesota. Scout.com rates him as a 2-star prospect.

Haynes holds scholarship offers from Louisville, West Virginia, South Florida, Minnesota, Iowa State, Kentucky, and FlU among others. Haynes also plays basketball at University Christian School.

There hasn’t been a lot of talk surrounding Haynes’ recruitment, but he has held an offer from Louisville for quite some time. Don’t be surprised if the Cards pick up an unexpected commitment over the weekend.

Andrea Adelson, ESPN’s Big East blogger has published her post-spring Big East power rankings. Not a huge surprise, but Adelson tabs the Cards at #1. The Big East is definitly not one of the better conferences in the country, but I think teams 1-4 will be pretty competitive with each other.

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.

In case you missed last night’s radio show, here is the podcast. Click here to listen from your mobile phone. Last night’s topics include, annoying UK fan at the gym, Phil Steele ranks Louisville #34, realistic expectations for next season, and Montrezl Harrell situation. It’s Friday, you ain’t got $hit to do, so give it a listen.

Montrezl Harrell, a Virginia Tech signee was finally granted a release from his letter of intent on Thursday. Harrell is one of the top available prospects left in the 2012 class. Scout.com ranks him as the 14^th best power forward in the country.

Harrell told 247Sports.com that at this point, Louisville, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida and North Carolina State are the five schools he is now considering. It will be interesting to see how things play-out with Harrell and Louisville. The Cards have quite the connection with the 6-8 235 pound power forward. Louisville assistant coach Kevin Keatts recruited the four-star prospect to Hargrave Military Academy before he joined Rick Pition’s staff.

With Terry Rozier taking the one and only available scholarship, making room for Harrell may be an issue. However, Rozier has yet to qualify and there was been some speculation that someone from last year’s team may not return next season for the Cards.

I’d hate to see anyone leave the program, but Harrell is the type of player that you make room for. He was the MVP of the Capital Classic and Jordan Brand all-star games. His physical presence would give Louisville solid depth in the front-court. I imagine Harrell will likely take some visits before making a decision. It will interesting to see how this thing plays out.

Anton Gill, Louisville’s one and only commitment from the 2013 class has climbed in the updated Scout.com top 100 rankings. Scout rates Gill as the 32^nd best player in the entire class. The 6-4 scoring guard has climbed in the last two published rankings from Scout. Gill has had a tremendous spring, playing with the Garner Road AAU club. He will finish his prep career at Hargrave Military Academy. Gill is the type of player you can build a recruiting class around.

Heading into last season, the secondary was a huge concern for Charlie Strong and the Cardinals. Hakeem Smith and Shenard Holton both returned at safety with a season of experience. However, the depth chart was filled with inexperienced and unproven young talent. Just a year later, the Cardinal secondary looks like one of the deepest positions on the field.

Hakeem Smith, the former Big East newcomer of the year is the most experienced safety on the depth chart. Smith has started for the Cards for the last two seasons. After Shenard Holton was dismissed from the team last season, true freshman Calvin Pryor showed some tremendous upside. Once Pryor became a starter, the Cards didn’t miss a beat. Pryor forced two fumbles and recorded two interceptions as a true freshman. I expect a big sophomore season from Pryor.  Freshman Gerod Holliman was the main attraction of Charlie Strong’s 2012 recruiting class and will likely compete for playing time as well. Redshirt sophomore Kamal Hogan recently converted from running-back to safety and had a solid spring. Redshirt freshman Jermaine Reeve will also compete for playing time.

Redshirt senior Adrian Bushell was simply a gift from the football gods. Bushell showed up on campus just a few days before the season opener. He finished the season as the top cornerback on the roster and one of the top special teams performers in the Big East. Bushell will likely be one of the leaders on defense this season. Andrew Johnson started nine games last season as a true freshman and has as much potential as anyone on the defensive side of the ball. Bushell and Johnson will likely be the starters, but there are a few guys that will surely get some playing time. Redshirt junior Jordan Paschall and sophomore Terrell Floyd both received significant playing time last season and showed a lot of potential. Redshirt freshman Charles Gaines had a huge spring in 2011, but missed the entire season after tearing his ACL. Gaines has a few guys ahead of him on the depth chart, but he definitely has the talent to see the field.

As of right now, 4-star scoring guard Anton Gill is the only commitment for the Cards in the 2013 class. With five seniors on next year’s team and a few underclassmen with pro-potential, Rick Pitino will likely need to sign at least four or possibly even five players in 2013. Having just one commitment at this point isn’t a huge concern; however the next few months will be very crucial for the coaching staff. There are quite a few high-level prospects that have Louisville near the top of their list, but the staff will need to close-in on a few of these recruits over the summer.

With Peyton Siva graduating and Kevin Ware being permanently moved to the two-guard position, adding a point guard in the 2013 class seems crucial for Louisville. Terry Rozier is expected to play the point guard position, but at this point he has yet to qualify. Even with Rozier in 2013-2014, the Cards would have just one point guard on the roster. Tyler Ennis appears to be the top point guard target to the staff at this point. He is rated as one of the top five point guards in the 2013 class. Syracuse, Memphis, and Louisville appear to be the leaders at this point. He is expected to take a visit to Louisville before next season.

I’m assuming Rick Pitino is preparing as if Gogrui Dieng and Chane Behanan will have the option to go pro after next season. The staff has spent a lot of time targeting a number of post-players. Kennedy Meeks out of Charlotte is the highest rated post-player that the staff is currently pursuing. Meeks hinted about a visit to Louisville, but at this point I’d consider the Cards a long shot. Moses Kingsley, a 6-9 Nigerian native took a visit to Louisville during the season and is a name to keep an eye on. Jarrell Martin and Troy Williams also hold offers from Louisville.

The 2011 class was one of Pitino’s best in his tenure at Louisville. He will need to work his magic once again this summer. There is a lot of work to be done over the next few months.

Remember Demar Dorsey? The former 5-star defensive-back out of Lauderdale Lakes High School verbally committed to Louisville after being denied admission to the University of Michigan. Dorsey never made it to campus, due to some academic issues. The former Under Armor All American will now finish his college career at the University of Hawaii, under Norm Chow. Dorsey attended Grand Rapids Community College for the last two seasons, but only played one season for the school. Grand Rapids recently dropped their football program, which left Dorsey once again on the board.

Dorsey’s commitment to Louisville in 2010 caused a lot of excited from the Cardinal fan-base. However, the 5-star prospect came with a whole lot of baggage. Throughout high school, Dorsey was arrested three times for burglary and was very up-front about his ties to a Florida based gang called “The Zombie Crew.”

I don’t think many people thought this kid would land at a division one school, considering all the issues and baggage. However, I hope he can prove us all wrong, do big things at Hawaii, and represent for the Zombie Crew.