On the air
Autos: Nationwide, Firecracker 250 qualifying, ESPN2, 1 p.m. Autos: Sprint Cup, Coke Zero 400 qualifying, Speed, 3 p.m. Autos: Nationwide, Firecracker 250, ESPN, 6:30 p.m. Baseball: Atlanta at Philadelphia, FSTN, 6 p.m. Baseball: Baltimore at N.Y. Yankees, MLB Network, 6 p.m. Baseball: Miami at St. Louis, SportSouth, 7 p.m. Cycling: Tour de France, NBC Sports, 7 a.m. Golf: European PGA, Open de France, Golf, 8 a.m. Golf: PGA, The Greenbrier Classic, Golf, 2 p.m. Soccer: Exhibition, U. S. vs. Guatemala, NBC Sports, 10 p.m. Tennis: Wimbledon, ESPN, 7 a.m. Baseball: Miami at St. Louis, WMFS 680 AM/92.9 FM, 6:20 p.m. Baseball: PCL, Nashville at Redbirds, WHBQ-AM 560, 6:40 p.m.
1. Louisville: The Cardinals return 14 starters, including 10 on defense, but the spotlight will shine brightest on an offensive player. Bridgewater led Louisville to a 33-23 victory over Florida in the Sugar Bowl despite playing the game with a broken wrist. And how’s this for efficient? Bridgewater completed 69 percent of his passes, threw for 27 touchdowns and finished with 3,718 passing yards as the Cardinals went 11-2 last season. With a healthy Bridgewater, an undefeated regular season is not out of the question providing Louisville gets past state rival Kentucky in early September and traditional rival Cincinnati in early December.
2. Cincinnati: The Bearcats had 10-win seasons in 2011 and 2012 and another will be expected, especially under Tuberville’s direction. Cincinnati is awash with talent, including two 2012 firstteam all-league offensive linemen (Eric Lefield and Austen Bujnoch) and first-team linebacker Greg Blair. The Bearcats add Florida State transfer Jeff Luc, who was rated the nation’s No. 1 inside linebacker coming out of high school in Florida. Former Mitchell High standout Nate Cole, a redshirt freshman receiver, had a solid spring game with five catches for 98 yards, but Chris Moore is an emerging star at the position. He had TD grabs of 66 and 53 yards in the spring game.
3. Rutgers: Before the Scarlet Knights depart for the Big Ten, they’d enjoy ending their Big East/ American existence with a BCS bowl bid, which they missed a year ago. Receiver Brandon Coleman, who missed spring workouts because of knee surgery, is an All-America candidate. He’s 6-6 and 225 pounds. QB Gary Nova led Rutgers to a 7- 0 start by throwing 15 TD passes, but he faltered in the season’s second half. He was intercepted 13 times in the last six games as the Scarlet Knights went 2-4.
4. USF: The Bulls lose B.J. Daniels, a four-year starter who chose USF over Memphis, at quarterback, but there is talent for first-year coach Willie Taggart, the former Western Kentucky leader who replaces Skip Holtz. The best might be Notre Dame transfer Aaron Lynch, whose pass- r ushing earned him freshman AllAmerica honors in South Bend. Another transfer, ex-Penn State quarterback Steven Bench, is a strong candidate to step in for Daniels.
5. UCF: Although the Knights may struggle in certain areas on offense (running back) and defense (secondary), they’ll boast an experienced quarterback. Blake Bortles, who is 6-5, threw for 3,059 yards and 25 touchdowns last season. One of his targets — slot receiver Jeff Godfrey — is the player he beat out at quarterback.
6. UConn: The Huskies have been, and will continue to be, one of the league’s top defensive teams. Where they must improve is on offense, where they’ve added new coordinator T.J. Weist from Cincinnati. Yawin Smallwood, a 6-3, 244-pound junior, is one of the league’s top linebackers.
7. Houston: Had running back Charles Sims not transferred to West Virginia, the Cougars would be candidates to finish in the top half of the American. Instead, coach Tony Levine’s second season could be problematic. Sims rushed for nearly 900 yards and 14 touchdowns in only nine games to off- set a defense that allowed 36 points per game.
8. Memphis: There is no doubt the Tigers were better at season’s end as they won three straight to end Fuente’s first year. Starting quarterback Jacob Karam returns for his senior season and 6-6 redshirt freshman Paxton Lynch is expected to push for playing time.
9. SMU: The Mustangs would be higher if not for a challenging nonconference schedule that includes Texas Tech, Texas A&M and TCU. Coach June Jones might see his streak of four straight bowls end unless his latest Texas transfer, running back Traylon Shead, emerges with all-league potential. Ex-Texas QB Garrett Gilbert enters his senior year without being intercepted in the last five regular-season games.
10. Temple: After joining the Big East last year, the Owls enter their second year in the league with new coach Matt Rhule, a Temple assistant from 2006 to ’11. Much like Houston, the Owls must improve defensively. They ranked last in the conference in rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense.