National Signing Day 2017: Three biggest storylines for Louisville football

Today is Feb. 1, which means it's National Signing Day. The one day a year where a select group of teenagers from across the country get to learn what a fax machine is and how it works.

Before the signed letters of intent start flowing in, let's take a quick look at the three biggest storylines of the day for Louisville.

Will Louisville produce its first top 25 class?

It's certainly possible.

Louisville has never put together a football recruiting class that has finished ranked in the top 25 according to any of the scouting networks. That could change on Wednesday thanks to a class that currently sits at No. 22 in the Scout.com rankings, and is No. 28 according to Rivals.

The closest U of L has ever come to cracking the top 25 came in 2006, when Bobby Petrino put together a class that finished at No. 26 in Scout's rankings.

Who are we expecting to sign?

Louisville has 22 current commitments in its class, and four of those players -- C.J. Avery, Cole Bentley, Lyndarious Strange and Kam Jones -- are already enrolled at U of L.

Here are the other 18 players Louisville expects to receive letters of intent from on Wednesday (star rankings at the end):

Kemari Averett, TE, 6-6, 205, Grady (Ga.), 3, 3, 3, 3

Toryque Bateman, OT, 6-8, 300, Gadsden City (Ala.), 3, 4, 3, 3

Caleb Chandler, OL, 6-5, 300, Jefferson (Ga.), 4, 3, 3, 4

Malik Clark, OLB/DE, 6-4, 235, Baldwin (Ga.), 3, 3, 3, 2

Malik Cunningham, QB, 6-1, 187, Park Crossing (Ala.), 3, 3, 4, 3

Dorian Etheridge, LB, 6-3, 210, Capital (W.Va.), 3, 3, 3, 3

Mitch Hall, LS, 6-2, 205, Clayton (N.C.), 2, 2, 2, 2

Josh Johnson, WR, 5-11, 175, Woodward (Ga.), 4, 3, 3, 3

Anthony Johnson, CB, 6-2, 180, Chaminade Madonna (Fla.), 3, 3, 3, 3

Justin Marshall, WR, 6-2, 185, Georgia Prep Sports Acad. (Ga.) 3, 4, 4, 3

Aaron Odom, DE, 6-3, 250, Callaway (Miss.), 3, 3, 3, 4

Rodney Owens, S, 6-0, 180, Ensworth (Tenn.), 3, 3, 3, 3

Corey Reed, WR, 6-3, 200, Roswell (Ga.), 3, 3, 4, 3

Kaheem Roach, CB, 6-1, 185, Miramar (Fla.), 3, 3, 2, 3

Ronald Rudd, OT, 6-7, 305, Chaffey College (Calif.), 3, 4, 3, 3

TreSean Smith, S, 6-1, 180, La Salle (Ohio), 4, 3, 3, 3

Colin Wilson, RB, 6-1, 220, Clay (Fla.), 3, 4, 4, 4

Russ Yeast, CB, 5-11, 180, Center Grove (Ind.), 3, 4, 4, 4

What will Russ Yeast do?

Yeast holds a special place in Cardinal fans' hearts because he's committed to Louisville despite being the son of Kentucky wide receiver legend Craig Yeast. In addition to that, he also might be the best player in U of L's class.

The latter reason is why Notre Dame has much such a strong push to flip the four-star cornerback in recent weeks. Will they be successful? We won't know until Yeast announces his decision at 3 p.m.