Tuesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—As was the case with the coaches poll, Louisville has five 2022 opponents ranked in the preseason AP Top 25. The Cards will face No. 4 Clemson, No. 13 NC State, No. 17 Pitt, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 22 Wake Forest.

—The Louisville volleyball team is No. 4 in the preseason coaches poll for the upcoming season.

—If EA Sports had a college football video game this season, Malik Cunningham would have a No. 88 overall rating, according to one expert. Syracuse RB Sean Tucker would be an 82, the 10th-best among all running backs in the country.

—Hailey Van Lith shows off the latest U of L ultraboosts from Adidas:

—Redshirt freshman OL Kobe Baynes is hitting the transfer portal.

—After two major surgeries, U of L WR Braden Smith is back and ready to contribute in 2022.

—Matt MacGavic of Louisville Report has three bold predictions for the 2022 Cardinal football team.

1. Malik Cunningham will be a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Had Louisville had a little more success in the win/loss column last year, the prediction would not be so bold, and it might have already come true. Cunningham completed 62.0 percent of his passes for 2,941 yards and 19 touchdowns to only six interceptions, while also rushing for 1,031 yards and 20 touchdowns. His 20 rushing scores ranked fourth nationally, his 305.5 yards per game was good for 14th, and he finished just one passing touchdown shy of joining the exclusive 20/20 club - a club where four of the eight members are Heisman Trophy winners. Cunningham didn’t start to get a lot of national recognition until really late into the 2021 season due to a deep crop of ACC quarterbacks and Louisville’s struggles as a team, but has been generating a lot of “dark horse” Heisman buzz in the offseason. A deep running back room, and increased efforts by Cunningham to run less could decrease his overall productivity, but if he puts up comparable numbers to last year and Louisville wins more, this could be a possibility.

If even two of Matt’s three predictions are right, it’s going to be a hell of a fall.

—Dynamic Baylor QB transfer Gerry Bohannon has officially been named the starting quarterback at South Florida. The Cardinals will host the Bulls on Sept. 24.

—LSU QB Myles Brennan is walking away from football.

—The U of L field hockey team has some new turf.

—Mitch Barnhart’s botched weekend press conference was the latest gift in the UK athletics fight that keeps giving.

—Four-star class of 2023 guard Freddie Dillione committed to Tennessee on Monday. Dillione had been offered by Kenny Payne three weeks ago.

—Duce Robinson talks (insider) to On3 about his recruitment.

—The Tyler Hudson hype continues.

—EA Sports College Football is officially returning next summer.

—Defensive backs Kei’Trel Clark, Kenderick Duncan and Josh Minkins “were missing from the rotation” during the Louisville’s weekend scrimmage.

—Four-star small forward Curtis Williams seems to be down to four schools — Florida State, Seton Hall, Providence and Louisville.

Louisville: ”What stands out to me about them is the coaching staff. The coaching staff over there is great and they just love them and their players. Just seeing that and the coaching staff they built. It would be good to be a part of that.”

—Felton Snow, a former Negro League baseball player who lived in Louisville, is being honored with a graveside monument 48 years after he was buried in an unmarked grave.

—Tiyon Evans said his focus changed when he became a father in 2020, but he had accepted the father figure role in his family long before that. Good story here from the CJ’s Alexis Cubit.

—They’re not wrong.

—ESPN’s Andrea Adelson and David Hale have Louisville at No. 5 in their preseason ACC power rankings. They also have Malik Cunningham as their preseason All-ACC QB. You can read their full preview here.

—Louisville Report evaluates new Cardinal commit Stanquan Clark.

—State of Louisville has 20 reasons to be excited about the upcoming Cardinal football season.

—Madden Sanker was destroying everyone during the first scrimmage of his senior season.

—Louisville has made the top eight for class of 2023 LB Marcellius Pulliam.

—Eric Crawford recaps a victorious and record-breaking Saturday for Louisville City FC.

—College football coaches speak anonymously about the best QBs in the sport, and Malik Cunningham receives some high praise.

Malik Cunningham, Louisville: Coaches were very bullish on Cunningham, who ranked seventh in the league in passing but fifth in rushing, finishing 14th nationally in total offense.

“I’m sure if you take a poll of all of the ACC and you say, ‘Who don’t you want to play against?’ He’s pretty high on the list,” a defensive coordinator said of Cunningham.

Added an ACC coach: “He’s the most dynamic guy in our league. Super athletic, throws a good deep ball, understands their offense.”

At only 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, Cunningham’s NFL outlook isn’t as promising as that of several other ACC quarterbacks. But he’s a true dual threat who can gash defenses on just about any play.

“He’s scary athletically like [former Louisville star Lamar Jackson], but he can’t throw it like Lamar,” an ACC coach said. “But he’s an athlete. He can beat your ass by himself.”

—The postseason NIT is moving from New York. Las Vegas will host in 2023, while Indianapolis will host it in 2024 at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.

—Dana O’Neil says just say no to NCAA tournament expansion.

—This is very cool.

—Louisville is making The Women’s Cup the first carbon-neutral soccer tournament in the world.

—The Washington Twins and Louisville football appear to have “mutual interest” in one another.

—This theme worked well once before.

—CC favorite Yasir Abdullah has been donating all of his NIL money back to his high school.

—The CJ has released its preseason All-Metro Offense for the upcoming high school football team.

—And finally, it’s the 1-year anniversary episode of the Mike Rutherford Show from 3-5 this afternoon on 1450 The Big X. Join the celebration and stream the show here.