July 11, 2002

The calendar may say its only mid-July, but a trip to the newsstand reveals that football season is right around the corner. Louisville is a consensus Top 20 team in the publications that have been released, while 10 different Conference USA players have been named first, second or third team preseason All-American by at least one publication.

Below is a synopsis of national rankings, All-Americans and position rankings as well as the predicted order of conference finish by the different publications:

NATIONAL RANKINGS

Athlon's
16-Louisville

Football Action
19-Louisville

Football News
19-Louisville

Lindy's
20-Louisville

Phil Steele's
32-Louisville

The Sporting News
13-Louisville
26-Southern Miss

Street & Smith's
20-Louisville


C-USA PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
Athlon Sports
1-Louisville
2-Southern Miss
3-Cincinnati
4-Memphis
5-East Carolina
6-TCU
7-UAB
8-Tulane
9-Army
10-Houston


Football Action
1-Louisville
2-Cincinnati
3-Southern Miss
4-TCU
5-UAB
6-Memphis
7-East Carolina
8-Tulane
9-Houston
10-Army

Lindy's
1-Louisville
2-Southern Miss
3-Cincinnati
4-TCU
5-East Carolina
6-UAB
7-Memphis
8-Houston
9-Tulane
10-Army

Phil Steele's
1-Louisville
2-Southern Miss
3-East Carolina
4-TCU
5-Cincinnati
6-Memphis
7-Tulane
8-Army
9-Houston
10-UAB

The Sporting News
1-Louisville
2-Southern Miss
3-TCU
4-Cincinnati
5-Memphis
6-East Carolina
7-Tulane
8-Houston
9-UAB
10-Army

Street & Smith's
1-Louisville
2-Southern Miss
3-Cincinnati
4-TCU
5-Memphis
6-East Carolina
7-UAB
8-Houston
9-Army
10-Tulane

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS

Athlon Sports
First Team
Seth Marler, K, Tulane
Second Team
Ronnie Ghent, TE, Louisville
Dewayne White, DE, Louisville
Third Team
Josh Gardner, OL, Cincinnati
Anthony Floyd, DB, Louisville

Football Action
First Team
Seth Marler, K, Tulane
Second Team
Rod Davis, LB, Southern Miss
Jonathan Ruffin, K, Cincinnati

Football News
First Team
Seth Marler, K, Tulane
Dewayne White, DE, Louisville
Third Team
Brian Rimpf, OL, East Carolina
Rod Davis, LB, Southern Miss
Anthony Floyd, DB, Cincinnati

Lindy's
First Team
Dewayne White, DE, Louisville
Second Team
Seth Marler, K, Tulane

Phil Steele's
First Team
Seth Marler, K, Tulane
Second Team
Dewayne White, DE, Louisville
Third Team
Dave Ragone, QB, Louisville
Fourth Team
Kirt Doolin, OL, Cincinnati

Sporting News
First Team
Seth Marler, K, Tulane
Second Team
Dewayne White, DE, Louisville

Street & Smith's
Second Team
Dewayne White, DE, Louisville

Honorable Mentions
Dave Ragone, QB, Louisville
Mewelde Moore, RB, Tulane
LaDaris Vann, WR, Cincinnati
Ronnie Ghent, TE, Louisville
Brian Rimpf, OL, East Carolina
Rex Hadnot, OL, Houston
Antwan Peek, DE, Cincinnati
LaMarcus McDonald, LB, TCU
Rod Davis, LB, Southern Miss
Anthony Floyd, DB, Louisville
Hanik Milligan, DB, Houston
Jason Goss, DB, TCU
Jermain Woodard, DB, Houston
Seth Marler, K, Tulane


PRESEASON NATIONAL POSITION RANKINGS

Athlon Sports
Top Quarterback Units
8-Louisville
Top Defensive Line Units
10-Louisville
Top WR/TE Units
9-Cincinnati
Top Defensive Back Units
1-Louisville

Lindy's
Top Quarterbacks
6-Dave Ragone, Louisville
25-Gino Guidugli, Cincinnati
Top Running Backs
9-Mewelde Moore, Tulane
Top Tight Ends
8-Ronnie Ghent, Louisville
Top Offensive Tackles
7-Brian Rimpf, East Carolina
Top Defensive Ends
2-Dewayne White, Louisville
8-Antwan Peek, Cincinnati
Top Inside Linebackers
12-Rod Davis, Southern Miss
Top Inside Safeties
6-Anthony Floyd, Louisville
Top Kickers
2-Seth Marler, Tulane
Top Punters
7-Jarad Preston

The Sporting News
Top Backfields
5-Louisville
Top Defensive Lines
6-Southern Miss
10-Louisville
Top Secondaries
3-Louisville

Top Quarterbacks
4-Dave Ragone, Louisville
21-Gino Guidugli, Cincinnati
Top Running Backs
14-Mewelde Moore, Tulane
Top Wide Receivers
21-LaDaris Vann, Cincinnati
Top Tight Ends
7-Ronnie Ghent, Louisville
Top Offensive Tackles
17-Brian Rimpf, East Carolina
Top Guards
8-Torrin Tucker, Southern Miss
Top Centers
16-Jamal Powell, TCU
24-Jimond Pugh, Memphis
Top Defensive Ends
3-Dewayne White, Louisville
19-Antwan Peek, Cincinnati
Top Middle Linebackers
9-Rod Davis, Southern Miss
Top Outside Linebackers
9-Michael Brown, Louisville
16-LaMarcus McDonald, TCU
24-John Williamson, East Carolina
Top Cornerbacks
16-Greg Brooks, Southern Miss
21-Jason Goss, TCU
Top Free Safeties
3-Anthony Floyd, Louisville
19-Hanik Milligan, Houston
Top Kickers
1-Seth Marler, Tulane
17-Kevin Miller, East Carolina
18-Jonathan Ruffin, Cincinnati
Top Punters
24-Jarad Preston, East Carolina
Top Kick Returners
4-LaTarence Dunbar, TCU
22-Marvin Townes, East Carolina