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imaginespazzi · 2 months

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Bestie, I absolutely love the reactions, and the potential upset picks based on nothing but vibes (because is there any other way to pick them really?), the silly goofy vibes F4 predictions! All of it!

Ok, so I've created a few too many brackets lmao, some (read: most) with all vibes and zero logic, and a couple with slightly more logic, maybe, lol. But I guess my "primary" bracket consists of the following, and I'll start from sweet 16, to make it shorter (yk when i say shorter i really mean longer):

Sweet 16

Albany 1:

SC vs Oklahoma (I actually think Indiana could get through over Oklahoma but for humanity's sake, I'm manifesting the Sooners) Oregon St vs Notre Dame ( I wanted to give Nebraska and/or Ole Miss the upset in Rd 2, which I have in a couple of my other brackets, but ultimately, I think Oregon St and ND get through)

Albany 2:

Princeton vs Kansas St (ok so my primary bracket should really be one of my more logical ones but fuck that, it's March Madness for a reason, and I desperately want Princeton to get through and upset Iowa. I mean, just imagine being the team that sends CC and the Hawkeyes packing, and to do it in Carver? Give me a Kaitlyn Chen buzzer-beating game-winning shot for the theatrics! Oh and Colorado and Kansas St is a toss-up for me rn, but I'll go with Ayoka Lee)

LSU vs UCLA (I badly wanna see Louisville upset LSU bcos in Jeff I trust buuuut I just can't see it rn, I'm sorry Jeff)

Portland 3:

USC vs Columbia (yeah that's right, fuck it, Columbia in against Vandy then upsets Baylor and VT cos it's Abbey Hsu's last year and the universe owes her one! 😌)

UConn vs Ohio State (Does a Syracuse/Auburn/Arizona matchup scare me a little? Sure, but just a little, cos March P and MVLi will get them through. Also, what's with the committee and setting up players against their former team - HVL vs Louisville and Celeste vs Duke, lmao committee be a lil messy sometimes)

Portland 4:

Texas vs Utah (I know people are expecting Utah to stumble early, maybe even in the first round, but not me bestie, NOT ME)

Tennessee vs Stanford (you're right that there's really no in between with TN, either they upset NC State or get blown out by them but I'm going with the upset)

Elite 8

South Carolina vs Oregon State (I know, I have Oregon St with the upset over ND, but idk i think a part of me is a lil biased towards PAC 12 teams just given what they'd had to contend with even though ACC was a tough one too, so I'm giving Oregon St the slightest edge)

Kansas St vs UCLA (I wanna take Princeton all the way to an Elite 8, I do, but I didn't 😭 And maybe I'm too high on UCLA but like you said, they're just more consistent and I trust them more than LSU and most other teams)

USC vs Ohio State (I'M SORRY Y'ALL! Ok, look, as I might have said before, I'm a massive Jacy and Cotie fan and because it's Jacy's final year, I kinda have a slight bias towards OSU right now. But what about Aaliyah and Nika, you ask?? What about "bleed blue always"? I know, I'm such a traitor, but in my defence? my main attachment to UConn is Azzi, even though I do love the rest of the team - and since Azzi isn't playing, my attachment to a few other players (read: Jacy and AP) have been a little stronger this season. PLS FORGIVE ME)

Utah vs Stanford (read previous statement and my said attachment to certain players - I'm wishing on any and every shooting star that AP goes on a generational run and takes Utah this far 🙏 I also have TN upsetting Stanford in some brackets, but not this one)

Final 4

South Carolina vs Stanford (Given I'd been letting my heart dictate most of these picks, I really should have just gone with Utah to make it here, but this is the one time my brain actually took over)

UCLA vs Ohio State (like you, USC still doesn't move me as much as other teams, although I do think they're actually a solid team even outside of Juju, but hey if I picked Ohio State over UConn then I should really stand by that now huh)

National Championship

South Carolina vs Ohio State

Champion

Ohio State (I will say, I think after the second sweet-16 reveal, I picked OSU to win then and so I thought well I might as well stand ten toes down and stay consistent 😅)

Again, I'm sorry for betraying UConn like this, I know pookie would be disappointed in me 😔 but fear not y'all, I swear I made another bracket where I have UConn win it all soooo, call it even?

Anyway, this is all from an unqualified, amateur, and unserious wcbb fan who used simply nothing but vibes and a quarter of a brain cell to make these picks!

I'm sorry you had to read through all that, bestie. I know you're probably like, i didn't ask for this!! But I hope it was entertaining, if anything 😂

Biggest love to you always, Nivi. 💗

-🙋‍♀️

Hi bestie <3

BABES NOT YOU PICKING AGAINST MY HUSKIES 😭😭😭

Now that, that's out of the way (I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed 🥲) I actually see the vision with your bracket but I'm ngl babes we are on very different wavelengths for the first time lol because "main" bracket is not this at all (well kinda).

I have SC vs Indiana (still rooting for Fairfield) because I have Oklahoma losing to FGCU and I picked the Nebraska upset so I have them vs ND but I have SC coming out of that region as well.

Also babes I'm with because I have Princeton making the sweet 16 as well like it's what we deserve but I'm picking the Louisville upset because fuck Kim Mulkely lmao but I do ultimately have UCLA coming out of that region.

Our Portland 3 region is so insanely difference because I'm so sorry bestie I have OSU getting upset by Duke in the 2nd round. And this is gonna backfire but I have USC getting upset in the 2nd round by Kansas and then obviously I have UConn coming out of the whole things.

But we see each other with Portland 4 because I have Texas vs Utah and Stanford vs Tennessee as well but then listen APHive, I'm so sorry, and I have Utah going further in my fun brackets, but in the main, I had to put Texas above. I have Stanford coming out of that one though.

Anyways all of this to say that I have Stanford vs UConn in the national championship with UConn winning it all. I genuinely tried to make *1* bracket where UConn didn't win and I just couldn't so basically in every world in my brain UConn wins.

I love your thoughts always babes (even when you're betting against my huskies) and I love that they're always long. <3

#ask #wcbb #ncaa wbb #UCLA ANON LOML FR <3 #even if they pick against my huskies

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bllsbailey · 1 month

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South Carolina Coach Staley Makes Classy Remarks About Iowa, Caitlin Clark After National Title Win

On Saturday, Dawn Staley, the head coach of the University of South Carolina NCAA women's basketball team, didn't exactly cover herself in glory, with an answer she gave to a media question during a Final Four press conference.

During a Saturday press conference, Staley was asked whether transgender females, born as males, should be allowed to compete against biologically female athletes. Her response was predictable:

Read More: HOT TAKES: Coach Dawn Staley Gets Wrecked After Supporting Biological Males Playing in Women’s Basketball

South Carolina’s Women’s Basketball Coach Will Welcome Biological Men

As RedState's Jeff Charles shared in his piece, many people on social media chimed in with their thoughts on that.

Up to this point, though, Iowa's star player Caitlin Clark has been the main person in the spotlight during the post-season tourney leading to the championship game--in either the women's or the men's brackets. Recent news, which my colleague Jerry Wilson shared in one of his sports reports, hints that the future looks bright for the senior student-athlete.

Read: RedState Sports Report: Caitlin Clark Shows Out After LSU Shows No Class

Then on Sunday afternoon, the South Carolina Gamecocks beat the Iowa Hawkeyes to take the national title. It came after a perfect 38-0 season, and left Iowa in a deficit starting around halftime in the matchup. Clark finished her final game as a Hawkeye with 30 points, making 10 out of 28 shots.

Dawn Staley and South Carolina have done it again. For the first time since 2016, the NCAA has an undefeated national champion in the Gamecocks. South Carolina capped its perfect season (38-0) with an 87-75 win over Iowa, avenging last year’s Final Four loss that ended an undefeated season.

In remarks after the game, Staley exhibited the utmost in humility and good sportsmanship, with what she said about both the Iowa team as a whole and star Caitlin Clark in particular.

She said:

I really just would like to say that I have to congratulate Iowa on an incredible season, also. And I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport. She carried a heavy load for our sport. It just is not going to stop here on a collegiate tour, But when she is the number-one pick on the WNBA draft, she's going to lift that league up as well. So, Caitlin Clark, if you're out there, you are one of the GOATs of our game, and we appreciate you.

In return, Clark gave full credit to South Carolina's dominance, in her team's post-game press conference. After sharing how proud she is of her teammates (and herself), Clark was effusive with praise about the Gamecocks (watch starting at ~ :31):

While it's disappointing that the SC coach holds the views she does about men in women's sports, it's important to talk about it when someone does the right thing. I also think it's worth mentioning that Staley hasn't just only coached on the college level. She also represented our nation, while coaching the U.S. women's basketball team to its seventh-consecutive win in the Tokyo Olympics.

Related: WATCH: March Madness Women's Basketball Coach Blasts WaPo's Sleazy Tactics: 'Are You Kidding Me?'

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themomsandthecity · 1 year

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The OU Coach's Daughter Was Mic'd Up For Monday's Game, and Twitter Can't Get Enough

Image Source: Getty / Alonzo Adams While UCLA managed to topple the Oklahoma women's basketball team in the second round of March Madness yesterday, Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk was still the talk of Twitter on Monday night - or rather, her 8-year-old daughter, Jordi, was. During the team's matchup against the Bruins, the younger Baranczyk shot to viral fame thanks to her, ahem, lively game reactions. "Jennie Baranczyk's daughter is absolutely electric," Barstool Sports wrote on the social media platform. "Best fan in America." Another chimed in, "Mic Jennie Baranczyk's daughter up for every game." And while Coach Baranczyk did a fair bit of screaming herself, apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. In fact, Jordi seemed to garner more screen time than her own courtside mother. The 8-year-old superfan was caught on camera shouting her support throughout the game - outfitted in Sooners gear, of course. "Do not let them stop you! Come on, defense!" she yells in a clip from the game that's garnered 1.3 million views (and counting) on Twitter. "Like mother, like daughter," ESPN wrote in the tweet alongside the clip. "Watching OU take on UCLA. ESPN has Coach Baranczyk's daughter mic'd up," a viewer wrote on Twitter. "That girl is her mom's mini me. Jennie was just like that playing at Iowa." Like mother, like daughter 😂❤️@OU_WBBall | @SCNext pic.twitter.com/rGQuChNDjJ- ESPN (@espn) March 21, 2023 Jordi is a bit of a basketball star herself, playing both post and point guard, according to an interview she did with her mom on "Sooner Sports Talk." And while Jordi's the early MVP of 2023 March Madness (despite the team's unfortunate loss), this isn't her first taste of internet fame. In fact, in 2021, Oklahoma Sooners beat writer Ryan Aber similarly called her out on social media. "Jennie Baranczyk's daughter is stealing the show in this @OU_WBBall postgame Zoom." Give me more of Jennie Baranczyk’s daughter 🤣🤣👏🏽🔥🔥- Kaci Nicole (@PennyLane449) March 21, 2023 Also I’m a UCLA fan but I am living for the OU coach’s daughter. She’s incredible- Molly McManimie (@MolllyMack) March 21, 2023 She also isn't the only one to have gained increasing attention this year. Women's basketball as a whole has seen a spike in viewership. Just last year, South Carolina's championship win over Connecticut brought in a whopping 4.85 million viewers to ESPN, marking the most-watched women's final since 2004, AP News reports. It was also the first year the women's NCAA tournament was allowed to use March Madness branding. This year, ABC will broadcast at least six games throughout the women's tournament. "Putting it on ABC, we're giving it the best opportunity for success," ESPN's Director of Programming & Acquisitions Dan Ochs told AP. "This tournament continues to grow and deliver for us." And viral stars like little Jordi are only going to help women's sports gain traction. Related: A Year After Weight-Room Uproar, What's Changed For NCAA Women's Basketball? https://www.popsugar.com/family/oklahoma-coach-jennie-baranczyk-daughter-viral-49122532?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

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thecollegefootballguy · 3 years

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The Real 2020 Season: Week 12

Welcome back to The Real 2020 Season! We’re imagining how things would have gone in the 2020 football season if COVID hadn’t ruined everything.

Check out the previous weeks here if you’d like a bit of context: Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11

The Rankings

Week 12 College Football Playoff Rankings

1. Alabama 10-0 (6-0) 2. Notre Dame 10-0 3. Texas A&M 10-0 (6-0) 4. Florida 9-1 (7-1) 5. Oregon 9-1 (6-1) 6. Ohio State 9-1 (7-0) 7. Clemson 9-1 (7-0) 8. Georgia 8-2 (5-2) 9. Indiana 9-1 (6-1) 10. Iowa State 8-2 (6-1) 11. Cincinnati 10-0 (6-0) 12. Oklahoma 8-2 (5-2) 13. Oklahoma State 8-2 (5-2) 14. Texas 8-2 (5-2) 15. Auburn 8-2 (4-2) 16. Northwestern 8-2 (5-2) 17. Iowa 8-2 (5-2) 18. Tulsa 8-2 (5-1) 19. LSU 7-3 (4-2) 20. UCF 8-2 (4-2) 21. Coastal Carolina 10-0 (6-0) 22. Liberty 10-0 23. Wisconsin 7-3 (5-2) 24. USC 7-3 (6-2) 25. North Carolina 7-3 (5-1)

The Narrative

Last week, the Big 12 had their own week of agony the same way that the Big Ten did in the first two weeks of the season. Removing Texas and Oklahoma from the Playoff picture effectively closes the book on the conference for the season. The Big Ten *might* still get #6 Ohio State into the Playoff but things are complicated. The SEC will have at least one bid, potentially two depending on how things shake out between #1 Alabama, #3 Texas A&M, and #4 Florida. #2 Notre Dame has probably punched their ticket already. Fighting with OSU is #5 Oregon and #7 Clemson, the other remaining serious contenders.

The Games

It’s the second to last week of the regular season so you know there are some big games. Let’s see how things shook out.

Winning teams are highlighted in bold.

#11 Cincinnati at #20 UCF East Carolina at Temple Houston at SMU UT Martin at Memphis Navy at South Florida Tulane at #18 Tulsa #25 North Carolina at Boston College #7 Clemson at Wake Forest Florida State at Syracuse Louisville at #2 Notre Dame #22 Liberty at NC State Virginia Tech at Duke Miami FL at Georgia Tech Pittsburgh at Virginia Baylor at West Virginia #10 Iowa State at #14 Texas Kansas at #12 Oklahoma #13 Oklahoma State at Kansas State Texas Tech at TCU #9 Indiana at Michigan Maryland at Penn State Rutgers at Michigan State #6 Ohio State at Illinois #17 Iowa at Purdue #16 Northwestern at Minnesota Nebraska at #23 Wisconsin Charlotte at Marshall Old Dominion at Florida Atlantic FIU at Western Kentucky Middle Tennessee at Connecticut Louisiana Tech at Vanderbilt Rice at North Texas UTSA at Southern Miss UAB at UTEP Western Michigan at Akron Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan Buffalo at Ohio Kent State at Miami OH Ball State at Central Michigan Toledo at Northern Illinois New Mexico at Air Force Boise State at Wyoming Utah State at Colorado State San Diego State at Fresno State Hawaii at San Jose State Stanford at California #5 Oregon at Washington State Arizona at Oregon State Colorado at Washington Utah at Arizona State #24 USC at UCLA New Mexico State at #4 Florida #8 Georgia at Kentucky Louisiana at Missouri Wofford at South Carolina Troy at Tennessee #3 Texas A&M at #1 Alabama Louisiana-Monroe at Arkansas #19 LSU at #15 Auburn Alabama A&M at Mississippi State Georgia Southern at Ole Miss Appalachian State at #21 Coastal Carolina Georgia State at South Alabama Arkansas State at Texas State Army at Massachusetts North Alabama at BYU

The SEC West was finally decided in the titanic clash between #1 Alabama and #3 Texas A&M. At least, that’s what was supposed to happen. Instead the Crimson Tide ran the Aggies out the building. It was a crushing defeat by four touchdowns, even calling into question A&M’s claim to an at-large bid in the Playoff. Time will tell if Texas A&M can stake that claim, but they’ve dug themselves in a hole with this defeat. #1 Alabama now plays #4 Florida in the SEC title game to decide the SEC Champion’s virtual auto-bid in the Playoff. The field wasn’t complicated much otherwise. #2 Notre Dame took care of business against Louisville and #5 Oregon stomped on Washington State. The Ducks now likely take up the 4th spot as A&M will likely be busted down a few pegs.

#6 Ohio State rolled Illinois to keep their outside bid for the Playoff alive. #7 Clemson won as well, overwhelming Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. #25 North Carolina kept their push on the ACC Coastal with a road win over Boston College. While the Big Ten East conformed to the Vegas odds, the Big Ten West’s leading teams suffered crippling losses as #16 Northwestern and #17 Iowa lost to supposedly weaker division foes. #10 Iowa State overcame #14 Texas in Austin to keep their advantage in the Big 12. The Cyclones are only a few wins away from their first conference title in over 100 years. In the SEC, #15 Auburn stomped on #19 LSU, leading some to reevaluate just how good the defending champions really are. Especially as people start reevaluating Texas.

#11 Cincinnati edged out #20 UCF to further solidify their grip on the G5′s NY6 spot. #21 Coastal Carolina blew past usual division champion Appalachian State. The Chanticleers are having a hell of a season but it may not even amount to a major bowl if the Bearcats go undefeated.

The Standings

The Big Picture

We’re rapidly approaching the end of the division and conference races. #1 Alabama will meet #4 Florida in the SEC Championship Game, likely deciding the first seed in the Playoff. #2 Notre Dame has their ticket punched assuming they can beat #24 USC in the season finale, and even if they somehow don’t win they’ll still be in the conversation as a 1-loss team. #5 Oregon is eagerly eyeing the standings, hoping to have leapt #3 Texas A&M following the Aggies’ bad loss. #6 Ohio State and #7 Clemson are also happy to be moving up the pecking order with anxious glances at the 4th seed following the SEC Championship Game.

#14 Texas is now out of the running for the Big 12 Championship Game. #10 Iowa State will face either #12 Oklahoma or #13 Oklahoma State in two weeks. #24 USC has the PAC-12 South sewn up. The Trojans will meet the Ducks in Santa Clara in two weeks with revenge on their minds. With both #16 Northwestern and #17 Iowa losing, #23 Wisconsin has taken the lead in the Big Ten West race for the first time since losing to Indiana in Week 1. The Badgers will have to beat the Hawkeyes next week to clinch the division. #25 North Carolina remains in control of the ACC Coastal. The Tar Heels will have to beat their similarly surging rivals NC State in order to face #7 Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.

The G5 race goes through #11 Cincinnati. The Bearcats once again clung on to their perfect season after scraping by #20 UCF. Of course, Cincinnati will have to face one of their conference rivals once more in the American CG. The rest of the G5 really doesn’t have a shot to profit off the chaos except for #21 Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers may sneak in if the Bearcats are upset by a 3 loss team, but even if it’s 2 loss Tulsa I have a hard time imagining that they’ll give the NY6 spot to CCU.

The New Rankings

Week 13 College Football Playoff Rankings

1. Alabama 11-0 (7-0) 2. Notre Dame 11-0 3. Florida 10-1 (7-1) 4. Oregon 10-1 (7-1) 5. Ohio State 10-1 (8-0) 6. Clemson 10-1 (8-0) 7. Texas A&M 10-1 (6-1) 8. Iowa State 9-2 (7-1) 9. Georgia 9-2 (6-2) 10. Cincinnati 11-0 (7-0) 11. Indiana 10-1 (7-1) 12. Oklahoma 9-2 (6-2) 13. Oklahoma State 9-2 (6-2) 14. Auburn 9-2 (5-2) 15. USC 8-3 (7-2) 16. Wisconsin 8-3 (6-2) 17. Tulsa 9-2 (6-1) 18. Stanford 8-3 (7-2) 19. Texas 8-3 (5-3) 20. Coastal Carolina 11-0 (7-0) 21. Arizona State 8-3 (5-3) 22. Northwestern 8-3 (5-3) 23. North Carolina 8-3 (6-1) 24. BYU 9-2 25. Iowa 8-3 (5-3)

#4 Oregon is on the cusp on returning to the Playoff for the first time since 2014. If the Ducks can finish strong it’ll be the PAC-12′s first bid since 2016. #5 Ohio State is hoping that #1 Alabama beats #3 Florida badly enough for the Buckeyes to leap over them. #6 Clemson is likely on the outside looking in, they’ll have to hope for a bit more chaos to make the Playoff.

Next up is rivalry week! All of the division races culminate here!

#college football #Alabama Crimson Tide #Notre Dame Fighting Irish #Florida Gators #Oregon Ducks #Ohio State Buckeyes #Clemson Tigers #Texas A&M Aggies #Iowa State Cyclones #Georgia Bulldogs #Cincinnati Bearcats #NC State Wolfpack #Purdue Boilermakers #Minnesota Golden Gophers #Auburn Tigers

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julesrulessports · 4 years

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What Would’ve Happened in March Madness

Roaring crowds, vicious dunks, flashy passes, comebacks, overtime wins, three pointers, tears of sadness, tears of joy, upsets, and more. Everyone loves watching the thrill of March Madness. Even unlikely spectators will find themselves on their couch to watch their alma maters face intense competition at the highest level of college sports. People will bet hundreds of dollars on self-made brackets that predict every game. March Madness is arguably the most exciting sports time of the year. Recently, the global pandemic that is the coronavirus has shut down almost everything. Every meeting is being moved online and people are rarely going out. Only a month ago, both the college and pro basketball seasons were unfolding as the playoffs approached. Now there’s no sports, which means no March Madness. Right now, I’m going to predict what would’ve happened had March Madness not been cancelled.

First, I’ll have to dive into what happened over the course of the shortened college season. In the 1982-83 season, there were seven different teams ranked #1 at some point in the season. That had been the most ever until that record was tied this year. Usually, the top teams remain such by the end of the season. That definitely didn’t happen this time. For example, Duke had an embarrassing loss to Stephen F. Austin University in November, despite possessing the best coach in college basketball and future NBA players like Tre Jones. They also lost to Clemson, Louisville, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, and Virginia, en route to their worst year in recent history. North Carolina is another team that consistently performs at a high level. They finished second to last in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a record of 14-19. Virginia and Texas Tech, last year’s National Championship Game finalists, each finished fourth in their divisions, far below expectations.

I’ve spent lots of time talking about the teams that didn’t do so well, but now I’ll look at those that excelled. Two overlooked teams did surprisingly well: Dayton and San Diego State. Dayton finished 29-2 and was led by potential top five pick, power forward Obi Toppin. Both Toppin and the entire team improved a lot from their performance last year. San Diego State doesn’t have a star player, maybe not even one that’ll make the NBA, but they finished with a great record of 30-2. The top five teams this year were Kansas, Gonzaga, Dayton, Florida State, and Baylor. Of the top five teams, only Dayton had a star player. Florida State had two first round prospects, but the others didn’t have any amazing players. Only a few players from those teams have a shot at making it in the NBA. The one thing they all have in common is a coach that knows how to win at the college level.

This year we didn’t even get a chance to see who would’ve gotten the chance to compete in March Madness. However, Sports Illustrated predicted who would’ve. And I’ll use their prediction to make my own game by game predictions.

I’m going to start with the South Region. The only upsets I have in this region come in the first round where I have #9 seed Arizona State winning against #8 seed LSU and #10 seed Marquette beating #7 seed Michigan. I believe in the Elite 8, Florida State and Kansas would meet up, with one team moving on to the Final 4 and taking home the South Region Championship. I think Kansas would’ve won because they’re the deeper team and have more experience. Kansas has gotten to March Madness 30 straight years and gotten to the Elite 8 from 2016, 2017, and 2018. Kansas also had a streak of 14 straight Big 12 titles that came to an end just last year. This goes to show that the players and coach know what it takes to get far in March Madness.

Second, I’ll predict what would’ve happened in the East Region. In this region, I have a good amount of upsets. In the round of 64, I believe #9 seed Oklahoma will beat #8 seed Providence, #13 seed New Mexico State will take down #4 seed Oregon, and #10 seed Indiana will win over #7 seed Houston. In the next round I think New Mexico State will win again against #5 seed Ohio State. In the Sweet 16, #3 seed Michigan State will beat #2 seed Duke. In the Elite 8, I predict Michigan State will beat Dayton because they have a much better coach, more NBA ready talent, and a lot more March Madness experience. I also don’t see Dayton having one it takes to keep their surprisingly good season alive by beating an already proven team. If you’re wondering why I also had #13 seed New Mexico state making it to the Sweet 16, it’s because they’re athletic, can defend, and have proven they can win close games and hard fought battles, no matter if they’re high or low scoring games.

In the Midwest Region, I have quite a few upsets coming. In the round of 64, I have #9 seed Saint Mary’s defeating #8 seed Colorado, Cole Anthony leading #11 seed North Carolina over #6 seed Iowa, and last year’s championship game loser and this year’s number #10 seed Texas Tech winning against #7 seed Illinois. In the next round, the only upset comes when #5 seed Auburn beats #4 seed Maryland. In the Sweet 16, I have #1 seed Baylor getting knocked out by Auburn. After beating the #1 seed, Auburn would be tasked with playing the #2 seed in Villanova. I believe Auburn would come out on top because they have great leadership and one of the top defenses in the nation.

Last but not least, we have the West Region. I don’t have many upsets in this region. I’ve got the first upset coming in the round of 32 with #5 seed Butler defeating #4 seed Louisville. And in the Sweet 16, I believe #3 seed Seton Hall would’ve beat #2 seed San Diego State. #1 seed Gonzaga and Seton Hall would’ve met in the Elite 8, where I predict Gonzaga would’ve won because of their size, depth, and fantastic offense. Gonzaga has talented big men, backups that could be starters on many other teams, and an offense that plays up-tempo and knows how to get the ball in the hoop.

In the first Final 4 matchup, we have Kansas vs Michigan State. The Kansas Jayhawks are coached by Bill Self and are known for their extraordinary defense. And in March Madness, good defense generally beats good offense. Any offense can get cold, but a good defense shows up every night. Kansas doesn’t only have a phenomenal defense, they also have a fantastic offense that is led by NBA-ready point guard Devon Dotson and center Udoka Azubike. Michigan State is led by their great offense. Their defense isn’t anything special but can do its part. Michigan State is coached by Tom Izzo and on the court they are also led by their point guard Cassius Winston and their center Xavier Tillman. Both teams have point guards that like to spread the ball around, yet are still able to score many points for themselves. Xavier Tillman of Michigan State is amazing defensively and can slow down Adoka Azubike. However, I think the 7’0, 270 pound Azubike is simply too powerful for the 6’8, 245 pound Tillman. I think Azubike would have a fantastic game, getting almost 20 points and almost 20 rebounds, leading Kansas to a 73-64 win.

In the other Final 4 matchup, I have Auburn facing off against Gonzaga. Auburn is coached by Bruce Pearl. Their best player is their small forward, a potential top ten draft pick, Isaac Okoro. Okoro is superb on defense and can get some points on offense. His game is reminiscent of Kawhi Leonard’s when Leonard came out of college at San Diego State. Gonzaga is coached by Mark Few. The Gonzaga Bulldogs don’t have any star players, but they have a second round prospect in forward Killian Tillie. Although Gonzaga doesn’t have a star player, and they often don’t, they play very well year in and year out. Gonzaga is better in nearly every statistical category; scoring by more points per game, winning on average by more points per game, having a higher shooting percentage, grabbing more rebounds per game, getting higher assist numbers, and more steals. This goes to show that as talented as Auburn is, Gonzaga is flat out better despite not having the star players. I think Gonzaga would leave with a 79-62 win.

Kansas and Gonzaga would then meet in the National Championship Game, and both of these teams have lots of experience and match up well so I would expect this to be a fantastic game. This is another game where Adoka Azubike would have a winnable matchup. The 6’10, 220 pound Killian Tillie or the 6’11, 235 pound Filip Petrusev would be tasked with guarding the gigantic Azubike who would overpower him in the paint. Azubike shoots an impressive 74.9% because he uses his power to get where he wants and put up easy shots; this game will be no different. However, I don’t think Azubike would be able to guard Tillie if he needs to. Tillie is more agile and he’s quicker and faster. On offense, he could be used as a stretch five and move out towards the three point line. And I’m not sure Azubike could guard him. When Azubike is not guarding Tillie, it will likely be because Filip Petrusev is in the game. And with Tillie and Petrusev both in, Gonzaga can have a great frontcourt. I’ve spent plenty of time talking about the big men, but both teams have solid backcourts. The Gonzaga Bulldogs have Joel Ayayi who averages 10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. This goes to show that he’s a solid, all around guard. The Jayhawks match up well because they’ve got Devon Dotson, who averages 18.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4 assists. The Jayhawks also have shooting guard Ochai Ogbaji, who averages 10 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. I think Gonzaga will start off very well, but Bill Self will make the necessary adjustments to climb back into the game. Kansas is 9th nationally in points allowed per game, and I think they’ll find a way to slow down Gonzaga’s offense. On offense, the Jayhawks won’t struggle because they’ve all been in high pressure moments like these and know what to expect. I think Kansas would go down 40-32 at halftime, but come back and win 77-75. Bill Self would claim his second national title as Kansas’ coach and the Jayhawks would get to cut down the nets in Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

There you have it, your 2020 College Basketball National Champions… the Kansas Jayhawks!

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junker-town · 2 years

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March Madness predictions 2022: Instant picks with men’s NCAA bracket revealed

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Here are our instant predictions for the 2022 men’s NCAA tournament.

March Madness is the greatest event on the American sports calendar. This year’s field in the men’s NCAA tournament looks ready to carry on that tradition with the perfect mix of heavyweights at the top and potential Cinderellas throughout the bracket. It’s almost impossible to correctly predict the tournament before it happens, but that won’t stop us from trying.

Last year, we nailed the championship matchup between Gonzaga and Baylor in our pre-tournament predictions. There was only one problem: we expected the Zags to cut down the nets before Baylor shocked them to win the title. This year’s field doesn’t feel as top heavy. There’s at least seven or eight teams that can credibly claim to be a favorite, but there’s no overwhelming pick to win it all like the Zags were last year.

We’re going to be giving our instant picks as the bracket is revealed. Is this the year Gonzaga finally wins it all? Find out what we think will happen below. Bet on the winners over at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Get your full printable bracket here.

West Region

The first region revealed already feels like it’s going to be the most difficult one. Gonzaga is the No. 1 overall seed in the bracket, but they have what feels like a ridiculously difficult path to the Final Four.

I was tempted to pick Memphis to go to the Final Four before the bracket was revealed. Now I’ll say Gonzaga takes out the Tigers to reach the Sweet 16. I like UConn over Arkansas in the round of 32, and then UConn over the Zags to reach the Elite Eight.

The bottom half of the bracket is also loaded. I like Texas Tech over play-in team Notre Dame to reach the Sweet 16. Duke is also going to the Sweet 16 by knocking off Davidson in the round of 32. We’ll take Texas Tech over Duke in the Sweet 16.

We’ll take Texas Tech over UConn to make the Final Four.

South Region

Arizona is on top of the South bracket, and the matchups are favorable for a trip to the Final Four. We’ll take the Wildcats over TCU to reach the Sweet 16.

We’ll pick Houston to Sweet 16 as well with a win over Chattanooga, who will upset Illinois in round one. We also like Loyola-Chicago over Ohio State and then to beat No. 2 seed Villanova. We’ll take Loyola over the Vols to reach the Elite Eight.

Then we like Arizona over the Ramblers to reach the Final Four.

Midwest Region

This feels like the easiest region for any top seed. Can Kansas get it done?

The Jayhawks will face a tough round of 32 matchup against San Diego State.

We’ll go Iowa over a tough Richmond team, and then South Dakota State over Providence. Iowa over the Jackrabbits to reach the Sweet 16.

We like LSU over Iowa State, and Wisconsin over LSU to reach the Sweet 16 while playing in Milwaukee. We’ll take USC over Auburn in a big upset in the round of 32. I like Kansas over Iowa in the Sweet 16, and the Jayhawks over Wisconsin in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four.

East Region

The reigning champs have a tough draw in the bracket. We’ll take North Carolina over Baylor to reach the Sweet 16.

We’ll take UCLA to get back to the Sweet 16 by beating Saint Mary’s. We’ll take UCLA over UNC in the Elite Eight.

We’ll take Purdue over Virginia Tech to reach the Sweet 16. Kentucky will make it through to the second weekend, and then beat Purdue to reach the Elite Eight.

We like Kentucky over UCLA to make the Final Four.

Final Four

We’ll take Arizona over Kansas in the Final Four. And then Kentucky over Texas Tech for an all Wildcats national title game.

The Wildcats will win it all. Just kidding, we can’t do that to y’all.

We’ll take Arizona as the national champion.

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patriotsnet · 3 years

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Are The Republicans Caucusing In Iowa

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/are-the-republicans-caucusing-in-iowa/

Are The Republicans Caucusing In Iowa

Winners Of The Iowa Caucus Since 2000

The 2020 Iowa caucuses, explained

Highlighted names became the partys presidential nominee.

Democrats

Our reporters provided real-time updates from the ground in Iowa.

Trip Gabriel, reporting from Des Moines Feb. 9, 2020

The Iowa Democrats released a new delegate count, but The AP hasnt called the race and the Sanders team says it will request a recanvass. Read more »

Trip Gabriel, reporting from Des Moines Feb. 8, 2020

Theyre still not done counting in Iowa. The state party says it will re-examine 95 precincts after receiving evidence of inconsistencies. Read more »

Reid Epstein, reporting from Manchester, N.H. Feb. 7, 2020

Buttigieg has taken 13 pledged delegates out of Iowa, and Sanders has won 12, according to AP. But theres one left to be allocated. Read more »

Maggie Astor, in New York Feb. 6, 2020

The Associated Press is unable to declare a winner, it now says. We could know the winner of New Hampshire before we know the winner of Iowa.

Reid Epstein, reporting from Manchester, N.H. Feb. 6, 2020

After DNC chair calls for a recanvass in Iowa, the Iowa Democratic Party chair says theyll conduct an audit if a campaign requests it. Read more »

Sydney Ember, in New York Feb. 6, 2020

Sanders declares a very strong victory based on the popular initial vote. Buttigieg has declared victory as well. Read more in our live updates »

Reid Epstein, reporting from Manchester, N.H. Feb. 6, 2020

Jennifer Medina, in Los Angeles Feb. 6, 2020

Lisa Lerer, on a flight to New Hampshire Feb. 6, 2020

Where Are The Caucuses Held

A caucus is usually held at a school or other public building in a precinct, depending on expected turnout. Churches, union halls, fire stations, businesses and private homes also serve as caucus sites.

Find your polling place through the Iowa Democratic Party;or the;Republican Party of Iowa.

Look up Republican caucus locations at the Republican Party of Iowa website

Some locations will host caucuses for multiple precincts on caucus night, so it will;be helpful;to know your precinct number so that you caucus with the right group.;

To find your precinct, go to the Secretary of States website:

Both parties recommend arriving 30 to 45 minutes early. The Democratic Party specifies;that you must be;signed in or in line by 7 p.m. to participate.

Iowa Caucus : Live Results And Analysis

The Iowa caucuses are kind of like neighborhood meetings where people get together and out in the open, with no secret ballot try to win over their friends, family and neighbors to support their preferred candidate.

The caucuses start a months-long process that eventually leads to the selection of 41 delegates, who will vote for a candidate at the party’s national convention. It’s a complex, unique and exhausting process that might go a little differently if done in a place that was temperamentally unlike Iowa.

The caucuses quadrennially come under fire for being overwhelmingly white and not representative of the country, let alone the Democratic Party. But the candidates have spent millions there and over the past 40 years, and it has been very predictive of who becomes the Democratic nominee.

Let’s break down how all this works.

What time do the caucuses take place?

They begin at 7 p.m. CT and are expected to last roughly an hour. The Iowa Democratic Party is trying to expedite the process this year with just two rounds of caucusing, so they may very well be wrapped up in less than an hour.

Who can vote?

The caucuses are “open.” In other words, any registered voter in the state can participate.

But for as much attention as the caucuses get, not many Iowans actually participate. In 2016, for example, fewer than 16% of people eligible to vote actually caucused.

Where do the caucuses happen?

How will we know who wins?

the statewide preference after the first alignment;

Don’t Miss: Republican Flag Pins

Tips For Caucusing With Kids

Yes, it can get heated. I remember seeing a friend of mine with one baby in a carrier, and two girls on each of her hands. She proudly stood in her candidates corner and stood back to listen to the process. She chimed in when she wanted, and her kids watched her the entire time. They were seeing their mother stand for what she believes in.

Changes In The 2020 Democratic Caucus

Two counts: In previous cycles, caucusgoers could realign multiple times. Starting this year, there is only one realignment and people who supported a viable candidate cannot vote again.

Satellite caucuses: For the first time in 2020, Democrats have allowed caucuses at;dozens of satellite locations, both in Iowa and in other states and three other countries, to allow people who could not caucus at 7 p.m. at their assigned precinct in Iowa to participate. Some of those satellite caucuses start earlier or later than 7 p.m. and some require preregistration.

Reporting results: Democrats will make public the raw vote numbers from the first and second alignments, as well as the delegate strength candidates have. In previous years, the party;reported only the delegate strength.;

View the final delegate totals as well as the first and second alignment vote numbers at DesMoinesRegister.com on Feb. 3.

Recommended Reading: How Many Republicans In Congress

A Wild Card For 202: The Trump Factor

Even as potential candidates begin making early moves in Iowa, Trumps shadow looms.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, he continued to falsely claim he won the 2020 election and teased a 2024 campaign, saying I may even decide to beat them for a third time.

Trump remains popular among Iowa Republicans, who voted to send him back to the White House by an 8 percentage point margin. According to a , 89% of Iowa Republicans view him favorably.

And at CPAC in February, a straw poll showed him dominating a field of potential candidates. Trump won easily, earning 55% of the vote. At 21%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was the only other Republican to crack into double digits.

But Kaufmann said he doesnt believe politicians run the risk of alienating Trump or his supporters simply by showing up in Iowa.

In my conversations with many of these leaders and I’ve had conversations with many of them not one time, not one time did I hear one of these national leaders or a member of their team actually say anything negative or even imply anything negative towards the former president,” he said. “So no, I don’t think there’s any risk whatsoever.

But some Republicans say theyre ready to move on from Trump. Longtime Iowa operative Doug Gross said in January after the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6;that he would personally try to block Trumps rise in Iowa if he were to run again.

It Might Just Be Game Over For The Iowa Caucuses

The states with the most privileged places on the presidential primary calendar are finding their roles more threatened than ever before.

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The siege of Iowa and New Hampshire has begun.

The two states with privileged places on the presidential primary calendar are finding their roles more threatened than ever before most recently in the form of a bill introduced in Nevada this week to move that states nominating contest to the front of the line in 2024.

On its own, the Nevada encroachment would mean little. For years, Iowa and New Hampshire have successfully defended their one-two position from states eager to jump ahead. But the combination of Iowas botched 2020 caucus and increasing diversity in the Democratic Partys ranks has made the whiteness of Iowa and New Hampshire all the more conspicuous, putting the two states on their heels and throwing the 2024 calendar into turmoil.

Theres no reason in the world that those states should go forward so early, because theyre not representative of what 90 percent of the countrys all about, said former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who remains influential in party politics. America looks different than it did 50 years ago, when these traditions were put in place, and the Democratic electorate looks really different.

He added, Its no longer palatable, as far as Im concerned, for those states to take precedence over states like South Carolina and Nevada.

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Read Also: Are There Republicans Running For President

The 2024 Iowa Caucus Campaign Has Already Begun

Trump’s preeminence in the Republican Party isn’t stopping would-be successors from campaigning and recruiting supporters in Iowa.

06/28/2021 04:30 AM EDT

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WEST DES MOINES, Iowa Former President Donald Trump would be the overwhelming frontrunner for the Republican Partys nomination should he wage a 2024 comeback bid. But thats not stopping his would-be GOP successors from barreling into Iowa.

Only months after Trumps election defeat, Republicans are laying the groundwork for the all-important, first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. Potential candidates are hopscotching across the state to fundraise, campaign for midterm hopefuls and appear at traditional party dinners that mark the start of caucus season.

And behind the scenes, Republicans are making overtures to influential activists, meeting with party leaders and hiring operatives with deep experience in Iowa, which is still expected to be the first 2024 contest for Republicans even though Democrats are grappling with whether to change their nominating calendar.

The burst of early activity which is set to accelerate over the summer months illustrates how Republicans are maneuvering with an eye toward succeeding Trump. A Trump bid would likely extinguish their hopes of becoming the partys nominee, and at least one candidate has said they won’t run if if Trump does. But would-be contenders are wasting no time preparing for the possibility of an open nominating contest.

Filed Under:

What Is The Iowa Caucus

Iowa caucus: Republicans make presence known at Democrat events

The Iowa Caucus system begins with a group of 1,679 precinct caucuses that start the four-part presidential and midterm electoral process for both Democratic and Republican parties in Iowa. Precinct caucuses are party member meetings held in schools, libraries, churches and similar venues.

Can I participate?

Anyone who is an Iowa resident and of voting age can attend. Those not yet registered to vote, are able to complete registration before going in. If a potential participants registration is for a different party, party registration can be switched at the door. Meeting leaders are chosen, sometimes presidential candidates or candidate representatives briefly speak, the caucus participants discuss the candidates, and voteRepublicans on paper, Democrats with their feet. By the close of the caucus, delegates have been selected to go on to each partys county, district and state conventions.

Don’t Miss: Are There Any Republicans Challenging Trump

Meet Trumps Gop Opposition

Suffice it to say, neither Walsh nor Weld has much chance against Trump. Walsh has already announced that he will not be on the ballot in his home state of Illinois, citing a lack of resources and the need to focus on Iowa and New Hampshire. Ive contacted Weld and Walsh for comment and will update if and when I hear back.

Part of it is that we have to convince a lot of the Republican donors that there is a viable option and theyre going to want to see results before they put money into our organization, a spokesperson told the Chicago Sun-Times. And while Weld has polled well in New Hampshire, his numbers are far outmatched by Trumps.

But victory isnt necessarily the point of either mans long-shot bid for the White House. Rather, their campaigns are intended as signals to Trump-skeptical Republicans that theyre not alone in their opposition to the president.

For Weld, his focus is on restoring normalcy to the Republican Party as a real Republican. When I spoke with the former governor back in August and asked him about Trumps considerable popularity with the GOP, he told me, Im not willing to concede your premise. I will concede that Im a normal Republican, and the implication of that is that Mr. Trump is a Republican in name only.

He believes Republican voters are looking for fiscal conservatism and a small-government ethos from a presidential candidate willing to stand up for the taxpayer.

Weld has a lengthy political history, as I detailed last year:

Chaos As Democratic Party Blames Iowa Caucus Delays On ‘inconsistencies’ As It Happened

Help us cover the critical issues of 2020. Consider making a contribution

Joan E Greve in Des Moines

Tue 4 Feb 2020 07.27;GMT First published on Mon 3 Feb 2020 23.17;GMT

Elizabeth Warren, who had to be in Washington earlier today for the Senate impeachment trial, appeared at a Des Moines caucus site to deliver her campaign pitch in person.

Jess Bidgood

Warren speaks at Roosevelt High School caucus site in Des Moines. Layout of the room means shes making her unity pitch right in front of the Bernie corner. Opposing chants of warren! Warren! And Bernie beats trump as she leaves

Sam Levine

Eighteen Iowans made history Tuesday evening as they became the first people to participate in a caucus hosted entirely in American Sign Language in Des Moines.

Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg were the three viable candidates after the first round of voting. Warren ultimately earned two delegates while Biden and Buttigieg earned one each.

But for many who attended, the significance of the event extended beyond choosing a nominee. It was the first time many had caucused, since the process can be so exclusionary towards deaf people.

Ive been paying my taxes for several years … We should be able to be involved in the political process, but due to communication, not being able to hear, it was a barrier before, August Cordero said.

Sam Levine

Recommended Reading: Why Is The Media Against Republicans

What To Know About The Iowa Caucuses

After months of campaigning, debating, polling, fundraising and eating fried food, Democratic presidential candidates face their first real-world test on Feb. 3, when Iowa voters have their say in the states caucuses. Heres a rundown of important things to know about Iowa and its first-in-the-nation vote.

What is;a caucus, and how is it different from a primary?

While primaries are run much like general elections lots of polling places, a secret ballot, many hours to vote Iowas caucuses are more like neighborhood meetings. Starting at 7 p.m. in each of the states 1,678 voting precincts , Democratic voters will gather, debate issues and candidates with each other, and eventually cluster in preference groups to elect delegates to their county conventions. The precinct caucuses kick off a process which, several months from now, will result in 41 delegates being chosen to represent Iowa at the Democratic National Convention. The whole caucus process, which can take more than an hour, is nicely illustrated here.

Iowas Democratic caucuses are open only to registered party members, not unaffiliated voters or those registered as Republicans or with other parties. However, people can register or change their party affiliation on caucus night if they want to participate.

How many people turn out for the caucuses?

How will we know who wins?

How reliably do the Iowa caucuses predict the ultimate nominee?

How many other states and territories use caucuses?

Republican V Democratic Caucuses

The Republican and Democratic caucus processes are very different. The Republican caucus is conducted by a vote, usually on sheets of paper. I have been to caucuses for both parties. The Republican caucus is often in a lecture hall as it is more conducive for sitting.

The Democratic caucus is a bit more complicated. It is an exciting visual demonstration of democracy. The Democratic caucus-goers congregate in a room based on which candidate they support. Some may be undecided, and they often sit in the middle of the room. Then, the caucus-goers try to sway their peers toward one candidate or another. Ive never been to a caucus with food, but Ive heard a plate of desserts has been known to decide a race.

Recommended Reading: Who Is Better Republicans Or Democrats

‘it’s Absolutely Earlier Than Before’

After breakfast with the Westside Conservatives Club, Pompeo planned;a meeting with the Bull Moose Club in downtown Des Moines with Terry Branstad, the former Iowa governor and former U.S. ambassador to China. The day before, Pompeo met with the Pottawattamie County Republicans at an event in Council Bluffs.;

Pompeo, who was a U.S. representative for the state of Kansas and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency before becoming secretary of state, previously was in Iowa last summer to speak at the Family Leadership Summit hosted by the Family Leader, a Christian conservative advocacy group.

Hes among a handful of Republicans who found reasons to travel to Iowa last year, including Tim Scott, Haley, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Former Vice President Mike Pence was also a frequent visitor to Iowa while serving in the Trump administration.

Rick Scott, who is also the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, will be in Cedar Rapids April 1 for an event organized by the Republican Party of Iowa. And Tim Scott will return to speak at a party event in Davenport April 15.

Kaufmann said the presidential activity is beginning sooner than it has in past years.

It is absolutely earlier than before, he said. No doubt about it.

Would-be candidates followed a similar schedule at the outset of the 2016 cycle, as Republicans made;their first visits to the state in May of 2013.;

Iowa Gop Chair Predicts State Will Keep First

JAMES Q. LYNCH

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, arrives for a caucus night rally Monday in Des Moines. Cruz sealed a victory in the Republican Iowa caucuses.

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Its getting harder for Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to say its too soon to know whether Iowa will again host the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.

Thats because her handpicked chairman of the panel that will set the GOPs national nomination calendar for 2024 keeps telling Iowa Republicans they will kick off the quadrennial process of choosing a nominee.

I’m in Iowa, so weve got to talk about it, but I don’t like getting ahead of my committee, McDaniel said when asked about Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann saying matter-of-factly that Iowa will retain its leadoff status in the coming presidential election cycle.

The final decision, McDaniel said, will be up to the 168 RNC members representing Republicans in the United States and its territories.

I have to remain neutral, McDaniel said, adding that shes not hearing chatter within the party to change the nomination calendar.

Kaufmann feels no such obligation to remain neutral. And hes chattering plenty.

I do have an opinion about where Iowa should be in the nomination process, he said while introducing the chairwoman Aug. 28 to about 700 people at 1st District U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinsons BBQ Bash.

Also Check: Who Has More Billionaires Democrats Or Republicans

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your-dietician · 3 years

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OU football non-conference schedule ranks near Big 12 bottom

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/ncaa-football/ou-football-non-conference-schedule-ranks-near-big-12-bottom/

OU football non-conference schedule ranks near Big 12 bottom

Big 12 football does not offer much in the way of 2021 non-conference scheduling.

Few marquee games. Iowa State-Iowa. West Virginia-Virginia Tech. That’s about it. OU-Nebraska comes when the Cornhuskers are more down than usual. Texas-Arkansas comes when the Razorbacks are at the bottom of the Southeastern Conference.

The usual abundance of games against lower-division opponents – every Big 12 team except Texas has scheduled a Division I-AA opponent.

Only a good slate of games against mid-majors saves the Big 12. OSU/Boise State. Texas/Louisiana-Lafayette. Texas Tech/Houston. Baylor/Brigham Young. OSU/Tulsa.

The Monday ScissorTales takes a look at Trae Young, an interesting OSU softball transfer and some infighting over the proposed 12-team College Football Playoff. But we begin by kicking off our annual series analyzing the non-conference schedules of college football’s Power 5 conferences.

The good news with the Big 12 slate? There shouldn’t be many losses. If there are, the non-conference is a total disaster.

The bad news? Nothing much here to lift the Big 12’s status, which is in a perpetual state of repair.

Here is how the Big 12 schedules rank, in terms of toughness and allure.

1. West Virginia: Virginia Tech, at Maryland, Long Island. As usual, WVU is the only Big 12 team playing two fellow Power 5 opponents in non-conference. And one of them is Virginia Tech, probably the second-best non-conference foe among all Big 12 schedules.

2. Iowa State: Northern Iowa, Iowa, at Nevada-Las Vegas. A dud-free schedule. Iowa appears to be the best non-conference opponent on a Big 12 schedule, Division I-AA Northern Iowa almost always is a tough out for ISU or Iowa, and UNLV is a road game.

3. Texas: Louisiana-Lafayette, at Arkansas, Rice. UT’s avoidance of I-AA opponents lifts the Longhorns over most Big 12 schedules, and ULL showed last season that it is not an easy mark.

4. Oklahoma State: Missouri State, Tulsa, at Boise State. The game at Boise is one of the more intriguing games, and the OSU-Tulsa game last season was an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel.

5. Kansas: South Dakota, at Coastal Carolina, at Duke. Give the Jayhawks credit. Two road games, one against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, and the other against a program that would have made the 2020 College Football Playoff had there been a 12-team bracket. Coastal was scheduled to host KU last September, but the dates were swapped because of the Big 12’s Covid policies.

6. Kansas State: at Stanford, Southern Illinois, Nevada: Not a terrible schedule, but Stanford appears down. And Nevada last season was not on the mid-major level of Louisiana-Lafayette, Tulsa or Coastal.

7. Baylor: at Texas State, Texas Southern, Brigham Young. Interesting schedule. BYU-Baylor is a cool game, and the Bears make the 131-mile trip down Interstate 35 to San Marcos.

8. Oklahoma: at Tulane, Western Carolina, Nebraska: The Sooner schedule is about the same as K-State’s and Baylor’s. But Nebraska isn’t only down, the Cornhuskers tried to get out of the game. If they’re not excited, why is anybody?

9. Texas Christian: Duquesne, California, Southern Methodist: Decent schedule, but no road games and no marquee games. I suppose SMU could make this schedule better.

10. Texas Tech: at Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Florida International: The game at Houston isn’t bad, but FIU went winless last season, and SFA is Division I-AA.

Power 5 opponents: 8 of 30 (.267).

Power 5/quality mid-majors: 14 of 30 (.467).

Road games: 10 of 30 (.333).

I-AA opponents: 9 of 30 (.300).

OSU softball gets intriguing transfer

Kansas softball star Morgyn Wynne is transferring to OSU, and she’s one of thousands of stories in the transfer portal, across all sports.

But the Wynne story is more interesting than most, because of what it tells us about the nature of the free-agent frenzy that has reached collegiate athletics.

Players are transferring for all kinds of reasons. More playing time. More exposure. Bigger stage. Better chance at team success.

Those final two reasons no doubt motivated Wynne, an excellent player on a struggling team. Not including the shortened Covid season of 2020, KU’s Big 12 records going back to 2017 are 2-16, 3-15, 2-16 and 3-14.

But Wynne’s biography caught my attention. Wynne is a player who made the most of her campus experience.

Wynne, from Concord, California, was first-team academic all-Big 12. That’s not all that unique among standout players. But Wynne also was vice president of the KU student-athlete advisory committee and would have been president for the coming year before deciding to transfer.

Wynne also was KU’s female representative on the Big 12 Black Student-Athlete Council and was part of KU RISE.

“We all know about her softball prowess, but what she does off the field is where she makes the biggest impact,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said. “Morgyn is a generational type of person. I can’t wait for her to step foot on campus and be part of this program.”

Wynne’s transfer is revealing. Someone clearly that involved on a campus, someone clearly seen as a leader off the softball diamond, still was lured away by the athletic side.

Rampant transferring is nothing new to softball. Softball long has been a sport that allowed immediate eligibility. The new NCAA rule that allows a one-time transfer without requiring a sit-out season did not apply to most sports.

Softball movement is nothing new. Gajewski’s Cowgirls have benefited from such transfers as Alysen Febrey from Georgia, Carrie Eberle from Virginia Tech, Hayley Busby from Virginia and Samantha Show from Texas A&M.

“OSU’s success with transfers was a factor in my decision,” Wynne said. “Seeing other girls come in and be accepted into the team like they had always been there was huge for me to look at, knowing that it could be the same for me. It was like those girls who transferred in never missed a beat and that says a lot about the team.”

The Cowgirls have qualified for the last two Women’s College World Series. Wynne could help OSU make it three in a row. She plays first base and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining. Wynne hit 29 home runs in two seasons at Kansas, ranking sixth on the Jayhawk career list.

“Oklahoma State is the perfect fit for me,” Wynne said. “I have a lot of room to grow as a softball player and also in my professional career. I really believe in the coaching staff and have always felt like OSU is a good community that I wanted to be part of. The first minute I spoke to Coach G, I felt an instant connection. What I love about OSU is that it’s a place I could come back to even after I’m done playing softball.”

Wynne seemed to love Kansas, too. Her involvement at least suggested such feelings. But the lure of athletic success is strong. The NCAA transfer portal is not going to lose steam.

Mid-majors fight back

The Pac-12 wants an automatic berth in the proposed 12-team College Football Playoff. The mid-majors call bogus on that.

And welcome to sports’ version of Game of Thrones. Welcome to the Articles of Confederation. Welcome to the always-squishy relationships of the conferences that run college football.

The subcommittee of Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick and commissioners Bob Bowlsby (Big 12), Craig Thompson (Mountain West) and Greg Sankey (Southeastern Conference) proposed the 12-team playoff format, and it has been widely hailed as solving many of the complaints of the four-team bracket.

But the proposal calls for no automatic berth for any particular league. The six highest-ranked conference champions among the 10 in NCAA Division I-A, as determined by the selection committee, would get automatic berths.

Outgoing Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott issued a statement Friday calling for all five Power 5 conferences – Pac-12, Big 12, SEC, Big Ten and Atlantic Coast – to automatically be included.

But the American and Sun Belt conference commissioners have fired back.

American commissioner Mike Aresco told ESPN that an automatic berth in the 12-team playoff format would be an “enormous step in the wrong direction.”

Many administrators over the years have feared anti-trust issues if the power conferences have access to a playoff that is denied to the mid-major conferences. While the Power 5 leagues have dominated the four-team bracket – over seven years, no team outside the Power 5 has been included – there is no written policy that gives the Power 5 special status in the selections.

Aresco told ESPN that during the commissioners’ meetings last week concerning the proposed playoff, the Pac-12 was the only conference to raise the issue.

After that meeting Friday in Chicago, Scott released a statement saying the Pac-12 “supports expansion of the CFP and believes that the Autonomy Five champions should annually qualify for the CFP.”

The current proposal would include at least one mid-major champion each year, since six champions would qualify.

Using the committee’s rankings over the last seven years, only once would a Power 5 champion have been omitted from the playoff – the Pac-12’s Oregon last season. The Ducks were unranked by the committee; the Pac-12’s highest-ranked team was Southern Cal, at No. 17. Both the American’s Cincinnati (No. 8) and the Sun Belt’s Coastal Carolina (No. 12) would have been included.

Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill, a former OU associate athletic director, released a statement Friday supporting the 12-team proposal.

“The Sun Belt Conference supports College Football Playoff expansion, including the working group’s recommendation to have the six highest-ranked conference champions in the field,” Gill said. “Playoff spots should be earned and not given.

“Under the proposed system, if you are a deserving team, you should have no concerns of being left out of the playoff.”

Consider that a direct shot at the Pac-12.

More:Tramel’s ScissorTales: OSU football decides on Saturday season opener to welcome back fans

Aresco told ESPN that he sensed no “other traction” for the Pac-12’s proposal. “That would be an enormous step in the wrong direction from the working group’s proposal as far as I’m concerned. The top six conferences, without favor, is merit-based. It’s fair. It doesn’t reward privilege for privilege’s sake.

“The most desirable outcome obviously in our view is for this to be a meritocracy, where you have to earn it. That was what was the smartest thing about the top six. I applaud the working group for doing that. To my mind and our conference, it was the most welcome part of it.”

Can the Pac-12 find some partners in dissent? Can the Pac-12 team with the powerful Rose Bowl to submarine the proposal?

Stay tuned for the next episode of Game of Thrones.

Mailbag: Trae Young & Luka Doncic

Trae Young’s ascension in these NBA playoffs, including leading the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals, have rewritten the narrative around the Hawks-Mavericks trade of three years ago, which put Luka Doncic in Dallas and Young in Atlanta.

Tom: “Maybe, just maybe, is it time to consider the possibility that Trey might turn out to be the better pick than Luka? (Don’t laugh at me or call me a Sooner homer!)”

Tramel: I will not laugh at you, even under threat of bayonet. But I might be tempted to call you an OU homer.

Doncic and Young always will be linked. When the Hawks traded the third pick in the 2018 draft to the Mavericks for the fifth pick and a future No. 1, that meant Dallas got Doncic and Atlanta got Young. Plus eventually, Cam Reddish, who became that other first-round pick.

Reddish has proven to be a solid player. Doncic is a superstar, and you’d have to say Young got to that status this postseason.

Young has been fabulous as a deep-shooting, sweet-floating scorer and high-assist point guard. He’s a defensive liability, but truth is, so is Doncic.

Doncic’s is the total package offensively, and 29 NBA teams still would take Doncic over Young. Not because of any fallacy in Young’s game, but because Doncic appears to be a transcendent player. A point guard Dirk Nowitzki.

Young’s rapid development makes this a good question, though, and a good debate. Young is perfect for the contemporary NBA game. Offensive-oriented, limitless range, great in the open court.

Young struggled at times against the 76ers, the NBA’s best defense, but he also shined at times.

Maybe Reddish becomes a good enough player to make the trade equitable, and maybe the Hawks have so much success with Young that the argument has no teeth. And just being compared to Doncic is quite the achievement.

Classic flick pick: “Sergeant York”

World War II movies are in abundance, many of them all-time greats.

World War I movies, not so much. But “Sergeant York” was an early contribution to the genre and remains a legendary film.

Gary Cooper plays Alvin York, the most-decorated American from the Great War.

The film derived from York’s diary. He refused many times to allow the making of a film but finally relented in order to finance an interdenominational Bible school.

More:Tramel’s ScissorTales: Thunder trade gets a bonus with Kemba Walker for Al Horford

York had found religion in the Tennessee hills before the war, and his pacifist views were in conflict with the truths of war he found in Europe.

The result is an unforgettable film. Cooper won an Oscar for best actor. The great Walter Brennan was nominated for best supporting actor, playing York’s Tennessee pastor. Margaret Wycherly was nominated for best supporting actress, with a fabulous portrayal of York’s stoic mother.

June Lockhart of “Lost in Space” fame is York’s sister. Ward Bond – of “The Searchers” and “the Maltese Falcon,” “Gone With the Wind” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” — is in it, too.

The American Film Institute ranked “Sergeant York” No. 57 on its list of 100 most inspirational movies. AFI also ranked York No. 35 on its list of the top 50 heroes in American cinema.

Few films make you think deeply while also making you stand up and cheer. But “Sergeant York” does both.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at [email protected]. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

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thecollegefootballguy · 3 years

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2020 Top Games of the Week: Championship Week

Folks we did it! I can’t believe it but we made it to the end of the season. It all comes down to championship week, where everything gets decided. The Playoff participants, the NY6 bowls, everything. I’m hyped and I hope you are as well. Time to preview the top games!

RIP to the Sun Belt Championship Game which was cancelled due to COVID. Coastal Carolina already beat Louisiana in the regular season so I’m ok calling the Chanticleers the champions of the conference.

The Top Ten Games of the Week

10. Air Force 3-2 (2-2) at Army 8-2

This intra-service rivalry game was cancelled earlier in the year, but that isn’t stopping Army and Air Force from playing at the end of the year. With both teams having defeated Navy, the winner here will hoist the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy as the top academy in the nation.

9. UAB 5-3 (3-1) at Marshall 7-1 (4-1)

UAB is playing in their third straight Conference USA Championship Game. The Blazers have had the West division on lock ever since returning from the dead. Marshall is playing for the championship for the third time in program history, their first since 2014. The Thundering Herd were undefeated, flying under the radar behind Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina for most of the year before being upset by Rice two weeks ago, knocking them out of the NY6 race.

8. Ball State 5-1 (5-1) vs Buffalo 5-0 (5-0)

The MAC started late but the league really put on a pretty good show at the top. Undefeated Buffalo is playing in their second MAC Championship in three years but attempting to win their first conference title since 2008. Ball State is in the MAC CG for only the second time in program history. The Cardinals only other appearance was that 2008 game against the Bulls. #12 Ball State was infamously upset by Buffalo that year, ruining their undefeated season and a real shot at a BCS bowl. The Bulls aren’t in line for a NY6 bowl, but the Cardinals can at least pay them back partway by spoiling an undefeated record and claiming their first MAC title since 1996.

7. Boise State 5-1 (5-0) vs #24 San Jose State 6-0 (6-0) (Las Vegas, NV)

San Jose State finally meets Boise after their regular season matchup was cancelled. The Spartans have had a charmed year, their first undefeated regular season since 1939. The Broncos may have a loss, but many people think that BSU will prove the spoiler. Boise State has never lost to SJSU in 19 tries dating back to the WAC. The winner likely won’t make the NY6, but this means a lot to both teams, especially San Jose State.

6. Oregon 3-2 (3-2) at #13 USC 5-0 (5-0)

The (sort-of) PAC-12 Championship Game features the South Champ against the North runner-up (sort-of). Oregon never actually played first place Washington so it’s hard to actually say if the Ducks are better or worse than the Huskies. This weird PAC-12 season hasn’t exactly proven that the conference is back to the top of the P5, and even if USC beats UO for their unbeaten record they don’t deserve a spot in the Playoffs even if the Committee will likely gift them a spot in a NY6 bowl. If Oregon wins I find it likely that the PAC-12 will become the first ever P5 conference to be shut out of the NY6. The Ducks are playing in their record 4th Championship Game (3-0 record so far), while SC is playing in their third (1-1).

5. #23 Tulsa 6-1 (6-0) at #9 Cincinnati 8-0 (6-0)

The Playoff Committee has made it explicitly clear that Cincinnati won’t get into the Playoff even if they run the table. It’s a shame, the Bearcats are definitely worthy if, say, Clemson loses to Notre Dame again. Oh well. Congrats to the victor, whoever it is. Tulsa has also had a very strong season and came inches short of their own undefeated season after several years of underperforming. Cincinnati made their first AAC CG last year in a losing effort to Memphis. The Golden Hurricane are in their first ever AAC championship.

4. #10 Oklahoma 7-2 (6-2) vs #6 Iowa State 8-2 (8-1)

I have to admit that the Big 12 Championship Game is very interesting to me even if I categorically think that the winner should not make the Playoff over Cincinnati. The Sooners are playing for their sixth consecutive Big 12 Championship and their 12th total appearance in the championship game. On the other end of the spectrum is Iowa State, who are playing in their first ever championship game and eligible for their first conference title since winning the MVIAA in 1912. The Cyclones are the #1 seed and already have bested OU in the regular season, but Oklahoma has been playing much better in the past few months since that meeting.

3. #14 Northwestern 6-1 (6-1) vs #4 Ohio State 5-0 (5-0) (Indianapolis, IN)

The first of the three P5 Playoffs with a clear “play-in” factor for the Playoff. If Ohio State beats Northwestern they’re in. Northwestern likely can’t say the same but a 1-loss Wildcat team with a win over the Buckeyes might have a claim to make if things get weird in the other Championship Games. OSU has dominated the Big Ten CG in the last few years, having won the past 3 conference championships. NU has played in it once in 2018 where they put up a brave but impotent fight against OSU. I think most people are expecting a repeat of that game.

2. #1 Alabama 10-0 (10-0) vs #7 Florida 8-2 (8-2) (Atlanta, GA)

It always feels weird whenever the SEC Championship Game isn’t the #1 game of championship week. Alabama is the favorite as usual and should take home the W here and ride into the Playoff. Still, with Florida only ranked 7th there is a scenario in which some real weird things happen if the Gators win. Both the Crimson Tide and Gators are playing in their record breaking 14th SEC Championships. The pair have are going to face-off for the title for the 10th time in history. Bama holds a 5-4 record against UF in these meetings.

1. #3 Clemson 9-1 (8-1) vs #2 Notre Dame 10-0 (9-0) (Charlotte, NC)

If I’m Notre Dame I might think a bit harder about joining the ACC in football permanently. I mean, if it’s gonna be this easy why not go for a conference title every year? In all seriousness this is the linchpin of the P5 Conference Championship Games, plenty of dominoes will fall differently depending on this outcome. Trevor Lawrence is back to lead Clemson, and many people assume the Tigers are gonna pull off the win because of it. It may not be that simple, after all, the Clemson D lost their previous matchup as much as anything.

If Notre Dame wins they’ll be an easy #1 or #2 seed and in the Playoff (depending on the SEC outcome) and Clemson will likely fall out of the top 4, opening up a spot for perhaps the Big 12 Champion or some SEC shenanigans. Even though we all know Cincinnati should get the spot if a spot opens. If Clemson wins then it’s likely the top 4 will calcify with the two ACC teams occupying half of the available slots. It’ll be interesting to see how it shakes out.

Clemson is playing for their fifth consecutive ACC Championship. Notre Dame is obviously playing in the first ever conference title game.

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mitchbeck · 5 years

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CANTLON'S CORNER: PACK PREPARE FOR ANOTHER PAIR OF GAMES

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Another pair of weekend home games await the Hartford Wolf Pack. One is a divisional opponent who has owned them the past three years, the Springfield Thunderbirds. The others are non-divisional opponents who they've struggled with, the Rochester Americans, who they will play on Sunday afternoon. For Pack Head Coach, Kris Knoblauch, he's worried more about where his club is at this point in terms of their development than his opponent to some degree to this point in the season. While he was happy last weekend, he wasn’t satisfied with their team game last week. “You like the four points, but we easily could have lost both those games. The Charlotte game we left too many open areas, too many great chances and thankfully Shesty (goalie Igor Shestyorkin) played so well. We have a long way to go. Right now, I’m focused on our team and getting guys into our systems. We're adjusting to our team at this point and working on our identity.” The addition of Nick Ebert, who came to Hartford in the Vladimir Namestnikov deal, was a surprise in that the New York Rangers added yet another defenseman to an already deep organizational chart. Ebert has had only moderate success as a pro and spent some time in Europe. He a known quantity to Knoblauch. “We have tough decisions to make, and we liked how our defense played for the most part over the weekend. We're always looking to improve our team. He brings experience, is a good skater, moves the puck well and has a good shot. I’ll be honest, I’m surprised he hasn’t scored as much at the American (Hockey) League level. I coached against him in juniors. He was a very strong offensive player. It seems last year he has gotten his offensive game back,” said Knoblauch. Ebert played with Orebro HK (Sweden-SHL). His addition to the roster forced the team to move Brandon Crawley to their ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners. “We want Brandon to get playing time, and right now we are filled up on defense, and he’ll be a part of our recalls.” Knoblauch is getting an early tutorial on fluidity of AHL rosters. “I’m really learning it now about how much things can change. We want to win every night, but we are a development league. You have to learn to balance those things appropriately.” Ebert wasn’t the only new defenseman that Knoblauch had out on the ice. Yegor Rykov (pronounced Ree-kov) has been sent down and skated for the first time on Thursday since suffering an ankle injury in the Traverse City tournament. He isn’t likely to see game action for likely two more weeks, which will likely necessitate another reassignment to Maine. “He has started first with drills. He's getting back on the ice, and today was his first full (team) practice. It’s gonna be a few more weeks before he is game ready. I saw him in Traverse City (before the injury), and we were very pleased with what we saw. Now it's about getting that timing back.” The lineup will likely see a new, familiar face in Ryan Gropp. He was scratched last weekend and Knoblauch is eager to have him in the lineup. “We really liked him in the pre-season. He showed a very good shot and I really want to get him in the mix. I haven’t worked out my (lineup) details yet, but we'll be seeing him.” Vitali Kravtsov will be in the lineup, and the coach thinks the student understands things better. ‘We showed him some video. He’s aware he didn’t play well. We had a very hard team practice Tuesday and he was very competitive." Saturday’s game is a part of hockey doubleheader with UCONN and RPI starting at 3:30 pm and a 7:30 pm faceoff time with the Springfield Thunderbirds. NOTES: The Thunderbirds will be minus forward Paul Thompson, who was handed a two-game suspension for a blindside hit on Bridgeport’s Thomas Hickey last Friday in the regular-season opener. Sunday’s opponent, the Rochester Americans, will have a very familiar face in their lineup. Tage Thompson (Orange/UCONN), who scored two goals last weekend including an OT game-winner. Ex-Pack, Matt Register, starts the season with the Iowa Wild. The ECHL season starts this weekend with some players of note with ties to Connecticut. Adirondack: Eamon MacAdam (BST), Charles Curti (Yale), Craig Martin (QU) and Hayden Verbeek (the nephew of ex-Hartford Whaler, Pat Verbeek) Allen: Shawn O’Donnell, and Justin Salvaggio (HWP), Brampton: Miles Gendron (UCONN), Cincinnati: Justin Vaive (HWP/BST), Ft. Wayne: Shawn St. Amant (HWP), Florida: Logan Roe (Kent Prep), Greenville: Chris Nell (HWP), and Callum Booth (Salisbury Prep), plus Mike Pelech (HWP), Indy: Alex Krushelnyski (HWP), Charles Williams (HWP), and Karl El-Mir (UCONN), Kansas City: Derek Pratt (UCONN), Idaho: Spencer Naas (UCONN), and Kyle Schempp (BST). Jacksonville: Mitch Jones (the son of ex-New Haven Nighthawk, Brad Jones), and John Albert (HWP). Kalamazoo: Mitch Eliot (the son of Nighthawk, Daren Eliot), Norfolk: Brandon Halverson (HWP), Ben and Josh Holmstrom (BST), Orlando: Jake Marchment (the son of Whaler, Bryan Marchment), Rapid City: Chris Izmirlian (Yale), Reading: Frankie DiChara (Yale), David Drake (UCONN), Matt Gaudreau (BST), and Trevor Yates (the son of ex-Whaler, Ross Yates). South Carolina: Dan DeSalvo (HWP), Tommy Hughes (HWP), Parker Milner (BST/Avon Old Farms), Scott Davidson (QU), Toledo: Ryan Verbeek (the nephew of ex-Whaler, Pat Verbeek), Brendan Kotyk (HWP), T.J. Hensick (HWP), and Josh Winquist (BST), Tulsa: Josh Wesley (HWP), and Mike McKee (Kent Prep), Utah: Cole Cassels (the son of ex-Whaler, Andrew Cassels), Wichita: Jason Sims (UCONN, and the son of former Whaler/Nighthawk, Al Sims), Worcester: Jordan Samuels-Thomas (West Hartford/QU), Connor Doherty (SHU), Nic Pierog (Canterbury Prep), and Henrik Samuelsson (the son of ex-Whaler, Ulf Samuelsson). Former Wolf Pack, Dean Melanson, was the last cut by the Reading Royals. Ex-Pack, Adam Tambellini, was the last cut from the Bakersfield Condors training camp signs with MODO (Sweden-SHL) for the season. He is the second Tambellini to play there. Ex-Sound Tiger, his brother Jeff, played there and is presently a head coach/GM of the Junior A Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL). Landon Ferraro, the son of former Whaler, Ray Ferraro, who was with Iowa last year signs with Eisbaren Berlin (Germany-DEL). The two are the 71st and 72nd AHL’ers from last season to sign in Europe. Brandon Whistle, the nephew of former New Haven Nighthawk, Rob Whistle, goes from Sheffield (England-EIHL) and signs with Telford (England-NIHL). Mark Arcobello (Milford/Fairfield Prep/Salisbury Prep/Yale University) is playing with SC Bern (SwItzerland-LNA) with 10 points in 10 games. He signs a deal to play for HC Lugano (Switzerland-LNA) next season 2020-21. Philippe Hudon (Choate Prep) goes from Allen (ECHL) to Norfolk (ECHL). Congrats to former New Haven Nighthawks player and head coach, Robbie Ftorek, who was among the four new inductees to the AHL Hall of Fame on Thursday. Joining him are Darren Haydar, Denis Hamel, and Fred Thurler. The ceremony will take place in Ontario, CA site of the AHL All Star Classic the first to be held at a Pacific Division city. Ftorek ended his NHL career with the Rangers. He started out as a child prodigy in the Bobby Orr era at Needham High (MA). Played two years for the Red Wings affiliate Tidewater Wings before he left for the WHA and the Phoenix Roadrunners and Cincinnati Stingers (one of the best logos ever). He was the first and only American captain in the history of the Quebec Nordiques WHA or NHL. Ftorek played with New Haven accumulating 16 points in 17 games in New Haven in 1984-85. His last active game as a player was in New Haven the following season. Ftorek, who was a Guilford resident when he was in New Haven and was the head coach there for two-and-a-half seasons before getting the call to Los Angeles, but stayed there just a year-and-a-half. He had other AHL coaching stints in Halifax with the Citadels and the Utica Devils before he had a strong three-year stint with the highly successful Albany River Rats, before having a four-year coaching tenure in New Jersey. Ftorek returned to his roots spending two years with the Boston Bruins before heading back for a second stint in Albany where he had another strong three year period of winning and development. Ftorek also went the junior route spending six years as the head coach with the Erie (Otters (OHL) before a year as an assistant with Abbotsford. He concluded his coaching career with Norfolk (ECHL). UCONN hockey has its first two home games this weekend Friday night at 7 pm against the Army Black Knights (AHA). Saturday, in another non-conference matchup, with the RPI Engineers (ECACHL) at 3:30 pm. The school’s 2000 MAAC championship team will be honored throughout the day. The championship trophy will be on display on the concourse The Huskies earned a 3-3 tie with Sacred Heart University in their opener in Bridgeport, last week who they have yet to beat since going Division I. The Huskies Jachym Kondelik scored. Fellow Nashville Predator draftee, Tomas Vomacka, was sensational in net making 45 saves despite the hat trick by the Pioneers, Matt Tugnutt, icing his game-tying goal with three seconds left in regulation forcing overtime. Earlier in the week, SNY announced the time and dates for the first-ever Connecticut Ice Festival tournament in Bridgeport at the Webster Bank Arena in late January. The Huskies will kick-off the collegiate tournament against the Quinnipiac University Bobcats at 4 pm on Saturday, January 25th followed by Sacred Heart University playing the Yale University Bulldogs. All four games including the consolation and championship final will air live in the SNY. Read the full article

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racingtoaredlight · 5 years

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The degenerate’s guide to college football TV watch ‘em ups, 2019 season, week 1, part 3

Time to kick back and stop writing so much. I’ve earned it. I’m not going through all of my gambling advice to see if I did really awesome. Pretty sure Georgia Tech beat the spread against Clemson. Direct hit! So I am your guru.

Gambles with me and find the worst college football a viewer can find, I says. That’s the best way to live on a Saturday in the fall. Well, close enough.

What is there to say about this slate of games that hasn’t already been said? The schedules are per FBSchedules. The gambling infos are per Vegas Insider. If you lose money that’s on you. If you win money I’ve earned a commission. I’m just going ahead and taking this all the way through Monday because I’m already bored of this season.

Saturday, August 31

Matchup Time (ET) TV/Mobile

South Alabama at 24 Nebraska 12:00pm ESPN

Nebraska is ranked. USA is probably not the team to expose them but that’s a mistake. Scott Frost is going to have to rely on an even lower tier of Florida talent to win in a tougher conference. He’s got believers for now.

Indiana vs. Ball State (in Indianapolis, IN) 12:00pm CBSSN

Indiana is a 17 point favorite. Is that a typo?

Toledo at Kentucky 12:00pm SECN

There are way too many footballs for me to deal with right now. I’m just gonna start listing off winners and throwing out numbers that have nothing to do with betting lines. Kentucky by 4!

University of Mississippi at Memphis 12:00pm ABC

Memphis by 18!

Northern Iowa at 21 Iowa State 12:00pm FS1

I was wrong about David Montgomery! Sort of. I said he wouldn’t go as the first running back and wouldn’t go in the first round. Direct hits!

Indiana State at Kansas 12:00pm FSN

Oh, shit, here we go! I actually stopped to look this one up because of course I’m interested in Les Miles at Kansas. His presence has probably changed this from a pick ‘em to a -4.5 for Kansas. Plus: Kansas is favored! Minus: Indiana State has one good athlete in school history and he played basketball for them 40 years ago. And Kansas is only favored by 4.5.

Mississippi State vs. Louisiana (in New Orleans, LA) 12:00pm ESPNU

Never going to learn which directional LA school goes by Louisiana. Miss State by 1!

Howard at Maryland 12:00pm BTN

Talent usually wins out. Howard by 14.

Florida Atlantic at 5 Ohio State 12:00pm FOX

FAU by 35.

East Carolina at NC State 12:00pm ACCN

NC State by something.

Boise State at Florida State 12:00pm ESPNews

LOL - this was such a good game when it was scheduled. Who would have guessed that neither team would be ranked and it would air as an ACCNe alternate? Boise by 20.

Akron at Illinois 12:00pm BTN

Poor poor Illinois.

James Madison at West Virginia 2:00pm ATTSN

Not sure I’m ready for the next chapter of WFV football, tbch.

Rhode Island at Ohio 2:00pm ESPN+

Is ESPN+ considered a higher tier or lower tier than ESPNNews?

Bucknell at Temple 3:00pm ESPN3

Finally, the Manny Diaz Era kicks off for Temple football.

Eastern Washington at 13 Washington 3:00pm Pac-12N

Jacob Eason is going to get drafted over Jake Fromm. UDub by 58.

Eastern Michigan at Coastal Carolina 3:30pm ESPN+

CCU by 32. Book it.

Georgia State at Tennessee 3:30pm ESPNU

Tennessee still sucks. At least we all have that.

Holy Cross at Navy 3:30pm CBSSN

Navy has been destroyed by injuries the last couple of seasons but maybe they can get some good luck this year and get back to winning 10 and beating Notre Dame? Middies by 600 rushing yards.

ETSU at Appalachian State 3:30pm ESPN+

Appy State by 32.

South Carolina vs. North Carolina (in Charlotte, NC) 3:30pm ESPN

Mack Brown is back in Chapel Hill but there isn’t a lot of talent there. There’s a decent amount of talent at USCe but Coach Boom is still there. Sakerlina by 12.

Duke vs. 2 Alabama (in Atlanta, GA) 3:30pm ABC

Bammers by 64, Tua back in the good graces of Heisman voters.

Colgate at Air Force 3:30pm ESPN3

Toothpaste by 8.

Idaho at 15 Penn State 3:30pm BTN

Idaho self-relegated and rewarded themselves with a trip to Stepford. Penn State is going to win by 80.

Portland State at Arkansas 4:00pm SECN

Virginia Tech at Boston College 4:00pm ACCN

This might be two good teams. I’m not sure.

Northwestern at 25 Stanford 4:00pm FOX

I don’t think I can do any more of this. Let me check back in the morning to see if I want to update the rest of these.

IN THE MEANTIME ENJOY OUR HOLD MUSIC

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CONTINUED!!!!!!

Montana State at Texas Tech 4:00pm FSN

Lubbock is less handsome this year but they could be better for it. Montana State by 3.

Campbell at Troy 6:00pm ESPN+

This is a huge rivalry between former frat brothers. Troy by 27.

Incarnate Word at UTSA 6:00pm ESPN3

Isn’t Incarnate Word working towards D-1A or some nonsense? The FKA Cokers are still ESPN3 material, which means they’re better than FSU and Boise State. UTSA by 33.

Sam Houston State at New Mexico 6:00pm MWN

New Mexico is only a 9 point favorite. That seems bad. Sam Houston State Houston Sams with the big upset here. 5 point win, 8-3.

22 Syracuse at Liberty 6:00pm ESPN+

I have no doubt in my mind that Bernie guy actually was a child molester but ESPN’s story was based on a guy saying they had sex when he was like 21 years old. I never understood that. Anyway, you absolutely hate to see Syracuse ranked in any sport. It’s an affront against god and man. Liberty is also an affront against god and man. But at least the Falwell’s pay their young male escorts exceptionally well. Liberty by 12.

UC Davis at California 6:30pm Pac-12N

Berkley vs. Davis. At least one of these starting QBs will be a mid-round prospect next year that some NFL fan base is forced to pretend they’re excited about.

VMI at Marshall 6:30pm Stadium

Marshall by 47.

Monmouth at Western Michigan 7:00pm ESPN3

Monmouth in a blowout, 14-13.

Stephen F. Austin at Baylor 7:00pm ESPN+

As much as I want the Six Million Dollar Men to beat the only athletic program as hateful as Sparty or Penn State, I don’t think they have the bionic powers to do it. Six million dollars isn’t really very much for a football player in Texas.

SMU at Arkansas State 7:00pm ESPN+

Oh, yeah, Arkansas State is the one that’s FBS-level, not Central Arkansas. Oh, well, nothing we can do about that now. Fade SMU and take the over. Whatever that may mean.

Norfolk State at Old Dominion 7:00pm ESPN3

Soon to be the state’s premier football rivalry, no doubt. The ODU #45s are the obvious favorite here. I bet they win by 22 points. So gamble accordingly.

Nicholls at Kansas State 7:00pm ESPN+

The excitement is palpable! Can Les Miles lead his gang of criminals to victory over the world’s premier screenwriting fellowship? YOU COULDN’T WRITE A BETTER UNDERDOG STORY THAN THAT!

Illinois State at NIU 7:00pm ESPN+

Fuck this game. NIU by 3 or so, I guess.

Alcorn State at Southern Miss 7:00pm ESPN+

25 years ago Air McNair II was leading Alcorn State and he should have won a Heisman and I have no other thoughts on this.

Abilene Christian at North Texas 7:30pm ESPN+

Go Spencer’s school! Beat the fucking Christians! I hate Christians!

16 Auburn vs. 11 Oregon (in Arlington, TX) 7:30pm ABC

Oh, this is why they were showing the “for all the Tostitos” game yesterday. Well, my gut tells me the War Eagle Tigers are a better team than the Ducks but that’s just SEC bias, to be honest. Patrick Nix’s kid starts as a true freshman which, if history serves, means he’ll ball out tonight, get progressively worse through the season, get benched at some point, then get humiliated when he comes back as the starter in a rivalry game (the rivalry game in all of college football tbch) and then he’ll show up somewhere else next year with immediate eligibility because he’s not moving for some frivolous reason like his mom is dying and his family’s going bankrupt.

3 Georgia at Vanderbilt 7:30pm ESPN

Vandy got the homefield for this one. Weird opener UGA. But a “tough” conference win in the early going is worth some #1 votes. Georgia by 84.

Georgia Southern at 6 LSU 7:30pm SECN

LSU has the best player in college football this year. Expect him to be injured either this week or next.

Miami (Ohio) at 20 Iowa 7:30pm FS1

Iowa has some shiny NFL prospect on their roster but I forget who it is. Is this where the ePenis plays? Whatever, this game is for the kids. Every Iowa home game is for the kids. Hawkeyes by 23.

Middle Tennessee at 7 Michigan 7:30pm BTN

I have an inexplicable fondness for Jim Harbaugh but I can’t deny the joy I would get from seeing the Wolverines crash and burn in week 1. That’s always fun for everybody.

Missouri at Wyoming 7:30pm CBSSN

Mizzourah by 46.

Virginia at Pitt 7:30pm ACCN

I could have sworn UVA was ranked. Guess not. Pitt is the pits (!!!) so the Hoos should dominate. Virginia by 6.

Louisiana Tech at 10 Texas 8:00pm LHN

Horns at #10 seems dangerous. That’s a bad idea, isn’t it? I’ve got Texas unranked until proven otherwise. And UT losing week 1 would be even funnier than Michigan doing it.

Grambling State at ULM 8:00pm ESPN3

So Monroe isn’t the one that goes by “Louisiana” now.

Houston Baptist at UTEP 8:00pm ESPN+

Oh, come on. This game does not need to exist. UTEP -17.5 is probably fine.

UAPB at TCU 8:00pm FSN

TCU is unranked so they’ll go undefeated this year. Arkansas-Pine Box is going to get buried by 50+.

Weber State at San Diego State 9:00pm Facebook

Oh, yeah, here comes the fun stuff. The dumb stuff. Let’s hear it for the Mountain West! What SDSU rusher will capture my heart this season?

Southern Utah at UNLV 10:00pm MWN

Last home opener at Sam Boyd Stadium, a place hated by all who ever visited it. I am not in that number yet but when it cools down I might feel compelled.

New Mexico State at 23 Washington State 10:00pm Pac-12N

The very heart of Pac after darkness. Mike Leach has a new QB. Now what? Wazzou will still score but they will probably go back to stopping nobody. A year further removed from Alex Grinch is not going to help.

Fresno State at USC 10:30pm ESPN

USC had a real solid opportunity to fire Clay Helton but didn’t because it would have been too expensive. Think about how stupid that is. Go (CS)FSU.

Sunday, September 1

Matchup Time (ET) TV/Mobile

Houston at 4 Oklahoma 7:30pm ABC

Holgo to Houston feels like a circle is being completed somehow. Will the ghost of Jack Pardee smile down on the Cougs? D’Eriq King could go a long way towards becoming a national name with any sort of highlights in this one and, remember, Oklahoma’s defense has been remarkably bad the last several seasons. The o/u for this game is 83! Houston plus the points, baby, do it!

Monday, September 2

Matchup Time (ET) TV/Mobile

9 Notre Dame at Louisville 8:00pm ESPN

Brian Kelly really got a kid killed and the university paid his way out of it and he’s still coaching there and they’ll probably win 10+ games again this year. What a terrible world we live in.

#football #college football #saturday post #watch em ups #degenerate football #half finished

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junker-town · 3 years

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Instant picks for the 2021 Men’s NCAA tournament

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Here are our NCAA men’s tournament picks after the 2021 bracket was announced.

March Madness is finally back after last season’s NCAA tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. While Covid has continued to wreck havoc on the world and the sport ever since, college basketball has made it through the season and back to the onset of the tournament.

The 2021 men’s NCAA tournament bracket has been announced, with 68 teams headed to Indianapolis for a “bubble” set-up that will conclude with the national championship game on April 5 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

While the field has been announced, it is still subject to change. Because of the pandemic, the NCAA has installed a 48-hour window for replacement teams to be named if a program can’t meet the medical protocol. We already saw Duke, Kansas, and Virginia get booted from their conference tournaments for a positive test, so there remains a very real possibility Covid could impact the bracket.

With the field set for now, it’s our duty to provide instant bracket predictions. Trust our picks at your own discretion.

West region

We expect Gonzaga to skate through to the Sweet 16 after beating No. 8 seed Oklahoma in the round of 32. We’ll take Ohio over Creighton in the Sweet 16, and then the Zags over the Bobcats.

On the bottom half of the region, we’ll go with Kansas over USC in the round of 32, and Oregon over Iowa. We’ll take Oregon to the Elite Eight with a win over Kansas until they fall to Gonzaga.

East region

We’ll take top seed Michigan into the Sweet 16 over LSU. We’ll pick Georgetown to win their first game with an upset of Colorado before losing to Florida State. The Seminoles will then upset Michigan to advance to the Elite Eight.

Alabama will beat UConn in the round of 32, and then beat Michigan State in the Sweet 16. The Spartans need to win a play-in game against UCLA, but then they can beat BYU and Texas.

The Crimson Tide will then defeat Florida State to make the Final Four.

South region

Baylor is a heavy favorite in the South region, but they’ll have a hard time against North Carolina in the round of 32 before coming away with the win. The Bears will defeat Purdue in the Sweet 16. If you’re looking for an upset, pick Winthrop over Villanova in the first round.

Texas Tech and Arkansas should be a great round of 32 matchup — we’ll take Chris Beard and the Red Raiders in that one. Ohio State should have a manageable path to the Sweet 16. We think Ohio State makes the Elite Eight and then loses to Baylor.

Midwest region

This is the region of death in the bracket. Illinois is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest, but they will have an extremely tough matchup against Loyola. We’ll pick the Illini to win a thriller and bust into the Sweet 16 against Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma State. We’ll pick Cade’s Cowboys over Illinois in the Sweet 16.

We’ll take Syracuse over San Diego State and West Virginia. The Orange’s run will continue with a win over Houston. The Orange will then lose to Oklahoma State. Cade Cunningham is going to the Final Four.

2021 Final Four predictions

Gonzaga will beat Alabama. Baylor will beat Oklahoma State in a Big 12 tournament semifinals rematch. We’ll take Gonzaga to beat Baylor for the national title.

Why Gonzaga will win the 2021 NCAA tournament

Much like Villanova’s national championship-winning team in 2018, Gonzaga has felt like the most talented team in the country from the very start of the season. If anyone beats the Zags, it’s going to count as a major upset.

Gonzaga’s days of being viewed as a mid-major are over. The Bulldogs went to the national championship game in 2017 and lost a close game to North Carolina. The Zags were battle-tested in the non-conference season, defeating Kansas, Iowa, Virginia, and more. Gonzaga maintained its perfect record by sweeping its way through every West Coast Conference opponent and now enter March Madness at 26-0 on the season.

Gonzaga is full of star-power. Freshman guard Jalen Suggs was a five-star recruit who is currently projected as the No. 3 overall pick in our latest 2021 NBA mock draft. Senior wing Corey Kispert is one of the nation’s best three-point shooters, and is also being projected as an NBA lottery pick. There’s a case to be made that sophomore center Drew Timme is the Zags’ most important player. All three have a chance to be named All-Americans this year.

Gonzaga has great depth in addition to its front line stars. Guards Joel Ayayi and Andrew Nembhard are college veterans who have played in many big games throughout the years, with the latter arriving as a transfer from Florida before this season. Anton Watson has given the Zags a versatile forward in the front court, while Julian Strawther, Dominick Harris, and Oumar Ballo have each given the program good minutes off the bench.

The Zags will enter the field with the No. 1 rated offense and No. 10 rated defense according to KenPom’s efficiency metrics. Gonzaga plays fast, has shooters everywhere, and thrives in transition. It’s a team without many apparent weaknesses.

No team has finished the college basketball season as an undefeated national champion since Indiana in 1976. It’s so hard to go wire-to-wire with an unblemished record, but the Zags are good enough to do it.

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sportsbuzz17 · 7 years

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There is nothing like the NCAA Tournament

South Carolina over Duke is the biggest upset so far in the tournament

The madness began last Thursday in an already wild and unexpected NCAA Tournament. In year’s past a lot of the major upsets occurred in the Round of 64 while this year it was the Saturday and Sunday games that gave us the most surprising results.

Once the matchups were announced everyone looked at which of the lower seeds had the best chance of winning one or two games. The sexy picks were 12-seed UNC Wilmington, 12-seed Middle Tennessee, 13-seed Winthrop and 14-seed Florida Gulf Coast. After the dust settled though and we were down to 32 teams there were no significant upsets.

Middle Tennessee did in fact beat Minnesota but it was hardly an upset because it seems like every year a 12 seed beats a 5 seed. Plus going into the game the Blue Raiders were slight favorites over the Golden Gophers. Teams like Princeton, Bucknell, UNC Wilmington, Florida Gulf Coast, Nevada, Vermont, New Mexico State and Winthrop failed to come up with the upset. This year just didn’t serve up that eye-popping win. The one thing to take note of though was the 11 seeds. Out of the four 6 vs. 11 games only one 6-seed advanced (Cincinnati defeated Kansas State). Xavier, Rhode Island and USC reached the Round of 32. So even though these are schools from major conferences their victories were still considered minor upsets based on the seed they were given.

The games on Saturday and Sunday presented a much different feel.

Almost every one of the 16 games played during the two days was filled with back-and-forth action, heartbreak and jubilation. There wasn’t a doubt in everyone’s mind that on Monday morning millions of brackets were busted.

It all started with the defending National Champions. Villanova squared off against a Wisconsin group that was extremely under-seeded so the committee didn’t do any favors for the Wildcats. Wisconsin matched Villanova the entire game and in the closing seconds they made the plays that Villanova couldn’t. They held on for the 65-62 victory and now have reached the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season. Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig know what it takes to get this far and they have a legitimate shot as an 8-seed to reach the Final Four.

Gonzaga, another 1-seed, almost bowed out of the tournament just like Villanova. They jumped out to an early 22-point lead over 8-seed Northwestern in the first half and eventually led by 18 at halftime. In the second half Northwestern came out and played like a bunch not wanting their season to be over. The huge lead by Gonzaga was cut down to five with just under five minutes remaining then a missed call sealed Northwestern’s fate. Gonzaga’s Zach Collins reached through the net to block a shot which should have been goaltending. That would have made it a three-point game and who knows what would have happened. The missed call infuriated Northwestern coach Chris Collins who was assessed a technical foul. The Zags held on for the 79-73 win.

It was a back-and-forth affair between 5-seed Iowa State and 4-seed Purdue. The Boilermakers led by 13 halftime, but as we know in this tournament no double-digit lead is safe. The Cyclones came back and took the lead late thanks in large part to the efforts of Monte Morris and Deonte Burton. Once that happened Purdue answered, and then Iowa State answered, back-and-forth we went until Purdue shut the door on the Cyclones season, 80-76.

Sunday’s games were even more heart-wrenching.

Everyone knows the story of this Michigan squad. As an 8-seed in the Big Ten Tournament they defeated Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin to win the title. They did all of this after the airplane they were on slid off the runway which caused quite a scare for the team. They held on to beat a pesky Oklahoma State bunch 92-91 in the Round of 64 and then they knocked out 2-seed Louisville 73-69. For the better part of the first 31 minutes of the game they were down by either eight or nine points until they put together a run to knock out the Cardinals.

Fellow in-state team Kentucky also had themselves a game with 10-seed Wichita State. The Shockers were also under-seeded by the committee. Kentucky needed two blocks in the final minute of the game to stave off the Shockers despite a poor performance from star freshman Malik Monk.

North Carolina, Oregon and Baylor also barely held on to advance to the Sweet 16. 3-seeds Oregon and Baylor had a few calls go their way down the stretch in their respective games. Rhode Island gave Oregon all kinds of fits in the first half, but the Ducks rallied late in the game to send the Rams packing. Baylor had to hold off a USC squad that just wouldn’t go away.

North Carolina losing to Arkansas would have been the biggest upset by far. Arkansas led the Tar Heels 65-62 with just over three minutes remaining. The problem for the Razorbacks was that they wouldn’t score another point the rest of the game. UNC finished the game on a 10-0 run to secure a Sweet 16 berth.

The upset of the tournament came in one of the final games Sunday night. 7-seed South Carolina defeated 2-seed Duke 88-81. Duke led by seven at the break, but in the second half it was all Gamecocks. South Carolina put up a whopping 65 points! Sindarius Thornwell led the way with 24 points. Duke looked like the favorite to cut down the nets in Phoenix after winning the ACC Tournament, but too many mistakes (18 turnovers) against a quality team like South Carolina undone the Blue Devils.

The Sweet 16 is set and the only double-digit seed to make this far is 11-seed Xavier. They’ll have to fight with a lot of other teams though like 7-seed South Carolina, 7-seed Michigan and 8-seed Wisconsin to be deemed the Cinderella of this tournament.

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itsfinancethings · 4 years

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Confidence in low reserve, Joe Biden’s campaign lumbered into Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary trying to claw its way into a third-place finish that would help justify going forward after expected back-to-back losses.

Biden told NBC News on the eve of the primary that he could probably survive a fourth-place showing here. Still, those around the former Vice President were skittish about what Tuesday’s results could bring, including the possibility he could slip to a distant fifth. Senator Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg appear to be duking it out for the win, while Biden was jostling with the likes of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar.

“I think he’s holding his own, but it ain’t easy,” said state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, a longtime Democratic figure in New Hampshire and a captain of Manchester’s political machine. “If Amy beats him, it’ll tell him to work a hell of a lot harder than he has been. I think the thing that killed Joe Biden is losing Beau.”

Beau Biden was Joe Biden’s son who died after a battle with brain cancer. He also worked on D’Allesandro’s campaigns.

Former New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch acknowledged Biden’s uphill fight ahead, saying the campaign would do well in New Hampshire but is heading toward friendlier states like Nevada and South Carolina. And New Hampshire political kingpin Billy Shaheen, whose wife is a Senator and former Governor, put it bluntly: “I’m nervous,” he said.

Tony Luong for TIMEA sign for Joe Biden seen on a stack of chairs at a GOTV event in Hampton, N.H.

The official lines coming from Biden’s headquarters in Philadelphia were that early losses are surmountable. Iowa and New Hampshire are racially homogeneous, and polls suggest Biden will fare better in more diverse states, where he has built up enormous reserves of goodwill with black voters. Campaign aides are suddenly historical experts on 1992, when Bill Clinton’s upstart presidential campaign started 1-for-11 and 2-for-15 on his way to the nomination.

Rank-and-file voters, too, seemed indifferent toward the prospect of a Biden blow-out. “If he doesn’t win here, it doesn’t matter,” says Dan Bergeron, a member of the Manchester school board.

But it seemed an argument of necessity, as Biden’s one-time aura of inevitability has evaporated as his rivals worked harder and kept a busier schedule. He is getting out-spent on television and online ads. His get-out-the-vote machine is dwarfed by others. His events drew fewer people than his rivals, his fundraising lagged them and his energy did, too. Where his rivals sparked excitement, Biden sought sufficiency.

“I’m still not sure. He didn’t lock me down. I’ve been trying to get locked down, but I can’t get there,” said Nick Pangaro, a 68-year-old retiree from Hampstead, N.H., who is leaning toward Klobuchar. “I’m responsible for the rest of this country. The primary here is that important.”

After retooling his campaign leadership after his Iowa loss, Biden is tweaking other parts of the operation. He walked into his final event before New Hampshire votes to Carrie Underwood’s “The Champion” as a signal that he’s still holding onto hope — and pivoting to a soundtrack a little lighter on throwback tunes and a little heavier on Southern twang. One of the lyrics? “I am invincible.”

Tony Luong for TIMEBiden takes pictures with supporters at his GOTV Event in Hampton, N.H.

Yet even those who have endorsed Biden’s campaign have nagging doubts about his ability to win. “There are a lot of people in New Hampshire who are hunters,” said state Rep. Ben Baroody of Manchester, who owns 11 guns and endorsed Biden last week. “I grew up with a gun in my hand. We have Democrats in the Sportsmen’s Caucus. If he’d leave the N.R.A. alone, he’d be doing better. He’s saying, ‘I’m going to get you,’ and that’s not helping.”

For his part, Biden is testing new lines, including a series of questions that look past the primary and toward a potential head-to-head with President Donald Trump, who was speaking across town in a sort of counter-program to the Democrats.

“Are you all ready to get rid of a President who call generals to their faces losers, dopes and babies?” Biden asked his crowd. “I know I am. Are you ready to get rid of a President who calls traumatic brain injury a headache? I know I am. Are you ready to get rid of a President who awards a Presidential Medal of Freedom on Rush Limbaugh? I know I am.”

First, though, Biden will have to win the nomination. And his odds appear to be dwindling by the day. That’s why the campaign is using more and more of Jill Biden, the wife of the former Vice President, to offer some of the sharpest critiques of the campaign’s immediate rivals.

“Anyone can have a plan. Anyone can want to turn a page,” she said Monday evening. “But plans don’t mean a thing if you can’t get them done. Promises don’t mean anything if you can’t deliver.”

Biden’s team recognizes the need for a change in the narrative, if not the trajectory of the campaign itself. They are projecting confidence that thing will improve when the campaign moves beyond the early nominating states and into the bigger contests that start next month.

Still, though, confidence is not the overwhelming emotion in Biden’s crowds. Anxiety is.

#IFTTT #Blogger

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