Where is Notre Dame women's basketball in latest polls?
Notre Dame women's basketball as been raising some eyebrows with the big numbers the team is putting up, including a 41-point win over Stanford and a 39-point victory over then No. 21 California last week.
Combine said numbers with South Carolina's loss to Texas on Sunday and the Irish are making a move in the latest national polls.
Notre Dame (21-2) has moved up to the No. 2-ranked team in the country in both the USA Today Coaches poll and the Associated Press poll.
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Unbeaten UCLA (23-0) remains the unanimous No. 1 team in the land in both polls while Texas (24-2) moved up to No. 3 and South Carolina (22-2) dropped to No. 4. LSU (25-1) completes the top five in both polls.
South Carolina lost to Texas, 66-62, on Sunday. The same Texas team that Notre Dame beat, 80-70, in overtime back on Dec. 5 at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend.
Remaining ranked opponents on Notre Dame's schedule include a home game against No. 10/13 Duke (19-5) on Feb. 17, No. 11/10 N.C. State (19-4) on Feb. 23 in Raleigh, N.C., No. 21/23 Florida State (19-5) at home on Feb. 27. The Irish complete their home schedule on March 2 against Louisville, which is still receiving votes in both polls.
A quick look at UCLA's schedule reveals a game this Thursday against No. 6 USC (21-2) in Los Angeles, followed by a home game against No. 22 Michigan State (18-5), games against Illinois (receiving votes), Iowa and Wisconsin, before a home finale and rematch with the No. 6 Trojans.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame women in latest rankings: Why Irish rose this week
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Brice Matthews' timeline, draft pick compensation and ‘dudes just doing it': Astros takeaways
HOUSTON — Spring training is a time to ponder all possibilities, every permutation of how the ensuing seven months of a baseball season may unfold. Clubs consider everything and eliminate nothing, the byproduct of playing a sport renowned for its randomness. Still, anyone inside the Houston Astros' infrastructure is kidding if they claim to have predicted this. A team crippled by injuries and held together by castoffs continues to win, ascending to a place it always seems to be. Advertisement More than half of Houston's starting rotation is on the injured list, its home run leader has a bad hamstring and its best hitter hasn't appeared in a game since May 2. The Astros are somehow 41-30 and trail the Detroit Tigers by four games for the American League's best record. 'The history of the Astros, dudes just do it,' closer Josh Hader said. 'This organization finds a way to do it.' Hader holding the Minnesota Twins scoreless in the 10th inning is perhaps the only predictable outcome from Sunday afternoon. A backup catcher in a 3-for-32 funk hit cleanup while two journeymen on minor-league deals batted seventh and ninth. Houston struck four singles as a result. 'We know how to win,' said Mauricio Dubón, who collected the last one, walking off the Twins in the 10th inning. 'We don't stop fighting. We come in the ninth inning and try to make it happen. That's the mentality we have over here.' All-Star Energy. #VoteDubi x — Houston Astros (@astros) June 15, 2025 Dubón delivered Houston's ninth win this season in its final at-bat. The team already has 20 come-from-behind wins in its first 71 games. It had 35 total last season. The Astros have won 13 one-run games after winning just 18 last year. Fortune is involved, yes, but premier pitching is propelling it. No staff in the sport has struck out more batters than Houston's, even with three members of the rotation sitting on the injured list. On Sunday, a left-hander named Brandon Walter, in the second year of a minor-league deal he signed last August, allowed one run across 6 2/3 innings. His ERA is 1.53 after three starts as an Astro. 'You just know they're going to pitch good here, because it's how it is,' Walter said. 'It's contagious.' Vibes are contagious for a club that's won five straight and 10 of its past 14 with a skeleton crew. Somewhere between spent and scintillated sits its manager, who plopped down for Sunday's postgame news conference and let out an exhale. 'Speechless,' he said. A slew of injuries in their outfield allowed the Astros to summon prospect Jacob Melton for what was supposed to be an extended runway of playing time. Melton sprained his ankle Friday, spoiling the plan. When Melton did, another path for a prospect opened. The Astros did not seize it, bypassing infielder Brice Matthews in favor of journeymen veterans Cooper Hummel and Luis Guillorme. Advertisement Logic suggested the Astros could've moved Dubón into a primary outfield role during Melton's absence, allowing Matthews close to everyday playing time at second base. That Matthews entered Sunday slashing .307/.408/.604 across his past 120 plate appearances at Triple-A Sugar Land only furthered some thought that the former first-round pick could be on the precipice of a call-up. Matthews' lack of consistent contact prevented it, general manager Dana Brown said Sunday. After posting a 67.2 percent contact rate last year, Matthews is making contact just 67.3 percent of the time at Triple A this season. Only three qualified major-league hitters entered Sunday with a lower contact rate. Strikeouts and swing decisions have long been Matthews' biggest enemies, though this season he has slashed his strikeout rate from 31.4 percent to 28.5 percent. He is chasing outside the strike zone just 20.2 percent of the time, too — 8 percent below major-league average. 'It's a combination of swing decisions and sometimes he chases a little bit,' Brown told the team's pregame radio show Sunday. 'He's swinging the bat well, and he's starting to make more contact, and if it continues to trend in that direction, it could get interesting. Maybe he'll force our hand. It's really good to see that he's swinging the bat well in Triple A.' Without prompt, Brown also mentioned Matthews' success on the road, which is crucial in analyzing any of the Astros' performers at Triple-A Sugar Land. The Pacific Coast League is regarded as a hitter's paradise, especially in atmospheres like those in Albuquerque, El Paso or Reno. Matthews entered Sunday's game at Reno slugging .672 with a 1.117 OPS in 146 road plate appearances. In 93 plate appearances at Constellation Field — a ballpark that isn't nearly as hitter-friendly as others in its league — Matthews is slashing .171/.323/.197. He has 35 strikeouts in 76 home at-bats and 33 across his 119 on the road. Advertisement Brown has been prone to promoting prospects at a breakneck pace, especially those he's acquired or drafted during his tenure. He selected Matthews with his first draft pick as Houston's general manager and has made it clear he holds the 23-year-old infielder in high regard. Matthews is viewed as Houston's heir apparent at second base in the wake of Jose Altuve's switch to left field. Only 10 major-league teams entered Sunday extracting a lower OPS from their second basemen than the Astros, who could seek to upgrade the position during next month's trade deadline. Perhaps by then, Matthews is making enough contact to make that pursuit moot. Saturday's 3-2 win accentuated two of the Astros' most promising young players. Hunter Brown struck out a career-high 12 batters across seven stellar innings before Cam Smith collected the first walk-off hit of his major-league career. Brown's ERA is 1.88 after his first 14 starts of the season. According to Baseball-Reference, Smith is worth 1.1 wins above replacement. Only three Astros position players have accumulated more. That present production could also benefit Houston's future. Both Brown and Smith are eligible for Major League Baseball's prospect promotion incentive, adopted during the most recent collective bargaining agreement in an effort to discourage service time manipulation. Smith's eligibility had at least some influence on Houston's decision to put him on the Opening Day roster. Brown is eligible after debuting in September 2022, retaining his rookie status and then accruing a full year of service time in 2023. Though Major League Baseball's official website says 'there is a limit of one PPI pick per organization,' two league sources confirmed this week that language is somewhat unclear. Players themselves can only give their team one PPI pick in their careers, but if both Smith and Brown accomplish the feat this season, Houston will receive two extra picks after the first round of the 2026 draft. Advertisement Doing so would inject life into a farm system that needs it, though accomplishing it feels arduous. Brown needs to finish in the top three of American League Cy Young voting — a path that appears far more realistic than Smith's. Brown owns the American League's lowest ERA, fourth-lowest WHIP and is holding opponents to a .182 batting average. Only Carlos Rodón has been harder to hit among American League starters. Even if Tarik Skubal remains the favorite to repeat as the American League Cy Young winner, it is easy to envision a world where Brown finishes within the top three of voting — all that's needed to get a draft pick. Brown must maintain his dominance while monitoring the progress of Skubal, Max Fried, Garrett Crochet, Kris Bubic and Jacob deGrom. For Smith to secure a pick, he must either win American League Rookie of the Year or finish in the top three of MVP voting. If the season ended today, Smith wouldn't factor in. Jacob Wilson, Carlos Narváez, Chase Meidroth, Shane Smith and Will Warren all entered Sunday worth more WAR than Smith among American League rookies. Ground must be made up, but Smith has the runway to accomplish it. (Photo of Brice Matthews during spring training: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via AP Images)
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
How LaNorris Sellers, a QB no one knew a year ago, became projected top-5 NFL Draft pick
LaNorris Sellers' first college start left South Carolina fans wondering if the former unheralded quarterback recruit could handle life in the SEC. The opponent was Old Dominion. Trailing 19-16 in the fourth quarter, LaNorris misfired while throwing downfield on a third-and-3, passing up a 5-yard out route near midfield, drawing some groans. The Gamecocks lined up to go for it, but a false start by a freshman left tackle snuffed out that idea, which garnered loud boos. South Carolina's defense responded, forcing a fumble inside Old Dominion's 10 before LaNorris barrelled in on a three-yard touchdown run that secured a 23-19 win. Advertisement His passing numbers: 10 of 23 for 114 yards. LaNorris' father, Norris, said his biggest fear was that 'the blogs would crush him' if and when his son struggled. And sure enough, LaNorris saw the criticism. '(LaNorris) called me and said, 'Yo, people are killing me on Twitter,'' said then-South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, now the head coach at Appalachian State. 'I said, 'I've been an offensive coordinator for nine years. They're gonna kill you and me every week, but don't worry about it.' 'He said, 'Hey, I was nervous.' And I said it's OK to be nervous. You played in front of 80,000 people in a program that you grew up watching. He grew up real fast.' The ups and downs of LaNorris' early starts mimic how he arrived in Columbia, S.C. Head coach Shane Beamer can vividly recall a summer day in 2022 during his program's high school 7-on-7 camp. The biggest name there was one-time 2024 No. 1 prospect Jadyn Davis, a senior quarterback who, as a 13-year-old, had been offered scholarships by Alabama and Georgia. Beamer liked him a lot, he said, but as he watched Davis and another quarterback, he said there was 'zero doubt in my mind, the best quarterback in the camp was LaNorris Sellers,' a three-star recruit from Florence, S.C., that the Gamecocks had not offered. It baffled LaNorris' high school coach, Drew Marlowe, whose faith in LaNorris kept him motivated after his 2-6 coaching debut at South Florence High in 2020. LaNorris had ideal size and athleticism and was also a terrific student, but Beamer said that South Carolina still wanted to see a little bit of his senior film. True to his word, Beamer watched — or more like marveled at — LaNorris' film every Friday. 'My gosh, how many times can a guy throw '4 Verticals' for a touchdown because he did it like five times a game?' Beamer remembered. Still, he said, it was midway through LaNorris' senior season in 2022 before the program finally offered him a scholarship. 'I'd love to sit here and tell you, yeah, we knew it all along. But we didn't offer him until October of his senior year. And even then, it wasn't a slam dunk.' The 6-foot-3, 240-pound quarterback, just 19 years old, who almost no one had heard of a year ago and who didn't get an offer from the Gamecocks until late in his senior year, is now projected to be a top-5 pick in next year's NFL Draft. Loggains, a former NFL offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins, arrived at South Carolina from Arkansas in December, about six weeks after the Gamecocks had offered LaNorris, who was committed to Syracuse at the time. Loggains watched LaNorris' tape and asked about him. Advertisement 'They asked, 'Do you like him?' I was like, 'I love him,' Loggains said. He loved that LaNorris — a big goal scorer as a high school soccer star — had great feet and that he'd overcome setbacks, having bounced back from a season-ending chest injury the previous season. Loggains was even more impressed once he started hearing the questions the 17-year-old was asking: What Loggains believed in, scheme-wise; about other quarterbacks he'd coached who were similarly-styled; about when and why you change protections; about footwork in the shotgun. Loggains also liked that, unlike almost every other recruit he'd been talking to, LaNorris never asked about name, image and likeness. 'His questions were very mature,' Loggains said. 'I thought there was something special about his makeup. Seeing the talent was easy. I was wondering why we weren't recruiting him at Arkansas.' The Gamecocks had a week until LaNorris planned to sign with Syracuse in 2022's early signing period in late December. LaNorris had flipped from Virginia to Syracuse when UVA quarterback coach Jason Beck and OC Robert Anae moved to Syracuse. 'He had built relationships with them,' said Loggains. 'He is very much about trust. He's not a young kid. He's watching. He's listening. He's very perceptive. He judges everything. What a blessing to be there at that time, having a superstar right underneath your nose.' LaNorris' mother, Cheryl, implored her son to think carefully about his decision. 'My mom said, 'What happens if you go up there and that same coaching staff isn't there when you're there? I don't want you to go up there and get stuck so far away when you can stay home and play in the best conference,'' LaNorris recalled. 'And, they (Beck and Anae) were there for (only) six months after.' But for someone so much about trust and relationships, telling Beck and Anae that he wasn't coming to Syracuse was one of the hardest things he's ever done. 'I was supposed to sign that Wednesday, but I felt so bad that I ended up pushing my signing back until late Friday,' said LaNorris. 'I second-guessed myself a bunch in those three days.' Advertisement At South Carolina, LaNorris redshirted in 2023, sitting behind Spencer Rattler, who became like a big brother to him. Loggains prepped LaNorris as best he could for 2024. 'I threw Sellers out of practice like once a week,' he said. In late September, after Rattler had gone 18 of 20 against Mississippi State, LaNorris was put in for the two-minute drill and threw a pick on the first play. He ended up getting the boot. LaNorris was determined to bounce back. Every morning, he came into the office at 6:15 with his notebook and his breakfast and would watch tape with Loggains. 'I knew Sellers would be the quarterback in '24,' Loggains said. 'I wanted to callus him, be really hard on him, and see if he could take it. If he was immature, pouting, throwing his helmet, then you find a transfer portal kid. There were transfer kids available, who were good kids who wanted to come after Spencer left. But Sellers didn't flinch. I knew he was gonna be able to play.' LaNorris, who from an early age aspired to be an architect, also aspired to be like his regional NFL team's former starting quarterback: Cam Newton. LaNorris' dad, Norris, a truck driver, is a big Carolina Panthers fan. 'I would tell him he plays just like Cam and he kind of looked like him,' said Norris. 'I think that gave him the mindset: If (Cam) can do it, I can do it.' LaNorris became such a fan that as soon as he learned to write in cursive, he wrote Newton a letter. He was 11. 'I don't remember what I wrote,' LaNorris said, 'but I imagine it was something cringey.' 'He brings me this letter when I'm in the kitchen,' Cheryl recalled. 'It was the typical kid stuff: 'I'm your biggest fan. I want to be like you when I grow up.'' She chuckled. 'I didn't send it to him. I kept it.' ('She never mailed it out?' LaNorris said. 'She told me she'd mailed it out!') LaNorris practiced hard from a young age. When he entered sixth grade, he began working with a private quarterback coach, Ramon Robinson, whom LaNorris said has been 'super important' in his development. His parents drove him all over to sync up with Robinson for training on weekends in the offseason: to South Florence, Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Greenville, Atlanta. Advertisement The hard work was paying off. When Marlowe had thoughts of resigning at South Florence, he realized he had a special player in LaNorris — even if almost no college coaches realized it. Marlowe believed LaNorris struggled with confidence in high school — perhaps some of it stemming from his ranking as a three-star, or the lack of college buy-in. LaNorris' dream school was North Carolina. Marlowe reached out to them several times, he said, but the Tar Heels weren't interested. So before every game in LaNorris' senior season, Marlowe would grab him by his facemask and tell him, 'You're the best player on this field. Believe it, and play like it!' LaNorris can still hear those words: It's your team! Nobody else can stop you! 'He did that all the time,' LaNorris said. 'He did it every game, and after a while, you start to believe it.' Developing that mindset changed how LaNorris played. 'If you fully believe you're the best, you'll play like it,' he said. 'If you second-guess yourself and you're not confident in yourself, you won't play to your full potential.' His senior year, he led the Bruins to the 4A state title, throwing 45 touchdowns and just two interceptions while running for more than 1,300 yards and 17 touchdowns. When LaNorris struggled against Old Dominion, he conceded it was hard to block out all the outside noise. 'There's not really any way to escape it, whether it's from YouTube, TikTok or texting me stuff like that,' he said. 'I needed to learn from (that game) and just get better from it. Don't let it linger because if I did, it would've carried over to the rest of the season.' LaNorris responded with a cleaner performance the following week in his SEC road debut, completing 10 of 14 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-6 romp at Kentucky. He was even more impressive a week later against LSU, when he broke off a 75-yard touchdown run. He did, however, suffer a high ankle sprain right before halftime in a back-and-forth game that LSU rallied to win 36-33. Advertisement South Carolina played its worst game of the season coming off a bye week after LSU, losing 27-3 to Ole Miss. Loggains said LaNorris probably shouldn't have played because of his ankle: 'He gritted through it. They beat the crap out of him.' South Carolina was 3-3 at midseason, having dropped two of its previous three. That's when LaNorris, despite playing behind a porous offensive line, and the defense took over. The Gamecocks won the final six games of the regular season, and LaNorris saved his best performance for the finale rivalry game, at No. 12 Clemson. He ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns to lead a 17-14 comeback victory. LaNorris' wizardry as a runner gutted Clemson, starting with a dazzling 38-yard run before powering through the entire Clemson front four on the game's second play. He capped things off with a 20-yard touchdown scamper, bursting past and then around the defense on a third-and-16 in the game's final minute. 'After the game, I jumped over the wall to run on the field,' said Cheryl. 'Then, I turned around to see what looked like a million people running. I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, I made a mistake!' I'm scared, but by then, it was too late. I just had to run. But Coach D-Lo (Loggains) found me and helped me barrel through people to get to LaNorris, who gave me the biggest hug.' LaNorris admitted that beating Clemson in Death Valley had even more sweetness because the Tigers never offered him. 'I went to their camp. I felt like I had a good day.' NFL draft analysts — and rival coaches — are now all-in on LaNorris. The Athletic's Dane Brugler projects LaNorris going second in 2026. One mock at CBS Sports also has him going No. 2; ESPN has him going No. 4. Loggains, who spent two decades in the NFL, said it's not shocking to see folks talking about LaNorris as a potential top pick. 'This kid has created an unbelievable buzz of splash plays. There's some intermediate accuracy stuff that he's gonna improve on naturally. From an arm standpoint, there's no question.' Advertisement Right now, LaNorris' greatest superpower is his ability to extend plays because of his quick feet. But for Beamer, LaNorris's most impressive trait is his humility. 'He hasn't let any of this stuff go to his head,' Beamer said. 'No matter what's happening, whether it's after the Clemson game, when he made a play that will go down as one of the greatest plays in South Carolina history when he ran for the game-winning touchdown on a third-and-16, or it's a Saturday morning in the middle of a spring practice, he's the same. That is a great quality to have in life, but especially as a quarterback.' Plus, big endorsements in the NIL have flowed in fast. 'He basically got out of a Chevrolet Malibu into a Mercedes CLE,' Norris said. Later this month, LaNorris will close on a home in Columbia. He's also encouraged his father to get a new truck, as Norris is still driving his 2007 GMC Yukon. 'I said, 'For what? Every mile on that truck is all those memories of driving you to camps, to coaches,'' Norris said with a chuckle. Endorsement deals aren't the only offers that have flowed in for LaNorris. His dad said other schools reached out to see if he was interested in transferring, and the biggest offer he heard was for $8 million for two years. 'He was offered all kinds of crazy numbers,' Norris said. 'I told him he could say, I'm gonna stay or I'm gonna go. By my two cents: It was to get into college on a scholarship, play ball, get our degree and go on about our business. This NIL deal came later. We didn't come here to make money. We came here to get our education, play ball, and with schools calling, we're not gonna jump ship because they're offering more than what we're getting. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' 'You're 19,' Norris added, 'You don't need ($8 million). You're in a great spot. There were several talks, but it never really crossed his mind (to leave). It's a challenge with colleges offering younger guys that kind of money. Who's gonna say no to $8 million for two years? They're gonna be swayed if you don't have the right people in your corner.' Advertisement Asked if he was worried about LaNorris leaving, Beamer said with some people he might, but that he doesn't with LaNorris. 'I do realize that there is a money aspect to it, but I know he realizes he has a really good situation here, on and off the field.' 'I've been playing football all of my life for free,' LaNorris added. 'He's made of the right stuff,' said Beamer. 'He's got a great family around him. He knows what he means to this state. LaNorris has a chance to leave a legacy here.' (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; John Byrum, David Rosenblum / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Lions rugby squad nearly at full strength ahead of tour opener against Argentina
Associated Press The British & Irish Lions reported a clean bill of health after returning from their training camp in Portugal, with 15 players who featured in domestic finals at the weekend joining up with the squad Monday ahead of the tour opener against Argentina. It meant only one selected player — Scotland fullback Blair Kinghorn — was yet to link up with the Lions squad. Kinghorn remains on club duty with Toulouse, which is competing in the Top 14 semifinals in the France league on Friday, and could be away for a further week if his team reaches the final. Otherwise, Lions coach Andy Farrell appears to be in a strong position at the end of the club season in Britain and Ireland, with his contingent of players from English teams Bath and Leicester — who met in the Premiership final on Saturday — and Irish province Leinster — who won the URC final on Saturday — seemingly in healthy enough shape. Three Leinster players — scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park, prop Tadhg Furlong and fullback Hugo Keenan — didn't play in the 32-7 win over the Bulls but were still in line to join up with the Lions. The returning 15 will take part in their first training session with the Lions on Tuesday, the team said. If any of those players do feature against Argentina in Dublin on Friday, their involvement will likely be limited. Because of the reduced number of players at the six-day training camp in Quinta do Lago, Farrell called up England front-rowers Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour to help with practice sessions. They will train for the last time Monday before returning to their clubs, the Lions said. After the Argentina game, the Lions will fly Down Under for a nine-match tour of Australia containing three tests against the Wallabies. ___ AP soccer:
