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USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Oklahoma among biggest US LBM Coaches Poll snubs
The Oklahoma Sooners ranked just outside of the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll on Monday, landing as the top vote getter among the others receiving votes. It's not unreasonable to leave OU outside of the top 25 based on what happened in 2024, but if you're projecting into 2025, it's not a stretch to consider the Sooners one of the 25 best teams in college football. In reaction to the US LBM Coaches Poll that will be released each week during the season, Eddie Timanus of USA TODAY Sports believes the Sooners were one of the biggest snubs from the preseason poll. Most of the issues in Norman for the last couple of seasons have been on the offensive side of the ball, so Oklahoma's long-term staying power this season will largely hinge on the performance of transfer quarterback John Mateer. - Timanus, USA TODAY Sports Oklahoma has revamped the offensive side of the football to help a defense that made significant improvements last year. The additions of John Mateer and Jaydn Ott, combined with a bounce-back season from the Sooners' offensive line, should lead to a better result on the field. Oklahoma will have its first opportunity to prove they belong in week two of the season when the Sooners welcome the Michigan Wolverines to town. Michigan is one of seven ranked teams the Sooners will face this season. If Oklahoma can navigate the schedule to a nine or 10-win season, OU will have a strong case for an at-large playoff berth. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
USA Today
16-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
13 SEC teams projected to make NCAA Baseball Tournament
13 SEC teams projected to make NCAA Baseball Tournament With just over a week until the NCAA Baseball Tournament, the Oklahoma Soones have a bit of good news and a bit of bad. The good is that OU is locked into the postseason. Oklahoma could lose its final two regular-season games against Texas, lost in the first round of next week's Southeastern Conference Tournament, and still make the NCAAs. The Sooners may not like their seeding if that happened, but they'd be in. The bad news is after Friday's loss to the Longhorns, the chances of hosting in the NCAA Tournament are all but kaput. And finishing in the aforementioned manner might drop the Oklahoma to a Regional three-seed instead of a two-seed. As of now, in the latest bracket projections from USA TODAY Sports, OU remains a two. Eddie Timanus and Erick Smith released their latest projection on Thursday and the Sooners found themselves as the No. 2-seed in the Chapel Hill Regional, hosting by North Carolina. If such a meeting were to come to fruition, Oklahoma would play No. 3-seed and former Big 12 rival Kansas State. The host Tar Heels would get No. 4 Yale. The USA TODAY Sports projections listed 13 of the 16 SEC teams as in the tournament field. Another, preseason No. 1 Texas A&M slotted in the First Four Out listing. Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Arkansas, LSU and Texas would all host regionals in the projections. Oklahoma's regional would be against national No. 8-seed North Carolina. The Sooners won't know their NCAA Tournament fate until Sunday, May 25 during the NCAA Tournament selection show. They have at least three games left until then, meaning fortunes can change, even if it's unlikely they do.
USA Today
16-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
USA TODAY Sports' college baseball tournament bracket projections, including Florida
USA TODAY Sports' college baseball tournament bracket projections, including Florida The end of the college baseball regular season is just around the corner, which means that the postseason is just about to begin. With a nearly full season now in the books, the final pieces of the regional tournament picture are finally falling into place. Mind you, there are still games left to be played but with a nearly complete sample size on hand, USA TODAY Sports duo Eddie Timanus and Erick Smith took a stab at projecting what the early postseason picture will look like. Among those listed are the Florida Gators, whose late-season surge saved them from a lost season and got them back to the NCAA Tournament. Timanus and Smith agreed that the Orange and Blue will be the second seed in the Fort Worth Region, where the TCU Horned Frogs hold the top seed. Also included in that bracket are the Virginia Cavaliers at the No. 3 seed and the Wright State Raiders at No. 4. Take a look below at USA TODAY Sports' full college baseball NCAA Tournament seeding projections. (* denotes teams that are automatic qualifiers based on current conference standings.) Austin region Texas* (1) Texas-San Antonio* Kansas Central Connecticut State* Baton Rouge region LSU (2) Northeastern* Arizona Missouri State* Tallahassee region Florida State* (3) Mississippi State Stetson* Bethune-Cookman* Fayetteville region Arkansas (4) Duke Northeastern* Bryant* Athens region Georgia (5) Louisville Texas Rio Grande Valley Holy Cross* Auburn region Auburn (6) Miami (Fla.) Connecticut* Miami (Ohio)* Nashville region Vanderbilt (7) Wake Forest Southern California Oral Roberts* Chapel Hill region North Carolina (8) Oklahoma Kansas State Yale* Corvallis region Oregon State (9) Mississippi Arizona State Sacramento State* Myrtle Beach region Coastal Carolina* (10) North Carolina State Kentucky High Point* Los Angeles region UCLA (11) Dallas Baptist* Cal Poly San Diego* Clemson region Clemson (12) Southern Mississippi East Tennessee State* Rhode Island* Knoxville region Tennessee (13) Georgia Tech Iowa* Tennessee Tech* Eugene region Oregon (14) UC Irvine* Xavier Nevada* Tuscaloosa region Alabama (15) West Virginia* Southeastern Louisiana* Fairfield* Fort Worth region TCU (16) Florida Virginia Wright State* Last four in: Cal Poly, Texas Rio Grande Valley, Virginia, Xavier. First four out: Western Kentucky, Creighton, Cincinnati, Texas A&M. Team breakdown by conference: SEC (13), ACC (10), Big 12 (6), Big Ten (4), Sun Belt (3), Big East (2), Big West (2), Southland (2). Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Is Notre Dame baseball projected to make the NCAA Tournament by USA TODAY?
Is Notre Dame baseball projected to make the NCAA Tournament by USA TODAY? As the NCAA baseball season is entering its final regular season weekend, many in South Bend have been wondering if Notre Dame's late season push will be enough to get them into the tournament. Well, if Eddie Timanus and Erick Smith of the USA TODAY are correct, the Irish won't be making a return to the tournament. They released their projected bracket, and Notre Dame wasn't even listed as one of the first four out. It's pretty clear that the ACC, along with the SEC, are the top two baseball conferences in the country, as they totaled 23 bids in this projection. The Irish are viewed currently as a fringe team to make the tournament, and they could force the issue for the committee over the next few weeks. The weekend series in Miami just became that much bigger for Notre Dame, as the Hurricanes in this projection are in, although they are not one of hosts of a regional. There is still some hope for the Irish, but they'll need to win the series this weekend along with a few games in the ACC Tournament to force their way in.
USA Today
01-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Where Auburn lands in USA TODAY's Final Four re-seed
Where Auburn lands in USA TODAY's Final Four re-seed Will Auburn be the underdog in the Final Four despite earning the top overall seed? Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl gave his team the "underdog" treatment ahead of Sunday's Elite Eight game with Michigan State, even though the Tigers entered the NCAA Tournament as the top overall seed. However, the "underdog" mentality may bleed into this weekend's Final Four. Ahead of this weekend's action in San Antonio, Texas, USA TODAY Sports writer Eddie Timanus revealed his "re-seed" of the remaining four teams in the NCAA Tournament. Although Auburn entered as the top overall seed, they are No. 4 in Timanus' re-rank. Duke takes the top spot, followed by Auburn's next opponent, Florida, at No. 2. Houston grabs the No. 3 seed while the Tigers round out the field at No. 4. Although the drop to No. 4 is unfortunate, Timanus brings up several key points for placing Auburn at the bottom of the field. "It might seem odd to have the team that spent so much of the season ranked first in the coaches poll at the bottom of this list. But there are a couple of reasons. First, the Tigers, unlike the other three participants, did not win their league tournament. That is not always a good predictor of March success extending into April, of course, but Auburn was clearly playing its best basketball earlier in the campaign. Furthermore, Auburn has played all the other Final Four squads and only managed to beat one of them. Yes, star big man Johni Broome is fine after an injury scare in the Michigan State win, and the Tigers do know how to manage a quick turnaround situation as they did in Maui back in November. But they need to rediscover that cohesiveness to bring home the program's first championship." Auburn's place as the top overall seed for the NCAA Tournament was heavily criticized due to the Tigers dropping three of their final four games after wrapping up the SEC regular season championship with a win at Kentucky on March 1. Auburn fell in the polls and even the KenPom during its rough patch, but earned the benefit of the doubt by boasting the nation's best resume with 16 quad-1 wins. However, Auburn appears to be back on the right track as three of their four NCAA Tournament wins to this point have been by over 10 points, with three of those wins coming against "quad-1" teams. Auburn will have one, possibly two, more chances to prove they are the same team that dominated the regular season this weekend at the Final Four. Their first chance comes Saturday at 5:09 p.m. CT when Auburn faces the Florida Gators.
