Latest news with #JoseFernandez
Reuters
18-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Opening Day starters include 22 former All-Stars
March 18 - Twenty-two former All-Stars are among the 30 pitchers taking the mound on domestic Opening Day this season. Major League Baseball confirmed the mound matchups on Tuesday for the 14 games being played on March 27 and one on March 28. Reigning National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates will start against the Miami Marlins on March 27. At 22 years and 302 days old, he will be the youngest Opening Day starter in the majors since 21-year-old Jose Fernandez of the Marlins in 2014. The season's first game Tuesday saw two Japanese hurlers -- Los Angeles Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Chicago Cubs' Shota Imanaga -- square off at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The Dodgers earned a 4-1 victory while Yamamoto was credited with the win. A third countryman, Yusei Kikuchi of the Los Angeles Angels, is scheduled to start his team's opener against the Chicago White Sox on March 27. It's the first time three Japanese-born hurlers will start on Opening Day. Kikuchi is also one of four Opening Day starters who will be making their debuts with their new teams, along with Garrett Crochet (Boston Red Sox), Clay Holmes (New York Mets) and Luis Severino (Athletics). Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves is set to make his sixth career Opening Day start. Jose Berrios (Toronto Blue Jays), Nathan Eovaldi (Texas Rangers) and Sandy Alcantara (Marlins) are each starting a fifth season opener.
New York Times
17-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Women's March Madness 2025 staff picks: Final Four, national champs, shaky top seeds
The 2025 women's NCAA Tournament field is set with plenty of exciting matchups spread across the bracket. Top-seeded UCLA can build on its recent Big Ten tournament title and win its first national championship in school history, but fellow No. 1 seeds South Carolina, Texas and USC highlight a list of other contenders aiming to claim the sport's most prestigious trophy. Before the First Four tips off on Wednesday night, The Athletic's women's basketball experts are here to make their picks and predictions. Advertisement Take a second to download our printable bracket to follow along. Like offense? Then keep a close eye on this 5-12 matchup in the Spokane 4 Region. The Wildcats score 113.4 points per 100 possessions, the sixth-best mark in the NCAA. Fairfield, meanwhile, is 10th in NET rating. The Stags are fourth nationally in 2-point field percentage and shoot tons of 3-pointers. Fairfield has emerged as a power in the midmajor conferences, but it is hungry for its first NCAA Tournament victory in school history. Another offensive dream. Both of these teams rank in the top 20 nationally in offensive rating but do so in dramatically different ways. Richmond relies on layups and 3s, while Georgia Tech thrives in the midrange, and the Yellow Jackets make up for their low volume of free throws and triples by never turning the ball over. They neutralize each other's strengths. The Spiders allow lots of 3s, but Georgia Tech doesn't take them; Richmond doesn't foul, but the Yellow Jackets don't normally get to the line anyway. It really should come down to who makes more jump shots, which should be a blast. This will be a great first-round matchup if for nothing else than the contrasting styles. Does that make it the best? Not sure. But it certainly makes it interesting. The Lady Vols run a high-tempo, chaotic, heavy subbing system that thrives on its pace disrupting opponents (80 possessions per game). USF, on the other hand, loves to slow it down and has averaged just 66 points a game this season en route to the American Conference tournament title. This will be UT coach Kim Caldwell's second NCAA Tournament game, while USF coach Jose Fernandez will make his 13th appearance with the Bulls. The Tigers have not one, but two injury questions heading into the NCAA Tournament. Star forward Aneesah Morrow was helped off the floor in the second half of LSU's SEC tournament semifinal loss to Texas with coach Kim Mulkey later saying Morrow aggravated a mid-foot sprain. Star guard Flau'Jae Johnson has not played since Feb. 27 because of shin inflammation. Both are likely to participate in the tournament, but LSU's health concerns (coupled with their backcourt depth) are enough to give me pause on the Tigers making a deep run. Advertisement Baylor, Maryland, Ohio State and Kentucky make an uninspiring crop, and I would expect at least two to be beaten on their home courts before the Sweet 16. The Terrapins and Buckeyes were blown out in the Big Ten tournament, and the Wildcats got the unfortunate draw of a potentially under-seeded Kansas State team with Ayoka Lee. Other than the Bears, none played its way into hosting; rather, the teams benefited from others below them suffering more damaging losses. Furthermore, the No. 1 seeds are particularly strong this year, which makes it unlikely that any of the No. 4 seeds can spring an upset. There has been a rotating seat at the top of women's college hoops this season, and this year doesn't feel chalky when it comes to the Final Four. Each of the No. 1 seeds have shown elite high ceilings … and then we've also seen some pretty rough stretches (or full games) from them, too. Though UCLA and South Carolina seem to have the least difficult paths to Tampa, even they have shown evidence to doubt them. If they get into a matchup that pushes the right buttons, it's not out of the question they could be on the outside looking in when it comes to April. The 2025 NCAA women's tournament bracket is set! The road to the championship starts now 🏀#NCAAWBB | #MarchMadness — The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 17, 2025 Looking for a double-digit seed who could advance to the Sweet 16? The Crimson could be that team. Harvard has one of the best defenses in the country, allowing only 80.1 points per 100 possessions. They force nearly 11 steals per game and average 22.6 points off turnovers per contest, the 12th-most nationally. Add in the fact that the Crimson don't turn over the ball often and feature one of the most dynamic scorers in the country in senior guard Harmoni Turner, and Harvard looks like a potential second weekend participant. Harvard is a great pick, but in the interest of some variety, I keep coming back to the No. 14 seeds. Florida Gulf Coast is a trendy upset pick every season thanks to its unique style of play, one that has been maintained even after coach Karl Smesko left for the Atlanta Dream. The Eagles take the most valuable shots and deny opponents free throws and 3s. They won their first-round games in 2022 and 2023 and lost in 2024 by three points. If ever a No. 14 seed was to win an NCAA Tournament game (with Oregon State also earning a No. 14 seed in its first season as a midmajor), this is the year. Despite the increased parity, I still don't think we're at a place where a midmajor is going to be too much of a Cinderella. I don't have any advancing out of the second round. I didn't pick this upset in the first round, but Fairfield — especially if center Ayoka Lee doesn't play much for Kansas State — could be dangerous. The Stags score a lot, share the ball and take care of it and play a defense that generates a lot of turnovers and steals. The only NCAA Tournament team on their schedule this season was Oklahoma State (Fairfield lost by two), but if Lee doesn't play and if Kentucky gets shaken on its home court, could the Stags make some magic? Sure. There's a reason that USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb seemed ticked off that her team was the fourth No. 1 seed. While there's plenty of basketball still to be played, a potential Elite Eight rematch with UConn looms large as a potential blockade to the Trojans' Final Four path. Kentucky and Oklahoma could also present challenges, but as the best No. 2 seed, the Huskies are on the short list of programs that could win the national championship. Advertisement USC and Texas have the most difficult regionals, but the Trojans have the single toughest opponent in UConn, which is why they get the nod. We saw a much more limited version of the Huskies take down USC last year, and UConn was a possession away from beating the Trojans earlier this season without Azzi Fudd. I agree with my colleagues that these teams have the toughest paths, but I look specifically at the potential matchups coming the Longhorns' way and think … oh boy. Texas averages just more than three 3-pointers per game and has sunk more than four in just six of their 33 games this season. Though Texas coach Vic Schaefer has made this a winning system during his career (clearly, the Longhorns won a share of the SEC regular-season title), in a one-game scenario, it gives me pause. Especially when teams like Creighton, Tennessee and TCU — squads that rank among the top 10 in 3s made per game — stand between Texas and the Final Four. Dawn Staley might have been surprised the Gamecocks weren't the No. 1 overall seed, but South Carolina should still find its way out of the Birmingham 2 Region with the continued emergence of Joyce Edwards and MiLaysia Fulwiley helping differentiate last year's defending champions. In Tampa, the Gamecocks will meet Texas — for the fourth time this season — as the Longhorns' physical defense will help them advance out of Birmingham 3. Size separates the Bruins from their competition in Spokane 1. UConn-USC could be the game of the tournament, but the Huskies have too much overall roster talent, even with JuJu Watkins starring as the nation's best player. The Bruins have the easiest region, as expected for the top overall seed, and are the easiest selection. The only team that could realistically beat South Carolina is Duke, but it might be asking too much of the Blue Devils to get past Vanderbilt and North Carolina first. I have thought that Notre Dame was the most talented team all season; hopefully, two weeks off gets the Irish their mojo back. And by the slimmest of margins, UConn vanquishes USC. It's a shame that matchup is in the Elite Eight, again, as opposed to in Tampa, because JuJu Watkins vs. Paige Bueckers should command the biggest stage. UCLA — as long as it gets the ball to its star in the center, Betts — seems like a lock for Tampa. South Carolina has a chip on its shoulder after losing out on the No. 1 overall seed, and there aren't too many teams in its region capable of outplaying the Gamecocks in the transition game or with long-range shooting. A UConn-Notre Dame game would potentially be the best of the tournament, but in the previous iteration of this matchup, the Trojans eked out a win as Azzi Fudd played only eight minutes. At full strength, I like the Huskies. The Irish are my diciest pick, and if their recent trend of uninspired hoops continues (which I think we'd realize pretty quickly), then this choice will look bad early. But I'm banking on their previous 19-winning streak, defensive stronghold, hot 3-point shooting, energetic, joyful version of themselves to reemerge and make a run to Tampa. In recent seasons, UConn coach Geno Auriemma said he would cross his fingers entering the NCAA Tournament, hoping his healthy players would stay that way as the Huskies' depth had been shortened with injuries. This season, UConn enters the tournament with plenty of options as well as star power. Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd are among the best — if not the best — trios in the field, and the Huskies have shown that they can elevate in big moments. Beating South Carolina on the road was the most impressive victory for any team this season. UConn's ceiling has proven to be the highest in the country, leading it to win its first national title since 2016. Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong both average fewer than 30 minutes per game. Think about how much better the Huskies could be if they played an additional five or six minutes. UConn already put together an outstanding regular season, punctuated by its 29-point demolition of the Gamecocks in South Carolina. With how tough this season has been in the power conferences, the Huskies simply have been biding their time. If they can unlock an extra level in the postseason, this is their chance to end the UConn title drought. Advertisement This is the most talented team coach Cori Close has ever led, and when the players all clicking, they can put the most challenging individual matchups on the floor. The Bruins are an unselfish team that's peaking at the right time. They displayed impressive grit and focus in their Big Ten tournament title game comeback, and the only team that has exposed them this season was USC (and I don't see them meeting for a fourth time this season). Come April — after a month of getting the ball into the paint with Betts and overwhelming opponents with that advantage — UCLA will cut down the nets for the first time in program history.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Surging USF women control destiny, but not metrics, as March looms
TAMPA — Their confidence brims as March beckons. USF's women have won eight in a row to move within a game of first place in the American Athletic Conference. Their defense has grown more stingy, their turnovers more scarce. 'I think as we head into the stretch run here with about a week and a half left in the season,' said 25th-year coach Jose Fernandez, 'everything that we want is still ahead of us.' Except, perhaps, an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. Should the Bulls (19-8, 12-2) win the league tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, in a couple of weeks, their at-large odds become a moot point. But if they stumble in that event, they likely miss the NCAAs for the second year in a row. Why? Because while momentum's in USF's favor, metrics are not. And the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings — the primary tool for evaluating NCAA tourney teams — are steeped in factors such as offensive and defensive efficiency. For Fernandez, that's a sorer subject than the torn knee ligaments hobbling him these days. 'All it is, is protecting the (Power) Four programs,' Fernandez said. 'That's all it is.' A cursory look at the latest NET rankings — where USF is 67th — validates his point. Despite a daunting non-conference slate that Fernandez annually schedules by design, the Bulls have a better overall record and more quality wins (Quad 1 or Quad 2 wins, in NET vernacular) than some Power Four peers ranked ahead of them. Their lone Quad 1 triumph — a 65-56 win against then-No. 9 Duke just before Christmas — is still one more than Missouri (64th), Auburn (57th), Florida (55th) or Stanford (48th). Of those, only Stanford and Auburn have as many Quad 3 wins (three) as the Bulls. 'Do the blind resume of 20 teams ahead of us, and don't put a name, and (compare) our resume as far as who we've played and the margin of victory and that Quad 1 (win),' Fernandez said. 'I would find it hard to believe that (an at-large bid would be denied) if we go to Dallas and somehow don't win the conference tournament, when you're sitting at around probably 24 wins. We did everything that the (selection) committee asked you to do: challenge yourself in November and December, play a great schedule.' Therein lies the other issue: USF's AAC peers didn't schedule nearly as aggressively. The Bulls' strength-of-schedule ranking (44th) according to is by far the highest in the league, where seven teams' schedules rank 120th or worse. The AAC received only one NCAA bid last season and is projected to have only one this year. Longtime ESPN women's bracketologist Charlie Creme lists the Bulls as one of his 'first four out' of the 68-team field. 'I think we're the only (conference) team that has scheduled, unfortunately, for an at-large bid,' Fernandez said. 'If other people don't do that, this league will continue to be a one-bid league.' Win the AAC tourney next month and it all becomes academic for the Bulls, clearly the league's hottest team at the moment. During their eight-game streak, the Bulls are averaging only 12.9 turnovers, a noticeable reduction from their season average (14.4), and have shot at least 41% from the floor in all eight contests. Moreover, four foes have been held to fewer than 60 points during that stretch. 'I think we're doing a much better job taking care of the basketball, and I think we're doing a really good job defending,' said Fernandez, whose club hosts Memphis (7-19, 5-9) on Saturday. 'If we can continue to do that, and (low-post standouts) Carla Brito and L'or (Mputu) can rebound and finish around the rim, and Mama (Dembele) and (Janette Aarnio) can be steady at the point guard spot, and those three wings (Sammie Puisis, Vittoria Blasigh and Romi Levy) can make shots, we're a good basketball team.' Contact Joey Knight at jknight@ Follow @TBTimes_Bulls. Despite a seemingly superior resume, USF's women remain behind several teams in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, the primary tool for evaluating teams for the NCAA Tournament that sorts the quality of wins and losses into quads: USF NET rank: 67 Record: 19-8 Quad 1: 1-5 Quad 2: 0-1 Quad 3: 3-1 Quad 4: 15-1 Stanford NET rank: 48 Record: 13-12 Quad 1: 0-9 Quad 2: 1-2 Quad 3: 3-1 Quad 4: 9-0 Florida NET rank: 55 Record: 13-13 Quad 1: 0-9 Quad 2: 3-2 Quad 3: 0-1 Quad 4: 10-1 Auburn NET rank: 57 Record: 11-14 Quad 1: 0-11 Quad 2: 1-0 Quad 3: 3-2 Quad 4: 7-1 • • • Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida. Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Instagram, X and Facebook.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NCAA Tournament women's bubble watch: USF, Ivy League and Atlantic-10 with key matchups this weekend
There's one month until the NCAA Tournament selection show and there are still many teams battling to get off the bubble and into the field. South Florida (18-8) has won seven straight games, including a triple-overtime victory over Rice last week, to get into the at-large conversation if the Bulls don't win the conference tournament. They face Charlotte and Memphis this week. Jose Fernandez's team needed overtime to beat Charlotte the first time they met. Bubble watch George Mason at Saint Joseph's, Sunday. Once again, two of the top teams in the Atlantic-10 meet with second place on the line. The Patriots have won 11 straight games and are 13-2 in the conference. The Hawks lost to first-place Richmond last Thursday and are 11-3 in the league. Columbia at Princeton, Saturday. First place in the Ivy League will be at stake when the Lions visit the Tigers. The two teams are tied with one loss apiece after Columbia fell to Harvard on Sunday. The three teams are all in the hunt for NCAA Tournament bids. Harvard has the highest NET rating at 34. Columbia is at 42 and Princeton 49. Key ratings Belmont: The Bruins are 0-6 against top teams (Quadrant 1) this season, but two of those losses were close with a four-point defeat to Ohio State and a six-point one to Kentucky. They currently are tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference after losing to Drake over the weekend and have a NET rating of 59. Top 16 Reveal: The NCAA selection committee unveiled its top 16 teams Sunday to that point in the season and it didn't take long for the reveal to get upended. UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and Notre Dame were the top four seeds in the committee's mind. The Gamecocks were routed by UConn a few hours after the unveiling. The NCAA will have one more reveal on Feb. 27. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women's college basketball: and Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press
Associated Press
17-02-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
NCAA Tournament women's bubble watch: USF, Ivy League and Atlantic-10 with key matchups this weekend
There's one month until the NCAA Tournament selection show and there are still many teams battling to get off the bubble and into the field. South Florida (18-8) has won seven straight games, including a triple-overtime victory over Rice last week, to get into the at-large conversation if the Bulls don't win the conference tournament. They face Charlotte and Memphis this week. Jose Fernandez's team needed overtime to beat Charlotte the first time they met. Bubble watch George Mason at Saint Joseph's, Sunday. Once again, two of the top teams in the Atlantic-10 meet with second place on the line. The Patriots have won 11 straight games and are 13-2 in the conference. The Hawks lost to first-place Richmond last Thursday and are 11-3 in the league. Columbia at Princeton, Saturday. First place in the Ivy League will be at stake when the Lions visit the Tigers. The two teams are tied with one loss apiece after Columbia fell to Harvard on Sunday. The three teams are all in the hunt for NCAA Tournament bids. Harvard has the highest NET rating at 34. Columbia is at 42 and Princeton 49. Key ratings Belmont: The Bruins are 0-6 against top teams (Quadrant 1) this season, but two of those losses were close with a four-point defeat to Ohio State and a six-point one to Kentucky. They currently are tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference after losing to Drake over the weekend and have a NET rating of 59. Top 16 Reveal: The NCAA selection committee unveiled its top 16 teams Sunday to that point in the season and it didn't take long for the reveal to get upended. UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and Notre Dame were the top four seeds in the committee's mind. The Gamecocks were routed by UConn a few hours after the unveiling. The NCAA will have one more reveal on Feb. 27.
