Latest news with #MatchupPredictor
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark's Boyfriend Has 2-Word Reaction to Major Iowa News
Although they may no longer be a part of their respective Hawkeye programs, both Caitlin Clark and her boyfriend Connor McCaffrey keep close tabs on the happenings around Iowa City. While the past few months have been McCaffrey's time to shine as he joined Butler's coaching staff as an assistant, Saturday will mark the start of Clark's time to shine. One year after winning WNBA Rookie of the Year, her second season with the Indiana Fever will tip off against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky on Saturday. Advertisement With McCaffrey presumably ready to cheer on Clark, he also made sure to shout out one of his former teammates, Austin Ash, who is also getting into coaching post-basketball. The former Iowa and Citadel hooper was named the head coach at Earlham High School in Iowa, which led to McCaffrey writing "Let's go 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏." Connor McCaffrey's post about Austin Ash played four of his five college basketball seasons at Iowa before transferring to The Citadel. He and McCaffrey, who played six years of college basketball at Iowa, played on three NCAA Tournament teams together, advancing to the second round twice. Across his five college basketball seasons, Ash averaged 7.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game, with his best season coming in his lone season at The Citadel, where he averaged 15.2 points per game. Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark.© Dale Zanine-Imagn Images As for Clark and her Fever squad, they will be headlining an exhilarating opening weekend of the WNBA season. Advertisement She and Reese, who have been rivals since their college days, will face off in a game that is set to tip at 3:00 p.m. ET and air on ABC. ESPN BET currently has the Fever as 7.5-point favorites, with the Matchup Predictor giving them a 69.7% chance of winning. Related: Former No. 1 College Basketball Recruit Gets Released by WNBA Team
USA Today
05-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN predicts Auburn's Final Four Matchup with Florida
ESPN predicts Auburn's Final Four Matchup with Florida Does ESPN believe Auburn will advance to their first National Championship Game appearance? The Auburn Tigers had doubters as the 2025 NCAA Tournament began, losing three of four games entering March Madness. The number one overall seed has done what was supposed to do and reached the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. Despite that, the doubters remain for the Tigers. Most national media believe the Florida Gators will win on Saturday night. The ESPN Matchup Predictor gives the Tigers a 57.9% chance of winning the game and advancing to the championship on Monday night. However, BetMGM has Florida as a 2.5-point favorite. This is a game that will most likely not be decided until the final minutes. Auburn has defeated Alabama State, Creighton, Michigan, and Michigan State on its road to the Final Four. The Tigers are averaging 78.3 points per game and are shooting 44% from the field in those games. Defensively, they have held their four opponents to 65.5 points per game, with Creighton scoring the most at 70 points. Auburn's defense has held those teams to 33% shooting. The big story for Auburn heading into the game with Florida is the health of Johni Broome. He got off to a slow start offensively in the tournament, but played well in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Broome is averaging 17.3 points per game and has been great with 13.3 rebounds per game. Auburn's second-leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament has been Tahaad Pettiford with 17.3 points per game. Against the Gators, Auburn will need to play great defense, especially against the three-point shot. The Tigers have held their four opponents to 33% from beyond the three-point line. That defense begins with slowing down Florida guard Walter Clayton, Jr. He averages 24.8 points per game and is 45% from deep. He has been clutch for the Gators and performed some heroics in wins versus UConn and Texas Tech. That assignment should belong to Denver Jones. For the Tigers to prove the ESPN Matchup Predictor correct, they will need a big game from Chad Baker-Mazara. He had a good performance versus Creighton with 17 points, but overall, he is averaging just 8.5 points per game. Also, he is just shooting 28%. The Final Four matchup between the Auburn Tigers and Florida Gators will be broadcast on CBS with a tip-off time of 5:09 p.m. CT. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Phillip on Twitter @PJordanSEC
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN predicts Auburn's Elite Eight matchup with Michigan State
ESPN predicts Auburn's Elite Eight matchup with Michigan State Will Auburn advance to its first Final Four since 2019? The Auburn Tigers are one win away from reaching their first Final Four since 2019. They will play the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. CT on CBS. The road so far has not been easy for the top seeded Tigers, but they have used great second halves to advance in the NCAA Tournament. For the second-seeded Michigan State Spartans they have defeated Bryant, New Mexico, and Ole Miss to reach the Elite Eight. They needed comebacks against the Lobos and Rebels to reach this point. According to the ESPN Matchup Predictor, the Tigers have a 68.8% chance of winning the Elite Eight matchup and advance to the Final Four. The Spartans are predicted to have a 31.2% chance of winning. Johni Broome gave the Tigers a better performance offensively against Michigan than he had the first two rounds. In the 78-65 win over the Wolverines, Broome scored 22 points and was big on the boards with 16 rebounds. The Auburn guards have been the constant in the tournament with Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones both scoring 20 points each against the Wolverines. Michigan State won the Big Ten regular season and were led by their defense. They rank second in the conference allowing just 67.1 points per game. They are good around the basket as well. The Spartans were second in rebounding (39.8 per game) and blocks (4.6 per game). Offensively, they have several players who contribute. The top two scorers are Jaden Atkins (12.8 points per game) and Jase Richardson (12.2 points per game). Auburn should expect a game similar to what was played in their two matchups against Tennessee this season. Michigan State will not want a high scoring game and could try to slow down the pace. Good thing for Auburn they have proved they can play any style of game. Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly had subpar performances against Michigan. Expect one or both to have big games on Sunday. Kelly has been quiet offensively since scoring 23 in the first round versus Alabama State.
USA Today
20-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN predicts Auburn vs. Alabama State winner in NCAA Tournament first round
ESPN predicts Auburn vs. Alabama State winner in NCAA Tournament first round Auburn basketball opens its run in the NCAA Tournament Thursday with Alabama State. Will they cruise to victory? The regular season and SEC Tournament are now in the rear-view mirror for the Auburn Tigers. The new season begins on Thursday with the first round of the Men's NCAA Tournament when Auburn plays the Alabama State Hornets in Lexington, Kentucky as part of the south region. Alabama State defeated St. Francis (PA) 70-68. Amarr Knox made a layup with one second remaining to give the Hornets the win. The ESPN Matchup Predictor has the Tigers with a 99% chance of winning the game and advancing to a second-round game to play either Louisville or Creighton. Auburn defeated Alabama State last season 82-62 in an early season game at Neville Arena. 'We played them last year, and they had a pretty good team. So we can't take nobody for granted', Chad Baker Mazara said when speaking to the media on Wednesday. Auburn forward Johni Broome said that the team quickly got to work on preparation for the Hornets following Tuesday's First Four game. 'We did watch them live last night. It was in the team room watching the game. Crazy ending.' Broome said, 'And after that we kinda started scouting them, watching film on them and getting prepared on how we want to guard them and their tendencies.' Last season Broome had 16 points and 13 rebounds against the Hornets. BetMGM has the Tigers as a 32.5-point favorite in the game. Auburn needs to get the momentum back they had before losing three of the last four games. They should win the game, but how they look doing it will be the story. The game can be seen on CBS with a tip-off time of approximately 1:50 p.m. CT.
USA Today
15-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Can Alabama beat Florida in the SEC Tournament? ESPN gives game odds
Alabama basketball looks to advance to the SEC Tournament championship game with a win today against the Florida Gators in a No. 3 vs. No. 2 seed matchup in the conference semifinals at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Alabama (25-7 overall), ranked No. 5 in this week's AP Top 25 poll, cruised past the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats 99-70 on Friday night in Nashville behind 21 points from freshman Labaron Philon. No. 4 Florida defeated No. 21 Missouri 95-81 on Friday with Walter Clayton Jr. leading the way with 18 points. The Gators have had Alabama's number of late, winning the past three meetings against Nate Oats' squad dating back to March of last year when Florida beat the Crimson Tide twice in a span of four games: in the penultimate game of the 2023-24 regular season in Gainesville and again in Alabama's only SEC Tournament appearance. Both were blowout wins by Todd Golden's team. Fast-forward a year later, and Alabama and Florida are set to meet for the second time in four games again Saturday. The Gators pushed the Tide around back on March 5 in Coleman Coliseum for a 99-94 victory, a game where Florida led by as many as 14 in the second half. As for how the two teams stack up on a neutral court, Florida enters as a slight favorite by the oddsmakers, and ESPN for one seems inclined to give the Gators a similar edge entering Saturday's matchup against Alabama. ESPN Analytics' Matchup Predictor, which offers a prediction model based on its College Basketball Power Index ratings and other variables, gives the Gators a 51.2 percent chance to win the top-five showdown, compared to the Crimson Tide's 48.8 percent. ESPN defines BPI ratings as a "measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is, adding: "Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day's rest and altitude." Alabama ranks No. 5 in ESPN's BPI with an overall rating of 19.6, with Florida at No. 4 (19.8). Alabama-Florida is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. CT tip at Bridgestone Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN. The winner will face the winner of No. 8 Tennessee (26-6) vs. No. 3 Auburn (28-4) in the SEC title game at noon CT Sunday. HOW TO WATCH: Time, TV channel for Alabama vs. Florida
