The Major League Baseball season commences tomorrow, and like the Masters, which starts next week, it seems like it just ended. But that’s fine. Love both events.

Can the Atlanta Braves break through for the first time since 1995, their only World Championship under Bobby Cox with all that talent he had? The Dodgers are loaded once again and added stud righty Trevor Bauer to an amazing rotation featuring Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler. The Yankees are always considered a favorite and are predicted by many to be in the World Series, if not win it, but will they underachieve once again? Can the Rays return to Cinderella status once again? They’ve won so much over the past decade and a half that they aren’t really a Cinderella anymore. But can they capture what has been an elusive Fall Classic for themselves.

Here are White’s World’s predictions for the 2021 MLB season.

NL Wild Card

Padres over Nationals, 5-4

NLDS

Braves over Padres in 6

Dodgers over Cardinals in 6

NLCS

Braves over Dodgers in 7

AL Wild Card

Rays over A’s, 4-3

ALDS

Rays over Yankees in 7

Twins over Astros in 6

ALCS

Rays over Twins in 7

Fall Classic

October will be electric with 2 riveting, youthful, exciting teams playing for the World Championship. I like Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna and the stellar pitching rotation to bring back the title to the ATL. Should be hard fought though.

Braves over Rays in 7

NL MVP: Freddie Freeman

NL Cy Young: Walker Buehler

AL MVP: Mike Trout, predictable, but total stud

AL Cy Young, Gerrit Cole

Kumar moved his record to 6-0 on Thursday Night leading his team to a 10-2 victory over Mizzou at Columbia.

Rocker pitched 6 innings, gave up 5 hits, 2 runs, with only 1 earned, walked 2 and K’d 5. Sam Hliboki pitched the final 3 innings, giving up 2 hits, 0 runs, with a walk and a strikeout. We put together 16 hits on the night. Sophomore catcher C.J. Rodriguez was 3 for 6 with 3 Ribeyes including his 2nd homer this season. Junior right fielder Isaiah Thomas was 2 for 5 with his 6th homer and a Ribbie as well. Senior third baseman Jayson Gonzalez hit his 3rd long one of the season. Carter Young, Dominic Keegan and Cooper Davis also had 2 hits apiece. Kumar is now 6-0 with an 0.73 ERA, 12 walks and 53 K’s. Stellar stuff from the man, one of our main leaders.

Jack Leiter put together another spectacular gem Friday Night in an 11-3 Dores’ victory. Jack went 7, gave up 0 hits, o runs, with 2 walks and 10 K’s. Jack, who was named SEC Pitcher of the week for the second week in a row, has now gone 16 innings without giving up s hit after his no hitter against South Carolina a week and a half ago. That’s astoundingly great pitching. Enrique Bradfield had 3 hits in 6 at bats and stole his 16th base in 17 attempts. Saturday, Enrique made it 17 of 18. I’m pretty sure that leads the country. I’ll find out and clarify tomorrow. Dominic posted 3 hits, including his 5th homer of the season, Freshman DH Jack Bulger also had 3 hits, with 2 doubles and 3 Ribhies. Carter Young had a pair of hits and 3 RBIs as well, with a pair of doubles. Carter now has 8, 2 baggers on the season.

Just as importantly, Thomas Shultz pitched well Saturday and helped us complete the sweep, going 5, giving up 5 hits, allowing 1 earned, with 2 walks and 2 K’s. We needed that from our sophomore right hander. Need to solidify our third starter on the weekend. Nick Maldonado came in and pitched 3, giving up 1 hit, 0 runs, with 0 walks and 4 K’s. So, excellent stuff from Nick. Luke Murphy closed it out in the 9th earning his 4th save of the season, allowing 0 hits, with a walk and 2 K’s. We’re getting terrific pitching right now.

Challenging week this week starting tonight versus Tennessee Tech at home, 6:30 PM CT on the SEC Network+. Tennessee Tech is 9-9 and 4-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference, and they’ll be gunning for us. I’m suspecting, and I feel pretty confident, that freshman Christian Little will get the start. Christian is 2-0 with a 4.61 ERA with 6 walks and 16 K’s. Christian, as a freshman, is reminding me a lot of how Kumer started in 2019. It took him a while to get it going, but once he did, he was lights out as we well remember in his late season and postseason heroics. I see Corbs having that kind of confidence in Christian, believing he’s going to really deliver the deeper we get into the season.

By the way, Jack “Leits Out” Leiter is now 6-0 with an 0.25 ERA, with 13 walks and 59 K’s. He leads the country along with Kumar in victories at 6 and leads the country in ERA. He’s putting together a historic season for his team, right there with his junior teammate.

This weekend will be very challenging as we head to LSU for a Thursday-Saturday series. We’ll be in Alex Box Stadium, and it’s a difficult place to play with rowdy 10,000+ crowds, probably less with COVID protocol, but still loud and raucous. Those Bayou people get amped up for baseball, everything really. LSU is struggling after getting swept by a resurgent Tennessee team last weekend. They are 1-5 and 16-8 overall. But they’ll be ready for us, so we need to tighten up our batting helmets and put on the hardhats and be ready to battle. Thursday Night’s game is at 6:30 PM CT on SEC Network+, Friday’s game is at 8 PM CT on ESPNU, and Saturday’s game is at 2 PM CT on SEC Network+. So gigantic week for the team.

We are now 19-3, and 5-1 in the SEC East. Ole Miss is leading the west at 6-0 and they are 20-4 overall. Arkansas is second in the west at 5-1 and they’re 19-3 overall. We are tied with the outlaws from the East and that team from the North with the underachieving basketball coach, at 5-1. That team from the East is 21-4 overall and those guys from the North are 17-4.

D-1 Baseball has us No.1, Arkansas 2, Ole Miss 3, State 8, Eastern Bloc guys 9, South Carolina 14, and those guys from the state on the Gulf Coast at 15. Texas Tech is 4 and Texas is 5.

Baseball America has Arkansas 1 and us 2. What a joke. We are No.1 in the Collegiate Baseball News Poll, and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. So 3 of 4 polls have it right.

More later in the week. Have a super week.

Clark Kellogg of CBS talks about “frees and threes” as key components to winning basketball games. Last night at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indy, UCLA sank more threes and a lot more frees in their 88-78 overtime victory over the Crimson Tide..

The Bruins were 10-of-29 from trifecta, 34.5%, and 20-of-25 from the charity stripe, 80%. Alabama was 7-of-28 from triple country, 25%, and just 11-pf-25 from the line, 44%. The missed free throws were the major difference in the game though UCLA sank big shot after big shot when it counted most. The Tide had hope when Alex Reese sank a miraculous 35 foot 3 at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, but UCLA took over in the overtime.

UCLA, 21-9 and an 11 seed, now faces No.1 seed Michigan in the Elite 8 of the West Regional. The Crimson Tide finishes its season at 26-7. It was a terrific season for the Tide as the team won the SEC regular season and the SEC Tournament Championship and looked like it could make the Final Four. The team made a courageous comeback in the second half rebounding from a double digit deficit at halftime and had the lead several times in the second half. But,at some point, you’ve gotta give the Bruins credit. They just made big shot after big shot and sank their free throws, while Alabama struggled mightily from the stripe. The Tide compiled an excellent season and has a lot to look forward to, though it is losing several players off of this year’s team. Recruiting has gone well for the 2021 class with the 17th ranked class in the country according to 247 sports with a 5 star and 2, 4 stars, so the team will be in the thick of the SEC race next season and a contender for years to come under Nate Oats. Auburn should be back in the hunt next year as well. For some teams, this season was a lost season and they get a mulligan next year. Powerhouses Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina and Michigan State would like to forget the 2020-21 season and you could put Auburn in that category. But I like Pearly to get the Tigers back in contention next season for the SEC title and the tournament if he doesn’t get in trouble with the NCAA in the meantime.

Sweet 16 record: 5-3

Elite Eight predictions

All 4 games at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy

Tonight

Midwest Region

No.12 seed Oregon State (20-12) vs. No.2 Houston (27-3)

6:15 CT

CBS

Houston by 8

Oregon State was impressive in handling Loyola-Chicago, 65-58, Saturday. Houston was just as impressive in defeating Syracuse, 62-48. I’ll take the slightly more athletic Cougars to advance to the Final Four on Saturday.

Houston 68, Oregon State 59

South Region

No.3 Arkansas (25-6) vs. No.1 Baylor (25-2)

8:57 PM CT

CBS

Baylor by 7 1/2

Arkansas survived a tough Oral Roberts team, 72-70, avoiding the upset on a barely missed three by OR at the buzzer. They now face the talented Bears, which disposed of Villanova, 62-51. I like the Bears to continue their superb play this season.

Baylor 75, Arkansas 65

Tuesday

West Region

No.6 USC (25-7) vs. No. 1 Gonzaga (29-0)

6:15 PM CT

TBS

Zags by 9

The undefeated Zags destroyed Creighton, 83-65, while the very impressive Trojans defeated Oregon, 82-68. I’m going to take the upset here. These PAC-12 Conference teams are for real.

USC 78, Gonzaga 76

East Region

No.11 UCLA (21-9) vs. No.1 Michigan (23-4)

8:57 PM CT

TBS

Michigan by 7

I’ll take another PAC-12 team in an upset.

UCLA 71, Michigan 69

It’s down to 16 outstanding teams playing for the chance to cut down the nets on Monday, April 5th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis . But a lot of work left for each contender in the meantime. First up for the aspiring teams is the Sweet 16 Saturday and Sunday. Here is a look at each game and which teams White’s World likes to survive and advance to the Elite Eight on Monday and Tuesday Nights.

Saturday, March 27

Midwest Region

Oregon State (19-12) vs.Loyola-Chicago (26-4)

Bankers LIfe Fieldhouse, Indy

1:40 PM CT

CBS

Loyola-Chi by 6 1/2

No.12 seed Oregon State

Has defeated Tennessee, 70-56, and Oklahoma State, 80-70, and won the PAC-12 Tournament Championship to get here. Leading scorer is 6’3” guard Ethan Thompson, who averages 15.6 ppg. 6’3” guard Jarod Lucas adds 13 ppg. 6’7” forward Warith Alatishe averages 9.5 ppg and 8.6 rebounds per game.

No.8 Loyola-Chicago

Defeated Georgia Tech, 71-60, in the first round, and upset Midwest No.1 seed Illinois, 71-58 in round 2. Leading scorer is big man, 6’9,” 255 center Cameron Krutwig who averages 15 ppg and 6.9 rebounds. Everybody else on the team averages single figures in points.

Final Analysis and Prediction

Oregon State looks on paper to be more explosive, but the Ramblers are the No.1 scoring defense in the nation. That’s strong. I’m going to take the big fella, Krutwig, Sister Jean and Divine Intervention. That’s a tough trifecta to neutralize.

Loyola-Chicago 69, Oregon State 62

South Region

Villanova (18-6) vs. Baylor (24-2)

Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indy

4:15 PM CT

CBS

Baylor by 7

No.5 seed Villanova

The 2016 and 2018 national champions defeated Winthrop in round 1, 73-63, and North Texas in the second round, 84-61. The Wildcats are led in scoring by 6’9,” 230 power forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who is averaging 16 points and adds 8.3 rebounds. Second leading scorer and one of the main team leaders, point guard Collin Gillespie, who averaged 14 points and 4.6 assists, was lost for the season in the Big East Tournament suffering a season ending knee injury. Guard Justin Moore, 6’4”, 210, and 6’7″,” 230 pound forward Jermaine Samuels, average 12.8 and 11.9 ppg respectively. Samuels also pulls down 6.5 rebounds per game.

No.1 Baylor

The Bears got here by defeating Hartford in the first round, 79-55, and Wisconsin in round 2, 76-63. 6’3” guard Jared Butler leads them in scoring at 16.9 ppg and adds 4.8 assists. 6’4” guard MaCio Teague averages 16.1 ppg. 6’2” guard Davion Mitchell averages 14.1 ppg. The team averages 84.4 points per game and the Bears have always played excellent defense under Coach Scott Drew. 6’5.” 250 power forward Mark Vital averages only 6 ppg, but pulls down 6.7 rbg. Matthew Mayer is a sharpshooter for the Bears as well. He averages 8.3 ppg, but sinks big shot after big shot when the Bears need it most.

Decision

It’s hard to go against either one of these teams. Nova has the championship pedigree and Baylor has plenty of NCAA experience and a spectacular team. I’ve got to take my pick to win it all in my bracket. Give me the Bears.

Baylor 76, ‘Nova 72

South Region

Oral Roberts (18-10) vs. Arkansas (24-6)

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

6:25 PM CT

TBS

Ark by 11

No.15 Oral Roberts

One of the major stories of the tournament so far, the Golden Eagles knocked off No.2 seeded Ohio State, 75-72, in overtime in the first round, and defeated No.7 seeded Florida, 81-78, in round 2. They are led by 6’1’“ guard Max Abmas, who is averaging 24.5 ppg. 6’8” 225 power forward Kevin Obanor adds 19 ppg and 9.6 rebounds per game. Guard RJ Glasper chips in 11 per game.

No. 3 Arkansas

The Razorbacks got here by defeating Colgate in the first round, 85-68, and Texas Tech in round 2, 68-66. 6’6”, freshman phenom guard Moses Moody leads the team in scoring at 17.1 per game. He adds 5.8 boards. 6’7” 230 power forward Justin Smith averages 13.9 ppg and 7.1 rebounds. Sixth man JD Notae adds 13.1. 6’6” guard Jalen Tate chips in 10.5 ppg. Tate is the leading assist guy at 3.8 per game.

I’m taking my talents to…. injured reserve?

It’s tough to go against the Hogs with the prolific talent they have. But this Oral Roberts team is magical. Again, as Chiz says, it’s “A God Thing.” Give me some more divine intervention in the Sweet 16.

Oral Roberts 80, Arkansas 78

Midwest Region

Syracuse (18-9) vs. Houston (26-3)

Hinkle Fieldhouse

8:55 PM CT

TBS

Houston by 6

No.11 ‘Cuse

Got to the Sweet 16 by defeating San Diego State in the first round, 78-62, and West Virginia, 75-72, in round 2. The Orange run the Jim Boeheim patented 2-3 zone defense, which causes opponents fits. 6’6” guard Buddy Boeheim, the coach’s son, leads the team in scoring at 18 ppg. 6’7,” 220 power forward Quincy Guerrier adds 13.9 ppg, and leads the team in rebounding at 8.5 per game. 6’5” forward Alan Griffin adds 13.7 and 6.0 caroms.

No.2 Houston

The Cougars defeated Cleveland State in the first round, 87-56, and survived a tough Rutgers team, 63-60 in round 2. 6’5,” 205 guard Quentin Grimes leads the team averaging 18.1 ppg. He adds 6 rebounds. 6’1”, point guard Marcus Sasser averages 13.3 ppg and 2.3 assists. 6’5”, guard DeJon Jarreau adds 10.9 ppg and 4.1 assists. 6’7,” 225 power forward Justin Gorham averages only 8.5 ppg, but pulls down 8.6 rebounds per contest.

Decision

This should be a classic battle of key shotmakers and tenacious defense. The Cougars get after it on the defensive end as well. I’ll take one of my Final Four picks, this one from the Midwest.

Houston 67, Syracuse 63

Sunday, March 28

West Region

Creighton (22-8) vs. Gonzaga (28-0)

Hinkle Fieldhouse

1:10 PM CT

CBS

Zags by 13 1/2

No. 5 Creighton

The Bluejays got here by defeating UC Santa Barbara, 63-62, in the first round, and Ohio, 72-58, in the second round. They have 5 guys averaging double figures in scoring led by guard Marcus Zegarowski at 15.7, then guard Denzel Mahoney at 12.5. 6’5,” 220 forward Damien Jefferson averages 12.1 per game and 5.4 rebounds. 6’7,” 220 power forward Christian Bishop adds 11 and leads the team in rebounding at 6.4. Guard Mitch Ballock chips in 10.1 per game.

No. 1 Gonzaga

The Zags are trying to become the first team since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers to go undefeated and win it all. If they win out they’ll finish 32-0. Indiana finished 32-0 in 1976. They got here by defeating Norfolk State in the first round, 98-55, and Oklahoma in round 2, 87-71. 6’7,” 220 forward Corey Kispert leads the Zags in scoring at 19.2 ppg. He also pulls down 4.9 rebounds. 6’10,” power forward Drew Timme averages 18.8 ppg and leads the team in rebounding at 7.3. Guard Jalen Suggs adds 14.1 ppg and 4.3 assists, and Joel Ayayi adds 11.9 ppg and 7.1 boards. Florida transfer guard Andrew Nembhard is a key player off the bench, averaging 8.9 ppg and 4.1 assists.

Decision

The Zags are the No.1 overall seed for a reason. They played top competition in the pre conference schedule and soundly defeated each one of them. They defeated Kansas, 102-90, Auburn, 90-67, West Virginia, 87-82, Iowa, 99-88, and Virginia, 98-75. This team is a juggernaut. It is highly difficult to go through a season undefeated in either football or basketball, maybe harder in bball with so many games. I like the Zags to keep on cookin in the Sweet 16 though and advance to the Elite Eight.

Gonzaga 95, Creighton 80

East Region

Florida State (18-6) vs. Michigan (22-4)

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

4 PM CT

CBS

Michigan by 2 1/2

No.4 Florida State

The Noles got here by defeating UNC-Greensboro in the first round, 65-54, and Colorado in the second round, 71-53. Guard M.J. Walker leads the team in scoring at 12.3 ppg. 6’8,” 260 power forward RaiQuan Gray adds 12 points and 6.5 boards. Guard Scottie Barnes chips in 10.4 and 4.1 assists. And guard Anthony Polite adds 10.2 ppg. 7’1,” 240 pound center Balsa Koprivca averages 9.2 and and adds 5.7 caroms.

No. 1 Michigan

The Wolverines got here by defeating Texas Southern in the first round, 82-66, and LSU in round 2, 86-78. 7’1,” 255 freshman center Hunter Dickinson leads the team in scoring at 14.2 and rebounding at 7.5. Forward Isaiah Livers, who was the second leading scorer at 13.1, was lost for the season due to injury suffered in the Big Ten tourney. 6’9,” 220 forward Franz Wagner averages 12.8 and 6.3 rebounds. Guard Eli Brooks averages 9.7 ppg, and point guard Mike Smith, a Columbia transfer, averages 9.3 and leads the team at 5.4 assists per game.

Decision

It was a blow for the Wolverines when they lost Livers for the season. But I’ve got Michigan advancing to the Elite Eight in the East and while FSU is so athletic and tough minded, I like the Wolverines to survive a difficult assignment and move on.

Michigan 71, FSU 69

East Region

UCLA (20-9) vs. Alabama (26-6)

Hinkle Fieldhouse

6:15 PM CT

TBS

Bama by 6

No. 11 UCLA

UCLA and the PAC 12 have been another major story in the tournament. There are 4 PAC-12 teams in the Sweet 16. The Bruins defeated Michigan State in a First Four game, 86-80, in OT, then BYU, 73-62, in round 1, and Abilene Christian, which had upset Texas in the first round, 67-47. 6’6” guard Johnny Juzang leads them in scoring at 15.1 ppg. 6’6,” 220 Guard Jamie Jaquez Jr. averages 12.2 ppg and 6.1 rebounds. Guard Jules Bernard, guard Tyger Campbell and 6’9,” 255 power forward Cody Riley average 10.4, 10.1 and 10 points respectively. Riley pulls down 5.4 boards.

No.2 Alabama

The Crimson Tide got here by defeating Rick Pitino and the Iona Gaels, 68-55, in the first round. And, in a masterful shooting performance, defeated Maryland, 96-77, in round 2. Guard Jaden Shackelford leads the Tide in scoring at 14.3. Guard Jahvon Quinerly, the Villanova transfer, adds 12.7 and 3.2 assists. Both are terrific finishers at the tim. John Petty Jr. was lights out against Maryland Sunday Night. He averages 12.5 and 5.2 boards. 6’8,” 210 great power forward and team leader Herbert Jones averages 11.3 ppg and leads the team at 6.5 rebounds. Josh Primo came back from injury he suffered in the SEC Tournament for the Tide Sunday and performed extremely well. He averages 8.2. Keon Ellis has been big with Primo being hurt for a few games. Makes big shots. He’s averaging 5.3 and 3.9 boards. And Alex Reese has really come alive in the tournament. He is averaging 5.5 and 3.1. The numbers don’t do Ellis, Primo and Reese justice though. They have been spectacular in the tournament along with the key guys listed above. This could very well be the most well rounded team in the tournament. Athleticism, shooting ability, lock down defense and rebounding prowess.

Decision

I have the Crimson Tide playing for the National Championship and I had a hard time picking Baylor to defeat them. Was very tempted to pick the Tide. They’ve got a real shot to cut down the nets the way they are playing. Give me Walter, Bama Golf, SMU, Derrick, though he may be more of a massive UAB fan, Theodopolis and the Crimson Tide.

Alabama 91, UCLA 75

West Region

Oregon (21-6) vs. USC (24-7)

Bankers Fieldhouse

8:45 PM CT

TBS

USC by 2 1/2

No.7 Oregon

Got a forfeit over VCU in the first round because VCU had COVID problems on their team then impressively defeated Iowa in the second round, 95-80. Guard Chris Duarte leads the team in scoring at 17 ppg. 6’6’ 230 power forward Eugene Omoruyi adds 16.7 ppg and 5.3 boards. 6’6,” guard/forward LJ Figueroa averages 12.6 and leads the team at 6.2 boards per game. 6’5”, guard Will Richardson averages 11.7 ppg and leads the team at 3.9 assists. 6’6” forward Eric Williams Jr. averages 10.3 ppg and 6 rbg.

No. 6 USC

Got here by defeating Drake in round 1, 72-56, and Kansas in round 2, 85-51. 7’0″,” 215 pound freshman center Evan Mobley leads the Trojans in scoring at 16.5 per game and also leads the team in rebounding at 8.8. Guard Tajh Eaddy adds 13.5 ppg. Guard Drew Peterson averages 9.8 ppg and 5 rebounds. And Evan’s older brother, sophomore Isaiah Mobley, 6’10,” 235, adds 9.5 points and 7.3 rebounds.

Decision

This is a tough one. Both highly athletic teams with a lot of skill. I’ll take the Mobley brothers’ size and paint dominance in this one. They control the paint and lead SC to the Elite Eight.

USC 76, Oregon 73

Vanderbilt Head Football Coach Clark Lea landed 3 commitments for the class of 2022 yesterday, all of whom look stellar on film.

First to drop the anchor was Nashville, CPA High School linebacker Langston Patterson. Langston is 6’1,” 215 pound inside linebacker. is rated as an 87, 3 star, by 247, and Rivals has him as a 5.7, almost a 4 star. And by the time the 2021 fall football season is done, Langston could very well become a 4 star. He amassed 72 tackles last year with 19 for loss. His film is terrific. He’s all over the field and is an enforcer as a tackler. He lays the hammer and the running back or quarterback will hit the deck upon contact with Patterson. I also saw him take an int back to the house. It was a beautiful play. Really sensational football player. Patterson also rushed for 733 yards and 10 TDs as a running back and is a tough, fast, skilled runner. So, we’re getting a tremendous player coming into our program.

Our second commitment yesterday came from Pinson Valley, Alabama High School defensive end BJ Diakite. Pinson Valley is in Birmingham. They won the Class 6A state championship in 2020, and it is also where our great linebacker now NFL standout for the Houston Texans, Zach Cunningham played. BJ is 6’3”, 210. He is not rated yet, but Robbie Weinstein of Vandy247 sports said that BJ will be a high 3 star when his rating comes out soon and could be a 4 star with a big season. ***Just in BJ is an 88, 3 star, so superb.

Our third commit came from Rabun Gap, GA. defensive end Linus Zunk. Linus, a native of Berlin, Germany, who just started playing football 2 years ago, is 6’6”, 235. He accounted for 14 1/2 tackles for loss last year along with 51/2 sacks. Linus is not rated yet, but I’m expecting solid to high 3 star anywhere from 85 to 87, 5.6 range. He’s physical on film and an outstanding tackler.

So, I really like what we’re getting in these 3 players and seeing this is as just a start to a stellar 2022 class. There could be a quarterback committing soon as Naperville, Illinois’s Kaden Cobb, a 6’3”, 180, 85, 3 star is leaning heavily towards Vanderbilt. Will keep you posted on Kaden. 247’s Weinstein is crystal balling him to VU.

So, awesome stuff from Clark. Practice is going on with the spring game set for Saturday, April 17th. I am going to go over in more detail our 2021 recruiting class. We already have 7 early enrollees and 2 transfers. We put on the pads for the first time today and Clark said it’s a work in progress. Keyon Henry-Brooks, our great running back from last season, is transferring. He’s in the transfer portal. So we’ll go with senior Ja’Veon Marlow, who’s always impressed me if he can stay healthy, sophomore Rocco Griffin, who I see as a potential stud at 205, with power and speed, Mitchell Pryor is back for his senior season and he did some good things last season. We have transfer Re’Mahn Davis from Temple. He’s 5’9,” 210 and put up some good numbers for the Owls. And we’ll have freshmen Dylan Betts-Pauley from Hoover, AL. and freshman Patrick Smith from New Jersey coming in this summer. Smith rushed for 1,800 yards and over 20 TDs his senior season for Holy Spirit High School in Absecon, N.J. Betts-Pauley is a workhorse-type back with great size at 6’1”, 220.

At wide receiver we’ll have Cam Johnson, Chris Pierce and Amir-Abdul-Rahman all returning. All 3 are studs and will be key contributors to this football team in 2021. Ken Seals or Mike Wright will have weaponry on the outside as there are more young backups who have stellar ability. Tight end will be led by the great Ben Bresnahan and a good crop of players along with him. Our line has returned guys like Cole Clemmons, Bryce Bailey, and Jonathan Stewart, who each had opted out last season. So it’s good to have them back. We have some young studs who gained valuable experience last year, and talents and size 300+ guys Dan Dawkins and Tyler Steen are back as well. We’ll need to develop our center spot as Grant Miller transferred to Baylor.

Seals is expected to be fantastic this season after a freshman campaign playing all SEC competition under his belt. Ken went to the school of hard knocks in 2020, and showed flashes of brilliance, and is expected to shine in 2021 if we can develop our other components of our offense. Mike Wright is a valuable piece as well with his running ability and his accurate passing. So those 2 will battle it out for the position this spring and summer. Ken has the lead right now based on last year, but they’re both excellent talents.

On defense, we have a large group of defensive linemen. Not sure if 6th year senior Drew Birchmeier will play offense or defense, but he’ll be valuable on both sides of the ball for talent and leadership. Looking for guys like Daevion Davis, Malik Langham, Rutger Reitmaier , Alex Williams and Derek Green to really step it up this season under a new staff. Four star freshman Marcus Bradley and high 3 star freshman Terion Sugick are early enrollees and can help early. Another freshman who could help is Jacques Hunter, out of Georgia powerhouse Valdosta. He’ll come in this summer.

At linebacker, hoping the Orji brothers, Alston and Anfernee, can become the outstanding players they are capable of becoming. Anfernee has been very good for us, and Alston, a senior, was a 93, and 5.9, 4 star out of high school, so he has it in him to excel. We need him to excel in 2021. Ethan Barr played some valuable time as a freshman last year and he’s going to be a good player for us. Michael Owusu is another player who needs to take the next step. Elijah McCallister has unlimited talent, when he’s not hurt, and has shown that he can dominate on the edge. Hoping for Elijah’s good health because he can be a superb player for us. Feleti Afemui is another who can really help us at the second level. We’ve also got some talented freshmen coming in with Michael Mincey, whom the staff is very excited about, and Errington Truesdell, a Georgia native like MIncy, and an inside linebacker also like MIncy. We’ll need to add some linebackers in recruiting.

I’m not positive of this, but I’m pretty positive that Clark runs a 4-2-5 defensive set, so defensive backs will be important. We have the 2 Andalusia, Alabama natives at corner, Alan George and B.J. Anderson. Gabe Jeudy-Lally showed talent at corner as well last season. B.J. was hurt for the season, but is back and he’s 6’1.” Those 3 guys are stellar. Freshman corner John Howse iV, is highly rated and an early enrollee. Will need to build depth at corner. Max Worship, Brendon Harris and Dashaun Jerkins should be excellent safeties.De’Rickey Wright is also terrific. De’Rickey lost his mom to cancer back in December, but he’s listed on the team. Pulling for De’Rickey to have a big year. I know he’s been through a hard time. He’s a great talent and the guys are behind him. And the great Donovan Kaufman will return for his sophomore season. The former 4 star had just returned a kickoff 85 yards against LSU last season when he got injured and was lost for the season. Donovan can be one of the great safeties to play for us and should be one of the top guys in the SEC in the upcoming years along with a stellar kickoff returner if Clark wants him to do that.

Punter could be Pierson Cooke, who did a pretty decent job last season, or Harrison Smith. Joseph Bulovas has transferred into the program from Alabama where he was a pretty steady kicker. They had Will Reichard, who could very well have been the best kicker in the country last season, he didn’t miss an extra point or a field goal, so that opened up the opportunity for us to get Bulovas. Pretty excited about getting Joseph on West End.

Our coaching staff is super. They’re excellent coaches and recruiters. I really like this staff that Clark has assembled. He has 2 former Commodore players in Jovan Haye, who remained on Clark’s staff from Coach Mason’s. Jovan will coach defensive ends. He is a superb recruiter. And Norval McKenzie, a former VU running back who was coaching running backs at Louisville, is now the running backs coach. Norval is another coach who can really recruit and coach’em up. There’s experience and talent in this coaching staff, both from the college and professional ranks. These guys will really be able to develop the talent we have and we DO have good talent on this roster.

I’ll have more on the 2021 recruiting class coming up in the next week or so and more on the team and any other 2022 commits that come down the pike.

We open with East Tennessee in Vanderbilt Stadium on Saturday Sept. 4th. Then we’re @ Colorado State, Saturday, Sept. 11th, Stanford at home, Saturday, Sept. 18th, in what will be a huge matchup for our team, Georgia at home, Sept. 25th, UConn at home, Oct. 2nd, @Florida, Oct. 9th, @South Carolina, Oct. 16th, vs. Mississippi State, home game, Oct. 23rd, vs, Missouri, Oct. 30th, Off the next Saturday, Nov. 6th, then vs. Kentucky, Nov. 13th. @Ole MIss, Nov. 20th, then @Tennessee, Nov.27th. All those games are on Saturdays.

So, looking to get to a bowl game, win as many as we can, and build for a stellar program in the upcoming years. Clark is labeling it a “10 year plan.” He’s not saying that he’s not looking for short term success, he wants success as soon as possible, starting in 2021, but he wants this program to have sustained excellence by year 10. Barton Simmons, the great 247 sports recruiting analyst, is our new general manager. Barton is brilliant at assessing talent and Clark likes that Barton can ‘think outside the box.” Or as I heard one time, “there is no box.” He’s a tremendous addition to this staff, which I’m personally ecstatic about. So great things happening in football.

Baseball

We took 2 of 3 over the weekend from South Carolina at the Hawk. Kumar was phenomenal Friday Night going 8, giving up 3 hits, 2 runs with 2 walks and 14 K’s in a 3-2 victory. Kumar threw 116 pitches with 82 for strikes against 34 balls, a better than 2:1 ratio. He just wouldn’t come out according to Corbs. Kumar was hitting 95-97, and his slider was terrific. On Saturday, Jack Leiter matched Kumar from 2 years ago in throwing a no hitter against the Gamecocks. Jack pitched a complete game, giving up 0 hits, 0 runs, with a walk and 16 K’s. jack threw 124 pitches with 81 for strikes against 43 balls. His fastball was dominating coming in at 95-97, like Kumar’s. He relied on his fastball a lot during the outing as he said his curve wasn’t where he wanted it to be or his change up. His fastball was dominating. He walked the first batter he faced then set down the final 27 hitters. It was masterful. Wow, with Kumar and Jack, if we can get our Sunday guy consistent, whether it be Thomas Schultz or whomever, we’re going to be tough to defeat this season. We lost Sunday, 6-5, just didn’t get the pitching or hitting when we needed it. We had 4-0 and 5-2 leads in the game, but couldn’t hold it and didn’t score a run after the 4th inning. So, need to figure out Sundays. We’ve got a mid week game tonight with LIpscomb coming to the Hawk. First pitch is at 6:30 PM CT on SEC Network+ with I expect 17 year old Christian Little on the hill. Christian reclassified this season to be in the 2020 class instead of 2021. He’s still 17, but shows flashes of brilliance. Interestingly, Christian is the only player to ever play for Tim Corbin who was born after Corbin started coaching at Vanderbilt in 2002-03. Christian was born in July of 2003. Christian shows a lot of promise. He’ll need to keep developing, but the talent is certainly there. Defense has been spectacular and hitting still solid, though South Carolina pitching was a lot more difficult for us. Need to keep improving in that area during the SEC season even though we started out on fire.

At Missouri this week. Thursday’s game is at 6 PM CT on the SEC Network, Friday’s game is at 7 PM CT and Saturday’s finale is at 5 PM CT. Both of those contests will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

We are now 15-3, and 2-1 in the SEC. We are ranked No.1 in the country by D-1 Baseball, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. We are No.3 by Baseball America. Arkansas and Mississippi State are No. 1 and No.2 in that poll. But everybody else thinks we’re the best team in the country. A lot of work left, but we’re impressive.

Missouri is 8-12 and 1-2 in the SEC. They lost 2 out of 3 at Kentucky, but won their game Sunday, 5-3. Lipscomb is 7-7 and 2-1 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Men’s Golf

Our 14th ranked Men’s Golf team finished third at the Tiger Invitational at Auburn last week. Auburn won it at -26, Alabama was 2nd at -24 and we tied LSU for third at -13. William Moll paced the team at -4 and finished tied for 13th overall. Harrison Ott finished -3 and tied for 20th, while Reid Davenport finished -2 and tied for 24th. It seemed like Coach Limbaugh was pleased overall with the performance. We want to win these tournaments, but he likes the make up of his team and their competitiveness. We’ll keep getting better. Our next tournament is at the Old Waverly Collegiate in West Point, MS. March 26th-28th, starting this Friday-Sunday. Nice course. So, another good opportunity for our team to keep growing and becoming the team we want to be, which is playing high level golf and competing for SEC and national honors later this season. Coach Limbaugh has scheduled us against some of the best teams in the country in every tournament, so that has to help.

Women’s Tennis

After defeating No.31 Kentucky the week before at home, 4-3. we fell to No.27 A&M on Saturday, 1-4. We won the doubles point, but lost 4 straight singles matches. Our No.14 team fell to 12-3 overall and 4-3 in the SEC. Key matches this weekend at the Currey Tennis Center at home as No.21 Tennessee comes to play us Friday at 3 PM CT and No.3 Georgia faces us on Sunday at 1 PM CT. Both matches can be seen on vucommodores.com, the women’s tennis tab. Huge weekend for the women to reestablish their super play this season.

Women’s Soccer

Our soccer game with Kennesaw State was canceled on Sunday due to Kennesaw State’s conference scheduling issues. We’ll now face Memphis at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex on this Saturday, March 27th, at 6 PM CT on SEC Network+. Then we’ll travel to top 10 Duke on Sunday, April 11th at 1 PM CT. That will get us tournament tough for the NCAA Tournament which starts around April 30th. We are ranked No.3 in the country by the Top Drawer Soccer Rankings and playing excellent soccer. Coach Darren Ambrose has us primed to do some exceptional things in the postseason..

Justin Thomas captured the 46th Players Championship yesterday, an extraordinary feat on one of the toughest tests in golf, and one of the toughest tournaments, right after the majors, to close out. The players consider TPC Sawgrass a Major Championship venue and many in the media and fans would say it is, too. It’s such a marquee event on tour and always a captivating tournament. JT shot 64, 68 on Saturday and Sunday. He said Sunday was the best tee to green ball striking round he’s ever had. He sank a clutch 5 foot par putt on the 17th, the Island hole, and finished it off with a clutch par on 18. He took a one shot lead over Lee Westwood with a birdie on 16. Westwood had tied him with a birdie on 14, but bogeyed the 17th before finishing with a birdie on 18 to finish solo second.

Justin now has 14 tour victories on his resume at age 27, he’ll be 28 on April 29th, and is the only player to win 14 PGA titles, a major, the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, and a Players Championship before the age of 28, besides Tiger Woods. Justin Thomas is the favorite at Augusta National right now in my opinion.

But the most powerful moment in the tournament came afterwards when NBC/Golf Channel interviewer Steve Sands asked Justin what his late grandfather would be thinking. Justin was extremely close to his grandfather who passed away a couple of months ago. Justin broke down and got some words out, saying he’d be proud of him. It was extremely moving. Awesome moment in sports. JT is quite a champion.

Another powerful moment happened in sports yesterday and today when the great 20 year veteran quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees, announced his retirement. Drew played at Purdue and is the Big Ten record holder in completions, 1,026, attempts, 1,678, and yards 11,792. He took his team to the 2001 Rose Bowl. That’s not done very much at Purdue.

He was the first pick in the second round by the San Diego Chargers in 2001. After making a Pro Bowl in 2004, Brees suffered a dislocation in his right shoulder joint, and a tear of the labrum and rotator cuff in 2005. He took his chances as a free agent in 2006. Then Miami Dolphins Coach Nick Saban, before his massive success at the University, recruited him to Miami. In his book, Coming Back Stronger, Brees called Saban, “an intensely, serious coach,” and was tempted to play for him. But the Dolphins owner overruled Saban and Miami didn’t offer Brees a contract. Breesy then went to visit with the Saints. New Orleans had just been devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. New coach Sean Payton showed Brees around the city and Breesy saw all the destruction in the city and was moved. In his interview this morning on the Today Show ,with Hoda Kotb, Drew called his decision to join the Saints, “Divine Intervention.” Drew is a deeply spiritual man. The rebuilding and reemergence of the great city with Brees as its centerpiece happened magically. Brees led the Saints to the playoffs 9 times in 15 seasons, after the franchise, which was established in 1967, had only had 7 winning seasons and 5 playoff appearances from 1967-2005. Brees holds NFL all time records in pass completions, career completion percentage, and career passing yards. He is second in career touchdown passes to Tom Brady. They had quite a competition going on the last 2 seasons. He’s also 3rd all time in regular season career passer rating and fourth all time in postseason passer rating. Most importantly, he led the Saints to the Super Bowl Championship in 2009, Super Bowl 44. He was a 13-time Pro Bowl quarterback.

I know he wishes he could have had a couple more Lombardi Trophies, but some tough luck in the playoffs prevented him from winning more of the coveted Super Bowl rings.

But what a career. Drew told Hoda this morning that he hopes he left New Orleans a better place than he found it. There is no doubt about that. What a legacy he left. But he’ll remain a New Orleans native and luckily, Drew will join the Sunday Night Football crew on NBC to work with Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and company. Can’t wait for that. He also talked about his wife Brittany, and their 3 boys and their daughter. He’s a true family man who is also dedicated to his charity work in the New Orleans area. He’ll always be a Saint and no doubt a First Ballot Hall of Famer. We’ll miss him. Walter, Brownie and I loved our Saints and we loved Breesy. He was an institution in football and leaves an indelible legacy. Can’t do much more than that.

Bracketology 2021

In his 2020 book, The Back Roads of March, the Unsung, the Unheralded, and Unknown Heroes of a College Basketball Season, John Feinstein writes about the Cinderellas of the 2018-19 season, the year that Virginia won it all. He talks about teams like UMBC, Maryland Baltimore County, which had upset Virginia in the 2018 tournament, the first No.16 seed to ever defeat a No.1 seed. Other teams like Virginia Commonwealth, teams from the Ivy League, the Patriot League, the teams that get no credit, but work extremely hard, maybe even harder than the Power 5 teams that get all the publicity. It’s a superb book. Feinstein writes about a sign he always sees in the historic Palestra, one of the oldest and most revered gyms in the country where the Big 5 in Philly play; the University of Pennsylvania, Penn, La Salle University, Saint Joseph’s University, Temple and Villanova. It’s unknown who wrote this piece about basketball on the sign. But this is what it says.

To win the game is great… to play the game is greater.. but to love the game is the greatest of all…

So with that said, and after a couple of months of deep thinking walks in Oak Mountain State Park, transcendental meditation in my basement and several acupuncture appointments with some of the world’s greatest accupuncturists, here is White’s World’s 2021 Bracket.

Can the Crimson Tide duplicate its football magnificence in 2020-21, which the Crimson Tide has done 6 times under Nick Saban. Can Gonzaga become the first team since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers to go undefeated and win 6 games in the tournament and finish 32-0? What about the great Baylor team, Texas or Oklahoma State from the Big 12? Or Big Ten Champion Illinois, or Iowa or Michigan? Houston is another stellar team and the champion from the American Conference. Can LSU, Arkansas or Tennessee make a run.

Can we have another Sister Jean moment? The 101 year old and going strong Loyola-Chicago Chaplain has her team on the cusp of possible greatness once again after making it to the Final Four in 2018.

Virginia was the last national champion 2 years ago in 2019, which seems like a decade ago. It’s been a long 2 years. Auburn was a missed double dribble call from making the championship game in 2019 when Virginia’s Ty Jerome double dribbled in the back court before finding Kyle Guy who attempted a game tying 3 at the buzzer, was fouled, and sank all 3 free throws to send the game in overtime where UVA won. It was a tough to take for the Tigers and the Tiger fans.

It’s super to have the tournament taking place in the bubble in Indianapolis. All the discipline it took from the players and coaches, just like football, to make it to this point makes it so worthwhile for the players, coaches AND fans. Nothing like March Madness. A 2 1/2 week extravaganza. As Sly Croom said, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Here’s my Bracketology for 2021.

Bracketology

Stack and the boys gave it a super run coming back from a 12 point halftime deficit and we had a one point lead in the second half at times, but fell in a hard fought game, 69-63, to the Gators.

Pip went for 23 and had 4 assists, and for the 2 days, was an astonishing 25-of-25 from the free throw line, which is an SEC Tournament Record. Pip just continues to amaze.

D.J. Harvey hit 3 big shots leading our comeback in the second half and stud Trey Thomas sank 3 huge threes to even put us ahead by 1. D.J. and Trey finished with 12. Trey was 4 of 7 from trifecta range and D.J. was 2 of 5.

An awesome effort by the team. Just came up a little short

Stack was proud of the effort by the team ,which had battled through COVID pauses, injuries and a lot of adversity and was playing their best basketball at the end of the season, which is a testament to the players’ resilience and hard work and the coaches developing their talent. Stack is highly optimistic about next season. There will have to be some decisions made. Will Scotty come back for another year. He’s deciding if he wants to come back next year or go out for the draft. Would love for him to come back with Dylan and a super supporting cast and lead us to an SEC title, an NCAA Tournament bid and beyond. Hope he will, but would not fault him for going after his dream of playing on the pro level. He’ll discuss it with 2 experts on the NBA, both of whom were superstars on that level, his dad, Scottie Sr, and Stack. Hopeful and prayerful Scotty will feel like it’s in his best interest to stay. Stack says that Scotty loves college, so that’s a plus. Will keep you posted. The draft date is not known right now, but should be in the summer, so there is time to figure it out.

Clevon Brown and Maxwell Evans will need to make decisions. They are both seniors. We would welcome them back. I believe D. J. is coming back. If we don’t have any defections, we’ll have most of the team back.

And with guys like Trey Thomas, Isaac McBride, Akeem Odusipe, Quentin Millora-Brown, and, of course, Dylan Disu and Jordan Wright, we’ll have a good nucleus along with very high 3 star incoming freshmen Peyton Daniels, a 6’0”, 165 pound point guard, and Gabe Dorsey, a 6’6,” 200 pound small forward. Both can really shoot it. Ejike Obinna will be graduating, he gave us great dedication and some solid play and we’ll miss his presence on the team and pull for him going forward. So we’ll have at least one open scholarship, Stack is looking for a young transfer player.

So, loved the effort by the team, we just kept getting better throughout the season, lost some close games we can win next year, each player improved markedly this season and really like the material we have returning next year. Looking for a highly successful 2021-22.

Baseball

Coming off a 10-4 victory over Memphis on Tuesday, the team is now 10-1 and ranked No.2 in the country, just behind Arkansas, and ahead of Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Florida, which are No.’s 3-5 respectively, in the D-1 Baseball rankings.

We’ve got quite a test this weekend as we are in Stillwater, OK., to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the No.13 team in the country by D-1 and No.9 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Cowboys are 9-0-1. The Cowboys are coached by our former super assistant coach, Josh Holliday.

Game 1, with Kumar most likely on the mound, is at 6 PM CT. Saturday’s game, with Jack Leiter on the hill for us, is at 6 PM CT also, and Sunday’s finale, with Thomas Schultz on the mound for us, is at 1 PM CT. ESPN+ will broadcast all 3 games. It can be viewed on your computer, your smart TV, your Ipad or Phone.

Dom Keegan is unfortunately out right now with COVID, so we’ll miss him. I would guess that Spencer Jones takes his place, and Spencer is more than capable. No timetable for Dom’s return. Hopefully a week and a half, maybe sooner, for the South Carolina series next Friday-Sunday at the Hawk.

So fantastic test for our team against a team that has its sights set on playing deep into May and the middle of June, like us. Will keep you apprised throughout the weekend. Should be stellar.

Men’s Golf

Our Men’s Golf team heads to the Tiger Invitational on the Grand National Lake Course in Opelika, AL. this coming Monday, March 15th-Wednesday, March 18th. Auburn will be hosting. Don’t have the list of teams playing, but it’ll be a loaded field as Coach Scott Limbaugh has loaded this team with a challenging schedule to get them tournament tough for the postseason. We are now No.14 in the country. Auburn is No.16. I imagine No.15 Florida will be there, No.20 Tennessee and No. 21 Arkansas. Alabama, a perennial top 25 team, will also be in the field. So a super test for our team. Hopefully, William Moll and the guys can come out on top.

Women’s Soccer

Coach Darren Ambrose and our 4th ranked Soccer team, as ranked by Top Drawer Soccer Rankings, defeated Kennesaw State yesterday at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex, 3-1. We got goals from Madi Allen, Raegan Kelly and Haley Hopkins. Madison Elwell added 3 assists. That’s awesome stuff. We moved to 9-4 on the season and we finished 8-4 in the SEC. In the Top Drawer Rankings, the preeminent rankings in college women’s and men’s soccer, Florida State is No.1, UNC is No.2 and UCLA is No.3 in the women’s rankings, just ahead of us. Next up for us is a game at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex versus Lipscomb on Sunday, March 21st, at 6 PM CT. ESPN+ will broadcast. After that, we’ll play Memphis at the VU Soccer Complex, Saturday, March 27th at 6 PM CT, and then we’ll finish off the spring season @ No.8 Duke, on Sunday, April 11th at 1 PM CT.

The NCAA’s begin April 30th with the College Cup, the Final Four, May 14th-17th. We automatically qualify based on our winning the SEC Championship back in the fall. There will be 36 teams in the NCAA’s down from 48 due to some teams not participating this season due to COVID. Tis is technically the 2020 NCAA Championships, which are usually played in the fall.

We have a terrific team, which has a shot to win it all. A team well worth watching if you’re in Nashville. Coach Ambrose has done a phenomenal job and the best is yet to come this season and in the future.

Women’s Tennis

Our Women played an excellent match on Sunday, defeating No. 36 Missouri, 4-2. We are now ranked 11th in the country by the ITA-Oracle Collegiate Tennis rankings. North Carolina is No.1 and Georgia is the only other SEC team ahead of us at No.3. We play Georgia at home at the Currey Tennis Center on Sunday, March 28th at 1 PM in what could be a tremendously important match for our team. But we’ve got a lot of work to do till then.

After losing the doubles point, No.1 and 20th ranked Christina Rosca won 6-3, 6-2 over Bronte Murgett of Missouri. Great stuff from Christina. Emma Kurtz won at No.2, 6-2,6-1, so both Christina and Emma came to play. Holly Staff won at No.4, 6-1, 6-0. Super effort by Holly. And the great Marcella Cruz closed it out for the team at No.6 with a 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 6-0 victory. Marcella is such a valuable player for us.

So big momentum builder for the team. We now face No. 31 Kentucky, this Sunday, 3-14, at 1 PM CT at the Currey Tennis Center, a home match. The women have always been fighters and we’ve got another stellar group. If you’re in Nashville, I’d go watch Aleke Tsoubanos’s team. Aleke is doing a tremendous job in taking over from longtime awesome coach Geoff McDonald, who retired after taking his teams to 20+ NCAAs and 6 Final Fours including a national championship in 2015. Geoffrey is now Aleke’s assistant. Aleke has kept the excellence going in women’s tennis. She’s terrific and the best is ahead for our program starting with the rest of this season. Fun group to watch with high aspirations this season.

Gladys Knight may have had her Pips, but so does Vanderbilt Basketball , as if’s Vanderbilt Basketball and the Pip.

Scotty Pippen Jr., our first team All-SEC selection point guard, poured in 22 points and added 6 assists and led his Commodore teammates to a thrilling 79-68 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies in the opening round of the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

With the victory, the Dores, 9-15, will now face the Florida Gators in the second round today at 1:30 PM CT on the SEC Network.

What a victory by Pip and the guys. With his dad , the great Scottie, Sr.,watching from the stands, Scotty was only 3-of-17 from the field and 1-of-8 from trifecta, but he made so many things happen for his team, both on the offensive AND defensive end. And he was 15-of-15 from the charity stripe,. Wow. D.J. Harvey, who added 17 points, was 6-of-8 from the line, so we finished 21-of-24 from the stripe, 88%, which wins you a lot of basketball games, if you also make enough shots, defend and rebound, which we did.

Max Evans was also into the act as Max finished with 12. Our great sophomore Jordan Wright and great freshman Trey Thomas each had 9. Jordan’s ability to drive to the basket and score is as good as any other player in the conference. He’s special. And the engine that could, Trey, connected on 3 huge trifectas in the 2nd half. Trey’s just an excellent, hard working, blue collar player for us, who is going to keep sinking big 3 after big 3 for us in the rest of this tournament, hopefully into the big tourney, and into next year and the future. Excited about our future under Stack.

Clevon Brown had a slam, 5 boards, and 2 blocks. Clevon really made his presence felt down in the block. Max, D.J. and Quentin Millora-Brown each pulled down 5 rebounds as well. Good to see the big fella, Quentin, getting into the act. He keeps on improving every game. Jordan, Myles Stute and Pip each pulled down 4 caroms. Myles also hit a pair of big triples. Good stuff from our talented freshman. Isaac McBride didn’t score, but he always hustles and has been playing very well. We’ll need Isaac today versus the Gators. Isaac’s shooting and hustle are necessary for this team’s success.

We held our own on the boards with 36 to their 38. We sank 12-of-34 threes, 35%, and they connected on only 7-of-25, 28%. They were 41% from the field, we were 42%. The difference was our defense,. Stack said he mixed up a lot of different defenses against the Aggies and they were all effective. We also shot “threes and frees,” as CBS’s Clark Kellogg says. And we held our own on the boards. We were even in turnovers with 13, so a wash there.

So, awesome effort by the guys last night. Now, it’s onto the Gators. We lost to them twice this year, but the second game at Florida, we gave them everything they wanted after being down by over 20 in the first half. We came back and cut it to 5 or 3, and ended up falling 78-71. But that game gave us confidence and renewed energy for the rest of the season. I think we’re ready to break through against them today. They are led by Tre Mann, who averages 15 per game. He’s a guard. Their big man, Colin Castleton averages 13.8 and pulls down nearly 6 rebounds per game. Mann is 6’5”, 190, and Castleton is 6’11,” 230. So they have some very good players. Pip is averaging 20.7 per game, Jordan is at 9.1 and Max is averaging 8.7. It’s just Pip and by committee. This team is finding a way. to get the job done. i like us to find a way today.

VU 75, Florida 72

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The “Fifth Major” will commence Thursday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, FL. with the best in world sans Brooks Koepka, Tiger Woods, Matthew Wolff and Danny Willett. Koepka, Eldrick and Wolff are out with injury. Willett came down with COVID this week.

Quite a field on display in this all time great tournament on tour. Outside the 4 majors, this is the tournament all the players want to win, and maybe more than majors these days because with a $15M purse and $2.7M winner’s share, these guys would really “feed their families” with a first place paycheck. So quite a lot to play for this weekend. And not to be undervalued, the legacy you establish with a victory at the Players.

Rory is the defending champion from 2019. The tournament was played on Thursday of 2020 before the pandemic canceled everything in sports the night before and Thursday. It’s been a long year, but there is ensuing light at the end of the tunnel. Golf has been cooking along for a while now and this event is spectacular sports viewing. With the SEC and major basketball conference tournaments this weekend, along with mid major tourneys and the Players, it’ll be hard to leave the couch. Will exercise before landing on the couch though.

Last week’s winner at the Arnie was DeChambeau. He drilled some bombs and putted exceedingly well. I hope the power lifting regimen that he’s employed does not permeate through golf going forward, but he’s turned some heads. But, as usual with DeChambeau, there was some controversy in his victory that hasn’t been talked about much.

At -11 and with a 1 shot lead over 47 year old Englishman Lee Westwood and Corey Conners, who faded on the last 2 holes, DeChambeau drove his ball on the par 5 16th into the lip of the bunker. He just had to blast his second shot out of the trap about 30 yards. His third shot landed over the green and was against the fringe, which would have given him a very difficult birdie putt. He wouldn’t have been able to get a solid stroke on the 40 footer as the fringe would have impeded his backswing and there was a good chance he’d bogey and be tied with Westwood. But in typical DeChambeau fashion, he called over a PGA Tour rules official and pleaded his case to be able to take relief and get a drop from his position as he said there was a sprinkler head in his putting line. The official looked at it and granted DeChambeau relief. Roger Maltbie, the veteran course reporter for NBC, was at the hole and was shocked and kind of incensed that DeChambeau got relief. Fans watching tweeted out the next day that there was no reason he should have gotten relief and that he was the one of the most hated players on tour because of things like this.

Two things are wrong here, DeChambeau’s integrity, which is always a question mark, and the PGA’s lack of an ability to stand up to these players bending the rules and not allow it. DeChambeau and Patrick Reed are the key guys in this challenging the rules to their benefit. I don’t want these guys leading the tour. The PGA needs to get some toughness about them and not let these guys get away with it because Reed won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January bending a rule, and DeChambeau got to move his ball and make par and won by a shot over Westwood at the Arnie last week. Somebody has got to show integrity on this tour and not allow this kind of behavior. It’s unacceptable. Golf is a game of sportsmanship and honor. That’s the way Jack Nicklaus, Arnie, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and actually a lot of the guys today play it. I’ve seen 23 year old Viktor Hovland follow the rules to the letter of the law and not getting relief when he shouldn’t get it and having to pay the price on the scorecard. But that’s the way it’s done and has always been done. A lot of the players are doing it the right way. DeChambeau and Reed don’t need to be exceptions. The PGA needs to show some mental toughness here and penalize players who aren’t following the rules and not enable them to skirt around the rules so they can win. That’s not how golf is meant to be played. The winner wins by playing the best golf and playing BY the rules. There should be no gray area there and the PGA is allowing there to be some. That should never happen. Hope the PGA can get their act together and toughen up so these kind of maneuvers that Reed and DeChambeau pull off won’t be allowed.

TPC Sawgrass is 7,189 yards and a par 72.

The 12th hole is a 298 yard par 4 with a high risk-reward challenge. Players who try to drive the green will face a water hazard surrounding the entire left side of the green. There is a large fairway bunker on the left side as well. So should lead to some drama all 4 days, particularly on Sunday.

The 16th hole is a par 5, 520 yard hole which gives the players a good chance to reach the green in 2. There is trouble on the right with a lake guarding that side and mounds and trees on the left . An eagle or a birdie would be a tremendous asset on Sunday for a leader or contender heading into the next hole, which is a make or break hole on Sunday.

The 17th, the Island Hole, is one of the most famous holes in golf, if not the most famous and treacherous. It’s a 136 yard, par 3, that has water on all sides and in front and back like a true island would. There is a bunker on the front right side. Club selection is critical as wind will always be a factor. The weather is sunny this week and no rain with winds anywhere from 8 to 11. So always a factor on this knee shaking, nerve wrecking hole. The dramatics will be at a peak on Sunday on 17.

The 18th has always been one of the most underrated holes in golf and one of my personal favorites to watch. It’s a 445 yard, par 4. There is water running down the entire left side and rough and trees on the right. Accuracy, with the pressure on, on Sunday, is job number one. After a birdie on 17, a par on 18 may do it for the winner.

The primary rough is 2 1/2 inches and the TifEagle Bermuda Greens are stimping at 13. Quick.

Odds

Dustin Johnson, +1200. With my minor betting knowledge that means you bet $100 and you get back $120. Dustin is the favorite as he usually is.

Jon Rahm, Rory and DeChambeau are all at +1600

Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland are at +1800

Collin Morikawa, Webb Simpson and Patrick Cantlay are at +2000

Tony Finau and Jordan Spieth, who has been trending well lately, are at +2500

Reed, HIdeki Matsuyama and Tyrrell Hatton are at +3300

Daniel Berger is at +4000, Tommy Fleetwood is at +4500, and Jason Day, who won here in 2016, along with Joaquin Niemann and Scottie Scheffler are at +5000.

No player has Ever won the tournament in back to back years. Since 2000, more than half of the winners have been international, including 4 of the last 6. Martin Kaymer won in 2014, Jason Day in 2016, Si Woo Kim, at 21 years old, won in 2017, and Rory won in 2019. American Rickie Fowler won in 2015 and fellow countryman Webb Simpson won in 2018.

Television

Thursday-Friday, 11 AM-5 PM CT, Golf Channel. Saturday-Sunday, 12-5 PM CT, NBC.

Winner

With how well the Internationals have done at TPC Sawgrass, I’m going to take the 43 year old from Gloucestershire, England. He’s finished tied 5th at the AT&T Pebble Beach, T-8th at the American Express and T-10th last week at the Arnie this year. He also won on the European Tour at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in January defeating a pretty solid field. Sometimes, like Si Woo Kim, K.J. Choi, in 2011 and Tim Clark, in 2010, guys who aren’t the marquee names come out of nowhere and win this tournament. I see that happening this year. While all the big guns, for the most part, will be competing, give me the +5500 Brit by way of Arizona State.

Paul Casey

The wait is over for Championship Week as the Southeastern Conference and conferences throughout the country hold their respective and coveted conference championships and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that goes with winning it.

In the SEC, No.1 seed Alabama, No.2 seed Arkansas, No.3 seed LSU, No.4 seed Tennessee, No.5 seed Florida and No.7 seed Missouri are in the tournament according to ESPN Bracketologist Joey “Brackets,” Lunardi. Ole Miss has work to do and the rest of the teams, Kentucky, surprisingly, Mississippi State, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt have to win the tournament to get the highly desired bid to the big tournament, where, once you get in, anything is possible.

KenPom.com, a basketball analytics guru, has Alabama as the favorite to win the tournament, at 28.7%, with Arkansas next, at 22.9%, then Tennessee, at 15.5%, then LSU, at 14.2%, then Florida, at 6.7%, then Ole Miss, at 3.9%, and then Missouri, at 3.7%. Auburn self-imposed a ban from postseason play this season and will not be participating. Pearly and his Tigers set their sights on a lot more successful 21-22 season. The pieces should be in place for that to happen, particularly if Sharife Cooper returns, but even without him, the Tigers should be a quality team.

Here are my predictions for the awesome extravaganza that tips off tomorrow at 6 PM CT on the SEC Network.

Wednesday, March 10th

No.13 Texas A&M (8=9, 2-8 SEC) vs. No.12 Vanderbilt (8-15, 3-13)

6 PM CT

SEC Network

I’m going to take the Aggies to advance in game 1. The way they played Arkansas tough at Arkansas on Saturday, taking them to the wire and only losing by 7 in a game that was a lot closer than 7 points, makes me think the Aggies, which have had major pauses with their team due to the pandemic, are going to start hitting their stride tomorrow night at Bridgestone. I expect a good game, just like the athletes of A&M a little better than Vandy’s.

A&M 66, Vanderbilt 64

Thursday, March 11th, 4 games

Game 1

No.8 Kentucky 72, No.9 Mississippi State 68

11 AM CT

SEC Network

The Wildcats need to win 4 games in a row. Like them to get started at that on Thursday, but do they have the arsenal to keep that up?

Game 2

No. 5 Florida 70, A&M 64

2:30 PM CT

SEC Network

Like the Gators to advance, but in a hard fought, defensive game.

Game 3

No.7 Missouri 75, No. 10 Georgia 65

6 PM CT

SEC Network

The Tigers are a quality team, but need to win their first game to insure a bid to the big tournament.

Game 4

No. 6 Ole Miss 74, No.11 South Carolina 72

8:30 PM CT

SEC Network

The Rebels keep their hopes alive for a tournament bid, but just survive a scrappy Gamecocks team.

Friday, March 12th, Quarterfinals

Game 1

No.1 Alabama 68, Kentucky 64

11 AM CT

ESPN

The Crimson Tide doesn’t shoot as well, Kentucky plays good defense, but rides their own defense and holds their own on the boards and makes enough shots to survive and advance.

Game 2

Florida 80, No.4 Tennessee 78

2:30 PM CT

ESPN

Give me the Gators in the first upset of the tournament as they solidify their bid and Tennessee still looks pretty good for the NCAA tourney, but will be slightly sweating it out on Sunday.

Game 3

No.2 Arkansas 76, Missouri 72

6 PM CT

SEC Network

I’ll take the Hogs barely in a major collision with a talented and hard nosed Missouri team.

Game 4

No.3 LSU 78, Ole Miss 74

8:30 PM CT

SEC Network

I expect another terrific game for the nightcap Friday. Give me a Jack and water and the remote on Friday.

Saturday, March 13th, Semifinals

Game 1

Alabama 74, Florida 70

12 PM

ESPN

The Crimson Tide starts picking up its shooting against the Gators, but it’ll be a tight game. The Tide survives and advances once again.

Game 2

Arkansas 77, LSU 74

2:30 PM CT

ESPN

The Razorbacks survive a strong ——— effort from Will Wade and the Bengal Tigers.

Sunday, March 14th, the SEC Championship Game

No. 6 Alabama (21-6, 16-2) vs. No.8 Arkansas (21-5, 13-4) (nationally)

12 PM CT

ESPN, please no Dickie V. Afraid that’s going to happen. “He’s sensational! He’s fantastic! He’s superb! He’s unbelievable, Ba-by!” None of that, ESPN. Would really appreciate it.

I like Nate Oats over the hyperactive and frantic Eric Musselman. I like Coach Oats as the National Coach of the Year. Who’s done a better job? Give me Nate, the great Herb Jones, Jaden Shackelford, Jahvon Quinerly and a really good basketball team, that is imitating its football team this year, over a team that’s going to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament and will be a tough out on Sunday. I like the Oats factor and the Herb Jones’ leadership factor to prevail. If the Crimson Tide pulls this off and teams like Michigan lose, in their conference tournament, Alabama could earn a number 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That would be phenomenal and make for a good chance at a run in the NCAA’s with favorable matchups along the way. Give me Coach Oats and the Crimson Tide. The Crimson Tide cuts down the nets on Sunday for the first time since 1991 as Bama Golf reminded me in his comment.

Alabama 80, Arkansas 78