“The fastest 2 minutes in sports,” the 147th Run for the Roses, commences Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville. The 146th Derby took place in September of 2020 with Bob Baffert trained Authentic taking the title. In 2019, the 145th running, Maximum Security looked to have the race secured winning it, but the 3 officials reviewed the race afterwards, and after a 30 minute deliberation, ruled that MS had bumped another horse on the backstretch before prevailing, so it was disqualified. Country House, ridden by Flavien Prat and trained by William I. Mott, was declared the winner as it had finished second. interestingly, the jockey aboard Maximum Security was Luis Saez, who is on the saddle for this year’s Derby favorite, Essential Quality at 2-1.

The weather Saturday looks terrific with sunny skies and a high of 76. It is raining pretty hard in Louisville today, but tomorrow and Saturday are sunny and perfect, so the 1 1/4 mile dirt track should be relatively dry. NBC will televise the race with coverage beginning at 1:30 PM CT and continuing on to 6:30 PM CT. Post Time is 5:57 PM CT on the dirt track.

Here are the Post positions and contenders for the 147th Derby.

1. Known Agenda (6-1), Trainer, Todd Pletcher, Jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr.

2. Like the King, (50-1), Trainer, Wesley Ward, Jockey, Drayden Van Dyke

3. Brooklyn Strong (50-1), Trainer, Daniel Velazquez, Jockey, Umberto Rispoli

4. Keepmeinmind (50-1) Trainer, Robertino Diodoro, Jockey, David Cohen

5. Sainthood (50-1) Trainer, Todd Pletcher, Jockey, Corey Lanerie

6. O Besos (20-1) Trainer, Greg Foley, Jockey, Marcelino Pedroza

7. Mandaloun (15-1), Trainer, Brad Cox, Jockey, Florent Geroux

8. Medina Spirit (15-1), Trainer, Bob Baffert, Jockey, John Velazquez

9. Hot Rod Charlie (8-1), Trainer, Doug O’Nelll, Jockey, Flavien Prat

10. Midnight Bourbon (20-1) Trainer, Steve Asmussen, Jockey, Mike Smith

11. Dynamic One (20-1), Trainer, Todd Pletcher, Jockey, Jose Ortiz

12. Helium (50-1) Trainer, Mark Casse, Jockey, Julien Leparoux

13. Hidden Stash (50-1) Trainer, Vicki Oliver, Jockey, Rafael Bejarano

14. Essential Quality (2-1) Trainer, Brad Cox, Jockey, Luis Saez

15. Rock Your World (5-1), Trainer, John Sadler, Jockey, Joel Rosario

16. King Fury (20-1) Trainer, Kenny McPeek, Jockey, Brian Hernandez

17. Highly Motivated (10-1) Trainer, Chad Brown, Jockey, Javier Castellano

18. Super Stock (30-1), Trainer, Steve Asmussen, Jockey, Ricardo Santana Jr.

19. Soup and Sandwich (30-1), Trainer, Mark Casse, Jockey, Tyler Gaffalione

20. Bourbonic (30-1), Trainer, Todd Pletcher, Jockey, Kendrick Carmouch

Winner

I’m tempted to pick 5-1 Rock Your World, but I see the racing gods punishing trainer John Sadler for replacing Santa Anita Derby winning jockey Umberto Rispoli, aboard RYW, with veteran and Derby winning jockey Joel Rosario. Pretty shrewd, cutthroat move and I see it coming back to haunt Sadler. Hot Rod Charlie won the Louisiana Derby. Trainer Doug O’Neill has won the Derby twice in 2012 with I’ll Have Another, and in 2016 with Nyquist. Bob Baffert has won 6 Derby’s and has a 15-1 riding in Medina Spirit, so he’s always a factor especially with Baffert and big time winner jockey John Velazquez aboard. Two time Derby winning trainer Todd Pletcher has a solid horse in 20-1 Dynamic One. Pletcher won the Derby with Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017. Dynamic One is being ridden by Derby winning jockey and cagy veteran Jose Ortiz. Another Pletcher horse, Known Agenda, is at 6-1 and is being ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. another veteran, successful jockey. The problem for Known Agenda is that it is in the No.1 post position.

With those top flight contenders, I’m still going to take the favorite. I know that’s not the most exciting prediction, but listened to Brad Cox before and after winning the Blue Grass Stakes, a 1 1/8 mile dirt race on April 3rd and was impressed. Essential Quality is undefeated in 5 races and won the Breeders’ Cup back on November 6th, the Juvenile race for 2 year olds. It also won the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 27th of this year. Cox is from Louisville and no trainer from Louisville has ever won the Derby, so there is some underdog factor in that. I like Cox to win and jockey Luis Saez to get redemption from the devastating Maximum Security disqualification in 2019. Give me,

Essential Quality

It was like when it rains it pours last Thursday when superstar power forward Dylan Disu and star safety Donovan Kaufman both entered in the transfer portal.

Disu is now going to Texas. He’s a Texas native, so I guess it makes sense for him. We still have a good team especially if Scotty Pippen Jr opts to stick around another year. So, still believe in what Stack can do with the 2021-22 team. Sorry we lost Disu. There are rumors that new Texas Coach Chris Beard was recruiting him, but they are unsubstantiated, so it is what it is. Still feel like we can be a solid, competitive team next year with a shot at making the NCAA Tourney.

Donovan is also transferring and Auburn could be a destination as Coach Mason is the defensive coordinator there and he recruited Kaufman to Nashville. Also, running back Keyon Henry-Brooks is transferring, so that’s another blow. Basketball guard Isaac McBride also decided to transfer.

Sorry a little late reporting this, but don’t let talking about negative stuff about our teams when there is so much positive stuff going on. Clark is building a consistent winner in football and our 2022 recruiting class with 6 players is ranked 26th by 247 Sports. We have a really nice group of players returning for 2021. Will have more on the blog about our 2021 team coming up soon.

Stack got those 2 huge 2022 recruits in 6’11”, 5 star center Lee Dort and 6’2″, 4 star shooting guard Noah Shelby. We also have a third player in the class, point guard Presley Patterson. Dort and Shelby are from Addison, TX. and Patterson is from Knoxville. Patterson is unrated at present, but it reminds me of Trey Thomas, who wasn’t highly rated, but did an awesome job for us this season and has a very bright future for us.

Plus, our 2021 class is very solid. We have 2 high 3 stars and 3 talented transfers. We’ve got some very good players returning, so I like what we can be in 2021-22. Like where Stack is taking the program.

Corbs is phenomenal as is Scott Limbaugh. I was telling a friend of mine this morning that we have some special players on this team, guys like Kumar, Jack, Enrique Bradfield Jr, Carter Young and Nick Maldonado among others. They are guys who can win championships for you.

So proud of Coach Limbaugh and the players. I thought maybe next year might be our year with the 2 best players in the country coming into play for us, but this team shows a toughness and resilience that can make them very special come May and June. Excited to see the guys compete. I was talking to former women’s tennis coach Geoff McDonald in February, and he predicted our next national championship will be in men’s golf. I said, “what about baseball?” and he reminded me golf finishes before baseball does.

Paraphrasing the great Ernie Banks, “Let’s get two!”

Women’s Soccer is superb under Coach Darren Ambrose. Looking forward to watching our women compete on Saturday.

Women’s Tennis did not make the NCAA’s, but we had a pretty young team, so expecting to be back next season.

It doesn’t get any better than this. Coach Scott Limbaugh’s Men’s Golf Team captured the SEC Championship yesterday in dramatic fashion at Sea Island’s Seaside Course.

After 3 days of stroke play Wednesday through Friday, we finished 6th and qualified for the Match Play as the top 8 teams matriculated to match play. And our guys came through in the clutch in match play.

First off, Cole Sherwood played well in the stroke play finishing fourth individually helping us reach the 8 team match play competition. In our quarterfinal match, we defeated Tennessee, 4-1, with Harrison Ott, Reid Davenport, Matthew Riedel and William Moll winning their respective matches. In the semis, we defeated Alabama, 4-1, with Sherwood, Davenport, Ott and Riedel winning for us. And in the championship match that was tremendously compelling. Cole won his match, 4&2, he was ahead by three holes, meaning he had won 3 more than the Arkansas player, and finished it off on No.16 by winning that hole, so he was 4 holes ahead with only 17 and 18 to play, so impossible for the Arkansas player to catch up. Reid won his match on No.18 to win 1 Up. We had been down 2-1 when Reid won his match, so awesome stuff from Reid and Cole.

So it came down to William, our sophomore from Houston. William has accomplished many things in amateur golf including winning the 2018 Jones Junior Amateur Championship and setting the scoring record right on the Seaside Course in Sea Island, so those were some good memories for the man. William was 2 up until the gritty Arkansas freshman, Manuel Lozada, birdied 16 from 7 feet to cut it to 1 up with 2 to play. Lozada hit his tee shot in the par 3 17th into the bunker and William hit a 6 iron to 40 feet. William calmly 2 putted and put the pressure on the Columbian, South American native. Lozado blasted out to 4 feet and calmly sank his putt to send the match to No.18. If William just tied the hole we win the SEC Championship.

On 18, Lozado blasted it down the middle and William coolly and confidently striped his down the middle as well. Both were sitting City Hall, right in the middle of the fairway. The drives were so close in distance that the official on the course had to flip a coin to see who would hit his approach first. William won the toss and hit it 20 feet away. Lozado hit his 6 feet from the hole. William made a good stroke on his birdie attempt just missing and going past the hole 3 feet. Lozado, who I was watching while Nick Maldanado had 2 outs in the top of the ninth inning for our baseball team up 7-4, eyed his putt. Nick struck out the batter for the victory, so had one more missed putt to claim the coveted SEC Championship. Lozado stroked it, and honestly, it looked center cut good. But it was a little hot and lipped out. William converted his par putt and we are SEC Champions for the second time under our phenomenal Coach Limbaugh. We also won it in 2017.

I want to personally thank our players and Coach Limbaugh and our awesome assistant Gator Todd. They are outstanding. Our 39 year old Coach teaches high character and integrity amongst his guys. They make excellent grades, and he’s just developed a winning culture at Vanderbilt. We’ll now make 7 consecutive NCAA tournaments under our 8 year coach, with last year being the only year we didn’t but nobody did because of COVID. Coach Limbaugh’s teams have now won 25 tournaments, we have reached 4 Elite Eights and 2 Final Fours, in 2017 and 2019. He’s coached 22 All-SEC selections and 4 SEC players of the Year in Hunter Stewart in 2015, Theo Humphrey in 2018, Will “Gordo” Gordon in 2019, and John “Clutch” Augenstein in 2020. I wouldn’t be surprised if William Moll joins that company. Reid Davenport makes a strong case as well.

It was a difficult year as we had to navigate through all the COVID protocols and we still are. Commissioner Greg Sankey said yesterday at the awards ceremony that there would be more testing and mask wearing coming up. It’s just a precautionary necessity at this time.

We played an incredibly difficult schedule against top level SEC competition and some other high level NCAA teams. We won the Vanderbilt Legends in late October of 2020, then we tied for first in the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate at Old Overton Golf Club in Birmingham in early November. We finished 7th out of 21 teams at the Gators Invitational on February. We finished 2nd out of 15 at the LSU Invitational. We finished tied 3rd out of 15 at the Tiger Invitational at Auburn. We finished 4th out of 14 at the Old Waverly Collegiate in West Point, MS. in late March. And we finished 4th out of 14 at the Country Club of Birmingham Invitational in B’ham in early April. Then we put it all together this past week at the Seaside Course.

So proud of the team. Coach Limbaugh, like Coach Corbin, is the best coach in the country. Assistant Coach Gator Todd is going to be a head coach in the future, and he’ll be a success. Hope we can keep him longer. I covered Gator when I was working for the Birmingham News and he was playing in the Alabama High School State Championships in Mobile in 2004. He was a state champion that year. I walked the ringal round with him in his round on the final day, Gator was playing for Coffee High School in Florence, AL., and Richard, his father and former standout quarterback for Alabama in the early to mid 70’s and standout in the NFL for the New York Jets, was a super guy. Really had an awesome day following Gator. He’s got what it takes to be a phenomenal head coach, but I hope we can keep him a little longer unless he gets offered a position that he can’t refuse.

And we have the great Coach Limbaugh. He was amazing in his post round interview and it was very moving to see Scott hug his wife, Kate, and his young children, daughters Malley and Annie, and son Thomas.

What a coach. What a team. Now it’s onto the NCAA’s, and, obviously, we want to do well there. But we should be able to enjoy this major accomplishment because it is tremendous to win the SEC in any sport. And with how competitive it is in men’s golf, it’s something our coaches and players should be able to celebrate for a good while. The NCAA’s are in 16 days, so we’ll get ready for that soon, but for right now it’s time to honor our superb team and our phenomenal Coach. Can’t wait for the NCAA’s, but going to enjoy this for a while too. A long time as a matter of fact. I’m sure Coach Limbaugh, Coach Todd and the players will enjoy this accomplishment for a long time as well. They should. It’s a lifetime memory for the players and the coaches.

Also of note, our former All American Matthias Schwab played in the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open in Spain on the European Tour and finished tied for 8th at -16. Matthias is playing awesome golf on the European circuit and he could win out there and get on the PGA Tour as well. Really excited about what Matthias can do with Brandt, Luke List, Gordo and Johnny “Clutch” Augenstein on the PGA Tour right now. Clutch is getting some exemptions to play at present, and has an excellent shot to make the tour in the near future.

Brandt and his partner Keith Mitchell, 29, and a former Georgia Bulldog, finished tied for 4th at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans on TPC Louisiana. It was a 2 man team event. Brandt and Keith finished -18. Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith won it in a playoff over Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwatzel. Those teams finished -20. So awesome stuff from Brandt. His game has really come around recently, and, at 40 years old, Brandt still has some excellent golf in front of him. Forty seven year old Stewart Cink just won his second tournament of the year at the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Sunday a week ago, so Brandt can play some stellar golf in his 40’s and win, including winning a major or majors. Believe in Sneds. Luke is also playing some good golf and Gordo will win in the near future. Expect John to be a winner on tour as well.

So amazing stuff coming from our golf program. Can’t wait for the next challenge in the NCAA’s.

Baseball takes series from State

Our No.2 team as ranked by D1Baseball defeated now No.6 Mississippi State 2 out of 3 games at Hawkins Field over the weekend, with some stellar pitching from Kumar Friday Night and a spectacular comeback yesterday.

We moved to 31-7 overall and 13-5 in the SEC with the victories. Arkansas is still No.1 by virtue of their taking 2 of 3 from South Carolina at Columbia over the weekend. They are 13-5 as well and tied for us for the conference lead. They are 31-7 overall.

Kumar was phenomenal Friday Night. He pitched a complete game, 3 hit, 2 run, with only 1 being earned, with 0 walks and 8 K’s in our 6-2 victory. Kumar threw 109 pitches with 70 for strikes against 39 balls. Our junior stud and leader was on fire. Sophomore catcher C.J. Rodriguez was 3 for 3 with an RBI. Parker Noland was 2 for 4 with a double. Isaiah Thomas and Cooper Davis each had 2 Ribbies on the night. So superb night for Kumar and the team. Our big fella moved to 9-1 on the season with a 1.55 ERA. Kumar has walked 15 and K’d 89. He’s an All American this season and he can lead us to tremendous success with his leadership and his talent. Our excellent media relations rep for baseball, Josh Foster, just reported that Kumar was named Co-SEC Pitcher of the week. He has allowed just one earned run in his last 2 starts, 16 innings of work. Both of those outtings coming against top 5 opponents as Kumar was spectacular on the road at Tennessee a week and a half ago. UT was ranked No.5 at the time. They are now No.4. State was No.3 coming into this past weekend. This was Kumar’s second SEC Player of the week honor. He shares the honor this week with Arkansas pitcher Kevin Kopps. So Kumar just keeps doin work for his team and his school.

On Saturday Night, Jack Leiter took his first loss as we lost to State, 7-4. Jack didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled and still did some good things. It just wasn’t our night. Jack is still 7-1 with a 1.49 ERA with 25 walks and 102 K’s. Kumar leads the country in victories at 9, and Jack leads the country in strikeouts with an 11 K lead over the next 2 guys, who are at 91.

Yesterday, we were down 4-0 and it looked kind of grim until the 4th inning when our superb sophomore shortstop Carter Young tripled to deep central field. Freshman DH Jack Bulger got him home on a ground ball and a throwing error on State. Jack got to second on the error and C.J. got him home with a single. The lead was cut to 4-2 after 4. In the fifth, senior third baseman Jayson Gonzalez led off with a single to right. Our awesome leadoff man, freshman centerfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. walked. More on Enrique in a little bit. Then Carter cranked one over the right field wall to put us ahead 5-4. We scored 2 more runs in the 6th on a 2 out, 2 run single to left by the great Enrique. Enrique is now hitting .331, and he leads the country with 30 stolen bases out of 32 attempts, which is astounding. And he’s playing spectacular centerfield. He had a circus diving catch on Friday Night to save maybe a triple. Enrique leads the country in SBs and is a game changer when he gets on base, which is frequently. Carter is now hitting .295 with 10 homers and 36 Ribeyes. And he’s just a phenomenally skilled shortstop. Dominic Keegan still leads us in hitting at .373. C.J. is hitting .326 and Isaiah is hitting .316. We are hitting .300 as a team. We are fielding at a .974 clip, and our opponents are at .967. We are stellar on defense.

And, of course, not to be left out were the pitching performances by sophomores Chris McElvain and Nick Maldonado. Chris took over from Patrick Reilly in the first and pitched 5.1 innings, giving up 5 hits, 1 earned, with 2 walks and 4 K’s. Then Nick came in and finished it off going 3.1 with 0 hits or runs, 1 walk, which was questionable as he looked like he had strike 3 in that at bat, and struck out 4. Nick earned his 3rd save of the year. Chris moved to 3-0. That McElvain-Maldonado combination is lethal. We’re still trying to figure out Sundays for our starter, or Saturdays, if we start Thursdays. I know Corbs wants to figure that out with pitching coach Scott Brown. Thomas Schultz has been pitching well in mid-week games, but Corbs may want to keep him there. McElvain could be an answer. He’s been tremendous the last 2 Sundays. Patrick Reilly is a talented freshman arm and has shown signs of being effective. So we’ll have to see. I’d like to keep Schultz mid week and then try McElvain on Sundays. We’ll see what Corbs decides. Up to him.

This week there is no mid-week game, so we’ll be at Florida, Friday through Sunday. Friday’s game is at 6 PM CT on ESPNU, Saturday’s game is at 5:30 PM CT on SEC Network+, and Sunday’s game is at 2 PM CT on ESPN2. So another extremely challenging week for our team at the No.14 team in the country. The Gators are 11-7 in the SEC and 23-5 overall, so this is a major series. They were the preseason No.1, so the talent is through the roof as usual. But so is our’s, so we’ll be ready.

Will have more coming up later in the week. Women’s Soccer plays Saturday at 2 PM CT versus the winner of the Penn State-Alabama State match on Wednesday in the NCAA Tournament. This will be the second round as we are seeded 16th and get a bye in the first round. So, huge week for our soccer team.

Women’s tennis should be in the NCAA’s as we are ranked 22nd in the country. The NCAA’s will be announced today at 5 PM CT today. Will let you know about that. Our women lost in the first round of the SEC Tournament to South Carolina, 4-1, but we have good talent and can get hot.

We finished off the weekend in the East with a resounding 10-4 victory over the Vols on Sunday before another raucous crowd in Knoxville. Corbs was saying, facetiously, that there were no COVID cases in Knoxville, according to the fan turnout at the stadium. There were rowdy, and most likely inebriated students, and a packed stadium. It was pretty unbelievable. Friday was a super night with Kumar on the mound for a 5-0 victory as Kumar pitched 7 shutout innings of 3 hit ball with a walk and 8 K’s. The great Nick Maldonado finished it off. Shortstop Carter Young and third baseman Jayson Gonzalez both homered.

Saturday was more forgettable. We held a 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the 8th, but Luke Murphy, who has been so reliable this season and has been a stud, gave up a grand slam, and we lost 8-4. I thought we left Luke in there too long and it cost us. Luke had hit a batter to load the bases and Chris McElvain was in the bullpen ready. McElvain is reliable as he showed on Sunday and thought we should have gone to him, but decided not to and it was costly.

On Sunday, as I said to one of my friends, that was more like it. Our great centerfielder Enrique Bradfield was 2 for 3 and stole 4 bases. He stole 2nd twice and third twice. Thought he might steal home there for a second. Maybe he’ll do that as we continue on into the season. Enrique runs like a gazelle. I would call him the fastest player in the country. He is now 26 0f 28 in stolen bases. We’re looking at the next Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s of the 70’s and 80’s, or going even further back in the day, Maury Wills of the Dodgers in the 1960’s and early 70’s. Enrique is just a game changer. Would love to see the stolen base return in professional baseball, and if Enrique can get there, he can change the dynamic of the game again, for the better.

Carter Young was once again on fire. Carter was 2 for 4 with 3 Ribeyes. He had an RBI single in the third and a 2 run homer in the fourth. Carter is now hitting .300 with 9 homers and 33 Ribbies. Enrique is hitting .336. First baseman Dominique Keegan hit his 7th homer of the season. He is hitting .394 with 32 RBIs to go along with the 7 homers. Dom is leading the SEC in hitting. Jack Bulger was named SEC Freshman of the week for his performance over the weekend. Sunday, he was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Jack is hitting .313. Isaiah Thomas is back, which is huge. Isaiah was 2 for 4 on Sunday and is now hitting .340 with 6 homers and 17 Ribbies. He’s missed some time with injuries, but he’s back and healthy and that’s awesome for the team. Cooper Davis is back as well. Would like to see Cooper pick his average up, it’s at .224, but he’s shown signs of breaking out of it. Parker Noland also hit a 2 run shot. He has 5 homers and 25 RBIs. He is batting .281. Parker can be a .300 hitter. Would like to see him get on a tear. Still no sign of second baseman Tate Kolwyck. Corbs thinks he’ll be back soon. Corbs didn’t have an update on Sam Hliboki either last Wednesday. Concerned that Sam may have a pretty serious arm injury, but hoping for the best. Will update later this week on both. Corbs sounded optimistic about Tate, so maybe this weekend versus Mississippi State.

Freshman Patrick Reilly pitched 3 innings on Sunday, gave up 2 hits, 2 earned runs, with 3 walks and 5 K’s. He was better this week than last. We need a third guy to step up. Need Patrick to stretch it out a little farther in his starts to be an effective pitcher for us, but he showed some progress on Sunday. Chris McElvain gave us 4 pretty strong innings. He really battled. He gave up 3 hits, 2 earned, with 2 walks and 4 K’s. Christian Little entered the game in the bottom of the 8th, but walked the first batter he faced and Corbs went to the bullpen for freshman lefty Hunter Owen, who coaxed a pop out to short. Corbs went to the pen again and got Maldonado again, and Nick finished it off with 1.2 innings of no hit ball, walking none and striking out 2. He’s looking like our closer. Really liked what Corbs did with the pitching on Sunday. If there was any sign of trouble, he went for another guy. We were NOT going to lose that game. Hunter Owen probably earned himself some more chances with getting that one batter out. That was major at the time. With the way Tennessee hits home runs, they hit 3 on Sunday and probably 8 for the weekend, getting outs and keeping them in the park was a necessity on Sunday. So super work from Hunter.

Maldonado is now 1-1 with an 0.90 ERA. He’s walked 3 and struck out 25. He earned his second save on Sunday. Awesome pitcher.

The defense was spectacular all weekend. Really like what I’m seeing out of Carter Young at short. He’s a tremendous defensive player as well as a stud at the plate. Dom Keegan saves a lot of throws with his ability at first. The rest of the defense is strong. Catcher C.J. Rodriguez is an awesome defensive catcher and is hitting .317 with 4 homers and 19 Ribbies. We’ve got some really good players on both offense and defense. Parker Noland looks like he’s figured out second base, and Gonzalez is getting better and better at third. Jayson’s missed a lot of time in his career and is really putting it together in his senior season. He has a cannon for an arm. Jayson is also hitting .315 with 6 homers and 28 Ribbies. We’ve got excellent power at the plate. Our defense is fielding at a .975 clip. We only committed one error all weekend and that was on Saturday.

We are now ranked No.2 by D1 Baseball, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the USA Today Coaches Poll. Baseball America has us at No.3. We are behind Arkansas in those first 3 polls and behind Ark and Ms. State in BA poll. Our record is now 28-6 overall and 11-4 in the SEC. We are tied with Arkansas for the best record in the SEC at 11-4. State is 10-5 and UT and South Carolina are 10-5. Florida and Ole Miss are 9-6.

Key week as tonight we face Austin Peay at 6:30 PM CT on SEC Network+, and this weekend we host Mississippi State with games Friday through Sunday at the Hawk. Friday’s game is at 7 PM CT on the SEC Network, Saturdays’ game is at 7 PM CT on ESPNU, and Sunday’s game is at 1 PM CT on SEC Network+. You can get SEC Network+ on your Smart TV, computer, iphone or Ipad by downloading the ESPN App. Austin Peay is 12-21 overall and 9-9 in the Ohio Valley Conference. State is 27-8 overall. Will have more later this week on the team. Playing well. Would like to get Tate back, but Parker is doing a solid job at second. Will keep you posted on Tate and Hliboki.

MLB players

Dansby Swanson, Kyle Wright, Braves

Dans is playing terrific shortstop and is hitting it better and better. He’s batting only .203, but is showing signs of getting that average up. He had a huge walk-off single on Thursday in the bottom of the 9th to lift the Braves to a 7-6 victory over the Miami Marlins. The Braves HAD to have that game as the Marlins had come into Truist Park and taken the first 3 games. The Marlins scored twice in the top of the 9th to take a 6-5 lead, but the Braves rallied back to tie it and loaded the bases with Dans at the plate. Dans lined a single to left to drive in the winning run. The Braves took 2 of 3 from the Cubs at Wrigley over the weekend. Kyle Wright got the start on Friday as regular starter Drew Smyly went on the Injured List, and Kyle did a solid job. On a day in which the temperature was in the mid 40’s, Kyle went 4.1 innings, gave up 3 hits, 2 earned runs, with 2 walks and 5 K’s. He hit 4 batters and gave up a homer, but still battled well in tough conditions. Kyle will start once again for the Braves on Friday against the Diamondbacks at Truist Park. The Braves are at the struggling Yankees tonight and tomorrow night. Today’s game is at 5:35 PM CT on Bally Sports, 810 on Charter and 646 on DirecTV. Tomorrow’s game is also at 5:35 PM CT and will be televised by ESPN. So big start to the week for the Atlanta team. The Braves are now 7-9 and 2 1/2 back of the Mets in the NL East. The Mets are 7-4. The Phillies are 8-8 and the Marlins are at 7-8. The Yankees are at 5-10, but are expected to break out of it with their massive bats, particularly in Yankee Stadium, the ultimate hitters’ park. So big week for Dans, Kyle and the Bravos.

Yaz, Curt Casali, Tyler Beede, Sam Selman, Giants

Mike Yastrzemski has had a somewhat slow start at the plate, but has hit better lately and looks to be getting back to his form of being a .300 hitter in the near future, next 3 or 4 weeks. Mike is only hitting .170 with 2 homers and 3 Ribbies, but had 2 hits and an RBI Friday and a double last night against the Phillies. He’s playing stellar right field as usual. Would like to see Mike get that bat going again. He’s definitely got it in him. Meanwhile, the Giants are playing super baseball at 10-6. They just started off the Phillies series with a 2-0 victory last night at Philly. They have gotten super pitching and play great defense, and hit pretty well situationally. Manager Gabe Kapler sees MIke getting better and better, and for his bats to start cookin’ very soon. Curt Casali had a double last night. He’s only hitting .100, but he’s a lot better than that. Sometimes it takes a while for the players to get their bats going in the early going in MLB. Curt is a guy who can hit .250, .260 and give his team tremendous defense and quarterbacking for the pitchers when he’s behind the plate. Centerfielder Austin Slater credited Curt with doing a phenomenal job with the Giants’ pitching and saying he’s a key reason the pitchers are doing so well. The Dodgers are outstanding, but lost last night to the Seattle Mariners, and are now 13-4, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Giants in the NL West. The Padres are 10-8. A lot of talent in the NL West. The Dodgers and Padres are loaded, but the Giants have terrific pitching and defense and that wins a lot of games and their bats will heat up. Tyler Beede was placed on the 60 day IL on February 26th, so that puts him back with the team probably mid to late May or early June. Tyler had Tommy John Surgery on his right elbow. Would like to see him get back in the starting rotation. I couldn’t find the Giants’ Media Relations rep’s email, so I wrote him a letter with my card and return email address, so should know something more about Tyler at the end of the week. Sam Selman was called up to the Giants yesterday from their Minor League affiliate, so excellent opportunity for Sam. Can’t wait to see him pitch at least when the Giants play on the East Coast and the Central Time Zone and maybe on early Saturday and Sunday games at Oracle Park in SF.

Bryan Reynolds, Pirates

BR is doing a tremendous job for the Pirates. Bryan is hitting .317 with 2 homers and 7 RBIs. He’s playing solid left field for them as well. BR can always hit it, and after a little slump in the shortened season last year, he’s back to being the player that everybody knows he is. Really like what I’m seeing from Bryan. The Pirates are 7-9 and 2 1/2 games back of the Reds in the NL Central.

Walker Buehler, David Price, Dodgers

Walker has pitched very well going 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP, walks plus hits per inning pitched. He’s walked 1 and struck out 12. I’ve watched him some and he’s hitting 96-98 consistently with his fastball and his curve and changeup and lighting in a bottle good. David has taken on the role of a reliever and he’s done well. After a tough first game in Colorado, which is a difficult place for anyone to pitch with the altitude and the ball carrying like a rocket through that mile high air, David has thrown 5 straight innings of no run ball. He’s given up only 2 hits with 2 walks and 8 K’s. Overall, he’s 1-0 with a 5.19 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. But in Denver he gave up 4 hits and 3 runs in 2 innings, but even in that game he settled down in his second inning of work and pitched well. So feel good about David going forward. If someone in the rotation sustains an injury, David could get the call. Don’t want anyone to get injured, but maybe manager Dave Roberts will give Dave a look if someone is struggling. It won’t be Walker or Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw is electric right now. Trevor Bauer is a stud as well. David could fit in as a spot starter or keep coming out of the bullpen where he has started to excel.

Sonny Gray, Carson Fulmer Reds

Sonny got his first start on Saturday and went 4.1 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 runs with 2 walks and 6 K’s. He had been hurt the first couple weeks of the season, but is now solidly back in the rotation. The Reds have a good team at 9-6 and Sonny can be a key factor in carrying them in the NL Central. Carson has pitched very well out of the bullpen for the Reds. and seems to have found a home in Cincinnati. Carson has pitched in 6 games, 9.2 innings, giving up 7 hits, 1 run with 2 walks and 9 K’s. He’s 0-0 with an 0.93 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. With former Commodores pitching coach Derek Johnson at Cincy, Sonny has excelled and it looks like Carson will excel as well. Hoping CF can get a start soon. His stellar bullpen work may earn him a shot.

Mike Minor, KC Royals

Mike’s a member of the Royals now and is 1-1 with a 5.17 ERA. A bit of a slow start, but Mike will pick it up. The Royals are surprisingly leading the AL Central at 9-6. Mike’s on a good team and I fully expect him to get it going.

Pitchers this week

Thursday

Walker vs Yu Darvish, San Diego, 9:10 PM CT. Late one, but excellent matchup. Will catch a little Thursday and the rest on Friday AM or PM.

Friday

Mike Minor, KC @ Detroit, Casey Mize. 6:10 PM CT. Mike goes against the former first pick in the draft in 2018 from Auburn.

Arizona @ Braves. Luke Weaver vs Kyle Wright. 6:20 PM CT. Another key start for Kyle. They’re all key for him as he tries to establish himself as a starter for the Braves.

Cincy @ St. Louis. Sonny vs. Kwang-Hyun Kim. 7:15 PM CT. Key game for Sonny and the Reds as the Cards are 8-8 going into tonight.

Big week for our baseball team and our MLBers.

Football

We now have 6 commits for the 2022 class as 6’1″,” 195 outside linebacker Alex Williams committed last Saturday. Alex is from Wewahitchka, FL. He looks like a really solid athlete. Is an excellent running back and outside linebacker on film. Like what we’re getting here. He joins high 3 star inside LB Langston Patterson from Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, solid 3 star outside LB B J. Diakite from Pinson, AL., solid 3 star QB Drew Dickey from Austin, TX, 3 star DE Linus Zink from Rabun Gap, GA., and 3 star tight end Cole Spence from Alpharetta, GA. With the 6 commits we are ranked 31st in the country in recruiting by 247 sports. Alex is not rated at present, but looks like an 85-86, 3 star. Will have a full report on the Spring game on Thursday.

Men’s Golf

Our 13th ranked Men’s Golf Team competes in the SEC Tournament at the Seaside Course in Sea Island, GA. starting tomorrow, Wednesday. Stroke play will start Wednesday and continue through Friday with the top 8 teams from stroke play making it to the Match Play competition Saturday and Sunday. We will tee off at 6:50 AM CT Wednesday. So big week for William Moll, Matthew Riedel, Reid Davenport, Harrison Ott and Cole Sherwood as we try to have great success in the tournament. Coach Scott Limbaugh calls it the most important week of the year, as are the NCAA’s, those 2 1/2 weeks. The Seaside Course plays 7,005 yards and is a Par 70. At the Gator Invitational in February, we finished 7th out of 21. At the LSU Invitational in late Feb., we finished 2nd out of 15 teams. At the Tiger Invitational at Auburn, we finished tied for 3rd out of 18. At the Old Waverly Collegiate in West Point, MS., we finished tied for 4th out of 16. And, finally, at the Country Club of Birmingham Invitational we finished 4th out of 14. We played in very strong fields throughout the winter/spring season and are tournament tough heading into the SEC Championships. Coach Limbaugh likes our competitiveness. So, excited for tomorrow and hoping this squad can have great success this week. There will be coverage of the tournament this weekend on the SEC Network. Will keep you posted on our progress.

Women’s Tennis

Our 22nd ranked women’s tennis team, 13-8 overall, 5-8 in the SEC and coming off a big 4-0 victory at No.41 MS. State a week ago Sunday, starts play in the SEC Tournament today with a match against No.27 South Carolina. The Gamecocks defeated us a couple of weeks ago at their place, so we need to step it up today. We play them at 3 PM CT in Tuscaloosa at the University of Alabama courts. You can watch it on the www.vucommodores. com website. So, huge day for fifth year seniors Christina Rosca, Emma Kurtz and the team. Coach Aleke Tsoubanos will have our team ready.

Astra Sharma wins WTA Tourney

Astra won the MUSC Health Women’s Open in Charleston, S.C. on Sunday defeating No.1 sead and 25th ranked player in the world Ons Jabeur from Tunisia, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. What a huge statement victory from our former player from Perth, Australia. Astra moved up 40 spots to 125th in the world and I have an email into Geoff McDonald and I’ll try Aleke tonight on whether Astra has now qualified for the French, Wimbledon and U.S. Will keep you posted on that. But what a performance by Astra. That is tremendous.

Women’s Soccer

Our 10th ranked Women’s Soccer team will play the winner of Penn State-Alabama in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Cary, N.C. on Saturday, May 1st at 6 PM CT. We are a seeded team at 16th in the tournament in the 48 team field. If we were to win, we would play top seeded and No.1 team in the country Florida State in the third round most likely since they’ll be tough to beat in the second round. But first things first. We’ll need to take care of business in round 2. We finished the season 9-5-1 and were 1-1-1 in the spring. After the long layoff from the fall, we lost to Memphis, 1-0 in overtime, defeated Kennesaw State and tied then No.7 Duke, 0-0 in Durham, N.C. So big stuff coming up for the soccer team. Penn State is 10-2-1 and Alabama State is 8-2-2. They will play Wednesday, April 28th. The Final Four will be in Cary, N.C. on Thursday, May 13th and the National Championship Game is Monday, May 17th. ESPN2 will televise the Final Four of the College Cup and ESPNU will televise the Championship match. A lot of work ahead of us, but also a lot of optimism. Haley Hopkins, our star forward, and the team were spectacular in the SEC Tournament in the fall, and Coach Darren Ambrose and the team have high expectations heading into the NCAA’s, with a lot of the players returning next season. This is actually the 2020 NCAA Championship in Soccer as the fall championships were moved to the spring due to COVID.

Stack adds another

Coach Jerry Stackhouse added one more piece to the 2021-22 squad with TCU transfer Terren Frank, a former high 3 star recruit from Chatsworth, California, Sierra Canyon High School where Scotty Pippen Jr. played. Frank is 6’8,” 235 pounder who can play either power forward or small forward. He will have four seasons of eligibility remaining when he starts with us this upcoming season. Interestingly, former VU small forward Maxwell Evans transferred to TCU after this season was completed. Frank joins Minnesota 7’0” center Liam Robbins and Dayton combo guard Rodney Chatman as the newest transfers on the team. High 3 star incoming freshmen Peyton Daniels, 6’2,” 195 combo guard from Atlanta, and high 3 star Gabe Dorsey, 6’6,” 200 pound small forward from Pottstown, PA., are also joining the team. Some excellent players coming in and if we can keep Pipp and Dylan Disu, we’ll be dangerous, a team that can play into March and make noise. The way Stack develops players, I see that happening.

Baseball struggled over the weekend with Georgia and is really hampered by injuries. Having Tate Kolwyck out, our outstanding second baseman, along with right fielder Isaiah Thomas, and left fielder Cooper Davis, and now with stellar pitcher Sam Hlboki injured on Saturday, we’re struggling with the injured list. Hope we can get these guys back soon, particularly Tate, Isaiah and Sam. No real timetable yet. Tate may be at the beginning of May if not sooner, Isaiah is day to day and could be back this weekend against Tennessee. Cooper not sure on, and Sam’s injury from Saturday has not been specified, but looked kind of bad when it happened. They’re key players for us. Sam looked like it could be a pretty serious arm injury. He’s a really excellent pitcher, so that would be a blow. Need the other 2 guys’ bats and Cooper hits it pretty well and is a senior and provides very good leadership. So we need to get healthy. We’re now 25-5 overall and 9-3 in the SEC after losing 2 of 3 from Georgia. Kumar had a rough Thursday, and we committed 4 errors Thursday Night. Friday, Jack pitched well and we hit it well in the bottom of the 8th. Saturday was another forgettable game. I still like our team. We are ranked No.2 in the country by D-1 baseball behind Arkansas. We’re 6 by Baseball America. Collegiate Baseball News has us at No.2 and the USA Today Coaches Poll has us at No.2 also behind Ark. We play Eastern Kentucky tomorrow night at 6:30 at the Hawk at 6:30 CT on SEC Network+. They’re 10-20, but we need to play a lot better starting tomorrow night. Then we go to Knoxville Friday through Sunday to play now No.5 Tennessee. UT is 27-6 overall and 9-3 in the SEC, tied with us for first place overall with Arkansas. Friday Night’s game is at 6 PM CT on ESPNU, Saturday’s game is at 3 PM CT on the SEC Network, and Sunday’s game is at 12 PM CT on SEC Network+. So huge week for the team, hopefully with some guys back. Will find out what the story is on the injuries in the weekly call with Corbs probably on Wednesday.

The 2 basketball commits for 2022 are excellent, Five star center Lee Dort, 6’11’, 240, and 4 star shooting guard Noah Shelby, both from Grennhill School in Addison, Texas. That’s tremendous. Didn’t love the fact that Stack interviewed with UNC. He needs to be committed, and get this basketball team to the tournament. Kevin Stallings, despite some of his flaws, got us to the tourney several times. I believe that Bryce would have if he had been given more of a chance. He lost Darius Garland after 4 games in the 2018-19 season and Garland just scored 37 for the Cleveland Cavaliers a week ago. He was a phenomenal talent and was the chassis that drove our team. Without him, we were a shell of ourselves. I thought Bryce got a raw deal. His brother just won the national championship, so good coaching is in his genes. Stack needs to commit and he’s got plenty to prove. He’s shown he can develop players, but we need to do a lot better in the win-loss column. Ready to see major progress next season. No reason we can’t go to the tournament. Scotty PIppen Jr has declared for the draft, but has not hired an agent, so we’ll need to get real lucky there. Isaac McBride is transferring. Not sure why. He was going to be an important player for us. Dylan Disu should come back. We’ll have good talent. I want to trust Stack and know he’s going to be at VU for a long time, but he’s got to gain that trust by committing to the University. I’ll be behind him if he does. He’s assembling an awesome 2022 class, so if Stack will stick with us, he can excel. We are 3rd in the country in recruiting for 2022 and first in the SEC.

Football progressing well on the practice field. Like the effort and enthusiasm of the team under Clark. From all I’ve read and seen, including interviews with the assistants, I really like this coaching staff. We’ve got 5 commitments for 2022, and just anded tight end Cole Spence, an 85 3 star, 6’6”, 220, who is a stud catching the ball and blocking and quarterback in 86, 3 star Drew Dickey. Drew threw for 28 TDs last season, is highly accurate with a strong arm and ran for over 700 yards and 8 TDs. He’s the complete package. Cole is from Alpharetta, GA. and Drew is from Austin, TX. They join 87, 3 star LB Langston Patterson from CPA, Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, 85, 3 star defensive end Linus Zink, from Rabun Gap, GA, and 86, 3 star linebacker B J Diakite from Pinson Valley High School in B’ham, the same school that produced our all time great linebacker Zach Cunningham, who is excelling for the Houston Texans in the NFL. We are ranked 30th in the country for 2022 in the 247 sports recruiting class rankings and 9th in the SEC, which is an awesome start.

Defense is looking pretty solid in practice and Temple running back transfer Re’Mahn Davis, at 5’9”, 210, is having a stellar spring camp. Ken Seals and Mike Wright have both looked solid at QB. Both sides of the trenches are solid and deep. Like what I’m seeing and hearing out of the offensive line. We’ve got 3 guys who opted back in this season and some really good size and talent. On defense, there are some frontline players who are really coming into their own like Malik Langham, a former 4 star, Daevion Davis, a high 3 star, Derek Green, another high 3 star, and Raashaan Wilkins has looked very solid. Still need to keep developing depth, but there is some real good potential for the dline to be a force. Rutger Reitmaier is another former 4 star who can be a force. Langham transferred from Florida, Green from Oklahoma and Reitmaier from Oregon, so all those schools liked them. They are big talented players. There are some more guys. Linebacker is coming along. Ready to see the Orji brothers, Alston and Anfernee, have big seasons for us in 2021. Ethan Barr showed signs of being a really good LB his freshman year in 2020. He’ll be a key player for us in the fall. And we need to get Elijah McCallister healthy and he is now. He can be a force rushing off the edge. Really like De’Rickey Wright. De”Rickey, who lost his mother last December to cancer, sadly, is a committed young guy with a lot of talent and can be kind of an Oren Burks player for us as a safety or linebacker, the Anchor position in Clark’s 4-2-5 defense. Oren, by the way, is on the Green Bay Packers and has a bright future for the Pack.

Secondary looks very promising. Allan George is back at a corner, and fellow Andalusia, Alabama teammate BJ Anderson will join him in the fall. BJ was knocked out last year with a torn ACL, but will be back in August and I really like those 2 together though Gabe Jeudy-Lally is making a strong case to start. High 3 star John Howse IV from Brentwood Academy, and solid 3 star corner Tyson Russell are early enrollees and doing very well in camp. Donovan Kaufman is going to be stellar. The former 4 star from New Orleans is an exceptional safety and kickoff/punt returner unless the electric Cam Johnson gets punt returning duties. Really excited about Donovan. Max Worship has always impressed me as have Justin and Brendon Harris at safety. DaShaun Jerkins is a super talent on the back end. One of the strengths of our team is the secondary. The great Ben Bresnahan and Gavin Schoenwald will be stellar at tight end and we have depth there. Cam Johnson, Amir-Abdul-Rahman, and Chris Pierce, Jr. are a superb trifecta at WR. Tyrell Alexander is back and he was a high 3 star out of high school and played at Oklahoma State,. He has promise. Devin Boddie is quick, and can add some explosiveness. Logan Kyle and Will Sheppard are young guys who can be stellar. Like what they can bring to the table. And we have high 88 , 3 star by 247 and 4 star by Rivals, Quincy Skinner Jr. from St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale coming in along with high 3 star James Ziglor III from Kennesaw, GA., solid 3 star Gamarion Carter from Taccoa, GA., along with lightning fast 3 star slotback Ezra McAllister. So, wide receiver is another position of strength. Along with Re’Mahn Davis, Ja’Veon Marlow and Rocko Griffin give us excellent speed at running back. Both are talented and can make house calls. Ja’Veon has had issues with injuries through the years, but when he’s healthy, has shown flashes of brilliance running the ball. Rocko looks like he could be a big time stud as well.We lost Keyon Henry-Brooks to transfer, and that’s a blow, but we’ve got good talent still on the roster, and should absorb the loss and be very effective running the ball in the fall. We’ll have freshmen Dylan Betts-Pauley and Patrick Smith coming in. Both are promising. Betts-Pauley, from Hoover High School in B’ham, is a power runner at 6’0,” 215, and Smith rushed for 1,700 yards and over 20 TDs out of Abescon, New Jersey. He’s a speedster. So like the running back room

Finally, Ken Seals is going to be exceptional this season. Mike Wright will be, too. They are battling it out for the No.1 job at QB. Ken is poised to have a tremendous year, but Mike is giving him a run for his money for the starting nod. Ken has strong arm and is accurate and runs a little, while Mike can throw it well and has exceptional wheels. The Spring game performances of both is a start to telling the coaching staff as to whom will be under center in the fall. Jeremy Moussa is doing a good job behind Ken and Mike.

So, I like this team a lot. We’ve got some freshmen who can come in and help, and we’ve got excellent veterans. Coach Mason recruited some very good players. I just thought he never had a prolific staff. He had 3 or 4 good coaches each season, but never a solid, complete staff. I really like the staff Clark has assembled. Hoping Coach Mason has great success as defensive coordinator at Auburn. He was dedicated to Vanderbilt and gave it a super effort. Just wasn’t his time as a head coach. Down the road, I hope he gets another shot because he showed signs of being potentially a very good college football coach. He should do well at Auburn and hopefully that’ll lead him to another head coaching job.

And I like what we have in Clark. Super guy. He was in the stands Saturday greeting all the fans. He just loves it. He needs our support. He’s going to do some excellent things at VU.

Spring game is this Saturday at 11 AM CT on SEC Network+ on the computer, Iphone or Smart TV. I’ll have a report on Monday.

Our 13th ranked Men’s Golf Team finished 4th at the Collegiate Invitational at the Country Club of Birmingham (AL.) last week. Clemson won it at +2, Tennessee was +8, North Florida was +11 and we were +17. The first day we finished +3, day 2 we had a rough day at +13, but day 3 we finished +1, so finished strong. William Moll finished tied for 6th at +1 and Reid Davenport finished tied for 11th at +2. Coach Limbaugh was pleased with our hanging tough in some tough weather conditions in day 2 and playing solid golf in day 3. We need to get out of the gates a little quicker. Next up is the SEC Championships starting next Wednesday, April 21st through Sunday, April 25th at Sea Island, GA. So, we need to be prepared to battle, and finally reach our potential. Coach Limbaugh has been encouraged with the team’s competitiveness throughout the season and believes in the guys. Hoping we can put it together at the Ocean Course in Sea Island next week. The NCAA’s start Monday, May 17th, and will be played at Kingston Springs, TN. That could be a slight advantage for us. The NCAA Championships start Friday, May 28th in Scottsdale, AZ, and run through Wednesday, June 2nd. The first 3 days are stroke play, then the Elite Eight, the Final Four and the Championship are all match play. We reached the Final Four twice under Coach Limbaugh in 2017 and 2019. No reason to believe we can’t do that again this year, and we have the top 2 players in the country coming in next season in Birmingham, Alabama stud Gordon Sargent and Pinehurst, N.C. stud Jackson Van Paris. So this year AND the future look exceptionally bright.

Our 21st ranked Women’s Tennis team won a key match on the road @ No.41 Mississippi State, 4-0. Christina Rosca and Emma Kurtz won at No’s 1 and 2 respectively, and Marcella Cruz won at 6 and we won the doubles point. We’ve been really good at doubles this year, just struggled some at singles lately. Still, an excellent way to finish off the regular season for our team. The team now heads to the SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa next Monday, April 19th through Friday, April 23rd. We need to play like we did on Saturday. We’re capable. The NCAA’s start Friday, May 7th at a site to be determined.

Our 10th ranked women’s soccer team tied No.7 Duke, 0-0, at Durham, N.C. yesterday. Freshman goalkeeper Kate Devine came in for the second half and made 2 critical stops on Duke shots. So, good effort from the women. Now it’s the NCAA Tournament played at various sites in North Carolina starting Tuesday, April 27th and Wednesday, April 28th. The College Cup, the Final Four of Women’s Soccer, will be played Thursday, May 13th with the championship game Monday, May 17th. in Cary North Carolina. We’ve got a very good team with potential to do well this year, and with a lot of talent returning next season, a chance to excel next season as well. Will let you know where we are going and when we play when the NCAA puts out the 36 team bracket. Usually 48 teams, but, due to COVID, some teams opted out, so there will be a smaller field. We have a lot of our top players coming back next season as well, so we should be stellar in 2021-22 also.

There will be fans at Augusta National this time around after no fans in 2020 when Dustin Johnson won by 5 shots at -20, a Masters record besting the -18 mark set by Tiger Woods in 1997 and Jordan Spieth in 2015. It won’t be capacity, but it will add to the pressure of this spectacular major championship.

The weather looks good Thursday, but questionable over the weekend. Highs in the low 80’s and the course is as firm and fast as it’s been in a long time according to 1992 champion Fred Couples. Isolated and scattered T-storms are possible this weekend, but the tournament may get lucky. Will be interesting if the weather stays dry, for the most part, on how the players will handle these challenging course conditions.

Tiger Woods, who won in 2019, is out and was determined to be going 80 in a 45 when he crashed his SUV in Southern California. There was definitely more to the story than he just got unlucky. Always some drama with Eldrick.

Here are the odds for each contender this year.

Dustin Johnson, 10/1, Not playing his best golf right now, but how do you go against the guy with what he’s done in the past year?

Bryson DeChambeau, 10/1. Another guy who’ll be hard to go against. Might try to overpower Augusta National. Won at Bay Hill in March, and his best finish at the Masters is in 2016 when he finished tied for 21st.

Jordan Spieth: 11/1. The 2015 champion is in top form right now after winning at the Valero Texas Open last week at TPC San Antonio.

Justin Thomas: 11/1. The Players Champion has gradually improved at Augusta National. In 2016, tied 39th, 2017, tied 22nd, 2018, tied 17th, 2019, tied 12th, and 2020, 4th.

Jon Rahm: 13/1. Been knocking on the door for a good while now. Has all the tools, but can he control his emotions enough to capture a Green Jacket.

Rory: 19/1. Looking for the career Grand Slam. Not doing anything right now to convince anyone he’ll win it.

Patrick Cantlay: 20/1. Very good player, has a shot.

Xander Schauffele: 20/1. Possible, but hasn’t been able to close so far.

Brooks Koepka: 28/1. Has a bad right knee with a dislocation and ligament damage. He had surgery 3 weeks ago. His swing coach, Pete Cowan, says Koepke is “striping it.” He’s a 4 time major champion, but will be in yoga poses reading the greens. Might be a bit comical.

Collin Morikawa: 29/1. Won the 2020 PGA Championship, so knows how to win with the pressure amped up. Definitely could be there on the back 9 Sunday.

Patrick Reed: 32/1. 2018 champion. Won at Torrey, so in pretty good shape right now. When the pressure’s on, he seems to thrive.

Tony Finau: 35/1. Not proven he can win regular events, so I don’t see him winning when the pressure is at full blast.

Viktor Hovland: 35/1. I’m not sure about this year, but he’s got a shot, and certainly in the future.

Augusta National: 7,475 yards, Par 72.

Key holes, Back 9 on Sunday. Amen Corner, 11, 12, 13 will be daunting tests for the contenders. 15 is always an exciting Par 5, and 16 is an electric Par 3. The par 4, 18th will have major drama.

TV:

Thursday-Friday: 2-6:30 PM CT, ESPN

Saturday: 2-6 PM CT, ESPN

Sunday: Quite possibly the best day in sports. I don’t know what day is better. 1-6 PM CT, CBS.

Winner

Give me the 27 year old from Louisville, Kentucky, he’ll be 28, April 29th, by way of the University of Alabama. He won the PGA Championship in 2017 and just won the Players Championship in March, and has now won 14 times on Tour. I like him to break through at Augusta National, and after banging on the door the last three years, he’ll knock it down and wear the Green Jacket come early Sunday evening.

Justin Thomas

Sleeper

I’ll take the 2013 champion. He’s still playing at a high level at 40 years old.

Adam Scott

It’s come down to the 2 best teams in college basketball all year long playing for the ultimate prize at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis as the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Baylor Bears compete for the National Championship in what could be a game for the ages.

Both teams are explosive offensively and play strong defense as well. The Zags are led by Drew Timme, Corey Kispert, and the great 5 star freshman Jalen Suggs, who sank the 35 foot triple on Saturday at the buzzer in the first overtime period to defeat the UCLA Bruins, 93-90, in an ultimate classic. Baylor had an easier time with Houston in the first semifinal, winning 78-59. Baylor features the terrific guard trio of Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and Macio Teague to counter Gonzaga’s big three. But both teams have several outstanding players who can change a game with big plays, such as an and one, a trifecta, a steal and score or a key rebound or block.

What will win this game? The team that gets the most stops and gets the most boards and turns it over the least. Both these teams are going to score. How they do enough defensively and on the glass will matter most. Both teams’s defenses will cause turnovers, but the winning team will most likely take better care of the ball.

Gonzaga is trying to be the first team since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers to go undefeated at 32-0.

So here’s a rundown of the game and which team White’s World Confidential likes to cut down the nets in Indy tonight at 10:30 PM Central time.

Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four Record: 10-4

No. 1 Baylor (27-2) vs. No.1 seed Gonzaga (31-0)

Baylor, South Region, Gonzaga, West Region

Lucas Oil Stadium, 17,500 fans allowed, pretty good

8 PM CT

CBS

Jim, Grant, Bill, Trace

Zags by 4 1/2

By the way, the Women’s National Championship game last night was stellar as well with Stanford holding off Arizona, 54-53. Arizona, after a stop and a timeout, had the ball on Stanford’s end of the court with 6 seconds left down by one and got it to their best player, Aari McDonald who had been dominating all night and finished with 22 points. But 4 Stanford players converged on her when she got the ball on the inbounds pass and she put it up from just between the 3 point line and the top of the free throw line and the ball bounced off the rim. It was pretty close to a buzzer beating national championship game winner. I was of pulling for Zona, because they were the underdog, and I wish their coach had told McDonald to look for other options if she was double teamed, and in this case, quadruple teamed. One of her teammates was wide open right by the basket with about a second left, enough time to catch it and lay it in on a pass from McDonald. It was a shame because Arizona had defeated perennial powerhouse UConn in the semis to get to the national title game. I usually don’t watch much women’s bball, but the last 2 national championship games have been stellar. Baylor won it 2 years ago in a classic over Notre Dame, 82-81. I also had on the LPGA’s first major of the season, the Ana Inspiration, as 21 year old Patty Tavatanakit won at -18 in Rancho Mirage, California, in the Palm Springs area and a picturesque course and area. She defeated 23 year old Lydia Ko, who has already has 15 LPGA victories including this major in 2016, and who shot a final round 62, finishing at -16. It was classic as well.

The PGA tour, where Jordan Spieth won for the first time since 2017 at the Valero Texas Open playing tremendous golf, was over as was MLB and hockey, so I changed it to the women’s games and they were both spectacular.

There’s a little tournament coming up this week at some place in Georgia, so will have a write up on that colossal event, the 85th Masters Tournament. Just seemed like Dustin Johnson donned the Green Jacket last November. He’s back to defend and will be going toe to toe with Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, a resurgent Spieth, Jon Rahm and several others who could capture the coveted Green Jacket and the first place prize money of $2M+ that goes along with it. Legacy is important in the history of the game and winning at Augusta not only helps the wallet, but cements your legacy in the game. So will be a stellar week with this historic and always magical Major Championship at revered Augusta National. Can’t wait till Moving day on Saturday and the back nine on Sunday. Doesn’t get any better than that in sports. There are other events that are as electric, but this one may be the best of all.

I’ll preview and predict on Wednesday.

Decision

I know Baylor Can win this game, I’m just not sure they Will win this game. Gonzaga plays like an outstanding NBA team. They just have superstar individual players who make superb individual plays throughout their games. They’re relentless. Timme can be unstoppable, and Suggs, Kispert, Jay Ayayi and others are phenomenal players. But I like my Bears’ guards and power forward Mark Vital and some others underneath, along with big play bench players Adam Flagler and Matthew Mayer to be relentless as well. I’ve been bullish on the Bears since I first started watching them a lot in mid February. In my Blog/ESPN bracket I had Baylor over Bama, 88-86. I’m in the 79th percentile after being 94 percent of the ESPN bracket when Baylor defeated Houston in the first semifinal game. So I want to get to the high 90’s percentile.I like A+s. I’ll stick with my Bears. Give me Baylor over the Zags in a historically great game.

Baylor 88, Gonzaga 86

Former UAB quarterback Sam Hunt has made it big in the music industry. He has some stellar songs including House Party, Take your Time and this one he released in 2020.

This is Sam, who played quarterback for the Blazers from 2005-2007, and at Cedartown Georgia High School, prior to that, where he was a first team All State selection by the Georgia Sportswriters Association in Class AAA. Here’s Sam’s song KInfolks, which he performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live this past February 13th.

Hope you guys have a terrific Easter weekend.