The great courts of Roland Garros in Paris will host the 125th French Open commencing Sunday. First Round coverage begins on the Tennis Channel tomorrow from 4 AM to 2 PM CT. Tennis Channel, NBC and NBC Sports Network will provide coverage throughout the fortnight in the City of Lights. What a setting.

On Thursday, June 10th, Tennis Channel will provide coverage of the Women’s Singles semifinals from 8 AM-1 PM CT . NBC will carry the action from 11-2 PM CT and NBCSN will provide coverage from 10 AM-1 PM CT.

On Friday, June 11th, Tennis Channel will broadcast the Men’s Semifinals from 7:45 AM-3 PM CT and NBC will have coverage from 11 AM-3 PM CT and NBCSN will provide coverage from 10 AM-2 PM CT.

On Saturday, June 12th, NBC will broadcast the Women’s Final from 8 AM to 11 AM CT.

On Sunday, June 13th, NBC will broadcast the Men’s Final at 8 AM to 11 AM CT as well.

Weather in Paris looks 70’s, 80’s with rain chance in the middle of this upcoming week, always some rain in Paris, but the temperature overall looks perfect.

Key storylines in the Men’s are, will Novak Djokovic get closer to Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer? If he wins at Roland Garros, it will be his 19th Slam, one shy of Rafa and Fed, who are tied with the all time lead at 20. Can Rafa win his 14th Open title? He won at Barcelona and in Rome at the Italian Open in early May, so his form looks good heading into the French. How about Dominic Thiem, a finalist from 2018 and 19. He’s got a shot. Daniil Medvedev is the No.2 seed, so people are believing in him. Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas is playing well and knocking on the door for a major and German Alexander Zverev is certainly a threat.

On the Women’s side, the big story is Naomi Osaka wants to not have to do press conferences. The French Open officials are planning on fining her $20,000 per skipped press conference. She seems to think it affects her mental game. When there are issues like this with a player, you wonder if they’re setting themselves up for failure. Ash Bart is the 2019 French Open champion, so she’s a factor as the No.1 seed. Osaka is No.2.

Here are predictions for the 125th edition. Awesome way to start the summer.

Men’s Semifinals

This is interesting because Rafa, Novak and Roger are all in the same bracket. So, I’ll take

Rafa over Novak 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

In the other men’s semi

Dominic Thiem over Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5

Those will be some epic battles in the semis.

Men’s Championship, Sunday, June 13th, 8 AM CT NBC

Thiem, the 27 year old from Lichtenworth, Austria, is going to be a tough out, but I have to go with the soon to be 35 year old, turns 35 June 3rd, from Mallorca, Spain to capture his record setting 14th French Open championship and his 21st Major, to take the lead for now. Just don’t know if Roger at 39 and battling knee injuries these days can keep up anymore. Give me the fighter from Spain.

Rafa over Thiem 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Men’s Champion: Rafa Nadal

Women’s Singles

Semifinals

I’m going to take 8th seed ,Iga Swiatek, over No.1 seed Ashleigh Barty in the semis.

Swiatek over Barty 6-4, 3-6, 7-5

Other semi

Eleventh seed Petra Kvitova over No.2 Osaka 5-7, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Osaka is such a talent it’ll get her through many of these matches, but her head case actions at present will cost her against the 31 year old Czach who has reached the semis at Roland Garros in 2012 and 2020 and won Wimbledon twice, in 2011 and 2014.

Championship Match, Saturday, June 12th, 8 AM CT, NBC

I’ll take the soon to be 20 year old, she turns 20 on Monday, Raszyn, Poland native to go back to back at the French. She is defending champion after defeating Sophia Kenin last September, 2020. This is a real talent with a chance to do special things in the Women’s game and definitely be a major threat to Osaka in dominating the women’s game in the next 10+ years.

Iga Swiatek over Kvitova 6-4, 6-3

Amended Prediction for SEC Championship Game. Sunday 2 PM CT Hoover Met, ESPN2

Well my pick of the Vanderbilt Commodores didn’t work out. Still like them as a factor in the NCAA Tournament, but the Dores hitters were having an off day yesterday against a very good pitcher for the Ole Miss Rebels, senior right hander Tyler Myers. Looks like UT will defeat Florida in the semis, they are up 4-0 in the bottom of the 8th. I like the Arkansas Razorbacks to take care of business with Ole Miss in the nightcap.

Championship prediction

Give me the No.1 team in the country. They do it all and their stellar reliever, senior Kevin Kopps, is the best pitcher in college baseball. I like the Hogs to grab the lead and Kopps to close the deal and enable the Hogs to capture their first SEC Championship and gain major momentum heading into the National Tournament where they will be the No.1 seed. The NCAA Announcement Show is on Monday at 11 AM CT on ESPN2.

Arkansas 5, Tennessee 3

NBA Playoffs Change

This is not a change in my prediction of the Milwaukee Bucks over the LA Lakers in 7 for the NBA Championship, but I noticed that if the Bucks win over the Miami Heat today and they are up 3-0 in the series and leading game 4, 98-88 in the 4th Quarter, the Bucks will play possibly the Brooklyn Nets in the quarterfinals. I had the Bucks defeating the Nets in the semis, but they’re playing earlier. So here it is.

East

Bucks over Nets In 7 in Quarters

Bucks over Philly 76ers in 7 in semis.

West, the same.

Lakers over Jazz in semis

NBA Championship Series

Bucks over Lakers in 7

NBA Champion; Milwaukee Bucks

MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo

Stanley Cup Finals Prediction

Lost out on my Pittsburgh Penguins over Colorado Avalanche prediction as the Penguins bowed out in the first round to the New York Islanders. So here is my revised Stanley Cup Finals Prediction.

Boston Bruins over Colorado Avalanche in 7

Conn Smythe Trophy Winner

Most Valuable Player in Stanley Cup Playoffs

Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins

At 50 years old, Phil Mickelson won one for the older guys, and one literally for the ages yesterday as he captured the 103rd PGA Championship before a raucous crowd of 10,000 that seemed like 100,000 on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C.

Phil shot 73, but it was a round featuring bogeys and spectacular birdies. His chip in from the sand on the par 3, fifth for birdie was one for the ages. It rattled playing competitor Brooks Koepka, who proceeded to miss his 8 footer for birdie. It was a miraculous performance by Mickelson, who became the oldest major winner in 161 years of major championship golf. That’s beyond impressive. I texted “Derrick” Henry O’Neal when it happened yesterday because I knew he’d be ecstatic. Derrick played with Phil in 2009 in the Pro Am of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow and said Phil couldn’t have been a nicer guy to him. Derrick was a pretty happy guy yesterday. Everybody who is 50 and older is happy. One more thing. Phil hit the longest drive of the tournament at 366 yards. Put that in your pipe and smoke it DeChambeau. Probably need to load up on more ‘Roids for Torrey Pines.

Phil has now won 6 major championships, his first coming at the 2004 Masters. He then won the 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusral in New York. He followed that up with the Masters in 2006. He had a collapse in the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot that was very disheartening. He had a one shot lead over Geoff Ogilvy heading into 18th, but chose driver off the tee instead of playing it safe with a 3 wood and ended up double bogeying the hole to lose the tournament. He won another Masters in 2007, then again in 2010. In the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland, Mickelson captured a major he wasn’t sure he could win with a 66 in the final round to secure the Claret Jug. The U.S. Open is the only major he has failed to win and he’s finished runner up 6 times. He got a special exemption last week to play in it as he had not qualified. But he secured his spot in the U.S. for the next 5 years with the victory. He’s also exempt in the Masters for the next 5 years, though with his 3 victories there, he’s set for life at Augusta National. He’s also exempt for 5 years at the Open Championship and the PGA. So a lot of achievements with this unique and uplifting victory.

Phil surpassed Julius Boros, who was previously the oldest winner of a major championship at 48 years old. Boros won his at the 1968 PGA at San Antonio. With his 6th major, he ties Nick Faldo and Lee Trevino for 7th all time. Where is his place among the greatest in golf history? Hard to say, but I’d put him in the top 6 on a talent standpoint. I’d put it at 1. Nicklaus, 2. Tiger, 3. Hogan, 4. Player, 5. Tom Watson, 6. Phil. Just the fact that he can win at age 50 is a sign of an all time great. It’s one for the older guys, one for the guys who’ve been in the battles of life. Tom Brady did it at 43, in Super Bowl 55, and Phil does it for the older guys in the PGA Championship. I’m not counting him out of the U.S, Open June 17-20th at historic Torrey Pines in San Diego, Father’s Day weekend. He turns 51 June 16th. He said in his post victory press conference that this could be it for him as far as winning on the tour, but he also said, who knows, maybe not. All of us older guys, who’ve been through the challenges of life, hope Phil can pull off one more miracle at Torrey.

SEC Baseball Tournament 2021

Here’s the schedule at the Hoover Met starting tomorrow. All times Central. All games will be televised by the SEC Network except for the Championship game which will be televised by ESPN2.

Tuesday, May 25, First Round, Single Elimination games

Game 1, 9:30 AM No.6 seed and 13 ranked Florida (17-13, 35-19) vs. No. 11 Kentucky (12-18, 29-22)

Game 2, 1 PM No.7 South Carolina (16-14, 33-20) vs. No. 10 Alabama (12-17, 29-22)

Game 3, 4:30 PM No.8 Georgia (13-17, 30-23) vs. No.9 LSU (13-17, 34-21)

Game 4, No.5 and 12th ranked Ole Miss (18-12, 38-17) vs. No.12 Auburn (10-20, 25-26)

Wednesday, May 26, Second round, Double elimination

Game 5, 9:30 AM, No.3 seed and 8th ranked Mississippi State (20-10, 40-13) vs. Game 1 winner

Game 6, 1 PM CT, No.2 and 4th ranked Tennessee (20-10, 42-14) vs. Game 2 winner

Game 7, 4:30 PM, No.1 and No,1 ranked Arkansas (22-8, 42-10) vs. winner game 3

Game 8, 8 PM No.4 and No.3 ranked Vanderbilt (19-10, 39-13) vs. Game 4 winner

Thursday, May 27, third round, double elimination

Game 9, 9:30 AM CT, Game 5 loser vs Game 6 loser

Game 10, 1 PM CT, Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 loser

Game 11, 4:30 PM CT Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner

Game 12, 8 PM C T, Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

Friday, May 28 Fourth round, double elimination

Game 13, Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 loser

Game 14, Game 10 winner vs. Game 12 loser

Saturday, May 29, Semifinals, Single Elimination

Game 15, Game 11 winner vs. Game 13 winner

Game 16, Game 12 winner vs. Game 14 winner

Sunday, 2 PM CT, ESPN 2 Championship Game

Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner

Predictions

The Crimson Tide may need to make it to the championship game to get into the NCAA Tournament. If they make the semis, that may be enough. The Auburn Tigers HAVE to win it all to make it to the NCAA’s.

Semifinals

Game 1

Mississippi State 7, Tennessee 5

Game 2

Vanderbilt 5, Arkansas 4

SEC Championship Game, Sunday at 2 PM CT on ESPN2

Many will call me a homer for doing this, but my Commodores have that magic that the Crimson Tide has in football. The odds are stacked against them. Their stellar shortstop, Carter Young, dislocated his shoulder last Tuesday sliding head first into second base, and star left fielder Troy LaNeve has a banged up knee having hurt it diving for a line drive in the outfield. But both could play and there is quality depth. The pitching staff has been beset by some injuries and the bullpen has been shaky. But there is good depth in the pitching staff too, the team has the best energy in college baseball, and Tim Corbin, who has won national championships in 2014 and 2019 and been to Omaha 4 times along with SEC Championships in 2007 and 2019, and has taken his teams to 14 straight NCAA Tournaments, has a knack for getting his team ready when the spotlight is the brightest. Give me my Vanderbilt Commodores to take the title at Hoover and go for back to back National Championships in June.

Vanderbilt 6, Mississippi State 5

SEC Champions; Vanderbilt Commodores

Another stellar performance by the team in an 8-2 victory last night before 3,323 happy fans at the Hawk. Love the crowds, now that the NCAA is allowing full capacity at games. Great to have the support for the team.

We moved to 39-12 overall and 19-9 in the SEC and with a Tennessee 3-2 loss @ South Carolina, we moved a 1/2 game ahead of Tennessee, who is 19-10. So, today is huge if we want to win the division and secure the second seed in the tournament. Arkansas won last night over Florida, 4-3, so they’re at 21-8 and have secured the No.1 seed in the tournament. Wish we could have played that third game against Alabama a couple of weeks ago. That would have given us a chance to at least tie Arkansas with a victory today, but we still need to bear down today.

C.J. Rodriguez, who was selected yesterday as one of the 16 semifinalists for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award which will be awarded at the College World Series in Omaha, had a huge night at the plate and behind the dish. C.J. had a clutch 2 out, 2 run single in the 6th scoring Enrique and Isaiah to tie the score at 2. Kentucky had posted 2 runs against Jack Leiter early, though Jack ended up pitching a pretty solid game. Isaiah added a clutch, 2 run single in the 7th after Tate Kolwyck walked, Troy LaNeve singled and Jayson Gonzalez laid a perfect bunt down to move Tate and Troy up 90 feet. Jayson had a really good game as well. Enrique was intentionally walked with one out in the 7th, and then Isaiah laced a line drive to left scoring Tate and Troy.

In the 8th, Jack Bulger hit a majorly deep shot over the central field wall, then, Troy came up with 2 runners on and cranked one out to central as well for our 8th run, a 3 run shot by Troy, his 5th of the season.

Jack posted 3 hits and a Ribeye, C.J. had 2 hits and 2 Ribbies, and Troy was 2 for 4 with 3 Ribbies. The bats got off to a slow start, but started hammering it in the 6th and kept the momentum going at the plate the rest of the game.

Jack went 6, gave up 3 hits, 2 earned with 2 walks and 8 K’s. Jack now has 127 K’s on the season, 2 back of Kumar’s 129 for the NCAA lead. Jack didn’t get the victory, but I liked how he settled down after a little early trouble and pitched really well.

Chris McElvain came in and pitched 1.1 innings of 2 hit, 0 run ball, and Hugh Fisher came in for the top of the 8th with one and gave up a soft base hit, but then coaxed a tremendously clutch double play to get us out of a 1st and 2nd jam when the score was just 4-2. Awesome stuff by our hard throwing senior lefty. Would love to see Hugh be a big part of our plans in the postseason. He’s hung in there so well, and has superb stuff, just has battled with arm injuries throughout his career and has been a little wild this year, but has shown really good flashes lately. Think Hugh can help us in late May, and throughout June.

Nick Maldonado came in for the 9th and retired the side giving up 2 hits, 0 runs with 0 walks and a K. Good to see Nick back out there after a tough outing against Ole Miss last Sunday. Last Sunday was tough for all our pitchers in Oxford. Believe in Nick 100 percent. He doesn’t usually come in when we’re leading by 6. He’s a classic closer who needs the pressure of the high leverage, 1 run games to bear down and be the stellar pitcher that he is. I think Corbs wanted to get him some work in. McElvain earned the victory. He is now 4-1 with a 4.01 ERA. Chris will be a big part of our postseason plans, so will need him to step up when his number is called upon.

Today’s game is at 2 PM CT on SEC Network+. Patrick Reilly is on the hill for us. Not sure on Kentucky’s pitcher, they kind of have an all hands on deck pitching mentality today as they are desperate for a victory to enhance their NCAA postseason hopes.

We HAVE to get a good performance out of Patrick to solidify our third pitcher, which is critical in the postseason. Patrick has shown signs lately of being that guy, but got rocked last Sunday at Ole Miss, so he needs to rebound. He has super stuff and is an awesome competitor, so know he’s capable. We need this game today. Hoping Patrick can provide the performance we need. C.J. also threw a runner out at 2nd last night. We’ve played stellar defense all weekend. Tate has been terrific at short and Jayson at 3rd and Parker Noland at 2nd have also been very solid. Dom Keegan is a terrific 1st baseman along with being an exceptional hitter. We will take Carter Young back as soon as he’s ready and Carter is ready to play if given the go ahead. We could see him back next week at the SEC Tourney in Hoover at the Hoover Met. We are definitely playing Wednesday and have avoided playing single elimination on Tuesday, so we’ll be in the double elimination round. Just need to win today to secure the No.2 seed. Will let you know how today goes later on today or tomorrow morning. Have an awesome day and Anchor Down.

Vanderbilt Baseball has always had a flare for the dramatic under Tim Corbin the last 19 years and Thursday Night was no exception with a couple of explanation marks.

Sophomore left fielder Troy LaNeve caught a 1-1 pitch just right and cranked it over the left central field wall for a walk off 2 run shot as the Dores notched a critical victory in front of an ecstatic group of players and 2,985 fans at the Hawk, as we were victorious, 4-2, and moved to 18-9 in the SEC and 38-12 overall. We are the third ranked team in the country. Kentucky fell to 11-17 in the conference and 28—21 overall.

It started with a superb performance by Kumar, who went 7, threw 101 pitches, 66 for strikes against 35 balls, hitting 95-96 on the radar gun, allowing just 3 hits, 2 runs, a 2 run homer, with 2 walks and 11 K’s. Kumar now has 129 K’s on the season and leads the country and teammate Jack Leiter, who has 119. Jack, you got next.

The man is just a leader and such a competitor. Ecstatic he’s our’s and has been on our side for 3 years. He’s been a phenom as a baseball player and such a team guy. Kumar deserves every bit of success coming to him. Hoping there’s a lot more in college in store in 2021. Dom Keegan blasted a homer over the Green Monster in left, his 11th of the season, a solo shot. Dom is now hitting .370 with 11 homers and 55 Ribeyes. Troy was 3 for 3 with his 2 Ribbies coming on his left central field shot in the 9th. Troy is now hitting .424 with 4 homers and 12 RBIs. Troy doesn’t have enough bats to qualify for the SEC lead, but that’s OK. Just keep what you’re doing young man. He’s been miraculous for us.

Another electric moment happened in the top of the 9th when junior reliever Luke Murphy was pitching. Luke had the bases loaded with 2 outs and coaxed a fly out to Troy in left. Troy firmly gave a major fist pump, Luke was pumped and the bench erupted. The score was tied 2-2 and we couldn’t give up a run to Kentucky. It was like a high level NCAA Tournament moment with the reaction of our players and our fans. Just a special moment, and spurred on Troy’s dramatics in the bottom half.

So, Tennessee won and so did Arkansas. Tennessee is 19-9 and a 1/2 game ahead of us. Arkansas is 20-8. Tennessee is @ South Carolina and Arkansas is hosting Florida. So another major test for us tonight. Jack on the hill. Jack is 8-2 with a 2.05 ERA with 37 walks and 119 K’s. Kumar added on to his NCAA leading win total. He’s now 11-2 with a 2.45 ERA with 27 walks and 129 K’s.

Jack will most likely be opposed by Kentucky right hander Sean Harney, who is 3-1 with a 3.73 ERA, with 12 walks and 53 K’s. So another major night at the Hawk. 6:30 PM CT on SEC Network+. It truly feels like we’re now in the postseason. Couldn’t be more exciting. Will hit you back with recap tomorrow.

Have an awesome afternoon/evening.

The 2021 NBA Playoffs commence Saturday with 16 teams competing for the coveted Lawrence O’Brien Trophy. Here are White’s World’s predictions for the the Semis and Championship series.

Eastern Conference

Milwaukee over Brooklyn Nets in 7

In the Western Conference Finals, I’ll take

Lakers over Jazz in 6

Finals

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks over LeBron and the Lakers in 7 to hoist the Lawrence O’Brien Trophy

NBA Champion: Milwaukee Bucks

MVP of Finals: Giannis

We are one of the 30 teams that have made the NCAA Championships that will be played at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona May 28th-June 2nd.

The format is the first 3 days are stroke play May 28th, 29th and 30th. After the third round, the field will be cut down to the 15 lowest scoring teams. Those top 15 will play another round of stroke play on Monday, May 31st, with the top 8 finishers qualifying for the match play. Those eight teams will play quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Tuesday, June 1st. The two winners of the match play competition will play for the national championship on Wednesday, June 2nd, probably teeing off around 10 AM or so, will know more closer to the start of the competition. Golf Channel will televise. Will have details on TV coverage next week.

Stanford is the defending national champion, but did not make the field this year. They defeated us in 2019 in the Final Four. No tournament last year due to COVID.

Huge stuff for the team. I like where we are and where we’re headed. Quite a challenge in front of us, but we’re up for it.

Sophomore shortstop Carter Young dislocated his left shoulder sliding headfirst into second base Tuesday Night against Florida International. No timetable is set for his return. They are doing an MRI today to find out the extent of the injury. We will surely miss Carter, but he could be back sooner rather than later. Tate Kolwyck will take over at short, and Tate is highly capable to fill Carter’s shoes for as long as necessary. Tate was a shortstop in high school and practices a lot at short during the season. Jayson Gonzalez will play third and Parker Noland will move over to second. Carter has hit 15 homers and 47 RBIs, which both lead the team, so our other guys will have to step it up at the plate.

Kumar on the hill tonight at 6:30 PM CT on ESPN+. Kumar is 11-2, leading the nation in victories, and features a 2.44 ERA with 25 walks against 118 K’s. Jack Leiter, who will start tomorrow night with first pitch at 6:30 CT, has one more strikeout than Kumar at 119. That total leads nationally, so interesting little friendly competition going on. Patrick Reilly will be our starter Saturday. First pitch for Saturday’s game is at 2 PM CT. All 3 games will be on SEC Network+. I’m guesstimating that Kentucky right hander Cole Stupp will get the start tonight. He is 4-5 with a 4.98 ERA. Kentucky is 11-16 in the SEC and 28-20 overall, so this is a critical series for both teams.

We are now 17-9 and 37-12. Arkansas is 19-8 and Tennessee is 18-9 with Florida and Miss. State at 17-10. Ole Miss is at 16-11. So we need to do well tonight and throughout the weekend.

Other series in the SEC this weekend.

No.9 Florida @No.1 Arkansas
No.4 Tennessee @ No.21 South Carolina
No.13 Ole Miss @Georgia
And we’re No.3 in the country.

We just need to be successful tonight and not look ahead. Big implications for the SEC Tournament and for the national tournament, so the old saying of one at a time is applicable in a major way this weekend.

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island will be the host for the 103rd PGA Championship which commences tomorrow. The defending PGA Champion is Collin Morikawa, who shot 13 under at Harding Park in San Francisco to win by 2 shots over Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson. Morikawa hit a tee shot for the ages on the 298 yard par 4 16th, driving the green and ending up 7 feet from the cup where he sank the eagle putt that pretty much clinched the major championship for him. He shot 64 on Sunday on what was an easier major venue than normal. PGA Championship Courses lead to lower scores, so maybe kind of a standard, but the course seemed to be playing a lot easier for the pros than it should have been. That shouldn’t be the case this week on the Ocean Course.

Rory won on the Ocean Course in 2012 with a round of 13 under for the 4 days and an 8 shot victory over second place finisher Englishman David Lynn, who finished at -5. I remember Rory playing very well, but can’t say I remember Lynn at all. It was the largest margin of victory in a PGA Championship. Rory is in good form heading into this week as he was victorious at the Wells Fargo Championship 2 weeks ago at Quail Hollow. His overall game is solid and interestingly he has been working with sports psychologist Bob Rotella, who has advised a combined 74 major champions and has written many definitive books on golf on how to be a successful player, specifically the mental approach that it takes. One of his best, if not the best, is Golf is Not a Game of Perfect. Total classic. I’ve read it before tournaments I’ve entered in. Spike Me Up is a fan as well. Rory is in a really solid place in his life at 32 years old. He’s married with a young daughter, and his golf game is flourishing. Brandel Chamblee of the Golf Channel compared it favorably to Jack Nicklaus, when he was winning all his majors and he had his wife Barbara and his kids to go home to. So, Rory looks very interesting this week.

Jordan Spieth has been excelling lately. In his last 8 starts since the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, he has finished 4th at the Waste Management Phoenix, 3rd at the AT&T Pebble Beach, 15th at the Genesis Invitational, 4th at the Arnie, 48th at the Players, not that great, but he came back and won the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. He finished 3rd at the Masters and 9th at the Byron Nelson. Interestingly, Spieth is trying to capture the career Grand Slam this week, that is winning the Masters, which he did in 2015, the U.S. Open, which he also did in 2015, the Open Championship, which he did in 2017, and now he aims to complete the career GS with a victory this week at Kiawah. He would be only the 6th golfer to do it. Gene Sarazaen did it first at the 1935 Masters. Ben Hogan won the 1953 Open Championship to complete his. Gary Player did it at the 1965 U.S. Open. Jack Nicklaus did it at the 1960 Open Championship at Cherry Hills. Jack actually completed the career Grand Slam 3 times. Eldrick Woods did it at the 2000 Open Championship at St. Andrews. Spieth says he’s not feeling any more pressure than he did for any Masters, U.S. or Open Championship. He takes the same mentality for each one. Every major is important, but this would be a milestone for Spieth if he could prevail.

Justin Thomas is in good shape heading into this week. He captured his 14th PGA tour victory at the Players Championship back in March. He was 27 years old, he’s now 28, he turned 28 in April, and became the 4th youngest player to win 14 titles before the age of 28. Jack won his 14th at age 25 at the Fed Ex St. Jude. Johnny Miller won his 14th at 27 at the 1975 American Express. And Tiger won his 14th at 23 years old in 1999. When he turned 28, Tiger had already won 39 times. That’s magnificent.

Morikawa won the WGC Workday this year, so he’s a factor. Can’t count out Dustin, DeChambeau or 4 time major winner Brooks Koepka. Here are the odds for the key players and their tee times tomorrow.

Rory, 11/1, teeing off at 7:33 AM CT with Justin (14/1) and Brooks (37/1).

Jon Rahm (14/1) teeing off at 12;25 PM CT with Tommy Fleetwood (55/1) and Patrick Reed (36/1).

Spieth (14/1) teeing off at 12:58 PM CT with Webb Simpson (37/1) and second place finisher at the Masters and young stud Will Zalatoris (60/1).

DeChambeau (17/1) is teeing off at 7;44 AM CT with Morikawa (28/1) and Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama (33/1).

Dustin Johnson (20/1) is teeing off at 1:09 PM CT with 2019 Open Championship champion Shane Lowry (75/1) and 2017 Masters Champion Sergio Garcia (110/1).

Xander Schauffele (20/1), who has come painstakingly close in majors, the triple bogey on 16 at Augusta was painful to watch as he fell from 1 shot back to collapsing down the stretch, tees off at 7:22 AM CT with 47 year old Lee Westwood (120/1), talk about heartbreak at majors, and young stud Viktor Hovland (22/1).

Daniel “What a” Berger is at 30/1 and I expect him to be a factor. Cameron Smith, the Aussie who has played well this year, is at 37/1. Patrick Cantlay, who seems due, is at 40/1.

The Ocean Course is a beast playing at 7,876 yards and a par 72. It will be the longest course in major championship history surpassing Erin Hills which was 7,700 yards back in 2017, which Brooks Koepka won starting his tear of 4 majors in 3 years. Numbers 14 and 17 are 220+ par 3’s that will test the player’s nerves. 17 is over water and could be a game changer on Sunday with the wind. 16 is a 600 yard par 5. 18 is a 501 yard par 4. 13 is the No.1 ranked hole for difficulty at 497 yards and a par 4.

There’s a premium on hitting fairways and scrambling. Of course, you have to putt well. The greens are Paspalum, not Bermuda. They are better in the windy, sandy conditions and don’t have grain in them which would make for bumpier, sandy surfaces. The Paspalum roll smoothly. They’ll be Stimping at 12 1/2 or 13, so plenty quick.

Weather

It looks nice this weekend. Thursday, 77, Sunny, winds East at 10 MPH. Friday, 78, Sunny but windy with winds from the ENE at 16 to 20. Saturday, 79 Sunny, winds E 9 MPH. Sunday 85, winds WSW at 12 MPH. The easterly winds will be in the players faces, so that’ll make the course even longer. Tony Finau, one of the longer hitters on tour, said yesterday, he’ll hit a driver, 3 wood on 18 if the wind is in his face. And it could get more interesting as these ocean courses can get even windier at the drop of a bucket. So these players will be severely tested.

TV

Thursday-Friday, 6 AM-12 PM CT on ESPN+ on Smart TV, Iphone or Ipad. 12-7 PM CT, ESPN. Saturday-Sunday, 7 AM-9 AM CT, ESPN+, 9 AM-12 PM CT, ESPN, 12-6 PM CT CBS.

Winner

The PGA is renowned for crowning first time major winners. Morikawa is one. Davis Love III in 1997. Paul Azinger in 1993. Shaun Micheel won it in 2003. He was never heard from again. Unknown Bob May took Tiger to the wire in 2000. David Toms won his only major at the PGA in 2001. So, it’s a mecca for first time major champions. So I’ll take a young stud, the 23 year old from Oslo Norway by way of Oklahoma State, to kickstart his major bucket list. He has ranked 3rd in strokes gained off the tee in his past 24 rounds, he has 2 third place finishes in his last 2 starts at the Valspar in early May, where he shot 65 on Sunday to finish at -13 and 4 shots back of Sam Burns, another contender this week. Burns is 45/1, and has played well recenlty. At the Wells Fargo 2 weeks ago, he shot 67 on Sunday. to finish at -8, 2 back of Rory. His 2 victories are on courses that featured Paspalum greens, this is a Pete-Alice Dye design by the way, so difficult. He won the February 2020 Puerto Rico Open and the December 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic on these same greens. So I’m liking all of that. I’ll take a young first time winner at Kiawah Island. Give me,

Viktor Hovland

Pete Dye, a renowned golf architect, passed away in January of this year. But his legacy lives on. He designed TPC Sawgrass, where the Players is contested among many of his masterpieces. His courses have water and are extremely tough.

Sleeper

I’m going to kind of have fun with this and go out on a limb a little bit. I had a friend who was an SAE in college when I was a Phi Delta Theta. He was very smart, and such a character you wouldn’t know he was smart. His name was Randy Hicks and we called him “Mistuh Hicks.” He skipped a grade because he was so bright. He was a total classic. It was like, “I want to party with this guy.” Amazing sense of humor. In honor of “Mistuh Hicks,” I’m going to take the 22 year old from Johannesburg, South Africa. He’s won 3 times on the European Tour already and just won the Canary Islands Championship on May 9th. He’s got good lineage in South Africa with the players who come out of there. Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, and before them, Retief Goosen and 9 time major winner Gary Player. So I’ll take “Mistuh Higgio.” for my under the radar pick.

Garrick Higgio

Bryan Harsin has come to the Southeaster Conference from the Mountain West and Boise State where he compiled a 69-19 record, 78%, a 45-8 conference record, 85%, 3 Mountain West Championships, 6 titles or ties for first in the conference, and a 3-2 bowl record, including a 2014 Fiesta Bowl victory over Arizona, albeit with Chris Peterson’s players. But he kept the momentum going at Boise State. He also served as head coach for a year at Arkansas State in 2013 before getting the BSU job and went 7-5 there and tied for the Sun Belt Conference title. In his 8 years as a head coach he is 76-24, 76%.

So Harsin has good credentials coming to Auburn and brings a hard-nosed style of play back to the Plains. He also is a former quarterback, and knows how to coach quarterbacks up, so that should serve Bo Nix very well. You could seeimprovement in Nix in the spring game. More on that coming up.

Gus Malzahn’s 8 year tenure was a mixed bag. Some pretty good results mixed in with some average results. Overall, his resume just wasn’t enough for Auburn people to see him being the guy for the future. He did defeat Nick Saban coached Alabama teams 3 times, in 2013, 2017 and 2019.

In 2013, Malzahn’s first year and the year Auburn made it all the way to the BCS National Championship game where it lost to Florida State 34-31, there were 2 of the wildest games you’d ever want to witness at Jordan-Hare, and that’s a big statement for that stadium. Auburn defeated Georgia on a 4th and 18, “Prayer at Jordan Hare” a 73 yard touchdown pass from Nick Marshall that ricocheted off a receiver and a safety and was caught by Ricado Louis who raced into the end zone for the miraculous Auburn 43-38 victory. Jordan-Hare was rockin. As amazing, if not moreso, was the Alabama game in which the Crimson Tide, facing a fourth and one, decided to try a 56 yard field goal with an inexperienced kicker instead of trying to throw a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. Rod Bramblett, the late great voice of the Auburn Tigers has a classic call of that play. Bramblett and his wife were tragically killed in a car accident in 2019 as they were rear ended by a young guy. Here’s the great one’s call.

Chris Davis is gonna drop back into the endzone in single safety,,,, Well, I guess if this thing comes up short he can field it and run it out. All right, here we go, 56 yarder. It’s got, no, does not have the leg. And Chris Davis takes it in the back of the endzone. He’ll run it out to the 10,15,20, 25,30,35,40,45,50,45 there goes Davis! Davis is gonna run it all the way back!! Auburn’s gonna win the football game!! Auburn’s gonna win the football game!! He ran the missed field goal back!! He ran it back 109 yards! They’re not gonna keep’em off the field tonight! Holy Cow!

The Kick Six will go down in Auburn lore as maybe the greatest play in Iron Bowl History, maybe the greatest play in Auburn football history along with “Punt Bama Punt.” dramatics in 1972. Bramblett was a classic.

Malzahn also defeated Bama at Jordan-Hare in 2017, 26-14, and 2019, 48-45. There was some spectacularly dramatic football in 2019 with both teams making electric play after electric play. Malzahn finished his 8 year tenure at Auburn with a 68-35 overall mark and 39-27 in the SEC. But he lost key bowl games and just could never keep the momentum going. So the Tiger brass decided to replace him on December 22, 2020. Harsin was hired in January of this year and with a recruiting class that was ranked in the 50’s, pieced together the 19th ranked recruiting class in the country according to 247 Sports. So good job there.

Harsin hired 2 veteran coaches to commandeer his offense and defense respectively. Harsin hired Mike Bobo, a head coach at Colorado State and a veteran SEC offensive coordinator at Georgia and South Carolina, to take over the offense. Bobo brings toughness and good offensive creativity and an ability to coach up Bo Nix. Nix looks like he’s responded to Bobo’s coaching by the looks of the spring game. Harsin hired Derek Mason, the 7 year Vanderbilt head coach and a veteran defensive coordinator from Stanford, to be his defensive coordinator. Mason had a little success, not a lot, at Vandy, it’s hard there, but did some good things. I spoke with him every year before the season started and was impressed with his motivating ability, his excitement about his teams, his dedication to Vanderbilt and his energy. He was an underrated recruiter there as well. He brought in some good players, who could do well under new coach Clark Lea. Mason is a good hire for Harsin. Two of his former players, 4 star safety Donovan Kaufman and 3 star running back Keyon Henry-Brooks, have transferred from Vanderbilt. Kaufman posted 15 tackles in 2 games and ran a kick back 92 yards against LSU last season in his freshman year. He got COVID and then got hurt, so he never saw the field again. He’s a talent. He’s deciding between Auburn and Texas and will announce his decision this Wednesday. His 92 yarder wasn’t a house call, but it was a heckuva run for a true freshman. 247 Sports has Crystal Balled him 100 percent to Auburn. The Mason factor helps there. Henry-Brooks is looking at Auburn among other SEC schools including Missouri, Tennessee and Georgia. It’s not determined when he will decide, but he’s a player. He rushed for 500 yards in 6 games last season and was a weapon out of the backfield in the receiving game. He’d be a very good addition as well. Both might have to sit out this season per SEC rules about transfers within the conference sitting out the year before they play, but it’s possible, that if they commit, they could play this year if Greg Sankey is feeling generous.

Bo Nix will call the signals once again for the Tigers as a junior. He has completed 59% of his passes in his career with 28 TDs and 13 ints. His career has been a mixed bag, but he’s a major talent if he is taught how to stay in the pocket and not go running backwards or sideways when there is pressure. He looked a lot better at that in the spring game Mike Bobo looks like he’s breaking through. In the spring game, Bo was 12-of-20 for 112 yards and a TD to 6’4”, 214 pound sophomore Elijah Canion, who looked very good in the game. Bo also had some very good runs. He is quite a runner when he finds an opening. He’s an elite athlete. Bo was solid, and Bobo is making a lot of progress with him. Backups look to be Bowling Green transfer Grant Loy, who could be pretty serviceable, and true freshman and early enrollee and 4 star Dematrius Davis, a 5’10”, 202 pounder from Houston. Davis could be a very good quarterback in the future for the Tigers, and Harsin already has a 4 star dual QB committed in 2022 in Holden Gernier, a 6’3”, 210 pounder out of Savannah, GA. So Harsin is building depth in the quarterback room. Bo’s the guy though, and he’ll need to be very good for the Tigers to have success in 2021.

Tank Bigsby and Shaun Shivers look like an excellent one-two punch at running back, but there’s not a lot of depth behind them. In the spring game, Bigsby looked like the stud he was last year when he led all NCAA freshmen with over 1,200 all purpose yards. Shivers looked outstanding in the spring game as well and is ready to take the next step to being an elite second option at running back, Devan Barrett, a 6’0”, 195 pound senior is the third option and he looks pretty solid. Incoming 86, 3 star freshman Jarquez Hunter from Philadelphia, MS is another who can play a role.

Wide receiver lost some greatness when Anthony Schwartz was taken in the third round by the Cleveland Browns, Seth Williams was taken in the 6th round by the Denver Broncos, and Eli Stove signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as a free agent. Linebacker K.J. Britt was also taken in the 5th round by defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay. Safety Jamien Sherwood was taken in the fifth round by the New York Jets.

So, as far as wide receiver, Auburn is kind of starting from scratch. Canion shows a lot of potential, and sophomore Kobe Hudson shows flashes though needs to be more consistent. Shedrick Jackson, a senior, is another. Ze’Vian Capers, a sophomore, and incoming 89, 3 star freshman Hal Presley, from Arlington, Texas, 6’3”, 190, is another who can help. It’ll be a growing process at receiver for the Tigers.

At tight end, it’s John Samuel Shenker, 6’4”, 249 and a senior who could be a key player. Stud sophomore 6’5”, 240 Tyler Fromm is another. Fromm is the younger brother of former Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm. He shows a lot of ability. Jake is now a backup quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. Another tight end who the staff is high on is 6’5”, 255 sophomore Luke Deal. So good size at tight end. 87, 3 star and 6’5”, 220 pound early enrollee Landen King is another who is in the mix.

The O line has great size for sure. Depth could be an issue, but it could also be developed. The leader is senior center Nick Brahms, 6’4”, 302. Brahms is excellent. He is flanked by left guard 6’4”, 335 senior Tashawn Manning and right guard 6’4”, 345 sophomore Keiondre Jones. Redshirt senior and stud left tackle Austin Troxell, 6’7”, 305, will cover Nix’s blindside. And 6’6”, 334 senior Brodarious Hamm will handle the right tackle spot. And there looks to be some decent depth there. Maybe not a ton, need to recruit some more up front. There were 2 OLs taken in the 2021 class, 6’7”, 315 pound 87, 3 star tackle Colby Smith and 6’7”, 270 87, 3 star offensive guard Garner Langio.

The defense looks solid. Superb athlete J.J. Pegues, 6’3”, 308, has moved from offense to the defensive tackle spot and has impressed. He could be a big boost. Senior Tyrone Truesdell is 6’2”, 335, and can be a disrupter also in the middle of the line. 6’5”, 278 Colby Wooden and 6’2”, 253 T.J. Moultry will work well on the edges for the Tigers. 96, 4 star 6’5”, 292 defensive tackle Lee Hunter from Eight Mile, Alabama is an early enrollee and is expected to make an impact in 2021. 96, 4 star defensive end Dylan Brooks was a late pickup by the Tigers. Future looks bright for those two. Brooks is 6’5”, 250 and from Roanoke, AL. Marquis Robinson is a 90, 4 star 6’3”, 300 pound defensive tackle out of Milton, Florida. Ian Matthews is an 87, 6’5”, 290 DT from Columbus, GA. Andrew Leota is a 6’3”, 220 pound 87 3 star transfer defensive end from Northwestern. So there is good material up front if it can be developed. Linebacker looks strong with junior Owen Pappoe, 6’1”, 226, and 6’0”, 219 senior Zakoby McClain returning. Both are very good players. Pappoe recorded 93 tackles last season with 6 TFLs for -30 yards and 4 sacks for -26 yards. McClain led the team in tackles with 113, with 5 1/2 TFLs for -33 yards and 3 sacks for -30. And 6’3”, 232 pound Chandler Wooten is back, returning from opting out due to COVID and he hasn’t missed a beat according to his teammates. Another talent. Sophomores Wesley Steiner, 6’0”, 229 and Cam Riley, 6’5”, 219 are 2 others who could provide depth on the inside. Derek Mason said in the spring that he loves his linebacker room.

The secondary has 3 studs back in corners Roger McCreary and Jaylin Simpson and the great safety and one of the best names in college football, Smoke Monday, at free safety. McCreary picked off 3 passes for 63 yards, Monday posted 2 ints for 131 yards including a pick six. Simpson is an experienced player. Devin Guice is the starter at strong safety. Former 4 star corner, 6’2”, 192 West Virginia transfer Dreshun Miller is another piece in the secondary. Junior corner Nehemiah Pritchett provides depth along with sophomore corner Eric Reed Jr. Junior college transfer corner Kamai Hadden who was an 86 3 star out of high school and is 6’2”, 185 is another along with incoming 84, 3 star freshman corner Armani Diamond. 87, 3 star safety Juwon Gaston comes in from Carver Montgomery.

So, there are plenty of talented players, but like most of this team, depth will need to be created. The coaching staff looks solid. Several Boise State former assistants are in the mix and Mason and former Auburn standout defensive back Zac Ethridge, who is the cornerbacks coach, will be super leaders for the secondary.

Kicking game is in phenomenal shape with Anders Carlson back for his redshirt senior year. The best 2 kickers in the country in 2021 will reside in Tuscaloosa and Auburn with Will Reichard for the Crimson Tide and Carlson at Auburn. Oscar Chapman boomed some pretty solid punts in the spring game. He’s a sophomore from Australia. Aidan Marshall is a redshirt senior punter. Shivers and Bigsby are at the top of the depth chart on kickoff return, and punt returner could be one of the secondary guys, Monday or Simpson or even wide receiver Canion. Any one of those 3 can be explosive.

Schedule

Saturday, Sept. 4th vs Akron

Saturday, Sept. 11th vs. Alabama Stafe

Saturday, Sept. 18th @Penn State, tough but doable.

Saturday, Sept. 25th vs. Georgia State, pretty good team. Need to be ready for that.

Saturday, Oct.2nd, @LSU, challenge.

Saturday, Oct. 9th, vs. Georgia. Major challenge

Saturday, Oct. 16th, @Arkansas, Sam Pittman has the Hogs believing.

Saturday, Oct. 23rd, Off.

Saturday, Oct. 30th, vs. Ole Miss. Will be an important game against Lane.

Saturday, Nov. 6th @A&M, Another tremendous challenge.

Saturday, Nov. 13th, vs. Mississippi State, good to have them at Jordan-Hare along with Ole Miss.

Saturday, Nov. 20th, @South Carolina. Shane Beamer inherits a formerly dysfunctional outfit, but the Gamecocks did defeat the Tigers last season in Columbia.

Saturday, Nov. 27th, vs the Crimson Tide. Beyond tough, but at Jordan Hare gives the Tigers a shot.

Saturday, Dec. 4th SEC Championship Game, Mercedes-Benz Stadium,

All game times to be determined in June.

Outlook

What kind of Tigers team should we expect? A lot harder nosed in my opinion. I expect a lot better Bo Nix. Tank and Shivers should be a good one-two punch. Depth is of course the issue, but there is some good talent on the roster and good talent in this freshman class. It looks like it could be a solid year for the Plainsmen. 7 to 8 victories would be a good start for Harsin and then it’s all about recruiting. 8-4 would be an excellent season in year 1. 9-4 with a bowl victory. That would give Harsin, Mason, Bobo and the coaches a lot of momentum for securing a very good 2022 recruiting class and beyond that in 2023, etc… Liked what I saw out of Bo in the spring game and really like this defense. O line looks like it could be solid with more development. Very intrigued to see Auburn Football in 2021.

Wednesday

Preview/Prediction 103rd PGA Championship

@ Kiawah Island, S.C. The Ocean Course

Rory won it at Kiawah in 2012 at -13, 8 shots clear of

second place finisher David Lynn of England. Can’t

say I remember Lynn.

Our second ranked Commodores team belted 7 home runs at Ole Miss last night and super soph Jack Leiter gave us 6 excellent innings in a 13-2 Dores victory over the Rebels before 10,267 fans at Swayze Field in Oxford.

Isaiah Thomas blasted 2 deep ones, his 10th and 11th of the season, both of the solo variety, and now has 27 Ribeyes on the season. Both of Isaiah’s homers were to left central field over the 365 sign. Carter Young hit his 14th, a solo blast, Dom Keegan blasted his 10th, Parker Noland hit his 7th, Spencer Jones hit his 2nd, and super soph Troy LaNeve, playing in left field, blasted his third. Isaiah and Troy lead the team with 3 hits apiece and Dom added 2 hits. Parker and Troy postd 3 Ribeyes apiece, and Dom, isaiah and Spence each had 2 Ribbies.

We ended up with 13 hits on the night in a super offensive performance late yesterday afternoon after a tough night at the plate Friday Night in a 3-1 loss in which Kumar pitched well enough to get the victory, but we just couldn’t get the bats going. Hopefully, last night is a harbinger for things to come today.

Our awesome sophomore right hander Jack Leiter, after getting a break from Corbs last week to recharge his batteries, pitched a beauty. Jack went 6, gave up 2 hits, 1 earned, with 3 walks and 13 K’s. Jack was awesome. Jack moved to 8-2 on the season, and now has 119 K’s on the season, just 1 ahead of Kumar for the national lead. Kind of a fun competition going on there. We need to help our man out on Fridays at the plate like we did our Saturday man.

We moved to 36-11 overall and 17-8 on the season. No.1 Arkansas lost to those Eastern guys, 8-7, and are now 18-8 in the conference and 38-10 overall. Those enemies from the East are 18-8 and 39-12. So we’re a 1/2 game back of them. We’ve played one less game as we were rained out against Alabama last Saturday. That game was canceled, so we’ll need to play good baseball to overtake those guys from the Eastern Bloc before the regular season ends. We’ll catch one of them today if we can be successful and one of them loses, preferably the guys from the East for eastern standings purposes.

But we’ve got a tough assignment today at 2 PM CT on the SEC Network. Freshman right hander Patrick Reilly, who pitched a phenomenal game for us last Saturday in a 6-2 victory over Alabama, will take the hill. Patrick gave us a super start against the Crimson Tide last week going 7, giving up 2 hits, 2 earned runs, with a pair of walks and 9 K’s. Hoping Pat can give us that today. Patrick will square off with Ole Miss right hander Drew McDaniel, who is 4-0 with a 4.50 ERA.

Important game today in the next to last SEC series of the season. We’ll play Florida International on Tuesday at 6:30 PM CT on SEC Network+, then host Kentucky for a Thursday-Saturday series with game times at 6:30 PM CT Thursday, 6:30 PM CT Friday and 2 PM CT on Saturday. All 3 games will be on SEC Network+.

So we need to get a good outing from Patrick today, play solid defense like we have all weekend, and hit it well. The long ball is huge, but we also need singles, doubles and a triple or 2. Loved what I saw last night. Tremendous challenge today. I believe we’ll be ready for it.

Men’s Golf

Our 13th ranked and SEC Championship Men’s Golf team hosts an NCAA Regional tomorrow through Wednesday at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs. We will host 12 other teams in the 13 team field. Kingston Springs is 26 miles west of Nashvegas.

We will be teeing off at 7:30 AM CT playing with No.1 seed Clemson and No.2 seed North Carolina State. Michael Sheers will be off in the first threesome at 7:30 AM, followed by Cole Sherwood at 7:41, then Matthew Riedel at 7:52, Reid Davenport at 8:03 and then the great William Moll at 8:14.

Some other big names in the field include Arkansas, Virginia and Houston. The top 5 teams after 54 holes of stroke play qualify for the NCAA Championships which will be played May 28th-June 2nd at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. May 28th-May 30th. The first 3 days of the NCAA Championships are stroke play with the top 8 teams from the stroke play qualifying and playing 3 days of match play to determine the national champion. There are 6 regional sites in which the top 5 teams from each regional qualify for the NCAA Championship. There are 3, 13 team fields and 3, 14 team fields.

In some more super news, our amazing coach, Scott Limbaugh, was named SEC Coach of the Year. In my opinion, they’ll need to retire that trophy in Coach Limbaugh’s name in his long illustrious career at VU forthcoming. Just one fine coach. Our great sophomore William Moll was named first team All-SEC, and talented freshman Cole Sherwood was named to the All Freshman team.

All that’s left to do now is play our next 54 holes of stellar golf, starting tomorrow at Kingston Springs. If you’re in the area, please support Coach Limbaugh and the team. It’s a special group.

Post time for the 146th Preakness at Pimlico Race Course is at 5:47 PM CT on NBC. Interesting Preakness with all the theatrics created by trainer Bob Baffert and his thoroghbred, Medina Spirit, which is still in limbo on whether he won the Derby as a drug test came back positive last week by Derby officials and they’ll know in the next couple of weeks if there is another positive and if the horse will be DQ’d and if second place finisher Mandoloun will be declared the winner. Meanwhile, Medina Spirit was approved by the Baltimore Racing Commission to race in the Preakness. So very interesting storyline as the horse attempts to continue his alleged pursuit of the Triple Crown. The questionable Baffert will not be in attendance, but will have 2 horses running. Along with Medina Spirit, Concert Tour will run.

Here are the post positions, horses, the trainers, the jockeys and each horses odds of winning the Preakness.

1. Ram, D. Wayne Lucas (trainer), Ricardo Santana Jr. jockey. 11-1. The great Lukas, in his mid 80’s tries to capture another triple crown race.

2. Keepmeinmind, Roberto Diodoro, David Cohen, 6-1.

3. Medina Spirit, Baffert, John Valasquez, 5-2.

4. Crowded Train, Chad Brown, Javier Castellano, 10-1

5. Midnight Bourbon, Steve Ausmussen, Irad Ortiz, Jr. 3-1

6. Rombauer, Mike McCarthy, Flavien Prat, 12-1

7. France Go de Ina, Hideyuki Mon, Joel Rosario, 20-1

8. Unbridled Honor, Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez, 15-1

9. Risk Taking, Chad Brown, Jose Ortiz, 15-1

10. Concert Tour, Baffert, Mike Smith, 5-1

The fellas have already made their picks so I’m posting them.

1.Derrick Henry O’Neal, Risk Taking, 15-1

2. Bama Golf, Midnight Bourbon, 3-1, Bama was bullish on him a week before the Derby. He’s bullish on the drink as well.

3.Brownie, Concert Tour, @ 5-1. Brownie also did a box of 3/5/9/10

4. Walter, Concert Tour as well. Box of 10, 5 and 6.

White’s World, I’m going to take cagy veteran trainer Todd Pletcher and veteran jockey Luis Saez to win aboard Unbridled Honor at 15-1. Pletcher has won several triple crown races and he is a trainer with integrity and a winner. Baffert is a winner, but the first part of that equation could be lacking. Taking the talented trainer, jockey and their thoroughbred.

Hoping SMU can get in on this. Will post winner Monday on the Auburn Football 2021 column. Will have Auburn as promised. Sorry a little late.

Stanley Cup predictions

Conference Finals

Pittsburgh Penguins over Carolina Hurricanes in 7

Colorado Avalanche over Toronto Maple Leafs in 6

Stanley Cup Final Prediction

I’ll take the great Sydney Crosby and the Penguins in a war over the Avs.

Give me,

Penguins over Avalanche in 7

Stanley Cup Champion: Pittsburgh Penguins

Conn Smythe Award winner: Sydney Crosby, Most Valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The action starts tonight with the Boston Bruins at the Washington Capitals at 6:15 PM CT on NBC. NBC, NBC Sports Network, USA Network, the NHL Network and CNBC will broadcast with NBC carrying the Stanley Cup Finals sometime in June, to be determined.

Nothing like the electricity of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In my opinion, the most exciting playoffs in professional sports.