With the tragedy in Nashville this week, I know there is a lot of healing going on in the city. I hope this column can bring a little optimism back to people who have been affected by the devastating actions of a confused young woman.

I do want to commend our baseball team for their stellar play so far this season. So, if you’d rather not read about this, I understand. But I hope this can give some positive news for VU fans and the city of Nashville. Many prayers go out to the victims, their families and so many others affected by this senseless tragedy.

Our team did give all the proceeds of Tuesday Night’s game to Covenant School and the families that were devastated by this act of terror.

Our guys are playing really well right now. And this could be like a “Boston Strong” team as the Red Sox were after the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013, when the Sox won the World Series that season. Maybe our team can give us optimism and strength and make this season a “Nashville Strong” season.

Corbs and his team are sure getting the job done right now on behalf of their city.

The team keeps playing tremendous baseball after sweeping Mississippi State last weekend and then defeating Lipscomb on Tuesday Night at Hawkins Field, 11-1. We won the 3 game weekend series over MS. State, 26-3, Friday, 18-5, Saturday and 11-7, on Sunday. So, superb hitting by the guys.

Our great senior first baseman, Parker Noland, was named Co-SEC player of the week. Parker hit two grand slams in one game on Friday Night and drove in 11 runs that game. His slugging percentage was 1.200 for the weekend, which is through the roof good. Davis Diaz had a really good weekend as well. Most all of our hitters did. And we got solid starting pitching from Carter Holton, Hunter Owen and Devin Futrell, and stellar relief from Sam Hliboki and the great Nick Maldonado. Nick’s younger brother, Chris, is knocking the cover off the ball, too. I’ll go over our statistics now. After last weekend, we were leading the SEC in batting average since the beginning of conference play. We are hitting .366 with 19 homers in the conference, which leads the conference in both categories. I love this group of terrific hitters. Corbs was fired up about this team before the season started, and I can see why. Here are the stats through the Lipscomb game.

We are 20-5 overall and 6-0 in the SEC. We are ranked 4th by D1 Baseball and Baseball America. D1 has LSU No.1, Wake Forest No.2, Florida No.3, and we’re at No.4. Arkansas is 6, South Carolina is 9, Tennessee is 10, and Kentucky is 18. And every other team in the conference is certainly capable. Alabama and Auburn are good teams, Missouri is a good team, and A&M and Ole Miss are going to wake up at some point and start playing good baseball. There is too much talent at those two places. Baseball America is similar in its rankings and has us at No.4.

Parker was selected co-SEC Player of the week along with Dylan Crews of LSU, who is leading the country in hitting at .542, and Jac Caglianone of Florida.

As a team, we are batting .284. We’ve really come on at the plate. Our pitching team ERA is 3.28 and our fielding percentage is .982. Chris Maldonado leads us in hitting at .351. Little brother has 9 doubles, 3 long ones and 13 Ribeyes. Our great right fielder, RJ Schreck, is hitting .337 with 7 homers and 27 Ribbies. Left fielder Matthew Polk is hitting .302 with 3 homers and 16 Ribbies. Third baseman Davis Diaz, who’s been on fire lately, is hitting .301 with 5 homers and 23 RBIs. Super frosh RJ Austin, our second baseman, is hitting .291 with 3 homers and 19 Ribbies. Our great junior centerfielder, Enrique Bradfield, is now up to .280 with 3 homers and 18 RBIs. And Enrique has swiped 18 bags in 22 attempts. He’s a hoss on the base paths and at the plate and one of our key leaders. Noland is hitting .278 with 5 homers and 24 Ribbies. And shortstop Jonathan Vastine, who’s playing stellar defense along with the the rest of our position players, is hitting .274 with 3 homers and 19 Ribbies. Jack Bulger is doing a superb job behind the plate and hitting .250 with 3 homers and 17 RBIs. I expect us to get more power numbers out of Jack coming up, along with run production numbers. Alan Espinal always does something good when he comes in at catcher. He blasted one over the Green Monster in left Tuesday Night. It looked like a 400+ feet shot, for a 2 run homer, his fourth of the season. We’re in good hands at catcher.

Our pitchers are also excelling, which Corbs loves along with the defense. Holton is 3-0, 2.59 ERA, Owen is 3-0, 2.78 ERA, and Futrell is 4-1, 3.55 ERA. Hliboki keeps getting better and better and setting up Maldonado, who’s lock down with 3 saves and 0.00 ERA with 4 walks and 17 K’s. Bryce Cunningham has been good most of the season, but struggled Sunday in Starkville. Need the big fella (6’5”, 240) to get back to his usual form. I expect him to. We’re getting good work from sophomore Greyson Carter (6’4”, 241) as well. Greyson and Bryce bring it 95+. Greyson gave us 5 innings Tuesday Night allowing only 2 hits, a run, with 2 walks and 5 K’s. If he can keep his control, he’ll be a force. Greyson is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA with 11 walks and 14 K’s. Would like to see that walk number stay at around 11 for a while. He certainly has the velo and stuff.

The defense has been superb. With Corbs moving Austin to second, Vastine to short and Diaz to third, our infield has been stellar. And our outfield of Polk in left, Bradfield in center and Shreck in right is as good as any in the country, both defensively and offensively.

So, love what Corbs’ 2023 team is doing. Pitching Coach Scott Brown and hitting coach Mike Baxter deserve a lot of credit as well. They have their charges cookin’.

Georgia comes to Hawkins Field for a weekend set starting Friday and continuing through Sunday. Friday’s game is at 4:30 PM CT, Saturday is 2 PM CT, and Sunday’s finale is at 1 PM CT. All three games will be broadcast by SEC Network+. Georgia is led by first baseman Charlie Condon, who is hitting .472, which is fourth in the country, and second in the SEC to Crews of LSU. Condon has hit 9 homers and driven in 36. Connor Tate, an outfielder, hits .463 with 7 homers and 24 RBIs. They hit .323 as a team, so our pitching and defense will be challenged. They have a 5.82 team ERA and field at .976 percent. They are 15-10 overall and 1-5 in the SEC East. Our team and South Carolina lead the SEC East at 6-0. SC is 24-2 overall and we’re 20-5. Kentucky is 5-1 and 22-3. Florida is also 5-1 and 22-4 overall. UT is 3-3 and 20-5, and Mizzou is 3-3 and 19-6. And Georgia rounds out the East. In the West, LSU and Arkansas are 4-2. LSU is 22-3 overall, and Ark is 21-4. Bama (2-4, 20-6), Auburn (2-4, 17-7-1), A&M (1-5, 15-10) in that order are next. And Ole Miss (0-6, 15-9) and Miss State (0-6, 15-11) are at the bottom of the West. What has happened to the Mississippi schools? These are the last two national champions; State in 2021 and Ole Miss in 2022. Success can be fleeting sometimes.

So, another challenging weekend for our team. Just need to keep the momentum going. Holton, Owen and Futrell need to be good. Our lefty trio has been stellar this season, and we need that to continue this weekend. Need our middle relief to step it up, so we can get to Maldonado with a lead and let him close it out. Bats need to keep on cookin and defense needs to stay sharp. Should be a fun weekend. Hoping for a stellar result. Will keep you apprised.

Men’s Basketball

Basketball is leaking a little bit as we have lost 4 guys to the transfer portal, Jordan Wright, Trey Thomas, Noah Shelby and Malik Dia have all entered the portal. And Tyrin Lawrence is going to try out for the NBA Draft, but could very well return as he’s left the option open to return to VU. We’ll have point guard Ezra Manjon back along with point Paul Lewis, so we’ll be solid there. Hopefully, Tyrin. Center Quinton Millora-Brown is coming back, so that’s a boost. Center Lee Dort may return. Would love to see Lee come back. And Colin Smith will be back, which is huge. I expect Colin to be a tremendous player for us next season, along with the other returning guys. We’ll have to add to this group with our freshmen class and with some transfers.

Also, some excellent news. Stack was awarded the Ben Jobe Award given to the national minority coach of the year. Great stuff for Stack. The Award is determined by a 10-member voting committee which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com. A well deserved award for the Man.

We’ve got 92, 3 star combo guard Isaiah West from Madison Tenn coming in. Heard super things about Isaiah. Also, 6’9, 220, 90, 3 star center Carter Lang from Charlottesville, VA is coming. And 6’7”, 195, 88, 3 star power forward JaQualon Roberts from Bloomington, Indiana is also coming in for ‘23-’24. I like these three freshmen, and Stack has a commitment from 2024 point guard Karris Bilal from Atlanta. So, off to a good start there.

A lot to be excited about in bball as well. I like out team next year. Hopefully, Lee Dort will stay. We’ve got a chance to be playing in the NCAA tourney next March. That’s where we belong.

Men’s Golf

After a tough tourney last week at the Linger Longer Invitational in Reynolds Plantation, GA. in which we finished third, we are still No.1 in the country by the Golfstat and Golfweek national rankings. Gordon Sargent is also ranked the No.1 player in the country by Golfstat and Golfweek. Freshman Wells Williams is 7th, Matthew Riedel is 28th and Cole Sherwood is 29th in the Golfstat rankings.

And Gordon is playing in the Masters next week, which is tremendous. I’ll keep you posted on how our stud sophomore is doing at Augusta National.

Meanwhile, we have another competition as the Calusa Cup in Naples, FL. that will take place this Sunday, April 2nd and continue through Tuesday April 4th. We’re competing with No.2 Texas Tech, No. 3 North Carolina, No.5 Arizona State, Georgia, Wake Forest, Iowa, which is hosting, and Purdue in a nine team field.

Need to get our momentum back at Calusa Pines Golf Club in Naples. After that, we’ll host the Mason Rudolph Championship on our home course, the Vanderbilt Legends Club, the South Course. That’s in Franklin. That’ll be Monday, April 10th through Wednesday, April 12th. Then, on April 19th, the SEC Championships will commence at St. Simons Island, Georgia, the Sea Island Golf Club, Seaside Course. April 19th is a Wednesday and it climaxes on Sunday, April 23rd. It’s three days of stroke play with the top 8 teams from stroke play after Friday competing in match play Saturday and Sunday. So, should be outstanding.

So, this is a tremendously important tournament for our team this coming Sunday as we prepare for postseason play and try to win a tournament. That’s the goal at this point, winning a tournament and getting our momentum back. Feel great about our team still and what Coach Limbaugh and assistant Gator Todd are doing.

Football

The Football Spring game, the Black and Gold Game, will be a week from Saturday, April 8th, at 5 PM CT at the Vanderbilt Soccer and Lacrosse Complex. SEC Network+ will broadcast the game. As you know, FirstBank Stadium is being renovated and will be ready for our opener versus Hawaii on Saturday, August 26th.

Will have a lot more on football after the spring contest.

I’m excited about what Clark can do in year 3 with some excellent talent on both sides of the ball. Expecting big things from quarterback AJ Swann, now a sophomore. And senior QB Ken Seals has looked excellent in the spring. The wide receiver room is talented, and running back has good speed. Just need some more physicality at that position,. But I think we can get that from Patrick Smith, Chase Gillespie and the staff is high on freshman Sedrick Alexander, who is an early enrollee. We have two more frosh coming in this summer, who have size. O line will be solid under stellar line coach AJ Blazek. And I like what Clark and DC Nick Howell can do with our talent on defense. More coming up in the near future.

God Bless and Take care.

The 2023 MLB season commences Thursday with all 30 teams in action. Which team will hoist the World Series Trophy come late October/early November? Game 7 of the Series would be November 4th, if necessary. That’s a Saturday.

MLB has employed a pitch clock this season which gives a pitcher only 15 seconds to throw a pitch to a batter if no-one is on base. And 20 seconds with runners aboard. Only two pickoff attempts per inning will be allowed. The batter has 30 seconds to get ready, and if he is not ready to hit in the batters box with 8 seconds left on the clock, he is assessed a strike. If the pitcher exceeds his time limit, he will be assessed a ball.

Also, there will be no shifts, which should enhance the hitting, a superb thing. And the bases are larger, which presumably will lead to more stolen bases and less injuries for the infielders turning double plays, etc…

So, some outstanding changes made to speed up the game and make it more exciting for the fans.

Can the Astros repeat? Certainly a possibility. The Braves are loaded once again with the signings of all their young studs towards the end of last season. The Phillies did more to strengthen their lineup in the offseason by signing shortstop Trae Turner. However, the great Bryce Harper is out till the All Star break after Tommy John surgery in the offseason. The Padres are definitely all in with the addition of shortstop Xander Bogaerts to a lineup that features all world third baseman Manny Machado and sensational left fielder Juan Soto. Also, converted outfielder Fernando Tatis will be back on April 20th after he serves the tail end of his 80 game suspension that began in the last two months of last year and early this year. He was suspended performance enhancer use. He’s an electric talent. The Pads also have Josh Hader to close. He’s electric and lockdown, though not as much last year. The Yankees re-signed the terrific Aaron Judge, who hit .311 with 62 homers and 131 Ribeyes. The long ball number led the Majors and the RBIs were tied for first. His batting average was fifth. The Bombuhs are well stocked again. But some injuries to their starters this spring could cause them to struggle for a little while in the first month or so of the season. Still, they’re loaded once again. How can the perennial underdog Rays finally get over the hump this season with all their arms and studs, led by shortstop Wander Franco and left fielder Randy Arozarena. The Blue Jays have stellar lumber and solid arms.

Here are White’s World Sports Confidential Predictions for the 2023 Season.

Divison Winners

AL East, Yankees

AL Central, Guardians

AL West, Astros, best record in MLB

AL Wild Cards

Blue Jays, Rays, Mariners

NL East, Bravos

NL Central, Cardinals

NL West, Padres

NL Wild Cards

Phillies, Mets, Dodgers

Wild Card Winners (Best 2 of 3)

AL

Rays over Mariners in 3

Blue Jays over Guardians in 2

NL

Mets over Dodgers in 3

Phillies over Cards in 2

ALDS (Best 3 of 5)

Rays over Yankees in 5

Astros over Jays in 4

NLDS

Braves over Mets in 4

Phillies over Padres in 5

ALCS (Best 4 of 7)

Rays over Astros in 7

NLCS

Braves over Phillies in 7

The Fall Classic

Braves over Rays in 6

World Series Champion

The Atlanta Braves

World Series MVP

Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves

AL MVP

Shohei Ohtani, LA Angels

NL MVP

Austin Riley, Braves

AL Cy Young

Framber Valdes, Astros

NL Cy Young

Aaron Nola, Phillies

American League Manager of the Year

Kevin Cash, Rays

National League Manager of the Year

Brian Snitker, Braves

****Friday, Final Four Previews and Predictions****

The field of eight is set for today and tomorrow after a riveting and surprising Sweet 16 round. The No.1 overall seed Crimson Tide fell to a defensive juggernaut in San Diego State. The pressure of the big moments can be tough on teams that don’t have a lot of experience against teams that do. The Crimson Tide had a nice season, though there was a lot of controversy.

Sweet 16 record

Straight up, 4-4

ATS, 4-4

Here’s a look at the Elite 8 matchups along with predictions.

Today

East Region

No. 9 (seeded) Florida Atlantic (34-3) vs. No. 3 Kansas State (26-9)

Madison Square Garden, Bite the Biiig Apple. 20,789

5:09 PM CT

TBS

KSU by 2

Florida Atlantic is relentless and they showed it in handling Tennessee Thursday Night. It’s hard to go against this talented Conference USA Team. UAB is doin’ work in the NIT as is North Texas, as both are in the Final Four so it’s proven to be a stellar conference. But I’ll take Markquis Nowell, the terrific point guard for the Wildcats, who scored 20 points and dished out an all time NCAA Tournament record 19 assists in K State’s 98-93 overtime victory over Michigan State Thursday Night. I like Nowell and his team to have a little more magic than a prolific Owls team. Give me the team from the Little Apple, Manhattan, Kansas in New Yawk.

Kansas State 77, Florida Atlantic 74

West Region

No.4 UConn (28-8) vs. No.3 Gonzaga (31-5)

T-Mobile Arena, Vegas, 20,000.

7:49 PM CT

TBS

UConn by 2 1/2

This will be a blockbustuh I may be going against the grain because the Huskies look unstoppable right now, but I’ll take my White’s World Bracket national champion led by superstar senior Drew Timme.

Gonzaga 86, UConn 84

Sunday

South Region

No.6 Creighton (24-12) vs. No.5 San Diego State (30-6)

KFC Yumi Center, Louisville, KY., 22,090

1:20 PM CT

CBS

Creighton by 1 1/2

I can’t go against the team that shut down Brandon Miller and the No.1 overall seed Crimson Tide with suffocating, tenacious defense. Defense always travels.

San Diego State 71, Creighton 69

Midwest Region

No. 5 Miami (28-7) vs. No. 2 Texas (29-8)

T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO., 18,000

4:05 PM CT

CBS

Texas by 4

Miami shredded Houston last night with their three point shooting. Wow, what an offensive juggernaut. Texas is prolific as well, and maybe more so than the Canes on the defensive end though defense may not be as much of a factor in this one as the offenses shine. But defense should play a role at the end. This is another tough prediction, but I’ll take the Horns in a classic.

Texas 85, Miami 80

Stellar Thursday-Friday as the Road to NRG Stadium in Houston continues with the Sweet 16 on deck. Here are brief previews and predictions.

Thursday

East Region

No.7 Michigan State (seeded) vs. No. 3 Kansas State

Records: Michigan State (21-12), Kansas State, (25-9)

Madison Squeah Gahden, New Yawk, New Yawk

5:30 PM CT

TBS

Mich State by 2

This is going to be a slugfest and more like a hard hitting, physical football game than a basketball game; though there is plenty of skill on both sides. Kansas State point Markquis Nowell is the best point guard left in the tournament, and one of the top five players still in the tournament. But I’ll take Tom Izzo and the Spartans, barely.

Michigan State 67, Kansas State 66

West Region

No. 8 Arkansas (22-13) vs. No. 4 UConn (27-8)

T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

6:15 PM CT

CBS

UConn by 3 1/2

Maybe I’m picking the Huskies because I don’t want to see Eric Musselman take off his shirt again. Come on, Musselman. Let’s not do that again. Please.

UConn 65, Arkanas 61

East Region

No. 9 Florida Atlantic (33-3) vs. No.4 Tennessee (25-10)

The Gahden, again

8 PM CT

TBS

UT by 5 1/2

I loved what I saw out of the Vols last Sunday versus Duke. They keep that up and they have a shot to make it to Houston and advance there.

Tennessee 62, FAU 55

West Region

No. 2 UCLA (31-5) vs. No.3 Gonzaga (30-5)

T-Mobile Arena, Vegas

8:45 PM CT

CBS

Bruins by 2

I picked the Zags to win it all in my bracket, so I can’t go against that, though this will be a war.

Gonzaga 66, UCLA 64

Friday

South Region

No.1 Alabama (31-5) vs. No.5 San Diego State (29-6)

KFC Yumi Center, Louisville

5:30 PM CT

TBS

Bama by 7 1/2

It’s hard to think of Alabama basketball and not think about the tragedy a couple of months ago and how poorly Nate Oats and the Alabama administration handled it. S has run into a problem with freshman Tony Mitchell, a high 4 star safety from Thompson High School in Birmingham. Mitchell was driving 141 MPH in Florida and had a lot of pot and money in the car along with a gun. S said there is no such thing as wrong place, wrong time. He’s suspended indefinitely. This guy will be held accountable. Too bad Nate Oats, Athletics Director Greg Byrne and President Stuart R. Bell didn’t get that memo. It just doesn’t seem like they care. And that’s pathetic.

Alabama 60, San Diego State 56

Midwest Region

No.5 Miami (27-7) vs. No. 1 Houston (33-3)

T-Mobile Center, Kansas City

6:15 PM CT

CBS

Houston by 7

Houston looked like the best team in the country in the second half last Saturday against Auburn at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. Amazing how this Committee put Auburn in Birmingham and let them have consecutive home games as a No.9 seed. I thought the committee lacked intelligence in some of their decisions. The No.1 seed didn’t care. I like the Cougars to take the next step.

Houston 74, Miami 66

South Region

No.15 Princeton (23-8) vs,. No.6 Creighton (23-12)

KFC Yumi Center, Lousiville

8 PM CT

TBS

Creighton by 10

The Tigers have been an amazing story. Knocking off No.1 seed Purdue, wow. Purdue struggles in the tournament, but Princeton blasted Missouri on Saturday as well. I do like Creighton here, but that takes nothing away from what Princeton has accomplished. They’ll scrap, that’s for sure.

Creighton 64, Princeton 60

Midwest Region

No. 3 Xavier (27-90 vs. No.2 Texas (28-8)

T-Mobile Center, KC

8:45 PM CT

CBS

Texas by 4

I’ve got Hook’em Horns in my Final Four, so need to take them. Looking for a thrilluh here.

Texas 75, Xavier 73

Our Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball team posted an electric 66-65 victory over Michigan this past Saturday before 8,337 fans at Memorial Coliseum in Nashville, and now move on to the quarterfinals of the NIT where we will face UAB at home on Wednesday at 6 PM CT on ESPN2.

Tyrin Lawrence has been a basketball scoring machine lately and added to that with 24 points and 9 boards against the Wolverines. Ezra Manjon added 17 points and 3 assists and did so much in the last minute when we were down 65-59, and somehow, we “magically”, as Memorial does, came back and won that basketball game. Colin Smith added 11, all in the first half, going 3 for 7 from trifecta. Jordan Wright finished with 6 points and 3 boards, but played tenacious defense on Michigan stud seven foot center Hunter Dickinson in the second half. Dickinson was a load in the paint, but Jordan gave him some fits when he started guarding him.Stack put on a press in the last minute and it worked to perfection. After two Manjon free throws to cut the lead to 65-61, we got a steal and an and one from Manjon to cut the lead to 65-64. Another steal led to a Lawrence driving lay-up to the left of the basket that was blocked, but was goal tending and put us ahead 66-65. We had to really hold our breath at the end as Dickinson had a follow up tip on a missed shot that barley missed the mark, and we emerged with what looked like an improbable victory with a minute left in the game.

We moved to 22-14 on the season and now face a UAB team that is coming off 77-59 victory over Morehead State at Barrow Arena in Birmingham on Sunday. Guard Ty Brewer finished with 25 for them. Guard Eric Gaines added 11, and 6’11”, 260 pound center Trey Jamison finished with 11 points and 16 boards. They are now 27-9.

They are led by shooting guard Jordan Walker, who averages 22.6 points per game. Gaines adds 11.6 and KJ Buffen, a 6’8” 230 pound senior forward, averages 10.8. Jemison averages 9.1 and pulls down 8.4 boards per game. They average 81 points per game and average 40 rebounds per game. They shoot 45% from the field, 36% from trifecta and 73 percent from the line. Walker is a 39%, 3 point shooter.

But, we’ve got a big four now as Colin has stepped into the role as our fourth star. Tyrin is averaging 13.2 per game, Jordan is at 10.5, and Ezra is at 10.3. Colin is averaging 5 points per game, but he’s stepping it up more and more each game, particularly this postseason. We need to hit the boards hard tomorrow night, and Quinton Millora-Brown will have to step up his defense on Jemison. We are shooting 43% from the field, 34% from triple, and 72% from the stripe. We average 36 boards per game and are scoring 72 points per contest.

Everybody needs to contribute Wednesday. We need help from Paul Lewis, Trey Thomas, Lee Dort and Malik Dia, but our stars are going to have to shine. I like them to do that.

On the Vandy Sports.com message board today, many of the boarders were saying how great UAB is, and how we could be in trouble tomorrow night. Then Brain13 joined in and said, “I ain’t scared.”

That’s who we are. We respect our opposition, but we do NOT fear them. Let’s get the job done tomorrow night. It’ll be a challenge, but so was Tennessee at home, Arkansas at home, Kentucky on the road and at Bridgestone Arena, with a sea of Blue in the crowd, Auburn at home, and Pitt at home. All of these teams were in the NCAA tournament. Tennessee and Arkansas are in the Sweet 16. And all of those games were victories. We’ve got it in us. Let’s prove to the country how good we are. Let’s pack out Memorial, too. This team deserves it. Will have a recap some time after the game.

Baseball sweeps Ole Miss, the week ahead starting tonight

Our Vandy Boys took all 3 games over defending champion Ole Miss over the weekend at the Hawk, in a Thursday through Saturday series. I kind of like the Thursday-Saturday format. Gives the guys an extra day to recover and get ready for the upcoming week.

We moved to 16-5 overall and 3-0 in the SEC and are now ranked No.4 by D1 Baseball.com and No.5 by Baseball America. Like the way we’re trending in all 3 facets of the game.

Thursday, we were 12-2 winners in 8 innings as the 10 run rule was invoked. RJ Schreck, who is on fire right now and hitting like we thought he would, went 2 for 5 with his fourth homer of the season and 3 Ribeyes. Chris Maldonado, our freshman younger brother of senior lockdown closer Nick, is on fire right now as well. He’s an awesome addition to the team. Maldonado was 3 for 5 with his 2nd homer of the season and a Ribeye. Our great sophomore, Matthew Polk, was 3 for 4 with his third homer of the season and 3 Ribbies. Our great senior first baseman, Parker Noland, was 2 for 5 with his 2nd homer of the year and 3 RBI’s. Carter Holton had a tremendous start for us. Our sophomore lefty went 6, gave up 6 hits, 2 runs with 0 walks and 5 K’s. One of our other super sophs, Bryce Cunningham, from Headland, Alabama,( as you remember a 35 minute drive from my wife’s hometown of Enterprise-she would make it in “Drop and give me 20!”). Bryce went 2, gave up 1 hit, no runs with a walk and a K. So, an excellent night for the team.

Friday, we were just as good, if not better. Our superb junior lefty, Hunter Owen, threw a gem. Hunter threw a complete game, 2 hit shutout with 1 walk and 11 K’s. It was a dominant performance by Owen. Our junior catcher Jack Bolger finished with 2 hits, and 2 Ribbies. Another one of our sensational freshmen, second baseman RJ Austin, hit a 3 run shot, and had 4 RBIs. Our superb junior centerfielder, Enrique Bradfield, posted 3 hits and two stolen bases and scored twice. Schreck got into the act again with 2 hits and his 5th homer of the season. Maldonado finished with 2 hits. The main stories were the pitching of Owen and our hitting, which has broken out.

On Saturday, we swept the Rebels with a 7-2 victory. Our super sophomore lefty, Devin Futrell, went 5, gave up 3 hits, with 2 earned with 0 walks and 2 K’s. Nice job by Devin. Sam Hlibioki is back to his stellar form from 2020. Our great senior went 2, gave up a hit, 0 runs with 0 walks and 3 K’s. If Sam can pitch like that, that’s a big lift to our bullpen. And older brother Nick Maldonado finished it off with 2 innings of no hit ball. He did walk 2, but finished it off as shortstop Jonathan Vastine made a nice grab on a line drive and dove back to the second base bag and tagged it to end the game on a double play, doubling off the Ole Miss runner who was between second and third on the liner.

So, a superior effort by the team over last year’s national champion. One other thing: the defense was superb. We only committed one error all weekend. Polk made a superb diving catch in left central from his left field position. It was beautiful. And Austin made an amazing catch on a line drive that looked like it was headed for the right central field gap. RJ, with his superb athletic ability, leapt and snagged the ball out of the air. Looked like a 36 inch vertical. Was spectacular. We turned three double plays as well.

Like what I’m seeing out of this group. We have settled in and worked out the early season kinks and are playing outstanding baseball now.

Schrek is hitting .329 with 5 homers and 17 RBIs. The Duke senior transfer is living up to the high expectations Corbs had for him when he came into the program in the fall. He’s an awesome baseball player, and has super speed and plays a strong right field. Polk is hitting .319 with 3 homers and 15 RBIs. Vastine is so solid. Our shortstop is hitting .278 with 3 homers and 13 Ribbies. Austin is hitting .276 with 3 long ones and 17 Ribeyes. Our awesome junior, Jack Bulger, is hitting .273 with 2 long ones and 12 RBIs. Jack had a huge two run homer on Saturday that put us ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the 4th after a slow start with the bats. We are now hitting .267 as a team, which is much better from even a week ago. Hitting coach Mike Baxter had the bats cookin over the weekend. Like what Coach Baxter has done to get our bats going. Need to keep up the good work.

Owen is 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA with 9 walks and 35 K’s. Holton is 2-0 with a 2.39 ERA with 7 walks and 30 K’s. Futrell is 4-1 with a 3.05 ERA, with 8 walks and 18 K’s. Cunningham has an 0.00 ERA with 3 walks and 19 K’s. Always feel good when Bryce is in the game and we have a lead. Hliboki’s ERA is a little higher at 5.14, but he’s been excellent lately. He’s walked 3 and K’d 22. And our awesome senior, Maldonado, has 3 saves on the season, an 0.00 ERA with 4 walks and 16 K’s. Need some other guys in the bullpen to get better and need a mid-week starter to step up, so those are things we need to work out going forward starting tonight versus Lipscomb. Coach Scott Brown is doing a terrific job with the staff. Just need some other arms to help to step up to help us excel this season.

Chris Maldonado is hitting .356 with 2 homers and 8 RBIs. Love what I’m seeing from little brother.

We’re now fielding at a .979 clip, which is so much better than it was earlier this season. Corbs moved Davis Diaz to third and Davis has found a good position for himself. Davis is a good hitter. Only hitting .250 now, but that’s expected to improve markedly over the next couple of weeks. Davis should be stellar with the stick and in the field. Vastine looks like an SEC shortstop. He’s such a slick fielder. And Austin looks to have found a home at second base. Jack looks solid behind the dish, and our outfield, left to right, of Polk, Bradfield and Schreck is terrific. Enrique is only hitting .247, but he had a really good weekend and it’s just a matter of time before Bradfield starts hitting .300+. He is also 15 of 19 on stolen bases. They are keying on him when he gets on base since he was 46 for 46 last year. But Bradfield will steal many more bags this season. We can count on that. Calvin Hewitt is 6 for 6 in the stolen base department. And even though Polk has overtaken him in left field, Hewitt can still help us a lot going forward at the plate, in the field, he’s an excellent left fielder, and on the bases.

Lipscomb today at 6 PM at First Horizon Park in Nashville, home of the triple A Nashville Sounds, who are the affiliate for the Milwaukee Brewers. Lipscomb is 7-13. This will be the second game in the All 4 Low Showdown with all the proceeds going to the ALS Foundation to help find a cure for this challenging disease. Super cause supported by Corbs and the team.The game will be broadcast by SEC Network+_.

Then, we’ll play Mississippi State this weekend. More on State later in the week.

Men’s Golf

Our golf team is aiming for their fifth victory in a row after a stellar season so far,. But we are having trouble at the Linger Longer Invitational at the Great Waters Course, a Jack Nicklaus Course, at Reynolds Plantation in Georgia. We are presently one over par and in fourth place for the tournament in this the final round. Alabama is leading at -10 and Georgia is second at -7. Georgia Tech is third at -1.We are through holes 10-13. I know Coach Limbaugh, Coach Gator Todd and the players are not totally giving up, but this is out of reach.

We’re still No.1 in the country, and have played better golf than anybody else in the nation this season. We’ll need to regroup after this, and get it together going forward. Will let you know how we end up.

So let’s get our golf team back where it should be, take care of business today at First Horizon and Wednesday at Memorial!

Out Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball team proved once again what a high quality outfit they are as we defeated Yale, 71-62, on Tuesday Night before 5,290 fans at Memorial Coliseum in Nashvegas.

Junior Tyrin Lawrence was superb again going for 25 points and 7 boards. Tyrin was 7 for 13 from the field, including 3 for 5 from trifecta. Tyrin just continues to excel. That “One Shot” spot on the court, in the right corner from three, is Tyron’s electric spot. He’s awesome from everywhere. He’s a tremendous shooter, both on driving and finishing at the rim, and taking it from mid range or deep. TL is a solid defender as well, and so quick. Tyrin is also an excellent free throw shooter now. He was 8 of 9 from the stripe Tuesday Night. He is now at 74% from the line, but has just kept progressing and gotten better and better from the stripe. I totally trust the man in clutch time from the charity stripe.

We moved to 21-14 on the season and now host Michigan at Memorial Saturday at 11 AM CT. The game will be televised by ESPN.

The great Ezra Manjon added 18 against Yale. Jordan didn’t have his greatest game with 6 points, but gave us 5 boards and a lot of hustle plays, which he always does. I loved what I saw from Q, Quinton Millora-Brown. Q posted 6 points and 13 rebounds. That’s awesome. Q just does the little things like Stack always says. He’ll make a clutch pass, take a charge, and I see him as capable of giving us double-doubles going forward. He does everything that helps our team be successful. He’s just getting more and more confident each time out. And he’s coming back next season. He’s becoming a real stud and will surely be one next season.

Freshman Colin Smith is excelling and living up to his 93, 4 star status. Colin went for 7 points, but they were important points. He gives us power on the boards and defensively and also is becoming an excellent 3 point shooter and scorer. Collin is another guy who just keeps getting better and better under Stack. I’m excited to keep watching him Saturday, and hopefully deeper into the NIT, and next year for sure.

Backup point guard Paul Lewis is another freshman we should be excited about. Paul just keeps improving as well. He’s a confident player. He is never afraid to put up a three and he’s accurate. Love what Paul can give us the rest of this season and next year. Lee Dort, Noah Shelby and Malik Dia are highly promising freshmen players for the future. They may give us some help this postseason, but, if not, their high ceilings are exciting for the future. Trey Thomas can still help us from trifecta and with hustle plays. Believe in our tough little guy.

Myles Stute is in the transfer portal. Myles’ skills were just not there at the end of the season and Colin was starting to take his minutes. Wish Myles the best. I’ve read and heard where J Wright could return next season with a slot opening up. That would be really awesome.

Michigan defeated Toledo Tuesday Night at home, 90-80. They moved to 18-15 overall. They finished 11-9 in the Big Ten. They’re solid under 4th year coach Juwan Howard. Coach Howard was a member of the “Fab Five” in the early ‘90’s, with Chris Webber and company.

Seven foot one inch, 260 pound junior center Hunter Dickinson, leads the Wolverines scoring averaging 18.4 points per game and adds 9 rebounds per contest. Q will have to bring his hard hat on Saturday. I know Q will. Q’s no slouch at 6’10”, 245. Jett Howard, a 6’8”, 215 power forward, averages 14.2 points and 3 boards. Six foot, four inch, 195 pound guard Kobe Bufkin averages 14 point, 4 1/2 rebounds and has added 96 assists in 33 games, over 3 per game. Point guard Dug McDaniel, a freshman, averages 8.3 ppg and has dished out 119 assists, 3.6 per game. In Tuesday Night’s victory over Toledo, Bufkin went for 23, and pulled down 8 boards along with dishing out 5 dimes. Dickinson went for 19 and 9. McDaniel went for 16 along with 8 assists. And Joey Baker, a 6’7”, 205 forward, who only averages 5 points per game, went for 21.

They shoot 45 percent from the field, 35% from 3, and 71% from the line. They average 36 rebounds per game while giving up 35.7. Defensively, opponents are 42.5% shooting from the field and 32% from trifecta. They have key victories in the Big Ten over NCAA Tournament teams Maryland, Michigan State and Northwestern, twice. So they’ll be a major challenge.

We need to make “our frees and threes” as CBS sports analyst Clark “Special K” Kellogg likes to say. Threes and frees are important, as is defending, rebounding, taking care of the ball, and finishing at mid range and at the rim. We are averaging 43% from the field shooting, 34 percent from triple distance, and pulling down 36 boards this season.

We’ve got the team to emerge victorious on Saturday. Just need to handle the big things and the little things to come out successfully. I hope we can get a big crowd out there to support our super team. The students have been on spring break, but hoping they can get back and get out to Memorial. If you’re in Nashville and are a Dores fan, please come out and support the team. We’ve got a baseball game that day as well, but Corbs changed first pitch to 1 PM CT to make sure our fans can support both our teams. That Corbs is the best. Always looking our for our other teams. If we can support both teams, that would mean a lot to the players. Our bball team is in the postseason, so let’s make sure we support them. Can’t wait to see the guys out there once again competing. What an awesome group. They deserve all the support they can get as we set our sights on matriculating further in the NIT.

Baseball Hosts Ole Miss

Our 6th ranked Dores (D1 Baseball Rankings) host No.3 Ole Miss (D1) tonight through Saturday in our first SEC weekend set at the Hawk. LSU is No.1 and the villains from the East are No.2. Florida is No.5 and Wake Forest in No.4

We are 13-5 overall, and Ole Miss is 14-3. Ole Miss is the defending national champion and we won national championships in 2014 and 2019. Both teams have their sights set on once again making it to Omaha in mid June, and playing for a national championship. Those are always the goals at Vanderbilt. That’s the type of exceptional program Tim Corbin has built in Nashville.

We won 15-6 over Belmont on Tuesday Night at First Horizon Park in Nashville, home of the Nashville Sounds. We were playing in the All 4 Lou Showdown this past Tuesday and will also do so next Tuesday, March 21st at 6 PM at First Horizon versus Lipscomb, a game that will be broadcast by SEC Network+. The All 4 Lou Showdown benefits the Live Like Lou Foundation for research for a cure of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. It’s a tough disease, but Corbs and his team are battling for a cure for this devastating sickness. The great “Iron Man” Lou Gehrig was a champion baseball player for the Yankees, a champion in life, and a first class gentleman. He made the great speech at Yankee Stadium in the 1930’s, when he had contracted ALS, in which he said, “I fell like the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” Such a class act. Obviously, I wasn’t around then, but I love the great historical heroes in baseball and “the Iron Man” was certainly one of them. What a classy man and what a tremendous baseball player Gehrig was. So, a great cause that Corbs and the team are playing for.

In that 16-5 victory Tuesday Night, our awesome freshman, RJ Austin, posted 4 hits. Junior catcher Jack Bulger homered and drove in 4 runs. The great Enrique Bradfield Jr. worked four walks and stole three bases. The awesome Bradfield Jr. now has stolen 12 of 15 bags on the season. He broke the program record with his 97th career stolen base versus UCLA on February 26th. Bradfield Jr. now has 105 career stolen bases in his career, which leads all active NCAA players, D1-D3. What a player our phenom is.

On the hill this weekend in order are our great lefty’s. Carter Holton, who is 1-0 with a 2.21 ERA faces Ole Miss’s right hander, Jack Dougherty, 2-1, 5.00 tonight. Friday, Hunter Owen, 1-0, 3.20, squares off against Rebels’ righty Grayson Saunter, 1-0, 5.74. And Saturday, Devin Futrell, 3-1, 2.87, faces lefty Xavier Rivas, 4-0, 5.40. The Rebels hit .337 as a team. So, as usual, they pound the baseball. Center fielder Ethan Groff leads them in hitting at .397, with 3 homers and 25 RBIs. He has also stolen 9 of 10 bases. Catcher Kemp Alderman is hitting .391 with 8 homers and 28 RBIs. And right fielder Calvin Harris is hitting .373 with 2 homers and 19 RBIs. Their pitching staff’s ERA is 4.84, and their fielding percentage is .986. So they’re good at the plate and defensively.

We are hitting .254 as a team. Our staff ERA is 3.36, and our fielding percentage is .975. Right fielder RJ Schreck leads us in hitting at .318 with 3 homers and 12 Ribeyes. RJ Austin is hitting .297 with 2 homers and 13 Ribbies. Jonathan Vastine, our great middle infielder, is hitting .279 with 3 long ones and 13 Ribbies. And our now left fielder Matthew Polk, whose stick I see as becoming elite, is hitting .270 with 2 homers and 10 Ribeyes. Ole Miss has hit 33 homers so far on the season, and we’ve hit 19. Hoping we can enhance our home run number at the Hawk this weekend. Like our pitching in this matchup. Just need to defend and hit well.

Ole Miss lost to Jacksonville State on the road, 10-6, Tuesday Night.Jax State is 7-10, so that was surprising,. But the Rebels are still a highly talented and elite team. Midweek losses happen to all teams. We’ve lost a midweek game to Central Arkansas already this season. So, it does happen to everybody, even the elite teams. We Have to be ready to face an this superior Rebels team.

First pitch tonight is at 6 CT on ESPNU. Friday’s game is 6 PM CT on SEC Network+. And Saturday’s finale is at 1 PM CT on the SEC Network.

So, a tremendous matchup to open SEC play. Gotta get the job done tonight and take it from there. Need a good start from Carter and good support in the field and at the plate.

I’ll keep you posted. Thanks.

The disappointment of not getting into the NCAA Tournament resonated throughout the Vanderbilt nation. It was highly disappointing that a 20-14 team, 11-7 in the SEC, that won 9 of its last 11 defeating NCAA Tournament teams Tennessee, Kentucky, twice, Auburn, Mississippi State and along the way and defeating tourney teams Arkansas and Pittsburgh earlier this season, was not selected in the field of 68.

Pittsburgh and Mississippi State are playing in a NCAA play in game tonight at 8:10 CT on TruTV and we beat them both? How does that work when our resumes are similar and we defeated both teams head to head?

Tough to take.

But despite the incompetence of the NCAA Tournament Selection committee, we’ve still got to move on. We face Yale tonight in the NIT @Memorial at 8 CT on ESPNU.

Yale has 5 players who average double figures. They lost to Princeton in the Ivy League Championship game after defeating them twice during the regular season. That doesn’t seem to be fair to Yale either.

The Bulldogs are 21-8 overall and were 10-4 in their conference. This is a major IQ game in the country this week. Wow.

Yale is led by 6’8”, 220 pound senior power forward EJ Jarvis, who averages 13 points per game and pulls down 6 1/2 rebounds per game. Junior small forward, 6’6” 205 pound Matt Knowling, averages 12.9 and 5.4 rebounds. Six-four sophomore guard Bez Mbeng averages 12.8 ppg and accumulated 49 assists on the season. Sophomore guard John Poulakidas averages 12.6. And junior 6’4” guard August Mahoney averages 11.8. The Bulldogs shoot 48% from the field, 37% from trifecta, and 68% from the line. They average 36 rebounds per game to their opponents’ 32. Their power 6 losses were to Colorado of the PAC-12, 65-62, Butler of the Big East, 71-61, and Kentucky of the SEC, 69-59. They had a nice season, and their coach, James Jones,is in his 23rd season at Yale, and always has excellent teams. We have played Yale a few times in the past and we’ve won those games. But the games were hard fought and came down to the end. They are a tough out.

Liam Robbins led us in scoring at 15 points per game and also led in rebounds at 6.8. But the great Liam, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and a top five player in the conference this season, was lost in our second meeting with Kentucky at Rupp four minutes into the game. Liam suffered a broken bone in his lower leg. Hoping for Liam’s swift recovery as he will most likely move on in his career and try to make it in the NBA. But we won that Kentucky game, we won the next Mississippi State game and defeated LSU and Kentucky, again, in the SEC Tournament, to advance to the semifinals, where we fell 87-75 to Texas A&M. We looked tired in the A&M game. Two nights in a row of hard fought basketball, particularly against Kentucky, in a phenomenal victory, took its toll. But what a season Stack and the team put together.

Junior Tryin Lawrence was awesome from the moment he sank that game winning shot at the buzzer versus Tennessee at Memorial on Wednesday, February 8th off a beautiful assist by Ezra Manjon in our 66-65 victory. The Memorial Magic was back with that “One Shot.” Tyrin averages 12.5 ppg and 4.1 rebounds. What an athlete and player for us. The same can be said about senior Jordan Wright, who averages 10.8 ppg and 5.1 rebounds. J Wright was tremendous down the stretch for us. And our great senior point guard, Ezra Manjon, averaged 9.9 points, but had so many key buckets late in the season. And his 133 assists against 49 turnovers was almost a 3:1 ratio. Ezra averaged 3.9 assists per game. Those guys were and are our Big Three.

We averaged 72.5 ppg as a team and gave up 72.1/ We shot 43% from the field and our opponents shot 43.4%. We were 34% from triple. Our opponents were 31%. And we were 71% from the line, while out opponents were 70%. We averaged 36.2 rebounds, while our opponents averaged 36.6. We averaged 10,8 turnovers per game to our opponents’ 10.1

We’ll need to play well tonight to defeat a stellar Yale team. We need to be on from distance and in the paint, we need to rebound, sink our free throws and get after it on the defensive end.

Would love to see us emerge victorious tonight and make a deep run in this NIT all the way to the Final Four at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Tuesday, March 28th, and cut down the nets there on Thursday, March 30th. That would be spectacular.

Maybe Jordan Wright will be so fired up about this that he will come back for another year. Not sure if Ezra can also, but would love to have him back, too, if that’s the case.

Let’s get it done tonight at home and charge into the second round.

Here is my NCAA Tournament Bracket for 2023.

Which teams will advance to the Final Four at NRG Stadium in Houston on Saturday, April 1st. And which team will cut down the nets on Monday, April 3rd at approximately 10:30 PM CT.

The Crimson Tide is the No.1 overall seed, but can they win 6 games in a row? The talent is through the roof, but it’s overall youthful talent. Can the superb Brandon Miller and the Crimson Tide cut down the nets on Monday, April 3rd?

Auburn is limping into the tournament. Can they advance?

Those are questions that are looming in this state.

Will there be Cinderellas that step it up? Many are predicting several upsets. I have my opinions on the matter in my picks.

CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV will televise.

Here are White’s World’s selections for the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

2023 Bracket

Coach Jerry Stackhouse made a compelling case for our team making the field of 68 in the NCAA Tournament on ESPN earlier this morning.

Stack was awesome in his interview. Our great coach made a superb case for our team getting in.

LaPhonso “Fons” Ellis, of the ESPN basketball crew, believes strongly in us and says we should be in and we’ll do damage once we get in. 

Couldn’t agree more with Fons and our phenomenal coach.
 
What else did we need to do? We defeated tournament teams Kentucky, twice, once on the road and the second time in the tournament with a sea of blue in the crowd though our crowd was super as well. But twice against the heavily favored Wildcats. It doesn’t get any better than that. 

Then we have victories over tournament teams Auburn Arkansas, Mississippi State (they’ve got a good shot), Pitt, has been in all season, even though they’re on the precipice right now. Our strength of schedule is tremendous at 30 and should be better playing every team in the SEC and teams like NC State and Saint Mary’s, both solid tournament teams. We may not have won those two games, but we were highly competitive.

We finished 6th in the conference finishing 11-7 and we finished 20-14 overall. 

Beyond that, how can you look at Ezra Manjon, Jordan Wright and Tyrin Lawrence and this team and not see by the “eye test,” the most important asset for a team, and not see this group as a tournament team? It’s a slam dunk.

We played a Texas A&M team with very tired legs and A&M was hotter than a Texas skillet from the field, but we kept battling and turned what looked like a 24 point rout into a 12 point loss. That fight should mean something to the Committee as well.

I’m not in Joe Lunardi’s camp. Mark Wise of the SEC Network and ESPN said before the Kentucky game in Rupp a week and a half ago, that we needed to win the Kentucky game, emerge victorious against Mississippi State at home, and then win two games in the SEC Tournament and we’d be in.

Mission accomplished. We belong in the field of 68. I’m hopeful the Committee sees all this evidence that points to a team that belongs in the field of 68, and that we will hear our name called just after 5 PM CT on CBS. 

The famed TPC Sawgrass Course in Ponte Vedra, FL. plays host to the 49th playing of the Players Championship with the largest purse in golf, outside of the LIV Tour. The purse is $25 million and the winner earns $4.5 million. Second place gets $2.725 million. Third place pays $1.725 million. Fourth gets $1.225 million. And fifth place pays $1.025 million. So, your life is good if you can excel at TPC Sawgrass.

The defending champion is Cameron Smith, but he’s ineligible to play because he plays on the LIV Tour. He made his choice, so he’ll have to live with it.

The PGA instituted some new features for elevated events in 2023-2024. There will be eight events with no cut after 36 holes and featuring the top 70 to 80 golfers on tour with the $20 million purses. These go along with the 4 majors and the Fed Ex Cup playoffs. Pretty good deal for the players who make up those fields. I’m not a fan of this no cut golf. I thought the PGA was a competitive entity and an alternative to the LIV Tour with no cut and 54 hole team events. But Commissioner Jay Monahan says it will enhance the game of golf. Maybe it will. To be determined.

TPC Sawgrass is a 7,275, par 72 layout with some of the most spectacular holes in golf. The Par 5, 9th will be playing over 600 yards. The 358 yard par 4 12th has water to the left and bunkers in the center. It’s a tight drive and a surefire risk/reward hole as the player can go for it or lay up and take a safer shot at birdie. Awesome hole. The Par 3, 181 yard 13th is Justin Thomas’s favorite hole. There is water all along the left hand side and a large bunker in front. The green is a large complex with a slope in the middle of it making for some challenging two putts. Everybody knows about the 137 yard par 3 17th, the Island hole. It’s either the agony or the ecstasy on 17. It can really be heartbreak hotel for the players as the 71st hole on Sunday. It’s either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat on this hole as ABC’s Jim McKay used to say on Wide World of Sports. That was classic and so is this. And it can be the reason one of the players captures the championship.

And the 18th is one of the most underrated holes in golf. Playing 462 yards with water running down the entire left side and a tight landing spot in the fairway. The par 4 features rough that is up to 3 1/2 inches along the right hand side along with a set of trees. The second shot needs to not be overcooked or the player is going in the water. The pin could very well be in front on Sunday with a tight landing area on the front of the green. It could also be front left, which is also challenging bringing the water in play for the bold player who has to have a birdie. It can also be back left, another major challenge. This hole will make for an electric finish.

Weather

Thursday, 72, Partly sunny, Wind, ENE 12 MPH

Friday, 82, 55% chance of scattered showers in the afternoon, Wind 20 MPH.

Saturday, 70, Sunny, Wind N 12 MPH.

Sunday, 78, Sunny, wind SE 13 MPH.

So should be pleasant, but the wind, as always, will play a role in the outcome.

TV

Thursday-Friday, 11 AM-5 PM CT, Golf Channel.

Saturday-Sunday, 12-5 PM CT, NBC.

Odds

Jon Rahm, 8 1/2/1 or 17/2

Rory, 8 1/2/1 or 17/2

Scottie Scheffler, 10/1

Patrick Cantlay, 19/1

Max Homa, 19/1

Justin Thomas, 19/1

Xander Schauffele, 25/1

Viktor Hovland, 27/1

Tony Finau, 28/1

Collin Morikawa, 28/1

Will Zalatoris, 32/1

Jordan Spieth, 32/1

Can’t believe I’m saying this, but if he could only putt. Focused on his long game too much. Needs to get back to work on his short game and putting if he wants to start winning again.

Matt Fitzpatrick, 34/1

Tyrrell Hatton, 34/1

Cameron Young, 36/1

Jason Day, 36/1

Sungjae Im, 37/1

Shane Lowry, 48/1

Keegan Bradley, 50/1

Rickie Fowler, 50/1

Chris Kirk, 75/1

Hideki Matsuyama, 85/1

Kurt Kitayama, 90/1

The 30 year old from Chico, California put on a masterful performance holding off the biggest names in the game to win the Arnie Invitational last weekend and capture the $3.6 million first place check that comes along with the coveted title. Everybody wants to win the Arnie.

Tommy Fleetwood, 85/1

Justin Rose, 100/1

Harris English 100/1.

What a field. This is going to be an epic Players with all the big names competing for this illustrious “Fifth Major” championship on tour. Greens are Bermuda Tiff Eagle and will be stamping at 13 or faster this week.

Winner

I’m not going to take the favorites, Rahm, McIlory, Scheffler, JT, Homa, Cantlay, but I’ll go a little off the grid and pick the 36 year old from Woodstock, Vermont by way of St. John’s University in Queens, New Yawk City. He finished tied for 10th last week at the Arnie shooting a final round 67 and finished 5th at the Players last year shooting 72, 71, 67, 67 to finish -9, 4 shots back of Smith’s winning score of 13 under. He won the Zozo Championship in Japan back in October. He’s the 2011 PGA Championship champion played at the Atlanta Athletic Club. He’s found a resurgence in his game. Give me,

Keegan Bradley

Sleeper

Kurt Kitayama

I like him to play well again this week.