Our great freshman, Jon Ed Steed, and his teammates home in on capturing the NCAA Championship in Men’s Golf. (Photo courtesy of On3).
Super freshman Jon Ed Steed helps lead the Dores into La Costa Resort and Spa for the NCAA Championships (Photo courtesy of On3)
Our 11th ranked Vanderbilt Commodores are trying to augment what our 10-3 football almost did, our men’s and women’s basketball teams accomplished, our women’s soccer team accomplished, and our baseball team, though not what we wanted, played extremely hard and there is a lot of hope for 2027. When you have a coach in Tim Corbin, who has won national championships in 2014 and ’19, there is always room to be optimistic.
There’s a lot of optimism for all our teams. Clark has reloaded and brought back some studs in wide receiver Junior Sherrill, running back Seddy Alexander and company to go along with 99, 5 star frosh quarterback Jared Curtis, and some nice pieces out of recruiting and the portal. And we have excellent returnees. We’ll be good.
The SEC is always a battle of attrition, but we’re well equipped for 2026 and beyond. Clark is already assembling a solid 2027 class led by 94, four star linebacker Omarii Sanders, 6′ 3 1/2″, 210. Love what Clark did in his fifth season with the great Diego and company and love what the future holds.
Coach By just recruited a stellar freshmen class and also landed some major transfers. Chandler Bing is coming back for his sophomore season, and I like what Chandler brings to the table with his athletic ability, driving and scoring and improving ability from beyond the arc. He averaged 28 points his senior year in his school in Atlanta. He also plays lockdown defense.
And the news of the year in Vanderbilt Sports happened on Tuesday when the amazing Tyler Tanner decided to return for his junior season. That’s tremendous. Tyler averaged 19 points, almost 6 assists and 2.4 steals. He’s looking at an All American Wooden Award season in ’26-27.
Get your season tickets for football and men’s basketball as soon as possible. It’ll be a spectacle at First Bank and Memorial Gymnasium in 2026-27.
Not to be outdone, Coach Shea Ralph led her women’s basketball team to an awesome season. Love the future with Mikayla Blakes and company returning. Coach Ralph is tremendous.
Also, Coach Darren Ambrose took our soccer team to the Elite Eight and we have incredible prospects for 2026.
Those respective teams banged hard on the door, and now Coach Scott Limbaugh, players senior Wells Williams, freshmen Jon Ed Steed and Will Hartman will home in on breaking it down at the NCAA Championships which commenced today and is being played at La Costa Resort and Spa North Course in the San Diego metro area.
Our great golf team, led by freshman Will Hartman’s tie for low medalist honors, won the Athens, GA. Regional defeating teams like No.1 Auburn to earn one of the 30 spots in this field. We tee off at 3:07 P.M. CT/ 4:07 ET/ 1:07 Pacific.
We’ll start senior Wells Williams, sophomore Ryan Downes, freshmen Jon Ed, Will and Michael Riebe. Jon Ed, Will and Michael were part of the No.1 recruiting class in the country in 2025. Coach Limbaugh also secured the No. 1 class in the country for 2026.
The North Course at La Costa will play over 7,500 yards with a couple of long par 5’s in the 616 yard 2nd hole, and the 609 yard 18th. No.6 is the No.1 handicap hole. It’s a par 5 at 576. Good bit of water on the backside. Greens will be a certain kind of bentgrass that will be quick, stimping at 12 1/2 to 13.
Coach Limbaugh, in his 14th season, has led his teams to 50 tournament titles, with the most recent one being the Athens (GA.) Regional, we’ve had 37 low medalists (winners of tourneys), 12 NCAA Championship Appearances, 7 Match Play appearances, 3 Final Fours, 2017, ’19 and ’22, and Gordon Sargent won the NCAA individual title in 2022. It’s a laundry list of excellence. There’s more, players in the pros, etc..
The format for the major championship of college golf is a 30 team field with the field playing 3 rounds, 54 holes, today through Sunday, with a cut to 15 teams after the third round on Sunday. On Monday, the field gets cut down to 8 teams after 18 holes, and those 8 will play match play starting Tuesday. The quarterfinals and semis will transpire Tuesday, and the Championship match is Wednesday. Golf Channel will stream the Championships over the weekend and televise on the Golf Channel Monday through Wednesday, starting at approximately, 5-5:30 P.M. CT/ 6-6:30 East/ and 3-3:30 P.M. Pacific.
Coach Limbaugh said the teams that are favored are Auburn, Florida, Texas and UVA.
We’ll home in on breaking this door down this time. Regardless, we’ve had a heckuva season, and the future is through the roof bright.
And we could very well get over the hump and capture our first Golf National Championship over the next 6 days.
Could Blistergate be a problem for Rory? (Photo courtesy of Facebook).
There are 156 players competing for the coveted Wanamaker Trophy at Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, PA., 15 miles west of downtown “Philadelphia, PA.,” as the 108th PGA Championship transpires Thursday through Sunday, and features all the best players in the world on an impressive 1928 Donald Ross design , that was redesigned and restored to its original design by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner in 2016-17. There are 174 bunkers at AGC and the rough is thick at 3 1/2 inches. You either hit the fairway or go in the deep rough, placing a premium on driving accuracy. The bentgrass greens will be stimping at 13 1/2, lightning fast, and the weather looks sunny and dry all week/weekend, so they will stay extremely quick throughout the weekend.
The defending champion is Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler won at Quail Hollow in 2025 with a score of 11 under, 6 clear of Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau. DeChambeau, the consummate entertainer, will carry his Youtube golf game to Aronimink this week.
The 2026 season has been electric. Rory captured his sixth major championship with his victory at Augusta National over Scheffler by a shot in April. Cam Young was the winner at the Players Championship. The six winners of the Signature events this season are: Collin Morikawa at the AT&T Pebble Beach (he earned $3.6 M); Jacob Bridgeman at the Genesis Invitational (he won $4 M, player sponsored event by Tiger Woods pays more for first); Akshay Bhatia at the Arnie ($4 M- player sponsored event-late Arnie); Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage, ($3.6 M); Young at the Cadillac Championship ($3.6M); and Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan? at the Truist Championship ($3.6 M). The two other upcoming Signature events are the Memorial Tournament, Jack’s tourney, which will take place June 4th-7th at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio ($4 M to winner), and the Travelers Championship on June 25th-28th at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT. ($3.6 M to winner). There are 8 signature events this season with 6 down and two left.
The 126th U.S. Open will be played June 18th-21st at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New Yawk. The 154th Open Championship, or British Open, depending on your preference, will be played at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England July 16th-19th. SEC Media Days will commence in Tampa the following week, Monday, July 20th through Thursday, July 23rd.
This 108th edition at Aronimink will not only give a golfer a legacy that can never be replaced, it will also pay the winner roughly $3.4 million. The winner also has a lifetime invitation to play at the PGA Championship, a five year exemption into the three other majors, full playing status on the tour for five years, automatic qualification for the season ending Tour Championship, and the possible $10 M bonus for winning the Tour Championship. And a shot at the $25 M Fed Ex Cup bonus for winning the Cup. So all good if you’re successful this week.
However, the course is challenging and the competition is fierce. Key holes include the 171 yard par 3, 5th, where bunkers form a semi-circle around a heavily sloped green. The 385 yard Par 4, 13th is a 385 yard Par 4, that is the shortest par 4 at Aronimink. But the tight fairway with the 3 1/2 inch rough has bunkers squeezing it too. A forward tee of 285 will be used for the heavy hitters to go for the green, but it brings out of bounds into play on the left. The 546 yard, par 4, 15th is the longest par 4 for four rounds in a major ever. The 16th hole at the Los Angeles Country Club played 558 yards for a par 4 for the 2023 U.S. Open. The fairway slopes to the left and the green is one of the largest on the course. These greens are massive. There is an open front for the players to run it up onto the putting surface. The 229 yard, par 3, 17th has a pond to the left, so any overcooking puts you in the water. The best shot is to the middle of the green. With a front right pin position, possibly on Sunday, the players will have to clear the bunker to get to it if he HAS to have a birdie. The 490 yard, par 4, 18th is a classic. Off the tee, the players will be challenged with trees on both sides of the fairway and three bunkers on the right side of it. The approach is uphill to a tiered green. Will be a “thrilluh in Philluh” on Sunday. The course is 7,390 yards and a Par 70.
Can Golf “Celebrity” Bryson DeChambeau be serious enough to win at Arinomink? (Photo courtesy of Golf Digest).
The next two PGA Championships will be held at PGA Frisco (in 2027, Fields Ranch East Course, Frisco, TX) and Valhalla Golf Club (in 2028, Louisville).
Here are the key tee times Thursday with odds for each competitor.
7:18 A.M. CT/8:18 ET- Ludvig Aberg, 16/1; Rickie Fowler, 50/1, playing better, but not sure he’s trustable; DeChambois, 20/1.
7:29 A.M. CT/8:29 East-Xander Schauffele, 16/1, possible, 2024 PGA champion at Valhalla. Brooks Koepka, 40/1, three time PGA Championship champion (2018, 2019 and 2023), five time major winner. The 2017 and ’18 U.S. Open champion also. Tyrrell Hatton, 50/1. LIV player who does challenge in majors. LIV players have shown that they can win majors; Koepka, PGA Championship winner in 2023 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY. And DeChambeau, U.S. Open 2024, Pinehurst No.2. But it gets harder and harder when you play Member Guests every weekend with 54 holes and no cuts, rock and roll blaring, and then try to play Serious tournaments; tournaments that are at elite levels. The concentration has to be laser focused, and these guys seem to lose their edge playing on the possibly soon to be defunct tour. Koepka is back playing on the PGA Tour. He had had enough and is very fortunate to be back on tour, but there are financial conditions. Patrick Reed is back as well. There should be consequences for defecting and there are. A lot of lost future earnings, many millions, but it could be worse for guys who are already worth 8 figures, some 9.
7:40 A.M. CT/8:40 East-Rory, 10/1. Six Majors. Getting in rarefied air, but can he win another? Not positive. Has a blister on his foot. Possible problem. Jordan Spieth, 60/1. Still not seeing it. Too much of a head case. Jon Rahm, 12/1. This is a guy who has really fallen off “precipitously” (vocab word for Excedrin) since joining the LIV Tour.
12:32 P.M. CT/1:32 ET-Vik Hovland, 60/1. Kind of gets in his own way like Spieth has for almost a decade. Morikawa, 40/1. Won the PGA Championship at Harding Park in SF in 2020 and the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England. He’s battling a back injury right now, but giving it a whirl. Shane Lowry, 75/1. Won the British Open in 2019 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Made the clinching Ryder Cup winning putt in 2025 at Bethpage “White” Black to keep the Cup with Europe. The next Ryder Cup will be played September 17th-19th at Adare Manor Golf Club in County Limerick, Ireland, so that’ll be a home field for Rory and Shane.
12:43 P.M. CT/1:43 East-Tommy Fleetwood, 25/1. Got a shot. The 2025 Fed Ex Cup winner. Chris Gotterup, 50/1. Has won the 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic, the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open, the 2026 Sony Open in Hawaii, and the 2026 Waste Management Open in Phoenix. Bob McIntyre, 75/1. Was a total head case at the Masters. Not as bad as Sergio Garcia, who’s a punk, as he destroyed a tee box at Augusta. But I don’t see Bob with the mental game to handle a major.
12:54 P.M. CT/1:54 East- Cam Young, 11/1. Strong contender. Keegan Bradley, 100/1. Not much of a Ryder Cup captain, but won the 2011 PGA at Atlanta Athletic Club and won the 2018 BMW Championship at Aronimink, so he’s a possible factor. Justin Thomas, 50/1. The 2017 PGA winner at Quail Hollow, and the 2022 PGA winner at Southern Hills in Tulsa, is playing well now and has a shot.
1:05 P.M. CT/2:05 East-Scottie Scheffler, 5/1. The favorite, as usual. One hundred forty fourth on the PGA Tour in proximity to hole, so his irons aren’t that sharp heading into Aronimink. Matt Fitzpatrick, 20/1. Hot golfer. Won the Valspar Championship, the RBC Heritage and the Zurich Classic in N’Awlins with his brother Alex, who has taken full advantage of his 2026 exemption ever since. Justin Rose, 50/1. The 45 year old Englishman seems to always still be in the hunt.
Can Scheffler recapture the magic as he defends his 2025 PGA Championship. (Photo courtesy of Golf Monthly).
Other key players with shots to win include: Hideki Matsuyama, 40/1; Patrick Cantlay, 50/1; Russell Henley, 50/1; Min Woo Lee, 50/1; Sam Burns, 60/1; Si Woo Kim, 60/1; Adam Scott, 60/1, still playing well; J.J. Spaun, 60/1, defending U.S. Open champion at Oakmont, 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours away from Aronimink near Pittsburgh depending on how fast you’re driving. With my wife that would be 3 1/2 hours. Akshay Bhatia, 75/1; Kurt Kitayama, 75/1, and Sepp Straka, 90/1. Those are pretty good odds for Straka if you pick him to finish in the top 10.
Sunday-88, Partly cloudy. Twenty one percent chance of rain. 47% humidity. Winds W 5-10.
The wind will be a factor in this week.
Winner
I’m bullish on Players Championship winners capturing a major the same year they win at TPC Sawgrass. Scheffler won the Players and Masters in 2024, and Rory won the Players and Masters last year. So I’ll take the 28 year old from Scarborough, New Yawk, by way of Wake Forest, and the 2026 Players Championship champion along with the 2026 Cadillac Championship champion. The fifth major and a Signature Event victories resonate with White’s World.
Cameron Young
Give me Cam Young to capture the 108th edition of the PGA Championship. (Photo courtesy of The Augusta Chronicle).
Our great right hander Connor Fennell leads our charges today at 6 P.M. versus No.4 Texas (Photo courtesy of The Tennessean).
Pitching matchups for this weekend as we host the No.4 Texas Longhorns at the Hawk.
Friday, 6 P.M. CT/7 ET, streaming on SEC Network+.
Vanderbilt: Junior right hander Connor Fennell, from Londonderry, New Hampshire. 3-1, 4.74 ERA, 57 IP’s, 14 BB’s, 70 K’s, 12 homers given up. .239 batting average against. Connor’s been excellent the past two Fridays. Against OU on Friday, 4/9, Fennell went 7.1 innings, gave up 7 hits, 3 earned runs, with no walks and 10 K’s in a Commodores’ 10-0 victory. Last Friday @ Kentucky, Fennell went 6.1, giving up 5 hits, 1 earned with 2 walks and 3 K’s. We lost that game in the ninth inning on a grand slam, 5-2, but Connor got the job done and deserved better. He’ll compete. He’s a bulldog.
Texas will go with lefty Dylan Volantis, 5-0, 2.13 ERA,16 walks, 69 K’s, 1 homer, .196 BA against.
Saturday, 7 P.M. CT/8 ET, SEC Network.
VU pitcher, to be determined. I’ll guess freshman righty Nate Schlote (Fairway, KS.), 3-1, 0.50 ERA, 18 IP’s, 17 walks, 20 K’s. 0 homers. .125 BA against. Been good, needs to throw strikes. Other candidates are junior right hander Luke Guth (Franklin, PA.), 1-1, 4.12, 24 IP, 15 walks, 27 K’s. 2 homers. .250 BA against. Or possibly junior righty Brennan Seiber (Newport Beach, Cali.- nice place to live). 5-1, 5.04, 17 BB’s, 20 K’s. 2 homers, .257 BA against.
For Texas, right hander Ruger Riojas, 5-1, 3.25 ERA, 12 walks, 83 K’s. Two homers. .222 BA against.
Sunday, 12 P.M. CT/1 ET. ESPN2, The Deuce.
Vanderbilt: Freshman right hander Wyatt Nadeau (Gorham, Maine). 1-2, 5.40 ERA, 38.1 IP, 32 BBs, 51 K’s, 4 homers given up. .207 BA against. When Wyatt throws strikes, he’s very effective.
Texas:
LHP Luke Harrison. 4-2, 4.09 ERA, 50.2 IP, 22 BBs, 54 K’s. 2 homers. .242 BA against.
Their closer is righty Sam Cozart, 5-0, 1.83, 6 saves. 7 walks, 49 K’s. 3 homers, .104 BA against.
***Keys to success*** 1. Throw strikes 2. Keep the ball in the ball park. 3. Let our defense make plays. 4. Play very solid D. 5. Hit in the clutch.
Always the formula for success.
I’ll be back over the weekend with a report if we’re having success.
Men’s golf is struggling today and doesn’t look like they’ll make the Match Play. We’re +6 today, and -5 for the tournament. Eighth place Arkansas is -14. We’re through holes 12-16. We’ve got four teams in front of us below Arkansas. So really disappointing performance by the team. We’ve got the NCAA Tournament, but this is just not the way Vanderbilt Men’s Golf is supposed to compete. Auburn and Florida are both at -32 in the lead. Both are on holes 9-12. Very disappointing performance.
Men’s Basketball, now this is something to be ecstatic about, particularly if we get two more guys back on the team.
Here are our 2026 signees for the 2026-27 team. All of these ratings are from 247 Sports.
Incoming freshmen 1. Ethan Mgbako, 6’6″, 215 small forward out of Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. 92, 4-star.
2.Anthony Brown, 6’1″,160 point guard, Archbishop Carroll, D.C. 91, 4-star.
3. Jackson Sheffield, 6’9″, 240 Center, Hoover, Alabama. 90, 4 star.
Transfers
1.T.O. Barrett, 6’4″, 200, shooting guard. Missouri transfer. Originally from Edmond, OK. 93, 4-star out of high school and 91 4 star from Missouri.
2. Sebastian Williams-Adams, 6’8″, 230 power forward. Auburn transfer. Originally from Houston. 98, 4 star out of high school. 94 from Auburn.
3. Bangot Dak. 6’11”, 185 Power Forward. From Lincoln, Nebraska originally. Colorado transfer. 84 out of high school, and 89, 3- star from Colorado.
4. Ace Glass. 6’2″, 170, shooting guard. Washington State transfer. From Rancho Cucamonga, CA. 91, 4 star out of high school. 91 from Wash State.
5. Berke Buyuktuncel. 6’10”, 244 power forward. Nebraska transfer. Originally from Bursa, Turkey. Reminds me of when I was trying to call a basketball game at UAB back in 1986 as I was auditioning for potential broadcasting jobs and I had my friend, and frat brother Skins with me and this Turkish player hit a deep trifecta, and Skins said, “He just hit that from downtown Constantinople!” Berke was a 99 4 star out of high school and a 91, 4-star from Nebraska.
So, awesome class by Coach By. Our team ranking is 14th in the country by 247 Sports and our transfer class is 15th. We can do some damage with these guys.
Two other guys we need to lock down are superstar point guard Tyler Tanner, who is weighing his options with the NBA. The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is April 24th, today. May 10-17 is the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, and June 13th is the deadline for college players to withdraw from the draft and maintain their eligibility. Tyler is getting a very healthy offer from VU to stay, somewhere in the $2.5 to 3 Million range for next season. Tyler should come back. The pay is great and he can be a star and not the 11th or 12th guy on the bench in the NBA. Hopeful Tyler will choose to come back. One thing we have working for us: Tyler is an awesome kid.
The other player is our super solid small forward AK Okereke. He’s trying to get a waiver for a fifth season from the NCAA to get another season at VU. AK’s argument is he played at Cornell, which doesn’t give out athletic scholarships as per Ivy League rules. Would love to get the big fella back as well.
And two guys I would be highly remiss to leave out are our stud freshman small forward this season, Chandler Bing. Chandler, from Atlanta, had a really solid frosh season and is primed to be a big time player for us. And Jayden Leverett, our 6’10”, 205 center, from El Paso, Texas. Jayden showed flashes of being a really nice player for us down low. He’s got good handles, getting more size and he’s already a physical player, good rebounder, can affect the rim, and has a pretty solid offensive game that’s developing.
So, that’s what we’ve got in baseball and basketball. Looking stellar in both sports.
Our outstanding sophomore third baseman from Ooltewah, TN., Brodie Johnston is pounding the baseball right now. (Photo courtesy of The Vanderbilt Hustler).
Our baseball team is picking it up as third baseman Brodie Johnston and right fielder Braden Holcomb, among many others, are pounding the baseball right now. And, just as importantly, we are pitching MUCH better, which we had to have. The defense has been stellar lately.
I’ll have some more on Friday with details on Brodie, Braden, Mancini, Ryker Waite, Ruston Rigdon, etc, and what to look for as No.4 Texas (D1 Baseball Rankings) comes to Nashville for a three game set at the Hawk. Couldn’t be more gigantic of a series.
Our RPI, as reported by Warren Nolan, an expert in the field, is 69, which is probably not good enough yet to get us in the NCAA Tournament. But we’ve improved markedly in the last week after taking 2 of 3 from Kentucky in Lexington and defeating Xavier, 11-1, in 8 innings by the run rule, a 10 or more run lead after the trailing team has hit in the 7th. We are now 25-17 overall and 9-9 in the always rugged SEC. We started out slowly in the non-conference and the SEC has been as brutal as ever. But we’ve held our own. But we’ve got work to do.
Connor Fennell has been pitching well on Friday Nights, and our bullpen was better last weekend in Lexington. We just need to get better starting pitching on Saturday and Sunday, and our bullpen needs to keep progressing.
Brodie’s been awesome hitting .367 with 13 homers and 38 steaks. Braden is also hitting well at .329 with 12 and 39. Waite, our shortstop, is hitting .301 with 5 and 32 and is 9 for 12 in base stealing, and our great senior, second baseman Mike Mancini, is hitting .301 with 12 and 39. Mancini is also 12-for-12 in stolen bases. We always need to manufacture runs. It can be the difference between winning and losing, and we’ve been pretty strong lately in the stealing and bunt games along with our hitting prowess.
Braden was 4 for 5 Tuesday versus Xavier, and our superb sophomore first baseman, Tommy Goodin, who has taken over at first, was three for 5 with a three run shot and 5 Ribeyes. Waite hit a grand salami. Tommy is hitting .295 with 9 long ones and 29 Ribbies.
Game one Friday versus Texas is at 6 P.M. CT/7 ET on SEC Network+. Saturday’s game is at 7 P.M. CT/8 ET on the SEC Network. And Sunday’s finale is at 12 P.M.CT/1 East on ESPN2.
Major weekend ahead at the Hawk, and we’ll have to pitch well because Texas hits .303 as a team and has a 3.41 team ERA. Texas is 30-8 and 11-6 in the SEC, good for third in the conference behind No.5 Georgia, which is 13-5 and 32-10, and No.7 A&M, which is at 12-5 and 31-7. We are in 11th place in the conference standings, so A LOT on the line on West End starting Friday.
We’re hitting .294 as a team and are 4th in the country in home runs with 87. Defense is solid at .975, and we turn a ton of double plays. Defense could even be a little sharper, but it was very sharp against Kentucky and Xavier.
The pitching ERA is where we need to pick it up. It’s at 5.38 right now. We’ve Got to get better on the mound if we want to have a highly successful season. We’ve had some injuries, but now have guys coming back, and we’re pitching four or five freshmen, so it’s been a learning curve. But now is the time for the staff to step it up. The freshmen have been through a lot of battles in the pre-conference and now in the SEC. So, they’re veterans at this point despite the fact that they’re freshmen. They’re just going to have to lock it down. We’ve got to have those young guys and the veterans produce for us to have good, if not great success this season. The talent is there. Just need to be mentally tough on the hill and throw strikes and let our defense make plays. Connor is definitely giving us that. Fennell is our leader on the staff. Our other juniors and underclassmen have to follow suit.
I’ll have more on our team through the weekend.
I’ll have more on “By,” Coach Mark Byington, and the men’s bball team coming up Friday. By was extended by Candice and rewarded our program and our University for it by pulling in a tremendous incoming freshmen and transfer class. I’ll have many more details on what By has done. Keeping Tyler Tanner as a Dore is preeminent in our plans for 2026-27. Tyler did not transfer, so it’s a matter of if we can keep him from going to the NBA. There are deadlines for declaring for the draft and staying in. I think we’ve got a shot to keep him and possibly get AK Okereke back. AK is trying to win his case in court for an extra year of eligibility. Will get into more detail on Men’s bball Friday. It’s going very well. By’s the man.
It was such a downer losing to Nebraska because I loved the guys on the team and they had such a sensational season. Sorry to see Tyler Nickel, and Devin McGlockton have to move on due to the fact that they’re out of eligibility. Nickel is kind of up in the air still though. He probably won’t be back, but there’s talk of him trying to get another year of eligibility. He was a little erratic as a shooter, but gave great effort and was a leader. Glock was a terrific leader and teammate and gave us a lot. I really liked what Jalen Washington did, too, in his one season as a Commodore. Wish those guys all the very best and will be pulling for them in their future endeavors. Will get more in depth on our newcomers Friday.
Football had an awesome spring. Clark has this program fine tuned to be a powerhouse in the near future. I love what five star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis can do for us. The QB competition is still ongoing into August, and we’ve got three other pretty good players. Curtis has the most talent. He can really sling it. Can a freshman quarterback really lead his team to prominence in the SEC? If anybody can do it, Jared can. It’s not a done deal, but I’m banking on Jared being our starting QB in game one vs. Austin Peay at FirstBank on Saturday, Sept 5th. And the talent around Jared, or whomever it is, is as good as we’ve ever had. The defense is loaded, too. We’ll have to fine tune our offensive line, but there’s great size and ability, and plenty of depth. And I’m a huge fan of O Line coach Chris Klenakis. With Coach Klenakis, and OC Tim Beck at the helm, and our chief Consultant to Clark and senior offensive Advisor Jerry Kill, we’ll have good offense. Seddy Alexander, MK Young and Junior Sherrill are back among others. I like our material on offense. And Clark and DC Steve Gregory can do super things with our talent on defense. Our defense can be elite. Couldn’t be going any better in football.
Our Men’s Golf team shot 9 under today in the second round of the SEC Tournament at Sea Island Golf Club at St. Simons Island, GA. and are in 9th place heading into Friday’s final round of stroke play at 11 under. We are one shot back of 8th place South Carolina, which is at -12. The top 8 finishers in stroke play matriculate to the Match Play on Saturday and Sunday. There are quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Saturday, and the Championship Match is Sunday. I like where Coach Scott Limbaugh and our team stands heading into Friday.
We are ranked 11th in the country. We have really improved throughout the season. We’ve got a young team, for the most part, as two freshmen are in the starting lineup of 5 players in the team competition. But the two freshmen were 2 of the three players in the No.1 recruiting class in the country in 2025, so they know what it takes. But our senior from West Point, Mississippi, Wells Williams, has been the story for our team through the first two rounds. Wells is at nine under for the tournament, and tied for fourth, three shots back of Auburn stud Jackson Kolvun.
We’ll need Wells, freshman Will Hartman, from Marvin, N.C., who is at -4, freshman Jon Ed Steed from Enterprise, Alabama, who has been superb for us this season, junior Chase Nevins, from Great Falls, VA. and sophomore Ryan Downes, from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, to lock down tomorrow and get us into the match play, where it’s anybody’s game then. No.1 Auburn leads the team leaderboard at -27.
Will have more VU Confidential stuff Friday with the 2026-27 Basketball team makeup, more on these tremendous signees, and a running diatribe (not overkill, but up to date information) on the Men’s golf team as they home in on round 3 and advancing to Match Play.
Tarris Reed Jr. leads the Huskies into the National Championship Game. The 6’11”, 265 pounder from St. Louis finished with 17 points and 11 boards versus Illinois in a 71-62 UConn victory over the Illini Saturday in the first semifinal game of the Final Four. (Photo courtesy of Athlon Sports).
The UConn Huskies and the Michigan Wolverines square off tonight at 7:50 CT/8:50 ET (pretty late) to determine which team will cut down the nets in Indy as the 2025-26 National Champion in NCAA Men’s College Basketball. It’s the superbly talented Wolverines versus the talented, and scrappy underdog Huskies. The Wolverines have the weaponry for sure, but the Huskies have weapons as well, and a stellar national championship pedigree as they have won national championships in 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023 and 2024. They are 6-0 in National Championship Games. Michigan’s only national championship was in 1989. So while the talent favors Michigan, the ability to close games in the big moments under intense pressure favors the Huskies. Here is White’s World’s Prediction for tonight’s contest.
Final Four record: SU- 2-0, ATS- 2-0, O/U- 1-1.
Overall from SEC Tournament through the Final Four: SU- 11-14, ATS- 10-15, O/U-15-9.
Michigan (36-3) vs. UConn (34-5)
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indy, 70,000
7:50 CT/8:50 ET
TBS/truTV/HBO Max
Ian, Grant, Bill, Tracy, Gene-rules
Michigan by 6 1/2, 145 1/2
Who wins tonight?
I’m going to go with the Al Michaels, “Do you believe in Miracles?” Theory and’ll take the great Dan Hurley and the Huskies to make it 7-0 in National Championship Games. Hurley’s is a character and can sometimes rub some people the wrong way, but I think he’s refreshing and a heckuva coach as his back to back National Championships attest to in ’23 and ’24. Jim Calhoun won three at UConn in ’99, 2004 and 2011, and Kevin Ollie won it all in 2014. Geno Auriemma is an elite coach on the women’s side, the best of all time, though the late Pat Summit of Tennessee, and, lately, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley gave and have given him a run, respectively. Geno’s won 11 national titles. Hard to argue with. Pat won eight, but lost a battle with Alzheimer’s disease at 64 years old, so her career and life were cut too short.
Staley, who Geno got into it with on Friday Night in South Carolina’s 62-48 victory over the Huskies in the Final Four at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Clevelend, as Geno thought Staley’s players were mugging his players, and also thought Staley was working the refs to get away with it, has three and going strong although her team did lose to UCLA in the national title game on Sunday. Geno is now 71 and Staley is 55, and will be 56 in May. So she has more time left than Geno, maybe. But he’s got a lot of energy and may increase that title number next season to 12.
So I’ll take the championship pedigree. Do I believe in miracles? Heck yes I do.
Coach Brad Underwood leads the Illinois to its first Final Four since 2005. (Photo courtesy of Reuters).
The Final Four will tip off Saturday afternoon at 5:09 CT/6:09 ET with the Illinois Fighting Illini squaring off with the somewhat Cinderella UConn Huskies. You could say both teams are Cinderellas, and prolific ones at that. The Fighting Illini had an easy time with Iowa in the South Regional of the Elite Eight Saturday evening, while the Huskies came back from a 19 point first half deficit to shock No.1 seeded Duke in the East Regional Sunday in a dynamic basketball game. More on that below.
That game featuring a pair of overachievers will be followed by, at approximately 7:40 CT/8:40 ET, a pair of Goliaths in college basketball this season, the Michigan Wolverines and the Arizona Wildcats. Michigan easily disposed of Tennessee in the Midwest Regional Final Sunday, while the Wildcats took care of business handily against Purdue in the Western Regional on Saturday Night. There is off the charts NBA talent on these two rosters.
Here are predictions for these two classics on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy.
I told Excedrin “Gameological” Bates last Thursday that I was taking the Tom Cruise/RiskyBusiness approach to the Sweet 16 picks: “Sometimes you gotta say, what the…Heck?” So I took some chances with the picks. Didn’t work out like I wanted, but you just gotta get back up when you’re knocked down and try again as Bear Bryant liked to say.
Final Four Games
Saturday
Game 1
No.3 Illinois (29-8) vs. No. 2 UConn (33-5)
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis (70,000)
5:09 CT/6:09 ET
TBS/truTV/HBO Max, a lot of options Ian (Bird) Eagle, Bill, Grant, Trace, Gene (Rules)
Pregame, Halftime, Postgame: Ernie, Kenny, Charles, Special K, Bruuuce
TV Timeouts: Samual L. Charles, Spike Lee Joint, Earvin, Jenn, Caitlin
Illini by 2 1/2, 139 1/2
What a comeback by the Huskies on Sunday. Freshman Braylon Mullins, from Greenfield,Indiana, connected on a trifecta from downtown French Lick (35 feet) with .4 seconds lefton the clock to send the Huskies to the Final Four. Mullins is going home to try and win a national championship. I like him and these amazing Huskies to do just that. Meanwhile,Duke keeps scratching their head about their young coach, Jon Scheyer (38 years old), and these five-star freshmen that seem to gag in the clutch. But it’s nothing new. They gagged several times under Mike Krzyzewski as well, though he did win 5 national titles. Still think Wooden was better. UConn under Dan Hurley has already won back to back national titles in 2023 and 2024.
UConn 74, Illinois 70
Give me Braylon Mullins and the Huskies Saturday at Lucas Oil. (Photo courtesy of NCAA.com)
Game 2
No.1 Michigan vs. No.1 Arizona
Lucas Oil
7:49 CT/8:49 ET TBS/truTV/HBO Max
Same crew calling game, doing pregame/halftime/postgame and commercials
Michigan by 1 1/2, 157 1/2
I’ll take the great UAB power forward transfer, Yax Lendeborg, UNC transfer point guard Elliot Cadeau, and the Wolverines to play UConn in the National Championship Game.
Michigan 80, Zona 78
Elliot Cadeau and the Wolverines advance to the National Championship Game (Photo courtesy of College Sports Network).
Yaxel Lendborg leads the extravagant spending Michigan Wolverines into Chicago to face the Crimson Tide. (Photo courtesy of USA Today).
Sixteen teams embark on their respective missions to reach Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the Final Four Saturday, April 4th, as the teams lock horns in the Sweet 16, which begins on Thursday. A lot of talent in this final 16 group in what has been a highly enjoyable college basketball season. Here are predictions for the 8 games that commence Thursday Night, with 4 games on tap Thursday. And then on Friday Night, there will be 4 more games on the docket.
Record for 2025
Sweet 16 through National Championship Game- along with 2025 SEC Tourney Predictions, though some of the ATS and Over/Under games were not applicable in the SECT due to misses straight up in some games.
Straight up: 19-10; ATS: 14-14; Over/Under: 14-9.
2026 Predictions from the SEC Tournament and 3 Vanderbilt games-SEC Championship Game and two NCAA games
SU: 8-7; ATS: 7-8; O/U: 11-4
Thursday’s games
All teams No.’s are their seeds in region, not their national ranking.
West Region
No.11 Texas (21-14) vs. No.2 Purdue
SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, CA., 18,543
6:10 PM CT/7:10 ET
CBS Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, Allie LaForce
Purdue by 7 1/2, 148 1/2
I’ll take the Boilermakers to advance to the Elite 8.
Purdue 78, Texas 70
South Region
No.9 Iowa (23-12) vs. Nebraska (28-6)
Toyota Center, Houston, 18,104
6:30 PM CT/7:30 ET TBS/truTV
Kevin Harlan, Stan Van Gundy, Robbie Hummel, Lauren Shehadi Nebraska by 1 1/2, 131 1/2
Give me those scrappy Cornhuskers over another scrappy team in the Hawkeyes.
Nebraska 68, Iowa 62
West
No.4 Arkansas (28-8) vs. No.1 Arizona (34-2)
SAP Center, San Jose
8:45 P.M. CT/9:45 ET
CBS
Brian, Jim, Allie
Zona by 7 1/2, 166 1/2
I’m going to take Darius Acuff Jr. and John Calipari to pull off the upset
Arkansas 84, ‘Zona 83
South
No.3 Illinois (26-8) vs. No.2 Houston (30-6)
Toyota Center, Houston
9:05 P.M. CT/10:05 ET
TBS/truTV
Kevin, Stan Van, Robbie, Lauren
Houston by 3 1/2, 140 1/2
I don’t see this Houston team as good as 2025’s National Championship runner-up, but I still like’em a lot. And they’re at home.
Houston 71, Illini 67
Friday‘s games
East Region
No.6 St. John’s (30-6) vs. No.1 Duke (34-2)
Capital One Arena, D.C., 20,356
6:10 P.M. CT/7:10 ET
CBS
Ian, Bill, Grant, Trace Duke by 6 1/2, 141 1/2
This will be a classic, and I’ll take the “maestro,” as Dickie V. calls him. Give me the savvy veteran St. John’s coach, Richard Anthony Pitino. I love St. John’s 6’9″, 245 senior power forward Zuby Ejiofor from Garland, Texas as well.
St. John’s 72, Duke 70
Midwest
No.4 Alabama (25-9) vs. No. Michigan
United Center, Chicago, 20, 917
6:35 P.M. CT/7:35 ET
TBS/truTV
Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Evan Washburn
Michigan by 9 1/2, 174 1/2
Nate Oats isn’t my favorite person right now with all that’s gone on in his program the last three years, but he’s got a very good basketball team. The Crimson Tide sank 19 trifectas against Texas Tech on 30 attempts this past Sunday Night. I really like the way this team is playing right now.
Give me Philon, Philon, Philon, Latrell Wrightsell, Houston Mallette and that excellent shooting offense. I also like the way the Crimson Tide is playing defense right now, and I see Aiden Sherrell holding his own underneath against Yaxel Linderborg and Aday Mara. Aiden is high quality and a class act. I’ll go with the massive upset in Chitown. Bama shoots its way into the Elite 8, locks down just enough on defense and keeps it close on the boards.
Crimson Tide 89, Michigan 86
East
No.3 Michigan State (27-7) vs. No.2 UConn (31-5)
Capital One Arena
8:45 P.M. CT/9:45 ET
CBS
Ian, Bill, Grant, Trace
UConn by 1 1/2, 135 1/2
This should be a classic. Give me the great Tom Izzo and his Spartans to advance.
Michigan State 68, UConn 66
Midwest No.5 Tennessee (24-11) vs. No.2 Iowa State (29-7)
United Center
9:10 PM CT/10:10 ET
TBS/truTV
Andrew, Steve, Evan
Iowa State by 4 1/2, 138 1/2
I’m bullish on this Cyclones team. They advance to face the Crimson Tide in the Elite 8.
T Tanner (left) and Duke with big days in round 1 in OKC to lead us to victory. (Photo courtesy of YouTube).
Tyler Tanner dropped in 26 on 7-of-16 from the field, 3-of-8 from triple, and 9-of-10 from the stripe, and added 7 boards and 5 assists, as our Vanderbilt Commodores Men’s Basketball team advanced through the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-68 victory over a scrappy McNeese team at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
We moved to 27-8 on the season, and, most importantly, “matriculated” to the second round of the tournament where we’ll face the fourth-seeded Nebraskas Cornhuskers (27-6, 15-5 Big Ten) at 7:45 P.M. CT/8:45 ET Saturday. TNT will broadcast our game with Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers reached the second round by blasting Troy,76-47 in the game before us at the Paycom Center. We are the fifth seed in the South Region. We are a 1 1/2 point favorite over Nebraska as this time.
Duke Miles added 13, and Tyler Nickel and Devin McGlockton chipped in 12 apiece. AK Okereke finished with only seven points, but led us in rebounding with 9. Devin added 8. We out-rebounded them, 37-34. We were 26-of-51 from the field, 51%, 9-of-24 from trifecta, 38%, and 17 of 20 from the stripe, 85%. We held them to 36 percent from the field, but they sank 9 threes like we did. They were a scrappy team and had our number for a while in the first half. But we picked up our intensity in the last 25 minutes and played solid basketball from that point on.
Coach Mark “By” Byington calls this “a road game” for us Saturday against Nebraska. Hopefully we can have a strong contingency there. If you live in the Oklahoma City area and you’re an alum, please come out and support our stellar team.
Nebraska got 23 points out of their 6’7″, 210 junior forward Pryce Sandfort Thursday vs Troy. He was 7-of-12 from trifecta, and 2 of 2 from the stripe for his 23 points. Jamarques Lawrence and Braden Frager added 13, and 6’10”, 250 center Reink Mast finished with 11 and 6 boards.
Nebraska’s coach is Fred Hoiberg, who had a lot of success at Iowa State from 2010-2015, going 115-56 (67%) with four trips to the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones went to the Sweet 16 in 2014 under Hoiberg.
He moved on to the Chicago Bulls of the Association after that and went 115-155 before getting fired in 2018-19. It’s hard for any college coach to succeed in the pros either in Football and Basketball.
Just ask Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Rick Pitino or John Calipari. Four of the greatest coaches of all time in their respective sports, each of whom could not succeed on the professional level. Those guys like discipline, and in the pros you have to be a player’s coach, and those guys just didn’t want to do that. But they had superior success in college, and Pitino and Calipari are still going strong with teams that can do some major damage in this NCAA Tournament with Pitino at St. John’s and Cal at Arkansas.
Hoiberg probably ran into the same issues.Billy Donovan, who was so successful at Florida winning back to back national championships in 2006 and 2007, is finding the same struggles in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls. His teams either miss the playoffs or barely make it to the Play-In games every year. Right now, Donovan’s team is at 28-42 and in 12th place and looking not too swift to make the NBA Playoffs. He’s a superb coach and would make an excellent coach in college again if he wanted to come back.
Hoiberg looked like he faced the same issues. He’s doing very well after a slow start at Nebraska. He started in 2019-20 and went 7-25, then 7-20 in 20-21, 10-22 in 21-22, but broke through in 23-24 going 23-11 and making the NCAA Tournament where the Huskers lost in the first round. Last year they won the CBC Champions Tournament, a level below the NIT, and this season has been a spectacular one for Nebraska.
So what do we need to do to be successful Saturday? We need to guard them hard on the three, win the boards or stay equal, and we need EVERYBODY to contribute. We’ll need big games from Tyler Tanner, Tyler Nickel and Duke and we’ll need Devin, Jalen Washington, AK and Chandler Bing to give their usual stellar contributions on offense AND defense. As By always says, “we’ll have to guard.”
I like us to bring our lunch pales, hit big shots, defend well and stay equal or a little better on the boards and come out victorious in a tremendously hard fought game. This is a very good Nebraska team.
Vanderbilt 75, Nebraska 73
Our No. 2 seeded Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball team (Fort Worth Regional) tips off at 6 P.M. CT/7 ET vs No. 15 seed High Point at Memorial in Nashville on Saturday. The game will be broadcast by ESPN News.
The amazing Mikayla Blakes was named first team All American by the Associated Press earlier this week. Mikayla leads the country in scoring at 27 points per game. In my opinion, Mikayla should be the National Player of the Year. Will keep you posted Coach Shea Ralph and our women’s progress. Will send out a full briefing on Monday.
A couple of brief things which I want to elaborate more on Monday, our baseball team plays at No.6 Mississippi State today through Sunday. The game today is at 7 CT/8 ET on the SEC Network. Saturday’s game is at 6 P.M. CT/7 ET on SEC Network+, and Sunday’s game commences at 1 P.M. CT/2 ET on SECN+ as well. We are 13-9, far from our standards. We gotta learn how to pitch if we want to have a chance to have any success this season. Got a long way to go there. We’re hitting .308, so usually we’re good at the plate, and we’re fielding well at .979, but our team ERA is 4.89, which is unacceptable for Vanderbilt University Baseball under Tim Corbin. We’ve had some detrimental injuries to our pitching staff, but there are no excuses. Need to figure it out starting tonight or it could be a long, painful season.
Our No. 12 Women’s Tennis team is on a roll after defeating No,37 Ole Miss yesterday, 5-2. No.33 nationally ranked Bridget Stammel, No.25 Valeria Ray, Trinetra Vijayakumar and Sophia Webster all won in singles and we won the doubles point as well. We moved to 16-4 overall and 6-2 in the SEC. We have now won 5 straight SEC matches with one coming over then No.1 Georgia and another over then No.11 South Carolina, both at the Lummis Family Tennis Center at VU. We are @ No.11 LSU Saturday at 11 A.M.Great stuff from Coach Aleke Tsoubanos and our team. Our usual number one player, Celia- Belle Mohr, is not playing at this time. I’m going to do some investigating and “get back to you” on this on Monday. Need Celia-Belle back for sure. But we’re doing well even without her.
Men’s Golf is presently tied for fourth after the first round of the Linger Longer Invitational at the Great Waters Course at Reynolds Plantation Lake Oconee in Eatonton, GA. We are -10. Georgia leads at 21 under. We’re playing solid golf. Michael Riebe, Jon Ed Steed and Ryan Downes all shot 3 under/69, today on the par 72 course. Wells Williams finished at 1 under/71. Need to get back in it on Saturday and win it on Sunday. Two more rounds left. Need a big performance Saturday. Our guys tee off at 8:24 A.M. CT/9:24 ET with Wells leading us off.
The Men’s tennis team is ranked 13th nationally by the ITA Rankings, which also ranks our women. The guys are playing @ No.3 Texas right now. We lost the doubles point, but are highly competitive in the singles right now.
Will keep you apprised on everything on Monday, with a blast on Sunday on our men’s and women’s basketball teams with hopefully successful outcomes.
Tyler Nickel (left) and Jalen Washington lead the Commodores into Oklahoma City Thursday for Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament (Photo courtesy of The Tennesseean).
After a phenomenal effort in the SEC Tournament, where we came up a little short to Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, our No.5 seeded Vanderbilt Commodores Men’s Basketball team alights in Oklahoma City tomorrow, Thursday, at the Paycom Center to face the McNeese Cowboys at 2:15 P.M. CT/3:15 ET on truTV in the South Region. We are favored by 11 1/2 points.
Tyler Tanner, Tyler Nickel, Devin “Glock” McGlockton, Jalen Washington, AK Okereke, the prolific Duke Miles, they all are for that matter, and superb freshman Chandler Bing will try to lead our team and University to another victory this season and a critical one as we HAVE to win going forward. In one of my ESPN brackets (for free by the way), I have us defeating Arkansas in the National Championship Game, 90-88. I’m going to stick with that bracket here on this forum. We’re going to keep it positive because there is so much to be positive about with this team.
Tyler Tanner has racked up the honors both in the SEC and Nationally, and Coach Mark “By” Byington has too.
But it’s about all these guys. Jalen Washington was tremendous in the SEC Tourney. Duke was a dominant player. T Nick was superb from trifecta on Sunday versus Arkansas and gave us through the roof effort throughout the tourney. AK was awesome. Dev may not have had his best games, but we HAVE to have him step up. Chandler was terrific. And T Tanner always is spectacular.
We are averaging 86.4 points per game and McNeese is at 80. We are holding opponents to 75.2 per game, while McNeese is at 66.45, so they get after it on defense. We rebound at 35 per game, and they’re at 35 as well. We have 277 steals on the season, and they have 348.
They are fast paced and athletic, so we’ll have to match them with our athletic ability and intensity. T Tanner leads us in scoring at 19.1 points per game. Duke is at 16.5, and T Nick is at 13.5.
They are led in scoring by 6’4″ guard Larry Johnson, who averages 17 per game. Six foot one guard Tyshawn Archie averages 14.3, and 6’3″ guard Javohn Garcia adds 12 per game.
Glock leads us in rebounding at 6.7 per, and J Wash is next at 5.7. Their leading rebounder is Johnson at 5.5 per game.
The Cowboys are going to try and run and gun, and we can do that some, but we may want to keep it more deliberate and dominate them on the glass. Would love to see Glock and J Wash have big days on the boards and in blocking shots. T Tanner and Duke will have to contain those lightning quick guards McNeese has, though Tanner and Miles are quick as hiccups as well.
I like our chances, as always. This team is special. If we can defend well, like we have been recently, and dominate down low, get boards and keep them off balance on offense, we will advance.
That’s what I’m predicting. It’ll be tough, but I like our guys to get the job done in OKC Thursday.
Vanderbilt 88, McNeese 84
Our No.2 seeded Women’s Basketball team faces No. 15 seeded High Point Saturday at 6 P.M.CT/7 ET on ESPN News. We are in the Fort Worth Bracket.
We will be playing in Memorial in Nashville. Will have more on our superstar Mikayla Blakes and her teammates as that game approaches.
Labaron Philon, Philon, Philon leads the Crimson Tide into the NCAA Tournament vs. Hofstra Friday in Tampa at 2:15 P.M. CT/3:15 ET on truTV. (Photo courtesy of Alabama)
After months of meditation, acupuncture, white water rafting in Locust Fork with a wet suit, numerous lengthy hikes in Oak Mountain State Park, and overall in-depth thinking in front of my TV and laptop on Saturdays, here is White’s World Sports Confidential’s Bracket for 2026. Good luck with your’s.
