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  • Arizona jumps to No. 2 behind Purdue in AP Top 25, Alabama into top 10; Kansas falls out of rankings

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    Purdue remained at No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while Arizona jumped to No. 2 to continue its opening-month rise after another impressive win against a ranked opponent.

    The Boilermakers (6-0) earned 46 of 61 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to remain at the top after beating then-No. 15 Texas Tech by 30 to win the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas.

    The Wildcats (5-0) earned 11 first-place votes to jump two spots. That came after last week’s win at then-No. 3 UConn, part of run that began with a victory over reigning NCAA champion Florida in Las Vegas and a win against a ranked UCLA team in Los Angeles.

    Arizona was ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP Top 25, but jumped to No. 5 after the Florida win before inching up to No. 4 last week.

    The top tier

    Houston, which spent a week at No. 1 earlier this month, slid a spot to No. 3 to make room for the Wildcats, while Duke and UConn rounded out the top five.

    Louisville, Michigan, Alabama, BYU and Florida rounded out the top 10, with the Crimson Tide rising from No. 11 after its win against then-No. 8 Illinois in Chicago.

    Rising

    No. 11 Michigan State had the week’s biggest jump, climbing six spots after beating Kentucky in the Champions Classic.

    No. 17 Tennessee climbed three spots, while No. 16 North Carolina and No. 23 N.C. State each rose two spots.

    In all, 11 teams moved up from last week’s poll.

    Sliding

    Kentucky’s 17-point loss to the Spartans triggered the week’s biggest fall of seven spots to No. 19, while the 13th-ranked Illini and 20th-ranked Red Raiders each tumbled five spots.

    In all, six teams fell from last week’s poll.

    Status quo

    Six teams stayed locked in last week’s position, including five of the top 10 teams and No. 14 St. John’s.

    Comings and goings

    No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Indiana were the new additions to the poll, replacing Wisconsin (No. 23 last week) and Kansas (24th).

    The Commodores spent one week at No. 24 last season, which before Monday stood as the only AP Top 25 ranking for the program since December 2015.

    It is the second straight year the Jayhawks, who lost to Duke in the Champions Classic last week, have fallen out of the poll at least once. Before last season, Kansas had been ranked in every poll but one — missing one week during the 2020-21 season played amid the COVID-19 pandemic — dating to the 2009-10 season.

    Conference watch

    The Southeastern Conference didn’t have a team ranked higher than eighth, yet posted the biggest overall haul of any conference with seven ranked teams, including No. 21 Auburn and No. 22 Arkansas.

    The Big Ten was next with six AP Top 25 teams, followed by the Big 12 with five, the Atlantic Coast Conference with four, the Big East with two and the West Coast Conference with one.

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  • Fight songs still ring true as college football tradition in face of ever-changing changes in sport

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    ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The sounds of college football have changed over the years, with pop culture songs becoming part of the show at stadiums across the country.

    Fight songs, though, have withstood the test of time and still ring true.

    From “Rocky Top” at Tennessee to “Fight On” at USC, school bands cranking up the familiar notes and rhythm and thousands of alumni joining the student body in belting out the long-familiar lyrics are a touchstone of the nostalgia surrounding the game itself. It’s a chance to cheer in common or at least try to shake off a disappointment.

    Like the teams themselves, fight songs tend to spark much discussion on the topic of which one is the best of the bunch or at least the most familiar.

    To Georgia Southern sport management Prof. Chris Hanna, “The Victors” at Michigan and “Notre Dame Victory March” are in the conversation for the mythical national championship of music.

    “Those two have separated themselves,” said Hanna, who has studied and written about college fight songs. “Those are the two most popular, and well known.”

    Michigan’s familiar fight song dates to 1898 when a music student at the school, Louis Elbel, wrote it following the Wolverines’ 12-11 win over the University of Chicago for their first Western Conference football title.

    “Hail! Hail! to Michigan, the champions of the West!” Elbel wrote back when the Midwest was still more of a notion than the commonly known region it is now.

    Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Chad Smith, who grew up in suburban Detroit rooting for Michigan, used the fight song as part of his act when the Red Hot Chili Peppers made a tour stop near Ohio State’s campus just for laughs.

    “At the end of the concert, I came out, I said, `Hey, I think we got time for one more song. You guys want to hear one more song?’ And they’re like, ‘Yay,’” Smith recalled. “I’m like, `It’s a really good song. I think you’re really going to like this one.’”

    Then, Smith started signing “The Victors,” and heard a chorus of boos before dropping the microphone and walking off stage.

    “They screamed louder than they screamed all night,” said Smith, who announced earlier this month he’s gifting a need-based music scholarship to the University of Michigan. “It was great.”

    “Notre Dame Victory March,” written by Notre Dame graduates and brothers, Michael and John Shea, was copyrighted in 1908 and became even more well known after the 1993 film “Rudy.”

    “If you’ve ever seen ”Rudy,” they have it humming in the background at practice,” said Detroit Lions tight end Brock Wright, a former Fighting Irish star. “It’s just kind of filled with rich tradition.”

    USC’s “Fight On,” was born in 1922 after students Milo Sweet and Glen Grant teamed up to create the iconic song kicked off by trumpets. It makes Hanna’s list of top fight songs along with Oklahoma’s “Boomer Sooner,” and “On Wisconsin!”

    Hanna was part of research on 130 Division I college football fight songs that found more than 90% of the songs had themes that included the name of the university, an exclamation and togetherness.

    “Fight songs ramp up your emotions because of the value you place on the connections to your school,” Hanna said. “These songs are passed down by generations and you learn them as kids.”

    Michigan backup quarterback Davis Warren grew up in Los Angeles rooting for UCLA — which has “The Mighty Bruins” and “Sons of Westwood” for its fans to sing — but quietly digging USC’s fight song.

    “It’s classic,” Warren said. “I think ours is the best, but that is one that you hear and it just sounds like college football.”

    Bands in stadium from coast to coast used to get more air time, filling timeouts with fight songs and hit songs before, between and after whistles. In recent decades, piped-in music has become the norm while marching bands take a break whether they want one ore not.

    House of Pain’s “Jump Around” at Wisconsin is now in its third decade of inspiring Badgers fans. “Mr. Brightside” at Michigan, “Callin’ Baton Rouge” at LSU and “Shout” at Oregon” are just a few that have become part of the gameday experience.

    “Those are cool, obviously, but we don’t sing ‘Mr. Brightside’ after we win,” Davis said. “We sing ‘The Victors’ after we win. Even in the era of sound effects and music, having the band right there playing fight songs , when we’re home and away, I think is a really cool tradition in college football.”

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    Associated Press Writer Mike Householder contributed. Follow Larry Lage on X

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    Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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  • UCLA Wins Big Ten Title but Falls Early in NCAA Tournament

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    UCLA beat Michigan to win the Big Ten Tournament giving them a spot in the NCAA postseason Tournament, however they lost in the first round in penalty kick’s to GCU.

    The UCLA men’s soccer team won its first-ever Big Ten Tournament last Sunday when they beat Michigan in the final. Michigan came into the tournament as the 3 seed, while UCLA was seeded 4. They had also previously lost to Michigan 3-0 in the regular season, as well as the Big Ten Semifinal last season in a penalty’s. Additionally, Michigan had not lost a game since facing Maryland on October 10.

    However, the Bruins were on a hot streak of their own as they had won the final 5 games of their season, outscoring opponents 21-5. They did not let this discourage them and came out strong. Just 13 minutes into the match, graduate student Konstantinos Geogallides scored the first goal, a diving header. At the 38th minute mark, UCLA scored again, this time off a header from redshirt sophomore Sergi Solan’s Ormo. The forward didn’t stop there, though, and used the momentum to score a second goal just a few minutes into the second half.

    Solans Ormo completed his hat trick in the 60th minute, pouncing on a pass from the Michigan goalkeeper. Not even a minute later, Georgallides followed with his second goal of the night, putting the Bruins up 5-0. The rest of the game was a battle, but the score stayed the same, and the Bruins came out on top as the Big Ten Tournament Champions. 

    Solans Ormo’s hat trick gave him his third of the season, which makes him the only player in the school’s history to total 3 hat-tricks in a season. The accomplishment also set a record for the only hat-trick scored in the Big Ten Final since its inception in 1991, which earned him Player of the Tournament honors. He was also named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team alongside teammates Andrer Marticorena and Shakir Nixon. 

    UCLA winning the Big Ten tournament automatically secured them a bid in the NCAA tournament that started this week. The Bruins’ victory makes this the 5th consecutive time they will be making a postseason appearance in the 7 years under head coach Ryan Jordan. It marks their 50th tournament appearance, and they will be joined by 4 other Big Ten teams in the tournament, including Indiana, Michigan, Maryland and Washington. 

    Their first game of the tournament took place on Thursday against Grand Canyon University (GCU). UCLA lost 3-1 in penalty kicks after a scoreless match and overtime, with Georgallides being the only Bruin to make his PK. The result knocked the Bruins out of the NCAA tournament in the first round, a devastating loss after the success of the previous week. GCU is now set to face No. 9 the University of San Diego, and the College Cup is set to take place in Cary, North Carolina, on December 12th and 15th.

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    Taylor Ford

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  • Judge Denies TRO in Rose Bowl Lawsuit Against UCLA

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    The Rose Bowl’s request for a restraining order was not granted as a judge claimed there was no imminent danger of UCLA leaving the venue

    Yesterday, a judge denied a request by the City of Pasadena and the operators of the Rose Bowl for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would bar UCLA’s football team from playing its home games at any other venue in Los Angeles or Orange counties and from trying to terminate its Rose Bowl lease. The paperwork for this restraining order was submitted on Monday, in an attempt to prevent the stated actions from occurring while a lawsuit against UCLA and the UC Regents is pending. The RBOC and the City of Pasadena sued in late October, seeking to enforce the terms of their lease agreement, which consists of UCLA playing football at the Rose Bowl until 2044, as it seemed the Rose Bowl was looking to move operations to SoFi Stadium.

    Judge James C. Chalfant explained his decision, “At this stage, it is denied from lack of an emergency”, because there was no evidence of an immediate emergency, as UCLA has made no progress in moving to SoFi. In most cases, judges only award a TRO when, among other factors, there is a risk of irreparable injury and immediate harm, which the judge did not find this time. However, he mentioned that the plaintiffs could reapply for an injunction at a later time after both parties obtain more evidence, which the Plaintiffs have made clear they will do, so UCLA could still lose at a later stage. 

    UCLA agreed with the Judge’s decision as Mary Oskao, UCLA Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications, stated, “while we continue to evaluate the long-term arrangement for UCLA football home games, no decision has been made,” mirroring UCLA’s original response to the lawsuit. 

    The Plaintiffs and their lawyers expressed their gratefulness to the judge because, although he did not award the TRO as “no emergency exists” with no actual movement from UCLA, he “concluded there is real and concrete evidence of injury and irreparable harm to the City not compensable to money damages alone” that would occur should UCLA abandon the Rose Bowl.

    How the lawsuit will work out is still unclear, as both the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl believe “UCLA has confirmed its imminent departure, ” which would breach the specific performance provision in their lease. The remedy for such a breach would be a court order mandating UCLA remain at the Rose Bowl until 2044, when the lease is up, as monetary damages would not be substituted for the money they may lose. In the past, specific performance clauses have not always been effective, as they did not prevent the New Orleans Jazz from moving to Utah, the Cleveland Browns from moving to Baltimore, or the Seattle Supersonics from moving to Oklahoma City. But they have been successful in keeping the New York Jets, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins from playing home games elsewhere, so only time will determine which category UCLA will fall under. 

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    Taylor Ford

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  • Rose Bowl files lawsuit against UCLA for allegedly trying to move games out of historic stadium

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    The city of Pasadena, California, and the Rose Bowl Operating Company have reportedly sued UCLA for allegedly trying to move its college football games from one of the sport’s most iconic stadiums to the much newer SoFi Stadium.

    The Los Angeles Times reported that the suit claims the university is “profoundly” betraying its trust by attempting to relocate its home games from the site the Bruins have called home for 43 years to the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.

    The Times reported UCLA’s outside counsel, David L. Schrader, sent a letter to Pasadena attorney Nima Mohebbi in March, saying the school’s efforts to conduct “preliminary discussions” about relocating games did not constitute a “material breach” of its contract.

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    A game between the California Golden Bears and the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl Oct. 29, 2011, in Pasadena, Calif. (Harry How/Getty Images)

    “This lawsuit arises in an era when money too often eclipses meaning and the pursuit of profit threatens to erase the very traditions that breathe life into institutions,” the suit claims. “Some commitments are too fundamental to be traded away.”

    “The City expects UCLA will honor the terms of the [lease] agreement, and the City Council will do everything in its power to protect and defend the City’s contractual rights,” the city of Pasadena said in a statement to ESPN on Thursday. 

    “The City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Stadium, steadfast partners to UCLA for more than four decades, are extremely disappointed with UCLA’s attempt to terminate the lease.

    Rose Bowl Stadium

    UCLA has played at the Rose Bowl since 1982. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)

    ESPN STAR SLAMS LOUISIANA GOV OVER SUPPORT FOR ERECTING CHARLIE KIRK STATUE ON LSU CAMPUS

    “The Rose Bowl has acted with transparency and integrity, not only fulfilling but exceeding its obligations under the lease agreement, investing significant time, effort, and financial resources into the partnership with UCLA, including ongoing major renovation work,” the statement continued. “The potential economic and reputational damage of UCLA’s attempt to break its lease is significant to the Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena residents, and the local and regional economy.”

    UCLA’s current lease runs through 2044, but the stadium is 26 miles from campus, while SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020, is about 12 miles away.

    The Bruins (3-5, 3-2 Big Ten) have struggled with attendance in recent years. UCLA’s average attendance for its four home games is roughly 35,000. The stadium has a capacity of more than 89,000. SoFi Stadium’s capacity is about 20,000 fewer.

    A view of the Rose Bowl

    In an aerial view, the Rose Bowl is seen as preparations are made for the Rose Bowl Dec. 27, 2023, in Pasadena, Calif. (David McNew/Getty Images)

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    The school left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten last year along with USC, Washington and Oregon.

    Rose Bowl Stadium is best known for hosting the Rose Bowl since 1922, in all but two years because of World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Men’s college basketball Top 25: Alabama, Gonzaga, Houston lead updated rankings

    Men’s college basketball Top 25: Alabama, Gonzaga, Houston lead updated rankings

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    After the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline passed on Wednesday night, we finally have a clearer picture of what rosters will look like when the season starts in November.

    This transfer portal season has been as crazy as ever, and a lot has changed since we last did this exercise on championship night. It’s possible that a few of these teams will make some late portal additions or sign an overseas prospect or two, but today marks the first day when putting out a super-early Top 25 actually makes sense. So here it is, starting with a No. 1 team that is very much there because of the last-second withdrawal decision by a star player.

    Previous rank: 6

    Projected starters: Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood (transfer), Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Grant Nelson, Clifford Omoruyi (transfer)

    Top reserves: Aden Holloway (transfer), Derrion Reid (freshman), Jarin Stevenson, Houston Mallette (transfer), Aiden Sherrill (freshman), Mouhamed Dioubate, Naas Cunningham (freshman), Labaron Philon (freshman)

    Nate Oats has assembled the best 3-point shooting team in the country. In addition to Sears and Wrightsell, he signed three transfer guards who all made 50-plus 3s last season, and two of the three (Youngblood and Mallette) shot 40-plus percent from 3. Oats also improved his defense with former Rutgers center Omoruyi, who anchored the fifth-ranked defense in college hoops, and he signed four top-40 freshmen. This is a ridiculously deep roster with arguably the best offensive weapon in the country (Sears) and enviable athleticism and positional size. Alabama’s defense has teeter-tottered between elite and mediocre the last four years with adjusted defensive ranks of third, 92nd, third and 111th. So the Crimson Tide are due to be good on that end again. That’s the only real question mark here, because we know this team will have no problem scoring.

    2. Gonzaga

    Previous: 2

    Projected starters: Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Steele Venters, Ben Gregg, Graham Ike

    Top reserves: Braden Huff, Michael Ajayi (transfer), Khalif Battle (transfer), Dusty Stromer

    Gonzaga returns four of five starters and gets back Venters, the 2022-23 Big Sky Player of the Year who missed last season with a torn ACL. Last year, the Zags took off when Mark Few moved Gregg into the starting lineup at the three. Few has the lineup versatility to go big again if that’s what’s best. Huff would start for most high-major programs. Gonzaga’s bench might just be good enough to form a top-25 team by itself. Battle averaged 26.7 points over his last nine games at Arkansas; Stromer shot 36.6 percent from 3 as a freshman and started 14 games; Ajayi averaged 17.2 points and shot 47 percent from 3 at Pepperdine; and Braeden Smith, who is redshirting, was the Patriot League player of the year at Colgate. Like Alabama, the Zags need to improve on defense, but this is another team that should score easily. Few has smartly surrounded Ike with floor spacers to give him room to feast in the post.

    Previous: 3

    Projected starters: Milos Uzan (transfer), LJ Cryer, Emanuel Sharp, J’Wan Roberts, Ja’Vier Francis

    Top reserves: Joseph Tugler, Terrance Arceneaux, Ramon Walker, Mercy Miller (freshman), Chase McCarty (freshman)

    When Tugler suffered a season-ending foot injury on Feb. 27, Houston was the best team in college hoops, according to metrics, and clearly the best defensive team. Houston’s adjusted defensive efficiency was 84.6; the next best was Iowa State at 89.9. The Cougars lost their most important player in Jamal Shead, but the rest of the rotation is back. Uzan has already proven to be a quality Big 12 guard at Oklahoma, and Houston’s only real issue late in the year was depth. Tugler and Arceneaux give a huge boost there. They’re the best two pro prospects on the team. Kelvin Sampson would probably tell you he has seven starters. Also worth noting: Houston has won 30-plus games three straight seasons, and that followed a Final Four run. Always bet on Sampson.

    Previous: 7

    Projected starters: Dajuan Harris Jr., Rylan Griffen (transfer), AJ Storr (transfer), KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson

    Top reserves: Zeke Mayo (transfer), Elmarko Jackson, Flory Bidunga (freshman), Zach Clemence, Rakease Passmore (freshman), Jamari McDowell

    The Jayhawks looked like a team from another era last season. When they were playing well, their ball movement was exquisite, and they ran beautiful offense. But it was hard to sustain without enough shooting and a perimeter scorer who could create his own. It was only the third time in Bill Self’s tenure that KU ranked outside the top 40 in adjusted offense. That’s where the transfers come in. Self addressed the playmaking and shooting problem with Griffen, Storr and Mayo. Self also has more lineup versatility with big wings like Griffen and Storr who can man the four in smaller lineups, and then a more athletic backup five in Bidunga to take over when Dickinson is struggling guarding ball screens. This is still somewhat of a throwback startling lineup with a non-shooter like Adams at the four, but the roster construction makes more sense on paper.


    Tamin Lipsey leads an Iowa State team with high expectations. (Jay Biggerstaff / Getty Images)

    5. Iowa State

    Previous: 4

    Projected starters: Tamin Lipsey, Keshon Gilbert, Milan Momcilovic, Joshua Jefferson (transfer), Dishon Jackson (transfer)

    Top reserves: Curtis Jones, Nate Heise (transfer), Demarion Watson, Brandton Chatfield, Nojus Indrusaitis (freshman), Dwayne Pierce (freshman)

    The best defense in college basketball last season should be back near the top, as three starters return and T.J. Otzelberger replaces the other two with strong defenders in Jefferson and Jackson. Saint Mary’s had the No. 7 defense last season with Jefferson in the lineup, per Bart Torvik. And Otzelberger has proven he can build elite defenses, finishing top 10 in adjusted defense in his first three years in Ames. The Cyclones are going to guard. Otzelberger also has been nails at finding underrated transfers who thrive in his system. Last year it was Gilbert and Jones. We can probably expect that Jackson, Heise and Chatfield will surpass expectations. This will be the first time Otzelberger’s Cyclones will have to deal with lofty preseason expectations, but it seems like he has the type of culture that will not let that poison their egos.

    6. Duke

    Previous: 1

    Projected starters: Caleb Foster, Tyrese Proctor, Mason Gillis (transfer), Cooper Flagg (freshman), Khaman Maluach (freshman)

    Top reserves: Maliq Brown (transfer), Kon Knueppel (freshman), Isaiah Evans (freshman), Darren Harris (freshman), Patrick Ngongba II (freshman), Sion James (transfer)

    Jon Scheyer seemed to be trying to bring in complementary players out of the portal, building around the talents of Flagg with low-usage, high-efficiency guys like Gillis, Brown and James. It wouldn’t be shocking if this is the best team in college basketball based on the talent level. With so much youth, I want to see it first. But Scheyer will likely bring two five-stars off the bench in Evans and Knueppel while starting two projected lottery picks in the frontcourt. This team could be elite defensively, as Proctor found his calling on that end last year and both Flagg and Maluach project as high-level shot blockers. Duke has great positional size, with everyone in the rotation at 6-foot-5 or taller. Flagg is the key to the offense. He needs to be able to score and allow Duke to play through him to set up others, similar to how Scheyer used Kyle Filipowski. Leaning on freshmen only works when those are top-end lottery picks. Scheyer is banking on Flagg living up to the hype.

    7. Connecticut

    Previous: 5

    Projected starters: Hassan Diarra, Aidan Mahaney (transfer), Solomon Ball, Alex Karaban, Samson Johnson

    Top reserves: Tarris Reed Jr. (transfer), Liam McNeeley (freshman), Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Ross, Ahmad Nowell (freshman), Isaiah Abraham (freshman)

    We’re at the point now where you just assume Dan Hurley’s plan will work. He has nailed roster construction the last few years and built offensive and defensive schemes ideal for his talent. Adding shooting this spring with Mahaney and McNeeley was huge, and Karaban decided to return for a run at a three-peat. Hurley’s offense hums when the Huskies can hunt early 3s and they have optimal floor spacing. That’s not the specialty of sophomores Ball, Stewart and Ross. For UConn to hit its ceiling, Mahaney needs to play to his potential. Diarra is more of a complementary guard, and Mahaney basically replicated his freshman season this past year when it was expected he’d make a star’s leap. He replaces the off-the-dribble playmaking from Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer, and that’s why his success is so important. Hurley has again set it up so his centers can split time and give opponents two different looks. This roster doesn’t appear as talented as the last two, but underrating UConn early has also become a yearly tradition.

    Previous: 8

    Projected starters: Zakai Zeigler, Jahmai Mashack, Chaz Lanier (transfer), Igor Milicic Jr. (transfer), Felix Okpara (transfer)

    Top reserves: Jordan Gainey, Darlinstone Dubar (transfer), JP Estrella, Cameron Carr, Cade Phillips, Bishop Boswell (freshman)

    Tennessee has been a top-five seed for six straight NCAA Tournaments and plugged any potential holes in the portal. We know this team is going to be elite defensively, because Rick Barnes constructs rosters with defense in mind. The question mark is on the offensive end and replacing Dalton Knecht. That’s likely by committee, but the hope is that North Florida transfer Lanier can step into the go-to guy role. Lanier is coming off a season in which he averaged 19.7 points and shot 44 percent from 3. Zeigler was one of the best two-way point guards in the country the second half of the season and is one of the best setup men in the country, so the ball will likely be in his hands a lot. And this roster has even more shooting than it did a year ago with guys like Lanier, Darlingstone and Gainey all considered knockdown shooters. The wildcard on this roster is Carr. His body wasn’t quite ready as a freshman, but he’s got the tools to be a star. The Vols are so deep on the perimeter that he doesn’t need to be that yet, but a breakout sophomore season could be in the works.

    Previous: 11

    Projected starters: Jaden Bradley, Caleb Love, KJ Lewis, Trey Townsend (transfer), Motiejus Krivas

    Top reserves: Tobe Awaka (transfer), Anthony Dell’Orso (transfer), Carter Bryant (freshman), Emmanuel Stephen (freshman)

    Arizona had the 10th-best defense in college basketball last season and could be even better this year. The Wildcats upgrade on the defensive end with Krivas and Bradley in for the departed Oumar Ballo and Kylan Boswell. Arizona was 20 points per 100 possessions better with Bradley on the floor without Boswell compared to when Boswell played without Bradley, per CBB Analytics. The return of Love is the big story here. He was much more efficient in an Arizona uniform than he was at UNC, and Tommy Lloyd has enough around him that he doesn’t have to go into hero mode. The addition of Trey Townsend gives Arizona more offensive punch from the four spot. Lloyd loves to play fast, and this roster is built to do so.

    Previous: 10

    Projected starters: JP Pegues (transfer), Miles Kelly (transfer), Denver Jones, Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell

    Top reserves: Chad Baker-Mazara, Tahaad Pettiford (freshman), Jahki Howard (freshman), Chaney Johnson, Chris Moore, Ja’Heim Hudson (transfer)

    Auburn returns three of its top four leading scorers from a team that finished fourth at KenPom. The big returner here is Broome, who was one of the most effective big men in the country. Bruce Pearl leaned heavily on his depth last season and will likely do so again, but the one guy who may log heavy minutes is Broome, who will play at both the four and five with Jaylin Williams no longer around. Broome and Cardwell logged only 12 minutes together last season, per CBB Analytics, but they’ll likely start alongside each other this season. Kelly, Georgia Tech’s leading scorer last season, gives the Tigers another consistent scorer on the perimeter. Auburn could elevate into a top-five team if the point guard play is better and not as inconsistent as it has been in recent years. The Tigers addressed that in recruiting by landing Pegues, who averaged 18.4 points and 4.8 assists at Furman, and Pettiford, the second-ranked point guard in the 2024 class.

    11. Texas A&M

    Previous: 21

    Projected starters: Wade Taylor IV, Zhuric Phelps (transfer), Manny Obaseki, Solomon Washington, Pharrel Payne (transfer)

    Top reserves: Andersson Garcia, Jace Carter, C.J. Wilcher (transfer), Henry Coleman III, Hayden Hefner, Andre Mills (freshman)

    When Buzz Williams moved Obaseki into the starting lineup with eight games to go, the Aggies became one of the best teams in the country. They won six of eight and ranked as the fifth-best team over that timespan, per Torvik, and ended up losing to top-seeded Houston in overtime. Tyrece Radford, a big part of that run, is gone, but Williams brought in another athletic attacking guard to replace him in Phelps. Payne, who will likely start at center, is an upgrade from what A&M had at that position, and he fits perfectly with this group. He was Minnesota’s best offensive rebounder — ranking 67th nationally — and with Garcia, Washington and Coleman back, the Aggies will likely once again lead the country in offensive rebounding rate. That allowed A&M to still have a good offense during a horrible shooting year, but the shooting should get better. Taylor is bound to shoot it better, and A&M added some shooting off the bench with Wilcher, who made 50 3s and shot 39.4 percent for Nebraska last season.


    RJ Davis is back after earning first-team All-America honors. (Greg Fiume / Getty Images)

    12. North Carolina

    Previous: 9

    Projected starters: Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis, Ian Jackson (freshman), Cade Tyson (transfer), Jalen Washington

    Top reserves: Seth Trimble, Ven-Allen Lubin (transfer), Drake Powell (freshman), Jae’Lyn Withers, Zayden High

    North Carolina is going to be different without a low-post threat like Armando Bacot on the blocks, but the loss that stings is Harrison Ingram staying in the NBA Draft. Ingram was a Swiss Army knife for the Tar Heels and played a big role in the massive defensive leap they made last season. The offense should still be pretty good, especially if RJ Davis can duplicate or come close to repeating last season. I’m also intrigued to see Cadeau as a sophomore. He struggled shooting the ball as a freshman but he also played a facilitating role at a pretty high level considering his age. If the shot ever comes around, that’s a high-level college point guard. Tyson, a career 44.6 percent 3-point shooter at 6-7, was a smart addition. Lubin gives them some low-post scoring either off the bench or starting at the four. There’s enough talent and experience that it’s an ideal situation for two five-stars to come into. If either Jackson or Powell plays at a one-and-done level and Cadeau makes a sophomore leap, this could be a top-five team.

    13. Purdue

    Previous: 12

    Projected starters: Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Camden Heide, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Caleb Furst

    Top reserves: Myles Colvin, Daniel Jacobsen (freshman), Will Berg, Kanon Catchings (freshman), Gicarri Harris (freshman), Raleigh Burgess (freshman), Brian Waddell

    Purdue’s KenPom finishes in the five years that proceeded the Zach Edey era: 9, 19, 5, 9, 24. It’s going to be difficult to replace Edey, but Matt Painter won a lot of basketball games before Edey showed up and he’ll continue to do so. Painter has a really good core returning, led by Smith, who became a killer in pick-and-roll last season as both a scorer and distributor. If you asked college coaches to rank the best point guards in the country, he’d be near the top. Purdue got a head start on what life without Edey would be like last summer when it went on a foreign tour without him and Kaufman-Renn led the team in scoring. Painter also has three centers on the bench who could be next in line as dominant low-post scorers. The 7-foot-2 Berg has been learning behind Edey the last two years, and then Painter signed two centers in Jacobsen and Burgess. Jacobsen was a standout last weekend at the tryouts for the U.S. U-18 team. When I asked two coaches there who stood out, both mentioned Jacobsen, with one saying he’ll eventually be a star. He’s 7-3, skilled and playing at Purdue, so odds are in his favor.

    14. Marquette

    Previous: 14

    Projected starters: Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell, Chase Ross, David Joplin, Ben Gold

    Top reserves: Sean Jones, Tre Norman, Zaide Lowery, Al Amadou, Caedin Hamilton (redshirt freshman), Damarius Owens (freshman), Royce Parham (freshman)

    In the six games that Tyler Kolek missed late in the season, Jones averaged 20.8 points and 4.5 assists. So we’ve seen Marquette operate when it’s the Kam Jones Show, and he cooked. I’m not a big sports betting guy, but if there are futures for the 2024-25 All-America team and you can get good odds on Jones, I’d make that gamble. It’s going to be a different look without Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, but Shaka Smart keeps betting on development and it’s made him look really, well, smart. Gold started to show more as a passer his sophomore season in the Ighodaro role, and he adds shooting to the mix. Joplin should be highly motivated after a somewhat disappointing junior season that included a bad finish when he went 2-of-10 against NC State in the Sweet 16. Ross has had flashes that suggest he can be a really good college guard. The Golden Eagles will need him to take on more of an offensive role. These next two years should really show if Smart’s philosophy of staying out of the portal can work long-term, but he’s earned the benefit of the doubt so far.

    Previous: 15

    Projected starters: Jeremy Roach, Jayden Nunn, Langston Love, VJ Edgecombe (freshman), Norchad Omier (transfer)

    Top reserves: Josh Ojianwuna, Jalen Celestine (transfer), Rob Wright (freshman), Jason Asemota (freshman)

    That projected starting lineup is tiny — basically four guards and the 6-7 Omier — but it should be able to score pretty easily. Baylor has leaned heavily on the pick-and-roll game in recent years, and Roach and Omier should be a strong combination. Edgecombe is the swing guy on this team. If he’s a high-level producer right away, then the Bears have a chance to be elite offensively. The worry is whether they’ll be able to stop anyone. Omier is skilled enough to play the four, and Baylor does have a lot of size on the bench. Scott Drew could also start the 6-foot-10 Ojianwuna next to Omier and slide the 6-foot-5 Edgecombe to the three, but he’d lose some scoring. It could take some time to figure out the combinations that work, but it helps that Drew has size on the wing off the bench in Celestine (6-6) and Asemota (6-8).


    Walter Clayton Jr. pulled out of the NBA Draft and is returning to Florida. (Alan Youngblood / AP)

    16. Florida

    Previous: 19

    Projected starters: Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin (transfer), Will Richard, Sam Alexis (transfer), Alex Condon

    Top reserves: Rueben Chinyelu (transfer), Thomas Haugh, Denzel Aberdeen, Isaiah Brown (freshman)

    Florida has one of the best guard trios in the country in Clayton, Martin and Richard. All three made at least 70 3s last season and are good enough to carry an offense when they’re hot. The Gators’ issue last season was on the defensive end, and Todd Golden strengthened that by landing two shot blockers out of the portal in Alexis and Chinyelu. One of those two will likely start alongside Condon, the Aussie big man who is poised for a breakout sophomore season. Golden had his best season at San Francisco in his third year. This will be Year 3 at Florida, and I’d bet on it being his best year yet.

    Previous: Not ranked

    Projected starters: Tre Donaldson (transfer), Rubin Jones (transfer), Roddy Gayle Jr. (transfer), Danny Wolf (transfer), Vladislav Goldin (transfer)

    Top reserves: Nimari Burnett, Sam Walters (transfer), Will Tschetter, Justin Pippen (freshman), Durral Brooks (freshman)

    It’s hard to completely turn over a roster and have a cohesive group in Year 1, but this is a bet on Dusty May pulling it off. May is really good at role definition and getting his guys to buy in. The Wolverines are going to be huge, starting the 7-foot twin towers and then bringing shooters off the bench in the 6-foot-10 Walters and 6-foot-8 Tschetter. Walters can play the three, Gayle (6-4) could play the two and Jones (6-5) can play the point, so May could conceivably play one of the biggest lineups in college basketball. And you could make an argument that has the potential to be Michigan’s best lineup. May just coached the team that ranked No. 1 in minutes continuity and 276th in average height, so this will be a different challenge. But out of the total portal rebuilds, this is the one I’m betting on that the pieces fit best.

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Elijah Hawkins (transfer), Chance McMillian, Darrion Williams, JT Toppin (transfer), Fede Federiko (transfer)

    Top reserves: Kevin Overton (transfer), Kerwin Walton, Devan Cambridge, Eemeli Yalaho, Christian Anderson (freshman)

    Grant McCasland has landed the Mountain West Freshman on the Year in back-to-back portal classes, with Toppin following Williams. Both are future NBA players, and Texas Tech has one of the best 2-3-4 combinations in the country. Williams was fantastic the last two months of the season. He had a 10-game stretch when he averaged 17.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and shot 64.2 percent from 3. Toppin gives the Red Raiders another interior scorer and should help the defense. And you could argue McMillian is an upgrade from Pop Isaacs. Isaacs could carry the Red Raiders for stretches, but his efficiency didn’t justify his usage. McMillian is a low-usage, high-efficiency player who is more athletic, a better shooter and a better defender. Hawkins slides into the Joe Toussaint role and Federiko for Warren Washington. Cambridge got a medical redshirt and provides energy off the bench, while both Overton and Walton provide shooting and scoring off the bench.

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Myles Rice (transfer), Trey Galloway, Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Oumar Ballo (transfer)

    Top reserves: Kanaan Carlyle (transfer), Luke Goode (transfer), Bryson Tucker (freshman), Gabe Cupps, Anthony Leal, Langdon Hatton (transfer), Rob Dockery (redshirt freshman), George Turkson (freshman)

    If going by portal rankings and name recognition, no one had a better offseason than Indiana. Mike Woodson has shown a preference for playing through the post, and he has two of the best low-post scorers in the Big Ten now in Reneau and Ballo.  Indiana had spacing issues last year, but Rice, Carlyle and Goode should help. Rice (27.5 percent) and Carlyle (32 percent) did not shoot the ball well from 3 as freshmen, but both are good foul shooters and it’s within reason to expect progression from deep based on their mechanics and skill. Both should also help in the shot creation department, which was an issue for the Hoosiers last year. Overall, Indiana is just way more talented and deep. Cupps, who started last year, might be sixth in line on IU’s depth chart at guard. All that guard depth also will allow IU some lineup versatility. When one of the bigs goes to the bench, Mgbako can slide to the four and get more shooting and skill on the floor. It’s a huge year for Woodson. Based on this class, Indiana’s donors are coming through financially, but that could quickly change if results don’t follow.

    20. Illinois

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Kylan Boswell (transfer), Kasparas Jakucionis (freshman), Ty Rodgers, Carey Booth (transfer), Tomislav Ivisic (freshman)

    Top reserves: Tre White (transfer), Ben Humrichous (transfer), Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, Jake Davis (transfer), Morez Johnson (freshman)

    This could look like a reach to put Illinois this high, but Brad Underwood has earned the trust. Underwood has prioritized size and skill, and this roster is oozing with upside. Underwood got busy in the portal early and then topped off his class with two international signings whom I’m projecting will both start. Jakucionis, a 6-5 guard, is one of the best young prospects overseas. An NBA scouting contact mentioned Kirk Hinrich as a comp. If Jakucionis were an American, he’d likely be one of the five-stars in this class. Ivisic, a 7-footer, is the twin brother of current Arkansas and ex-Kentucky big man Zvonimir Ivisic. Illinois also added four transfers who play the three or four and stand between 6-6 and 6-10, all of whom can shoot. And the other two freshmen, Johnson and Jason Jakstys, are 6-9 and 6-10 power forwards. Jakucionis, Boswell and Rodgers will be the keys to making it work, as Underwood has gone to a strategy of spreading the floor and leaning on his guards to create advantages. Look for all three to get a shot at continuing the booty ball offense that the Illini adopted for Marcus Domask.

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Isaiah Swope (transfer), Josiah Dotzler (transfer), Gibson Jimerson, Kalu Anya (transfer), Robbie Avila (transfer)

    Top reserves: Kobe Johnson (transfer), Larry Hughes II, A.J. Casey (transfer), Kellen Thames

    Indiana State led the nation in effective field-goal percentage last season and ranked fourth the year before; Josh Schertz was in Terre Haute for just three seasons. The man knows how to build an elite offense quickly, and he’s got a head start here with both Avila and Swope following him. Avila is, as Schertz calls him, the hub of his offense. He’s one of the most skilled, unique bigs in college basketball, and if you put just a little bit of shooting and speed around him, it’s probably going to work. Swope was Indiana State’s best scorer before knee problems slowed him midseason, and the offseason will allow him to finally get healthy. Schertz was able to convince Jimerson to take his name out of the portal, keeping one of the best shooters in the country at SLU. He’s a perfect fit for Schertz’s system. Dotzler is a player Schertz loved in high school and gets him on the rebound after struggling to crack the rotation at Creighton. Johnson gives SLU a defensive stopper on the perimeter and was a starter last season for West Virginia. He’ll likely battle Dotzler for that final starting spot on the perimeter. It’s a really good roster in the Atlantic 10, and based on Schertz and Avila’s history together, the offense should sing. The Billikens should be the preseason favorite to win the league.

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Jizzle James, Dan Skillings Jr., Simas Lukosius, Dillon Mitchell (transfer), Aziz Bandaogo

    Top reserves: Day Day Thomas, Connor Hickman (transfer), CJ Fredrick, Tyler Betsey (freshman), Tyler McKinley (freshman), Arrinten Page (transfer), Josh Reed

    Wes Miller had the 19th-best defense last season and quietly landed one of the most athletic fours in the country in Mitchell, who should make Cincy’s defense even better. It’s not going to be easy scoring in the paint against the length of Mitchell and Bandaogo, who are both pogo sticks. Mitchell was once thought to be a one-and-done, lottery-pick talent. He still has the measurables and athleticism to eventually turn into a pro, and maybe a new system and coach will help him reach his potential. The Bearcats were also in need of shooting, as Lukosius was the only real threat from deep last season once Fredrick was injured. They will benefit from Fredrick receiving a sixth year of eligibility and from Hickman, who averaged 14.5 points and shot 40.2 percent from 3 on a good Bradley team. James and Skillings both played their best ball late in the year; if they both make a leap, don’t be shocked if the Bearcats sneak into the top tier of a very deep Big 12.


    Zach Freemantle, shown here way back in 2020, should be healthy again for Xavier. (Joe Robbins / Getty Images)

    23. Xavier

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Dayvion McKnight, Dante Maddox Jr. (transfer), Ryan Conwell (transfer), Zach Freemantle, John Hugley IV (transfer)

    Top reserves: Trey Green, Dailyn Swain, Jerome Hunter, Marcus Foster (transfer), Lassina Traore (transfer), Cam’Ron Fletcher (transfer)

    Remember Freemantle? He averaged 15.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game on a team that was 17-5 and 9-2 in the Big East before he injured his foot two years ago. After two surgeries, Freemantle is healthy, and Sean Miller has surrounded him with one of the best portal classes in the country. Conwell, who averaged 16.6 points and shot 40.7 percent from 3 for Indiana State, is the up-transfer guard I have the most faith in translating to the high-major level. He has the athleticism and playmaking chops to make an impact. Miller has a good mix of playmakers and shooters on the perimeter and depth at every position.

    Previous: 25

    Projected starters: Lamont Butler (transfer), Kerr Kriisa (transfer), Koby Brea (transfer), Andrew Carr (transfer), Amari Willams (transfer)

    Top reserves: Otega Oweh (transfer), Collin Chandler (freshman), Brandon Garrison (transfer), Ansley Almonor (transfer), Travis Perry (freshman)

    It feels like Kentucky is a team full of really good complementary players without a star. But you could have said the same about BYU a year ago, and that team spent most of the year in the Top 25 and had one of the best offenses in college basketball. Mark Pope made it clear he loves shooting and landed two of the best shooters in the portal in Kriisa and Brea. Butler and Oweh give him some athleticism and defensive chops on the perimeter, and Williams and Garrison should do the same on the interior. The one guy who could end up turning into a star is Chandler, a four-star prospect in the 2022 class who spent the last two years on a mission trip. He could change the calculus. But Pope has proven himself as a strong X’s-and-O’s coach, and this is the deepest and most talented roster he’s ever had. Star or no star, this team is probably going to score the ball efficiently and win a lot of games.

    25. St. John’s

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Deivon Smith (transfer), Kadary Richmond (transfer), Aaron Scott (transfer), R.J. Luis, Vincent Iwuchukwu (transfer)

    Top reserves: Lefteris Liotopoulos (freshman), Zuby Ejiofor, Jaiden Glover (freshman), Simeon Wilcher, Brady Dunlap

    Rick Pitino landed two of the best point guards in the portal in Smith and Richmond. Both are ball-dominant guards, and it’s justified to question their fit together, but it’s also justified to bank on Pitino getting the absolute best out of them. Outside of Luis, who averaged 10.9 points after transferring from UMass last season, and Scott (11.0 points per game at North Texas) the roster is mostly unproven. But give Pitino an elite backcourt and a former highly-ranked center in Iwuchukwu, and I’m betting one of the best coaches in the history of the game will figure out a way to win. Those two guards would have been the best players on his team last season, and that group just barely missed the NCAA Tournament.

    Next up: Arkansas, UCLA, Louisville, Rutgers, Memphis, Creighton, Maryland, Saint Mary’s, Michigan State, Ohio State, West Virginia, Mississippi State, Georgia, Princeton, Texas, Providence

    (Top photos of Ryan Nembhard, Grant Nelson and Dajuan Harris Jr.: Mitchell Layton, Andy Lyons and Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

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  • Anonymous WNBA GMs scout guard prospects: Caitlin Clark will be ‘backbone of a franchise’

    Anonymous WNBA GMs scout guard prospects: Caitlin Clark will be ‘backbone of a franchise’

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    Caitlin Clark will headline the 2024 WNBA Draft, but she is far from the only impact guard who will make her way into the league. As the professional game modernizes, franchises are looking for more playmakers on the perimeter in an effort to improve the pace and spacing of their offenses. Clark is the most prolific and recognizable guard in this group, and she is joined by a deep class — including several international prospects — of shooters, pure points and combo guards who are eager to make their impact at the next level.

    The draft is less than three weeks away, taking place April 15 in Brooklyn, N.Y., just eight days after the national championship. In anticipation of the event, eight WNBA general managers shared their candid opinions about the upcoming draft class with The Athletic before the NCAA Tournament. They were granted anonymity to allow them to speak openly. Thursday, we’ll run another installment that includes their unvarnished takes on frontcourt players such as Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese.

    GO DEEPER

    WNBA Mock Draft: Where will Angel Reese land? Who will be picked after Caitlin Clark?

    After the tournament, we’ll release our final mock draft and a GM scout of the potential picks in the 2025 WNBA Draft.

    Players are listed in alphabetical order.

    18.8 points per game (ppg), 6.8 assists per game (apg), 33.5 3-pt field goal percentage (3-pt fg%), 85.9 free-throw percentage (ft%)

    • “I think most people will be willing to take on Amoore because she has a clear position of a one. Worst-case scenario, they may be able to turn her into a backup one, and being able to cement that position isn’t anything small in this league. A backup one who can stretch the floor is a nice piece to add to your team. She may be the safest pick of all of (Jacy Sheldon, Jaylyn Sherrod and Hailey Van Lith).”

    • “Amoore’s question is size. The question is can she do some of the same things offensively in college that she would need to do in the pros? Because length bothers her on some of her pick-and-rolls. I think she knows how to run a team extremely well.”

    • “She’s got that ability that I think the highest-level point guards have, where they know not just who needs the ball, it’s how to manipulate the defense to get them the ball in their best situations to be successful, and the best timing.”

    Isobel Borlase | 5-11 guard | Adelaide Lightning (WNBL, Australia)

    15.6 ppg, 4.7 rebounds per game (rpg), 2.5 apg, 1.8 steals per game (spg)

    • “Borlase has a game that’s suited for Australia. I don’t know if it translates to our game.”

    • “I think she does a really good job creating for herself. She can score in some ways that show that she has what I call the international maturity. You can tell that she’s been playing professional basketball. … From what I’ve seen, I think that she could easily be in the first round.”

    31.8 ppg, 8.8 apg, 7.3 rpg, 37.9 3-pt fg%

    • “I think the same as the rest of my colleagues: A generational talent that can be the backbone of a franchise. A clear No. 1 pick.”

    • “Phenomenal player. Probably one of the most offensively ready guards coming into the draft we’ve seen in quite some time.”

    • “I think where she’s gonna be most beneficial for her team, which we all know which team that will be, is her ability to pass and spread the ball and spread the love to some incredible players on her team. I think she will struggle more offensively just because of the strength of the guards that will be defending her, and the speed of those guards is something that she’s not used to seeing in college. But I think where she’ll make the biggest impact is her ability to pass.”

    go-deeper

    GO DEEPER

    What makes Caitlin Clark the best shooter in college basketball? The physics behind her shot

    Leila Lacan | 5-11 guard | Angers (France)

    11.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, 3.3 spg

    • “Not sure about her speed, quickness, toughness at this level, but I think she’s probably first round.”

    • “I really like Leila’s size. She has a pretty complete package. I think she’s really good at pick-and-roll. I think her vision is really good, but she can also create for herself. She’s an attractive prospect. It’s just a little difficult when you don’t quite know about overseas obligations and the national team and all of those kinds of things.”

    Carla Leite | 5-9 guard | Tarbes (France)

    15.9 ppg, 5.8 apg, 1.4 spg, 87.4 ft%

    • “Just 19 years old but demonstrates court awareness to become an elite professional point guard. Tremendous ability to get to the rim, great change of tempo, great ability with the ball in her hands, sees the floor exceptionally well. Decent size, gets to the line a lot for a PG and converts a high percentage of free throws. Needs to continue to improve 3-point shooting.”

    14.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 4.0 apg, 89.2 ft%

    • “She’s a combo guard. I think she’s more two-one than one-two. She’s shown she’s good at a lot of things. Can shoot the 3, midrange? She can get to the rim. Physical defender. But I would say of those three, I would probably give the slight edge to Amoore, and then (Jacy) Sheldon right behind her.”

    • “Charisma is just a steady, great leader, high basketball IQ, willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful. … I think her midrange game is one of the best in the league. Great at the pull-up in the midrange. Needs to consistently shoot 3s, but a great defender.”

    • “Charisma has worked really hard on her shot, and there was a lot of growth in that in the first two-thirds of the season. She struggled on it this back third. She’s gonna need to find some consistency. I think she’s gonna have to take the Jackie Young growth step in her shot. She has a nice pull-up, a really nice pull-up, like a second-layer feed off a ball-screen action. She actually can elevate and time her release really well to a contest. That 3-point ability has to become really consistent the way Jackie grew hers.”

    Jacy Sheldon | 5-10 guard | Ohio State

    17.8 ppg, 3.8 apg, 1.9 spg, 37.3 3-pt fg%

    • “The ceiling may be higher than Amoore, but there’s also a chance the physicality of our league may be too much for her.”

    • “Tremendous athlete. My concern for her is the physicality of the game. Ohio State is a very physical team, but when you look at her body frame, I worry a little bit about her ability to handle the physicality on it. But great vision, passer, shooter.”

    • “Could she develop a bit of an Allie Quigley type of game? She has a quick release. She plays in an up-tempo system really well. I think she shows great IQ in the half court off the ball, on the ball. I do find her to be an elite communicator. Her ability to vacillate from the one through three positions so smoothly is special.”

    • “She has great discretion in selecting her shots, and then she can really get her whole team involved. And I think they go as she goes. Obviously, one of the most impactful parts of her game is the defensive end. She’s super athletic, and she just has great recognition of when she should go for a risky thing in their press especially, but she’s a really disciplined defender, and I think that that’s gonna be her biggest impact at the next level, at least in the immediate.”

    Jaylyn Sherrod | 5-7 guard | Colorado

    12.9 ppg, 4.9 apg, 2.2 spg, 49.8 2-pt fg%

    • “Tremendous defender. She catches my attention every time I watch them with her toughness on defense, her ability to intimidate whoever she’s guarding. Plays hard. She seems to be really smart, and of course, she’s added some offensive skill to her game. I like her toughness.”

    • “She’s just not a pro shooter right now. She may be one of those ones that needs to go overseas and work on her offensive game and get a consistent jump shot, because nowadays you can’t be a guard in our league and not be a good shooter. She can attack the basket and do all that, but people learn to cheat off of you if you can’t shoot.”

    Hailey Van Lith | 5-7 guard | LSU

    11.8 ppg, 3.6 apg, 35.5 3-pt fg%, 82.7 ft%

    • “Good outside shooter, decent at getting to the rim, but midrange game is a question. Plays hard — scrappy, competitor, love the fire. Reminds me a little bit of Dana Evans. Probably a more natural two than a one, but her size will require her to mostly play at the one. Still, questions about whether she can be as effective as a one.”

    • “She hasn’t shot the ball like people thought she would. I don’t know if it’s good or bad for her that she went to LSU and was forced to play point guard. But she’s had to work on some ballhandling and some passing skills because of what their team needed.”

    (Photos of Charisma Osborne, Caitlin Clark and Hailey Van Lith: G Fiume, Harry How and Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

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  • Women’s college basketball power rankings: South Carolina returns to a familiar spot

    Women’s college basketball power rankings: South Carolina returns to a familiar spot

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    If the hope was that two weeks of basketball would have given a clearer picture of the hierarchy in women’s college basketball this season, that has not been the case. In fact, most of my conversations since Nov. 6 have featured some variation of, “Wait, is Team X good?”

    Aside from South Carolina at the top — stop me if you’ve heard that before — every other projected contender has taken its lumps. While the Gamecocks roll through their opposition, most teams around the country need some time to figure out new rosters and systems. Growing pains were expected, like LSU and Virginia Tech integrating new transfers, or Maryland and Indiana dealing with the graduations of WNBA first-round picks.

    Nevertheless, on the whole, the quality of play around the country has been better than expected. But given my regional biases, and the fact that this is the final year of the Pac-12 as we know it, these inaugural rankings will focus out west on the conference that is in the midst of an epic going-away party.

    Almost Famous: Duke, Princeton, Maryland

    Is the promise of Stanford’s frontcourt being realized?

    The Cardinal had an embarrassment of riches at the forward positions last season, but there were too many options for any individual players – other than Cameron Brink – to get sufficient run, especially since Stanford so often went small with Haley Jones at the four. Now the rotation is shorter, and the primary beneficiary is Kiki Iriafen, who is thriving with the larger minutes load.

    Carolyn Peck called Iriafen a mix of Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike with a dash of A’ja Wilson on the Stanford-Duke broadcast Sunday, and though the praise seems hyperbolic, Iriafen’s start has been noteworthy. The junior is averaging 21 points and nine rebounds per game through four contests, blowing away her per-minute averages from the prior two seasons. The Cardinal were already a good paint offense in 2022-23, converting 63 percent of their shot attempts at the rim; Iriafen’s success rate thus far is almost comically impressive, as she has made 25 of 31 shots at the basket. Brink’s ability to space the floor as a shooter and a high-low passer allows Iriafen the room to operate, and that frontcourt tandem is the primary reason Stanford sits undefeated despite welcoming two strong opponents (Indiana and Duke) to Maples Pavilion to start the year.

    One of the most confounding storylines of Stanford’s 2022-23 campaign was the way the Cardinal used (or perhaps, failed to use) Lauren Betts. The No. 1 recruit in the country was an afterthought in Stanford’s rotation, averaging fewer than 10 minutes and getting DNP-ed twice, so it wasn’t exactly surprising that Betts sought out a different location for the rest of her collegiate career.

    Betts’ move to Los Angeles cleared up the frontcourt situation for the Cardinal, and it’s also been a boon for the Bruins. UCLA plays an active brand of defense, swarming ballhandlers and applying heavy ball pressure, but that can create openings at the rim if the opponent gets behind the defense, especially when the Bruins spent much of the season without a traditional center on the court. That is no longer an issue with Betts, who serves as an eraser in the paint, but more often deters opponents from even attempting shots in her vicinity. Opponents are taking less than 15 percent of their shots at the rim against UCLA, better than 97 percent of defenses, per CBB Analytics.

    What’s interesting is that Betts’ impact has actually been more pronounced on offense. Through four games, UCLA is 38 points per 100 possessions better with Betts on the floor, with 25 of those points coming on offense. She works hard to seal her defender so that the Bruins can deliver her the ball inside, but when that doesn’t work, she’s a willing and effective screener who creates space for her guards to get to the basket. Against Princeton, Betts made all nine of her field-goal attempts through three quarters, but didn’t get any shot attempts in the fourth as the Tigers did whatever they could to deny her the ball. She responded by playing pick-and-roll with Charisma Osborne, and as one defender stayed glued to Betts, Osborne had open jumpers and driving lanes.

    The most complete offensive player in the Pac-12

    Iriafen, Brink and Betts have brought the goods to start the season, and although the Utes were the first Pac-12 team to register a loss in 2023-24, that doesn’t diminish how good the reigning conference player of the year has been. The only way to stop Alissa Pili is by getting her off the court, because Pili can do just about anything on offense. She entered Sunday having made nearly 79 percent of her field goals on the season; her jumper has been on point, an almost unfair complement to her beautiful footwork in the post.

    This reverse finish from Pili against Baylor high off the glass was hard to even comprehend in real time.

    At a later date, we’ll dive into the defensive improvements Utah needs to make and how it can stay afloat when Pili is in foul trouble. For now, it’s more fun to simply appreciate what a uniquely skilled offensive player Pili is.

    Why the Buffs are in the national conversation

    We’re weeks away from conference play, and I’m already giddy about the potential Pac-12 player of the year race. The league is filled with dominant frontcourt players, but through two weeks, I can’t take my eyes off of Jaylyn Sherrod. At 5-foot-7, she finishes 60 percent of her shots in the restricted area and gets there nearly five times per game. It takes a rare combination of speed and strength to make her way to the basket so often and so effectively, especially when her long-range jumper is essentially nonexistent. Even when defenses go under on Sherrod since she isn’t a threat to pull up off a screen, they can’t corral her on her path to the hoop.

    What’s been most impressive about Sherrod is her ability to adapt to any pace. Colorado is comfortable executing in the half court, whether that’s letting Sherrod dictate the action from the top of the key or using its forwards as hand-off hubs on the elbows. Sherrod can also push the ball down opponents’ throats with her speed in transition. Against LSU in the opener, the Buffaloes excelled in the open court, and against SMU Saturday, Colorado had to execute against a set defense. Both games resulted in comfortable victories.

    Notre Dame’s one-woman wrecking crew

    From a fifth-year senior to an audacious rookie, the state of guard play in college basketball is at an all-time high. It’s hard to believe that Hidalgo is in her first year at Notre Dame, because she has commanded that team on both ends of the floor like a seasoned veteran. The injuries to Olivia Miles and now Sonia Citron (though coach Niele Ivey was relieved to reveal that Citron should be back in a few weeks) have given Hidalgo more responsibility for the Irish, but it seems like — with her confidence — she would have seized a larger role regardless.

    Hidalgo has been a one-woman wrecking crew for Notre Dame, and it’s fitting that the player who sealed a gold medal for Team USA at the FIBA U-19 World Cup this summer with a steal has brought that level of defensive prowess to South Bend. She is averaging nearly seven takeaways per game — for context, 117 teams in Division I are recording fewer — and had a 12-steal night that tied a program record with fellow New Jersey fireball Marina Mabrey.

    It’s baffling to see opposing teams try to bring the ball up against her full-court pressure or go right at Hidalgo on defense without attempting to screen her off the ball. She has an unending motor as a point-of-attack defender and tremendous instincts in help defense. Notre Dame is 22.1 points per 100 possessions better on defense alone when Hidalgo is on the court, which seems like a misprint until you realize opponents turn over the ball 11 percent more often in those minutes. Two weeks into her college career, Hidalgo might be the most exciting defensive playmaker in the country.

    Is Iowa’s shot distribution the issue?

    Monika Czinano attempted 10.6 field goals per game last season, with another 7.7 coming from McKenna Warnock. That’s about 18 shots per night that Iowa had to reallocate for this season. The ideal outcome would be Hannah Stuelke assuming the bulk of that workload, but she’s added only four more attempts per game. Sharon Goodman and Addison O’Grady have each added three more shot attempts to their averages, but that still leaves about eight more field goals per contest, and most of those are going to Caitlin Clark.

    In theory, giving more shots to the best offensive player in the country isn’t a problem, but Clark’s workload is a little overwhelming for Iowa right now. And the reigning national player of the year admitted after the Hawkeyes’ loss to Kansas State that she needs to be better at getting everyone involved. Coach Lisa Bluder further drove that point home when she said about her post players: “We have to have more faith in them.”

    The magic Clark created with Czinano can’t be easily replicated, even if it seems like Iowa is constantly churning out one great post after another. But the only hope of that happening is for Clark to at least give Stuelke, Goodman and O’Grady a chance.

    (Photo of Te-Hina Paopao: Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images)

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    The New York Times

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  • Listen to the Colorado Buffaloes vs. UCLA Bruins Matchup on October 28

    Listen to the Colorado Buffaloes vs. UCLA Bruins Matchup on October 28

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    The Colorado Buffaloes are headed to Pasadena, CA, to take on the UCLA Bruins on October 28 at 7:30pm ET.

    You can listen to every snap live from the Rose Bowl on the SiriusXM App and in car radios with your choice of the home or away feed.

    Stream the UCLA Bruins broadcast (Ch. 84)

    Stream the Colorado Buffaloes broadcast (Ch. 960)

    Home: UCLA Bruins

    UCLA’s defense shines, holding opponents under 20 points in six out of seven games, ranking 10th nationally in scoring defense at 14.9 points per game. Their all-around dominance is evident, leading the Pac-12 in key areas: total defense (282.6 yards per game), rushing defense (68.6 yards per game), and team passing efficiency defense (113.01).

    QB Ethan Garbers has displayed finesse recently with 240 yards and two touchdowns against Stanford last week. Garbers’ counterpart, Dante Moore, exhibits precision, completing 87 passes with 52 resulting in crucial first downs. Logan Loya, the team’s standout receiver, adds depth and leads the receiving corps with 27 catches.

    Away: Colorado Buffaloes

    The Buffaloes are led by Shedeur Sanders, who is setting the 2023 season on fire. He ranks among the top eight nationally in seven different categories. Sanders leads the nation in completions per game and is second in passing yards per game. He also sits third in passing touchdowns.

    Xavier Weaver is a formidable wide receiver, sitting fourth in receiving yards per game (90.1) and third in receptions per game (7.1) in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes also have standouts on defense, with Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig tied for the league lead in interceptions (3), and Trevor Woods tied for fifth with two.

    UCLA Bruins Home Feed:

    SiriusXM channel 84 in your vehicle

    Channel 84 on the SiriusXM App

    Colorado Buffaloes Away Feed:

    SiriusXM channel 198 in your vehicle

    Channel 960 on the SiriusXM App

    Want to listen to more games? Throughout the 2023 College Football season, SiriusXM listeners get access to dozens of game broadcasts each week involving teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, and other conferences — plus Army, Navy, HBCU football and more. For more information about SiriusXM’s college football offerings, click here.


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    Matthew Fanizza

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  • Women’s college basketball top 25: LSU, UConn, UCLA lead 2023-24 rankings

    Women’s college basketball top 25: LSU, UConn, UCLA lead 2023-24 rankings

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    The 2022-23 women’s college basketball season ended on a high note as nearly 10 million viewers tuned in to watch LSU and Iowa — two teams on seemingly fate-driven runs — collide in the national championship. The Tigers took home their first title under Kim Mulkey and then turned the offseason into more wins by signing the top two players out of the transfer portal and welcomed the No. 1 high school recruiting class to Baton Rouge.

    But now, it’s a new season. Every team is 0-0. And though the Tigers remain the top team in our preseason projections, several other programs — some perennial powers, some new faces and some programs with chips on their shoulders — look like they could be holding the trophy in Cleveland in April.

    As squads rebuilt, reloaded and re-tooled this offseason, The Athletic took notice (and took lots of notes). With teams across the country kicking off practices this week, it’s the perfect time to debut our preseason top 25.

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    LSU has an abundance of offensive talent, starting with the 2023 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Angel Reese. Nobody works harder in the paint than Reese, who relentlessly attacks the offensive glass and has a superior second jump that keeps her in every play. The Tigers’ offensive rebound percentage of 45.3 last season was due in large part to Reese rebounding one-fifth of the Tigers’ misses. Reese is also a great rebounder on the other end of the floor and showed the ability to grab-and-go on occasion, giving LSU another way to score in transition.

    In addition to Reese, Flau’jae Johnson is guaranteed to get into the paint on drives. Aneesah Morrow scored efficiently at the rim and in the midrange to the tune of 25.7 points per game last year. Hailey Van Lith is another big-game player who averaged 21.1 points during last season’s conference and NCAA tournaments and can consistently get her shot in isolation. Add in super freshman Mikaylah Williams and Kateri Poole’s 38 percent shooting from 3-point range, and there are plenty of sources of scoring on this roster.

    The graduations of two veterans could create some holes. Ladazhia Williams was LSU’s best rim protector, and the Tigers’ only true center now is freshman Aalyah Del Rosario, who will need some time to adjust to the speed of the college game. LSU also relied heavily on Alexis Morris to organize the offense, and none of their perimeter stars are true point guards. One will have to shift her game to run the show – likely Van Lith, since that’s the role she’ll have to play at the next level – but it isn’t certain they’ll adapt as well as Morris.

    Nevertheless, there’s too much talent on this roster to count out the Tigers, even if they take time to grow into themselves like last season. They should be favorites to once again cut down the nets.

    • +Star power
    • +Championship experience
    • +Paint scoring
    • +Offensive rebounding
    • +Depth
    • –Rim protection
    • –Point guard play

    Is this the season when all of the injuries and adversity that hit Storrs over the past two years finally makes sense? As if it was building to something? Think of it this way: The silver lining of injuries to stars — like Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd — is that it forces other players to step up, and step up the Huskies did. Nika Mühl has made a name for herself in a vaunted history of UConn point guards, Aaliyah Edwards expanded her role and has become a top player heading into her senior season, Caroline Ducharme played like a former top-10 recruit who wasn’t just complementary to other top-10 recruits. And if all of those players can come together for the Huskies this season, the end of UConn’s historic Final Four streak could feel like a distant memory if this team is hanging a banner in Gampel Pavilion.

    But then comes in the cloud that has hung over UConn the past two years: Can the Huskies stay healthy? Because every time this group seemed as if it were finding momentum, there was an injury. Can that be avoided this season? And specifically, can it be avoided when it comes to Bueckers and Fudd. Even without those two, this is one of the most talented rosters in the country. But it needs those two to be healthy (or heck, even one of them) if the Huskies are going to make a run to the national title.

    Edwards, the reigning Big East’s Most Improved Player, will anchor the paint alongside Griffin, but Geno Auriemma will need to fill out depth behind them. Ayanna Patterson and Amari DeBerry got limited minutes last season, and freshman Qadence Samuels got some run with the starting group in Europe when Ducharme was out with injury, but the Huskies will want to be able to run with a deeper rotation in the paint.

    • +Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers together
    • +Backcourt play
    • +Talent
    • –Remaining healthy
    • –Experienced post depth

    Aubrey Griffin

    Guard / Forward

    UCLA returns eight players from a rotation that went nine deep last season, headlined by fifth-year guard Charisma Osborne and sophomore Kiki Rice. Between Osborne and Rice, the Bruins have an abundance of shot creation and one of the stouter defensive backcourts in the country. Both guards need to expand their shooting range for UCLA to hit a higher offensive ceiling — Osborne was effective in the midrange and corners but stands to improve above the break, and Rice was paint-bound other than the left elbow.

    The paint will be more occupied this season with the addition of 6-7 Lauren Betts. The Bruins needed a fulcrum in the paint, as they played mostly without a traditional center, and she should immediately be the team’s most efficient scorer. That will allow Emily Bessoir and Lina Sontag to defend down a position and play on the perimeter on offense. Both players are gifted passers as well, opening up the possibility for high-lows with Betts.

    UCLA will be able to shape-shift depending on the matchup given their surfeit of depth. Londynn Jones provides an active point-of-attack defender off the bench who can also hit 3s. Fellow sophomore Gabriela Jaquez has some old-school post moves to bully smaller wings, while veteran Camryn Brown is another potential defensive stopper on bigger guards. But the Bruins need their stars to be among the nation’s best.

    • +Playmaking
    • +Depth
    • +Offensive rebounding
    • +Continuity
    • –Shooting
    • –Defending without fouling

    It feels fair to say that we’ll never see another class quite like The Freshies (especially with the advent of the transfer portal). Led by Aliyah Boston, South Carolina’s 2019 recruiting class went 129-9 (including 60-1 at home) during their four years. Given the amount of talent and experience with that group, there was obviously a bit of a vacuum when it came to experience for players outside of The Freshies. So, entering 2023-24, Dawn Staley will be going through a transition and rebuild, though she certainly has the kind of roster talent needed for a deep run.

    Kamilla Cardoso is one of the country’s most exciting players. At 6-7 (and with a wingspan that can feel like 7-6 to opposing players), Cardoso will anchor both ends of the floor. If Staley can bring out a bit more of an edge in her, there won’t be a team in the country that can contend on every play in the paint against the Gamecocks. Cardoso could simply be that good and that dominant if she takes her game to the next level.

    The big remaining question will be the same one that was a downfall for South Carolina last season: lack of consistent outside shooters. There seem to be options, though. Bree Hall was a 36 percent shooter in limited minutes last season, and Te-Hina Paopao should help out in that area — the Oregon transfer shot a career-best 42 percent from long range last season — as will the freshman star MiLaysia Fulwiley, who is dangerous from deep.

    • +Defense
    • +Paint play
    • +Rebounding
    • +Ballhandling
    • –Experience
    • –Outside shooting

    The Utes came into last season flying under the radar. They were unranked to start the season and didn’t crack the top 15 until Week 5, when they were 7-0. Under coach Lynne Roberts, Utah has built methodically. But with a regular-season Pac-12 title, a run to the Sweet 16 last year, and the return of its starting five this season, there’s no doubt: Utah has arrived. So, what do they do now that they’re here? (And, especially now that everyone knows it.) Handling that pressure will be one of the biggest storylines to watch with this motivated group that played eventual champs LSU the best of any tournament opponent.

    On the floor, Gianna Kneepkens, Kennady McQueen and Maty Wilke — the Wisconsin transfer — will stretch the floor with their 3-point shooting while Alissa Pili takes advantage of any space defenders give her. She and Jenna Johnson should be able to contend in the paint with any Pac-12 team, but the big remaining question is what happens when Roberts needs to turn to her bench for some post depth and production. Dasia Young and Samantha Crispe provide college experience, but a major potential difference-maker is Néné Sow, the 6-8 JUCO transfer from Belgium. She redshirted last year, so she has had a chance to get acclimated in the system, and if she’s ready to go, her length and size would be a real change up for a post group that could be the difference between a Final Four run or another second-weekend tournament exit.

    • +Continuity
    • +3-point shooting
    • +Go-to scorers
    • –Post depth
    • –Being targeted

    Last season’s assignment for opponents will be the same this year: Stop (or, at least, slow) Caitlin Clark. This season, there are a few wrinkles. Though Clark is a thrilling scorer and playmaker, part of her efficiency last season was that defenses couldn’t sell out on her entirely. They still had to contend with Monika Czinano in the paint and the established chemistry those two had using one another. Now, Czinano is gone, and Addison O’Grady and Hannah Stuelke — who can both be effective and efficient in their own ways — are not going to be stepping into Czinano’s shoes entirely on their own.

    If Gabbie Marshall or Kate Martin become similar complementary scorers to Clark that Czinano was a season ago, that will take some pressure off the paint and off Clark, helping the Hawkeyes find ways to win. But make no bones about it: Iowa will go as Clark goes. If she’s dropping 40-point triple-doubles, watch out. If she’s not, there better be at least two others going for 15-plus.

    Ultimately, more questions linger for Iowa than most teams. But the Hawkeyes have a player no other team has, and the kind of player who can more than make up for a plethora of questions.

    • +Caitlin Clark’s scoring
    • +Perimeter shooting
    • –Paint play
    • –Scorers outside Clark
    • –Depth

    Addison O’Grady

    Forward / Center

    How does the Ohio State defense that led power conferences in steals per game last season (11.3) come into this season even more terrifying? Just go ahead and add the ACC defensive player of the year to your backcourt, why don’t ya? Celeste Taylor’s pickup was one of the best overall fits for any player coming out of the portal. Coach Kevin McGuff will have the ability to rotate through Taylor, Jacy Sheldon, Taylor Thierry and Rikki Harris — all of whom are absolute ball hawks — as the Buckeyes ramp up their full-court defensive pressure and drive opponents into mistakes and turnovers.

    With Taylor Mikesell’s graduation, the Buckeyes’ offensive identity needs to evolve. Mikesell accounted for almost a quarter of Ohio State’s shot attempts over the past two seasons, including more than one-third of its 3-point attempts. In her absence, Cotie McMahon — the reigning Big Ten freshman of the year — should become an even larger offensive centerpiece, especially as the Buckeyes don’t return any long-range shooters who are nearly as consistent as Mikesell.

    Though the Buckeyes lack a tall, traditional big who would be able to match up one-on-one with some of the posts on the other top-10 teams, it ultimately might not be as big of an issue for OSU given the potential of its full-court pressure and pestering perimeter defense.

    • +Backcourt play
    • +Full-court press
    • +Perimeter defense
    • +Guard depth
    • –3-point shooting
    • –One-on-one post depth

    Taylor Thierry

    Guard / Forward

    Rebeka Mikulášiková

    Forward

    The return of Elizabeth Kitley and Cayla King for another season, alongside Georgia Amoore, guaranteed this group would be a preseason top-10 team and the ACC favorites. That trio is well established in Kenny Brooks’ system, and they’ll be able to help this group weather early season bumps that come along with a slew of transfers and young players entering the rotation.

    Last season, Virginia Tech relied on its starters more than almost any other team in the country. The five starters played 81 percent of the Hokies’ minutes and accounted for 88 percent of their scoring. And though Amoore, King and Kitley are talented and have an established chemistry, they won’t be able to carry the full load through the full season. But by bringing in so many transfers, it seems to indicate that Brooks might go a bit deeper into his bench if the Hokies can get production and efficiency out of that group. And that’s a fair wager considering Virginia Tech’s recent success with transfers — look no further than Taylor Soule, who came in as a grad transfer and was a bedrock for a team that went to the program’s first Final Four.

    • +Rebounding
    • +Outside shooting
    • +Half-court offense
    • –Bench production
    • –Rotation

    Matilda Ekh

    Guard / Forward

    Olivia Summiel

    Guard / Forward

    Indiana played eight games in the middle of the season with this starting five when Grace Berger was hurt, and the Hoosiers finished 7-1 against quality opponents, including tournament teams North Carolina and Illinois. This group knows how to play together and has a dominant offensive unit, even if there is nothing flashy about it. Mackenzie Holmes is one of the best screeners and pick-and-roll finishers in college basketball, and she’s afforded the space to work thanks to shooting threats surrounding her. Sara Scalia, Sydney Parrish and Yarden Garzon all shot at least 38.7 percent from 3-point range last season, and Chloe Moore-McNeil wasn’t too far behind at 36.2 percent.

    Defensively, Indiana is solid, if predictable. The Hoosiers execute man coverages well and don’t send extra help on the pick-and-roll, trusting their guards to maneuver through screens and Holmes to navigate the space between the ballhandler and the roller. A healthy Holmes had the mobility to contend with just about everyone the Hoosiers faced last season other than Caitlin Clark.

    The formula works, but Indiana will have to introduce some wrinkles to adapt to specific opponents. The Hoosiers don’t have a great answer for teams with deep shooting threats or athletic guards who can muscle their way to the basket. Indiana needs to find some diversity in its blueprint during the regular season to avoid being matchup-dependent in March.

    • +Offensive flow
    • +Pick-and-roll scoring
    • +Ball control
    • –Depth
    • –Athleticism
    • –Paint defense

    Rori Harmon will be the focal point on both ends of the floor — the defensive stalwart and first point of attack in full-court pressure, and the offensive catalyst that makes Texas run. As a junior and three-year starter, she’s an obvious name in the small circle of the most elite point guards in the country, and Vic Shaefer should rest easy that Harmon is his coach on the floor.

    While every Shaefer team is known for its defense (and this year’s iteration will be no different), the reigning Big 12 champs were also one of the country’s most balanced offensive teams last season. But without a single focal point, Texas struggled to close out tight games when it needed a scorer to step up. Case in point: The Longhorns didn’t lose a single regular-season game by more than 10 points last season. The other side of that coin? In games decided by 10 or fewer points, Texas went 4-9.

    One puzzle piece that could help there: Aaliyah Moore, a player who seemed like she would have grown into that last year. But the junior suffered a season-ending ACL tear nine games into the 2022-23 season. Her status hasn’t been made public yet but her return would be key. If she’s not ready right away, Texas won’t need to fret — Shaylee Gonzales, Taylor Jones, DeYona Gaston and Harmon can carry the load while working freshman Madison Booker into the mix.

    • +Defensive pressure
    • +Transition offense
    • +Point guard play
    • –Free-throw shooting
    • –Avoiding fouling
    • –Closing out games

    Notre Dame had an outside chance at national title contention before two knee injuries derailed last season, and the injury to Olivia Miles is the biggest cloud hovering over this year.

    Even without Miles available at the start, this is one of the best guard groups in the country. Sonia Citron is an elite shooting guard who made 51 percent of her 2-pointers and 40 percent of her 3-pointers as a sophomore while routinely guarding opponents’ best players. The Irish should be able to leverage her off the ball even more as KK Bransford and Cassandre
    Prosper grow as ballhandlers and with the addition of super freshman Hannah Hidalgo. Hidalgo’s rampage through the U19 World Cup over the summer showcased her advanced playmaking on both ends of the court — a team that struggled to create turnovers last season now has a ball hawk at the point of attack.

    The path to victory will be pushing the pace and letting the guards get downhill early and often because the Irish are a little small, and beyond Citron, a little light on shooting. Transfer Anna DeWolfe made 35 percent of her 3-pointers at Fordham, and Maddy Westbeld was at 34.4 percent, but neither is the long-range shooter that defenses have to stay glued to. The Irish will be at their best leaning into their speed by being disruptive on defense and playing in transition offense as much as possible. When Miles returns, she’ll fit in seamlessly to that style.

    • +Playmaking
    • +Pace
    • +Paint scoring
    • –Olivia Miles’ knee
    • –Jump shooting
    • –Post depth

    The potential scoring trifecta that Jewel Spear, Rickea Jackson and Tamari Key could be this season is really something, giving the Lady Vols a “pick your poison” type offense for opponents to try to stop. The addition of Wells — the Belmont transfer who dropped 22 on Tennessee during the 2022 NCAA Tournament — gives the Lady Vols a fourth double-digit scorer in the form of a point guard who can be both a pass-first player and a shot hunter (she shot 46 percent from beyond the arc last season).

    Even with all that offensive potential, this is Tennessee after all, so defense will be prioritized. And even without Key for the full season, the Lady Vols’ interior defense performed well, holding opponents to 47 percent shooting at the rim, per Pivot Analysis. Having Key (6-6), Jillian Hollingshead (6-5) and Jackson (6-2) gives them defensive length, versatility and shot adjusting potential in the paint that could take this defense into pretty terrifying territory. Tennessee lost its leading rebounder in Jordan Horston, but this trio should be able to clean up the glass.

    Tennessee hasn’t won the regular-season conference title in nearly a decade, but there are some promising indicators that this season in Knoxville could be special (which is something we’ve said before to no avail). But with the returners as well as the personnel turnover on other SEC teams, could this be the year that Kellie Harper gets Tennessee over the hump and brings her first banner to Rocky Top?

    • +Rebounding
    • +Scoring potential
    • +Half-court defense
    • +Late shot-clock defense
    • –Bench production
    • –Transition defense

    Jillian Hollingshead

    Forward

    Tess Darby

    Guard / Forward

    Sara Puckett

    Guard / Forward

    Coach Courtney Banghart’s first recruiting class has reached its senior season, and this should be the best North Carolina team yet of her tenure.
    The Tar Heels needed to add some offensive firepower this offseason, and they did so in two distinct and important ways. Lexi Donarski helps fill the role of Eva Hodgson as a designated spacer, but the former Big 12 defensive player of the year also has some teeth at the other end as a perimeter stopper. Maria Gakdeng is an offensive hub in the post as a rim protector and by providing efficient scoring, which North Carolina sorely missed last year.

    UNC resorted to one-on-one basketball too often last season — its assist percentage was in the 19th percentile of Division I, per CBB analytics. Deja Kelly turning into more of a distributor will help, but having more capable ballhandlers on the floor should improve the overall flow on offense. Paulina Paris at least took care of the ball as a freshman; now she has to figure out how to move it. Transfer Indya Nivar didn’t get much time on the ball at Stanford but should get a chance to show off what made the Apex, N.C., product one of the nation’s top guard recruits.

    North Carolina has depth in the frontcourt, too, with returning starters Alyssa Ustby and Anya Poole complemented by Gakdeng and incoming freshman Cierra Toomey, who was No. 4 in ESPN’s rankings of the class of 2023. Rotating in more bodies is a necessity considering how physically the Tar Heels play.

    • +Rim pressure
    • +Transition defense
    • –Outside shooting
    • –Rebounding
    • –Ball movement

    Alyssa Ustby

    Guard / Forward

    Maria Gakdeng

    Forward / Center

    A year ago, no one was talking about Ole Miss. Heck, heading into the NCAA Tournament last season, no one was talking about Ole Miss. The Rebels didn’t appear in a single AP Top 25 last season. Even though they played LSU and South Carolina well in mid-February, few outside of Oxford took notice. Then they held perennial mid-major power Gonzaga to 48 points in the first round and knocked off No. 1 seed Stanford in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. People across the country took notice of Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s vaunted defensive team.

    Now, as a top-15 team with a lot of hype coming into this season — and in the SEC that feels a bit more up-for-grabs this year — how do the Rebels respond … especially with so many new faces on this roster?

    Ole Miss added transfers Kennedy Todd-Williams (North Carolina), KK Deans (Florida) and Kharyssa Richardson (Auburn). As she predicted, McPhee-McCuin did “damage in the portal,” complementing an already-established Davis-Collins-Scott starting core. So, the talent is there and the fits — on defense, especially — seem obvious.

    Offensively, considering the Rebels lost five games last season by single digits, this side of the ball could see some growth. One big area: the 3-point line. Though Ole Miss’ offensive system isn’t predicated on a ton of long-range shots, the Rebels shot worse than 30 percent from deep last season (and their highest-volume 3-point shooter only 28 percent). That’s not a great recipe for success even if the 3 ball isn’t the highest priority. But McPhee-McCuin might’ve started to answer part of this question with two transfers — Deans shot 38 percent while Todd-Williams hit 32 percent on 3s last season.

    • +Defensive execution
    • +Paint protection
    • +Rebounding
    • +Transition defense
    • –3-point shooting
    • –Handling increased expectations

    Kennedy Todd-Williams

    Guard

    Kharyssa Richardson

    Forward

    No matter how much continuity Maryland has, Brenda Freese manages to consistently construct one of the country’s best offenses. The Terrapins play fast and have pristine spacing. Abby Meyers may be gone, but Maryland still has three players who shot at least 39 percent from 3-point range last season (Lavender Briggs, Brinae Alexander and Bri McDaniel), plus Jakia Brown-Turner, who made nearly 42 percent of her 3s in four seasons at NC State.

    The problem for the Terrapins is lack of playmaking. Shyanne Sellers returns as the point guard, but she’ll have to score more with the graduations of Meyers and Diamond Miller, and there isn’t as much ballhandling in the starting lineup. Perhaps Maryland won’t have to worry about half-court execution if it can get out in transition and rain 3-pointers, but defenses that can slow the pace may find success against the Terrapins.

    Maryland’s depth could be an issue. Three of last season’s freshmen transferred, leaving five returnees and two incoming transfers. The good news is that the Terrapins brought in the No. 7 freshman class in the country, led by McDonald’s All-American wing Riley Nelson. Hawa Doumbouya also adds some needed size in the middle – at 6-7, she’s the only player on the roster taller than 6-2. They could be called upon to contribute right away.

    • +Coaching
    • +Offensive spacing
    • +Transition
    • –Frontcourt rotation
    • –Isolation scoring
    • –Depth

    Brinae Alexander

    Guard / Forward

    Faith Masonius

    Guard / Forward

    The Seminoles return their three top scorers while adding multiple players who should bolster their offensive potential. Alexis Tucker, the UCSB transfer, averaged 14 points a game last season while Sakyia White averaged 18. Throw into the mix Carla Viegas, the Spanish sharpshooter who shot 45 percent from beyond the arc at the FIBA U18 European Championship. She and Amaya Bonner will bring a one-two scoring punch off the bench.

    Those additional scorers should make life slightly less difficult for Ta’Niya Latson, the reigning ACC freshman of the year who was an absolute matchup nightmare last season. Though FSU should have scoring threats across the board, make no bones about it, Latson will be the No. 1 option. Despite missing the postseason with an injury, she has been 100 percent since the spring and will come into this season with a similar offensive propensity, but with a focus on becoming a more disciplined defender.

    Post depth and paint presence will be the real question marks for the Seminoles, who have only three players 6-2 or taller. Makayla Timpson was one of 11 power conference players to average more than two blocks per game last season (she averaged 2.6), and the Seminoles’ overall rim protection was quite good (per Pivot Analysis, FSU’s opponents shot just 44 percent at the rim). But developing depth in the paint will be key to fight Virginia Tech and Notre Dame for control of the ACC.

    • +Transition offense
    • +Pace
    • +Latson’s injury recovery

    Fresh off its first Sweet 16 appearance in 21 years, Colorado returns six of its top seven players in total minutes and is in prime position to contend for a Pac-12 title in the conference’s swan song.

    The Buffaloes are once again led by Quay Miller and Jaylyn Sherrod. Miller’s versatility as a forward shines, especially in her ability to operate in the midrange and beyond the arc as a scorer and passer. Sherrod’s game is a little more paint-bound than ideal for a 5-7 guard, but her ability to turn the corner, get to the basket and spray out to the 3-point line is useful when she’s surrounded by shooters. Miller has upped her 3-point percentage every year at Colorado, getting to 33 percent in 2022-23, and she’s joined by some veritable scorers in Frida Formann, Kindyll Wetta and incoming players Maddie Nolan and Kennedy Sanders.

    With a frontcourt of Miller and Aaronette Vonleh each standing at 6-3, the Buffaloes can get outmatched inside. They shot just above league-average in the paint and weren’t very good at getting second-chance opportunities or blocking shots last season. The defense holds up due to its speed and activity, especially on the perimeter. However, bigger opposing posts like Rayah Marshall and Cameron Brink, along with guards who put pressure on the rim, could present a problem.

    • +Continuity
    • +Forcing turnovers
    • +Transition offense
    • –Fouling on defense
    • –Drawing fouls
    • –Interior size

    Outside of Cameron Brink, Hannah Jump and Haley Jones, rotations for the Cardinal last season seemed to vary wildly. That might not be as much of an issue this season given the shorter roster for Tara VanDerveer. And though that lack of depth could be a downfall (especially if particular players get into foul trouble — cough, Cam Brink, cough), fewer players might also end up being a good thing as Stanford potentially settles on — by necessity — a core group more quickly.

    With that smaller rotation, every player will need to expand her game. While Brink will anchor both ends of the floor, she’ll need to make sure she plays within herself and the system so her minutes aren’t limited by fouls. Stanford will be significantly worse off anytime Brink needs to be on the bench. If Talana Lepolo makes a jump similar to Kiana Williams from her freshman to sophomore seasons, the Cardinal could be in good hands as she becomes more consistent and gets more involved as a scorer. Jump has been an excellent 3-point shooter, but if she can at least threaten more as a three-level scorer and distributor, Stanford will be much better off.

    Kiki Iriafen could raise the ceiling. Her potential on offense and defense could help separate this group. Her free-throw shooting needs to improve, especially as she gets more involved in the paint on offense, but the possibilities for Iriafen and Brink playing in tandem and off one another could give the Cardinal a dynamic unit to build around.

    • +Rebounding
    • +3-point shooting
    • –Depth
    • –Multiple distributors

    Jeff Walz is well aware of the new reality of college basketball. As he said during the NCAA Tournament: There’s Selection Sunday, then Portal Monday. And even though the Cardinals lost one of the country’s best players (Hailey Van Lith) as a transfer, Walz reloaded in impressive fashion.

    Jayda Curry is the new jitterbug scoring guard running the show, and her hot shooting stretch (48 percent on 2-pointers and 3-pointers in the last five games) to end the season for Cal provides excitement for playing off the ball with more help. She’ll get that in the form of Sydney Taylor, who averaged at least 15.6 points each of the last three seasons while improving her 3-point percentage every year, and Kiki Jefferson, who put up at least 16.2 points per game the last three seasons. Combined with Olivia Cochran inside, scoring shouldn’t be an issue. Curry and Jefferson will need a crash course in defending the Louisville way, however, because neither came from programs that emphasized that end of the floor.

    The Cardinals have grown accustomed to integrating hordes of transfers over the past few years. But Walz doesn’t have a veteran floor general or even a natural point guard this year with the departures of Van Lith and Mykasa Robinson. Still, expect Louisville to once again coalesce by March, even if there are growing pains.

    • +Coaching
    • +Shot creation
    • +Perimeter scoring
    • –Post depth
    • –Point guard play
    • –Chemistry

    In coach Nicki Collen’s third season, Baylor has a serious chance to put up massive offensive numbers despite losing two of its top-three scorers. Andrews returns as the Bears’ leading scorer (15 points per game last season), and she has around her five others who scored in double digits in their most recent full seasons — Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (11 PPG, Baylor), Aijha Blackwell (15 PPG, Missouri 2021-22), Jada Walker (13 PPG, Kentucky), Dre’Una Edwards (17 PPG, Kentucky 2021-22) and Madison Bartley (14 PPG, Belmont). Balancing expectations and shot distribution with so many scorers is ultimately a good problem, but it’s a problem nonetheless.

    Add to that core scoring group Yaya Felder, the Ohio transfer who can attack the paint and put pressure on defenses, as well as 6-7 freshman Lety Vasconcelos, a solid passer with good touch around the rim who gives Baylor a lob option deep. Each brings a unique skillset, allowing the Bears to go through different players as Collen throws out versatile lineups without many redundancies at each position.

    The flip side? Players will need to adjust to working in Baylor’s schemes with teammates who attack the game in distinct manners. Building cohesion while maintaining that versatility will be Collen’s priority through camp and in early games.

    • +Scoring potential
    • +Ball movement
    • +Depth
    • +Pick-and-roll action
    • –Cohesion
    • –Shot distribution

    Bella Fontleroy

    Guard / Forward

    Aijha Blackwell

    Guard / Forward

    Darianna Littlepage-Buggs

    Guard / Forward

    In Shauna Green’s first year, Illinois put together one of the most impressive year-over-year turnarounds in women’s college hoops. Now in Year 2, with all five starters returning, the Illini are a dangerous top-25 team in a conference that could prepare them for a deeper postseason run.

    Last year, lack of depth hurt the Illini, especially as the season wore on, but with another full season of recruiting (and transfer portal recruiting), Illinois could prove to be a deeper team. Illinois’ top six will look the same but the two key additions — Camille Hobby and Gretchen Dolan — could be big difference makers.

    Hobby comes to Illinois from NC State, where she averaged eight points and four rebounds a game as a senior. As a 6-3 center, she gives the Illini more depth in the paint alongside Kendall Bostic and Brynn Shoup-Hill. Dolan, a freshman, averaged 39 points a game as a senior and ended her high school career with 2,622 points. To bring Hobby, Jada Peebles and Dolan off the bench should give Green the kind of depth and fresh legs she didn’t have last season.

    • +Experience
    • +Half-court offense
    • +3-point shooting
    • –Defensive consistency
    • –Rebounding

    Last season, USC played in the muck. The Trojans worked so hard to slow the pace and be disruptive on defense to break opponents’ offensive flow. It was tough to execute, and tough to watch for long stretches, but it was how they had to play to account for their offensive deficiencies.

    Now, the Trojans have 3-point shooters by raiding the Ivy League for McKenzie Forbes (Harvard) and Kayla Padilla (Penn) and adding an off-the-bounce scorer and creator in JuJu Watkins. If Watkins is as dynamic as advertised, she’ll be an offense unto herself. She and Rayah Marshall, who was already one of the nation’s finest defensive centers as a sophomore, are the foundations for USC on both ends. For the Trojans to take a meaningful step forward, however, Marshall has to become a passable scorer — her true shooting percentage of 42.4 was in the bottom fifth for centers last year.

    This is the second straight season that Gottlieb must weave together a patchwork roster, as only three rotation players (plus Clarice Akunwafo) remain from last year’s roster. The hope is that Watkins can provide some structure on offense while the defensive integrity from 2022-23 remains.

    • +Interior defense
    • +Athleticism
    • +3-point shooting
    • –Passing
    • –Experience
    • –Paint scoring

    It’s not out of the question to think Wes Moore might have four freshmen in his main rotation, as the Wolfpack welcome four top-100 recruits, including ninth-ranked Zoe Brooks, who famously won the 2022 WNBA All-Star skills challenge alongside Sabrina Ionescu. But at the start of the season, expect Moore to lean on whatever continuity and veteran presence NC State does have, as well as the Wolfpack’s pace.

    Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers are two of the nation’s fastest players with the ball, each dynamite at getting into the paint, and together create a devastating open floor attack. The two guards had the best plus-minuses on the team last season, suggesting the Wolfpack are better off when they lean on that athleticism. Neither is a pure point guard, but their ability to turn the corner on defenders allows them to make plays. Brooks has this same burst to keep the tempo going when she comes off the bench.

    Katie Peneueta arrives from Sacramento State having canned 46 percent of her 3-pointers over two seasons, and River Baldwin likes to spot up from distance and hit trail jumpers in transition. But if the frontcourt needs shaking up, reigning WAC defensive player of the year Lizzy Williamson is ready to step in for Baldwin, and Madison Hayes provides a small-ball spacing element that Mimi Collins doesn’t.

    • +Speed
    • +Athleticism
    • +Dribble penetration
    • –Youth
    • –Chemistry
    • –Ball movement

    Creighton is a model of consistency in an otherwise chaotic college basketball landscape. Jim Flanery has been a part of the program for more than 30 years, the last 20 as head coach, and his offensive system has remained relatively unchanged the past few seasons. It helps that the core four Bluejays (Lauren Jensen, Morgan Maly, Molly Mogensen and Emma Ronsiek) are all entering at least their third year at Creighton. The Bluejays will get into their offense deliberately and methodically, using east-west ball movement and screening actions to get layups and 3s. Their shot chart is an analytics dream.

    The only problem on offense is when jumpers don’t fall. Opponents can’t really take them out of what the Bluejays do — the movement generally works, but there is volatility in relying on such a high percentage of outside shots.
    Defense is another story. Creighton still doesn’t have the size inside to effectively protect the rim, and teams with more strength and athleticism can blow by its perimeter defense. Creighton should try more switching this year considering the players’ familiarity with one another and the like-sized rotation, or even throw out some junk defenses to keep opponents out of the paint. Flanery needs to take advantage of team chemistry on defense as well.

    • +Offensive system
    • +Continuity
    • +Efficiency
    • –Size
    • –Interior Defense
    • –Athleticism

    Morgan Maly

    Guard / Forward

    The only team on this list that didn’t make the tournament last year, Texas A&M is in line to be one of the most improved programs in the country. Fortunately, there’s nowhere to go but up after finishing 9-20 overall and 2-14 in the SEC last season.

    The main source for optimism is second-year forward Janiah Barker, who was an absolute force in the 19 games she was available during her freshman year. Barker is excellent driving to her right and is an awesome play finisher on cuts, as a spot-up shooter, and in transition. The less creating she has to do, the better, which makes it important that the Aggies cleaned up in the transfer portal, starting with point guard Endyia Rogers.

    Rogers has been a disciplined distributor at two stops before College Station and has oodles of talent to work with between Barker, Sydney Bowles, and transfers Lauren Ware and Aicha Coulibaly. Texas A&M also brings in three top-100 perimeter recruits in Kylie Marshall, Solè Williams and Erica Moon, allowing Joni Taylor to use multiple ballhandlers when necessary.

    Coulibaly and Ware add paint protection to a team that has struggled defensively. Ware can play next to Barker in the frontcourt in smaller lineups, or the Aggies have enough depth with Jada Malone off the bench to play units with three bigs. Things didn’t come together for Texas A&M in Year 1 of the Taylor era, but Gary Blair went 2-14 in the SEC in his first year with the Aggies, too. There’s reason to have hope with this new roster.

    • +Point guard play
    • +Offensive versatility
    • +Frontcourt depth

    Also considered: Arizona, Duke, Kansas State, Miami

    (Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; Photos, from left, of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers: Maddie Meyer, Justin Tofoya, G Fiume / Getty Images)

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  • No. 10 UCLA survives late rally to beat Southern California

    No. 10 UCLA survives late rally to beat Southern California

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    LOS ANGELES — Emily Bessoir scored 16 points and No. 10 UCLA survived a late rally to beat Southern California 59-56 on Thursday night in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.

    Charisma Osborne added 14 points and 13 rebounds and Kiki Rice scored 14 points for the Bruins (10-1), who won despite shooting 32.9% from the field.

    “Offensively, we had very poor rhythm, that’s an understatement. I realize we didn’t shoot it very well,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “I felt like we earned some confidence that defense and rebounding against a really good team, a really good rebounding team, that can be our anchor.”

    Kadi Sissoko led the Trojans (9-1) with 20 points. Rayah Marshall had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Destiny Littleton added 10 points.

    UCLA had a 52-44 lead at the end of the third quarter. USC rallied back by scoring the first seven points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer by Marshall to get them to 52-51 before a layup by Bessoir snapped a Bruins’ scoring drought of nearly seven minutes.

    The Trojans had a chance to tie on their next possession when Marshall was fouled by Bessoir on a 3-point attempt, but the sophomore made only one free throw. The Bruins then scored the next three points to get some breathing room when Rice made a free throw and Bessoir got a basket after Rice missed her second foul shot.

    USC had a chance to send it to overtime when Littleton got a rebound off Camryn Brown’s missed layup with 11.8 seconds left. After a timeout, the Trojans tried to get a 3-pointer in the corner but UCLA’s Gina Conti got a steal with 2 seconds left to preserve the win.

    “We had a couple close games earlier this season. I think our experience really just showed tonight,” Osborne said. “I think we did a great job of just staying together and not just putting our heads down and just trying to do it by ourselves.”

    The Trojans were looking to go 10-0 for the first time since 2015-16, when that squad won their first 12 games, but coach Lindsay Gottlieb said she was happy with the way her team was able to fight back.

    “To hold a Top 10 team to 59 points, we have to score more than 56,” Gottlieb said. “There are some things that going to haunt me like the missed free throws and possessions in the first half. Or in that second quarter we gave up too many points. There’s a lot to learn from it. It’s on me to figure out how to get us able to score more points in critical situations.”

    The game was tied at 22 midway through the second quarter before UCLA went on a 12-2 run that included five points each from Bessoir and Rice. The Bruins largest lead was 39-28 at halftime.

    BIG PICTURE

    USC: The Trojans are ninth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (32.7%), but were outrebounded by 11.

    UCLA: The Bruins were held to a season low 59 points, but found a way to get a key win on the road.

    UP NEXT

    UCLA: Hosts CSU Bakersfield on Saturday.

    USC: Faces Texas on Sunday in Dallas.

    ———

    AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP—Top25

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  • Nitpicking Clemson, Alabama and all the CFP contenders through Week 8

    Nitpicking Clemson, Alabama and all the CFP contenders through Week 8

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    On Saturday, Clemson turned the ball over four times, trailed by as much as 14, benched its starting QB and won. That, Dabo Swinney said, is the headline.

    Got it?

    No, don’t ask about that quarterback controversy. It doesn’t exist. Figment of your imagination. Swinney is essentially Kevin Bacon at the end of “Animal House,” standing in the midst of a stampede and yelling, “All is well!”

    Swinney spent the entire offseason hyping DJ Uiagalelei, despite his struggles in 2021. The coach has spent the first seven weeks of this season dishing out one “I told you so” after another, including as recently as last week, when he called doubts of Uiagalelei “embarrassing” and a product of “the world we live in now.”

    And when Clemson was trailing by 10 and Uiagalelei coughed up his third turnover of the game midway through the third quarter, Swinney came with the hook.

    Why? Swinney believed freshman Cade Klubnik could give the offense a spark, and the move worked. Clemson scored on three of its next four drives. Sure, Klubnik completed just two passes in the game, so his inspiration was more Rob Schneider in “The Waterboy” than Bill Pullman in “Independence Day.” But hey, a win is a win.

    In the aftermath, Swinney emphatically assured Clemson fans that Uiagalelei is still the starter as the Tigers, now 8-0, head into an off week with their ACC Atlantic Division crown all but assured. They will not play another ranked opponent this year.

    play

    2:26

    Clemson switches quarterbacks in the second half and overcomes four turnovers to beat Syracuse 24-21.

    But Swinney is right. The world is a cold, callous place, and so we must also ask the bigger question: Is this an 8-0 team capable of winning a national championship?

    Before last season, the answer might have been an emphatic, “Yes!” After all, we’d seen Clemson shrug off mediocrity before and still keep winning. Look back at Swinney’s first national title in the 2016 campaign. That season, the Tigers struggled against Troy, only beat NC State because of a missed chip shot as time expired and lost to Pitt. But Deshaun Watson still found Hunter Renfrow in the back corner of the end zone at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium in the title game against Alabama, and no one needed to remember those regular-season struggles after that.

    But then 2021 happened, and despite its 10-3 finish Clemson was clearly vulnerable. The wins were less destiny than they were rugged determination. That is commendable but perhaps not sustainable.

    Clemson needed double overtime to get past Wake Forest and nearly coughed up a big lead a week ago against Florida State. And if not for Syracuse‘s utterly mind-boggling decision to put Sean Tucker into witness protection Saturday — “I felt like he was the one guy who could flat-out beat us,” Swinney said afterward — there’s every reason to think this might be more 2021 than 2016.

    And yet, is this question any different from the ones posed at Oregon or Alabama or Michigan and on down the line?

    The Ducks demolished UCLA on Saturday and established themselves as the clear front-runner in the Pac-12, but does that matter when they’ve already been curb-stomped by Georgia in the opener?

    Should we forget the way the Bulldogs demolished them way back when if the recent data points are far more impressive? Do we need a rematch of a game that was over by the end of the first quarter? It’s complicated.

    Ole Miss offered the SEC an alternative to the Crimson Tide, but LSU sent the Rebels scurrying on out of Louisiana like a crawdad in a steam pot, as Brian Kelly would say.

    But Lane Kiffin’s crew will still get its shot at Alabama, and if it should win, wouldn’t the Rebels be a playoff team? It’s complicated.

    Or how about those Crimson Tide? Nick Saban likely spent this week of practice like Jigsaw, planning ever more sadistic dilemmas for his team to maneuver, but the rat poison was successfully expelled from Alabama’s system with a 30-6 win over Mississippi State. Yes, the Tide have appeared vulnerable against Texas and A&M and lost to Tennessee, but does anyone really think Alabama can’t be a playoff team? Well, it’s complicated.

    Despite the easy win, Alabama finished with just 290 yards of total offense — its lowest production in an SEC game since 2014.

    Are we sold on Tennessee? Has Georgia just been easing into the season like it’s a warm bath? Is Michigan a fitting adversary for Ohio State?

    Max Duggan wasn’t perfect Saturday in the 38-28 TCU win, but he was exceptional when he had to be, and the Horned Frogs’ ground game pounded away at Kansas State until the Wildcats finally gave way. TCU has been tied or behind in the second half of each of its last three games, including against Kansas State’s backup QB on Saturday, all of which might underscore just how narrow the margin is for the Horned Frogs, but it’s a line they’ve yet to cross. Does that make TCU a playoff team? Well, it’s complicated.

    If we’re nitpicking, we’ll find nearly all teams left wanting. In other words, it’s all complicated.

    But Swinney isn’t nitpicking. Well, sure, he picked a few nits with his starting quarterback Saturday, but bygones are bygones now. The point is, Clemson won. So, too, did Alabama and Oregon and Penn State and Oklahoma State. Their chase continues.

    In the end, Clemson is 8-0, one of just six teams (Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU) left with a zero in the loss column.

    And when it comes time for the committee to pick nits and split hairs, that zero looms awfully large because winning every game is the one way to erase all the complications and make the committee’s decision simple.

    Nix, Ducks roll past UCLA

    We would like to issue a formal apology to Bo Nix. He is not the reason Auburn fans spent four years beating their heads against a wall, shouting “Make it stop! Make it stop!”

    Nix bested UCLA 45-30 with a brilliant performance Saturday, completing 22-of-28 passes for 283 yards and five touchdowns. He ran for 51 more yards. He electrified a fan base that remains blissfully unaware of all the pain he once helped inflict in his old life.

    Yes, the numbers at Auburn seemed to suggest Nix was at the root of the problem, but as Mark Twain said, there are lies, damned lies and statistics, and Nix’s numbers were the most insidious of lies.

    Yes, we watched Nix struggle in his Oregon debut as the Ducks were steamrolled by Georgia, but that was an unfair sample. It was like starting fresh at a new high school with a chance to finally fit in with the cool kids, only to bump into an old classmate at the mall. Georgia knew Auburn Bo Nix too well.

    But look past all that. Look at what Nix has become now that he’s clear of Auburn, past Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin and … boy, it feels like there were six or seven other coaches in there, too. Oh, sure, Nix was an Auburn legacy and a five-star recruit, but The Plains has eaten up better men than that. But after years of tumult, Nix finally realized that this relationship was toxic, that he had to move on. Nothing in Taylor Swift’s discography captures the emotion of this breakup.

    And when Nix left, he got as far away as he could go. And at long last, he was free.

    Nix has Oregon at 6-1 and undefeated in Pac-12 play. Despite that brutal opener against Georgia, the Ducks have miraculously forced their way back into playoff conversation. Nix’s performance Saturday helped the Oregon fan base fully exorcise one of its demons, forcing Chip Kelly to return, defeated, to the sad suburban condo with the empty pool that we all assume he lives at.

    What happened at Auburn was inevitable. Nix just happened to be playing QB at the time, like the activities director on the Titanic. So, consider this Nix’s “Good Will Hunting” moment. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault.

    Eight is enough

    Over the summer, Mario Cristobal wanted to assure the public that Miami was serious about winning and didn’t need any gimmicks to get the job done. So, Cristobal said, no more turnover chain.

    Big mistake.

    The turnover chain was not a gimmick. It was a sacred relic, and its destruction has signaled the end times in Coral Gables.

    Duke annihilated Miami 45-21 on Saturday, as the Hurricanes coughed up the football eight times.

    Eight. Times.

    Now, it’d be easy enough to chalk up all the turnovers to the simple fact that Miami is a very bad football team. But that would be like suggesting there are so many “Fast and Furious” movies because Vin Diesel is America’s greatest living thespian. Both things are true, but those facts alone cannot explain such prolific output.

    No, for Miami there can be but one obvious culprit: Cristobal angered the football gods, and he must now go on a mythic quest, through corridors haunted by the ghosts of Al Golden and Randy Shannon, scale the unconquerable mountains of the ACC Coastal Division and survive an epic freestyle battle with Uncle Luke to retrieve the turnover chain and return it to its rightful place on Miami’s sideline.

    The whole thing is already in development at HBO.

    Sanders leads Cowboys past Texas

    Quinn Ewers has had some rough moments this season. His car was towed. He hurt his shoulder. He had to watch Oklahoma play for an entire game. But Saturday was his rock bottom.

    Ewers completed just 19 of 49 throws and tossed three interceptions in Texas’ 41-34 loss at Oklahoma State.

    The Pokes were playing with a battered offensive line, but Spencer Sanders still delivered some critical throws, tossing two touchdowns, while Jaden Nixon showed he could’ve run over Texas’ defense wearing bedroom slippers.

    It was a huge bounce-back win for Oklahoma State after blowing a late lead against TCU last week. The Cowboys are 6-1, and Sanders has firmly established himself as either the best bad QB or worst good QB in the country.

    After the Longhorns lost twice without Ewers earlier this season, Saturday’s defeat can at least remove any linger “What if” debates and allow Texas to completely turn its attention to keeping trick-or-treaters safe from monkey attacks this week.

    Iowa digs past rock bottom

    Iowa finally benched Spencer Petras on Saturday, after he managed just eight completions — six to his team, and two to Ohio State. But honestly, benching isn’t enough salvation for Petras. It’s time Quarterback Protective Services steps in and removes him from his home. He deserves to run free on a farm upstate.

    Even after Petras was benched, things didn’t get better for the Hawkeyes. Alex Padilla completed just five of 10 passes for 32 yards and an interception, essentially assuring Iowa’s QB depth chart is just the two Spider-Mans pointing at each other meme.

    How bad was it?

    Iowa was 1-of-13 on third-down tries.

    Iowa had six turnovers. (Miami can expect a thank-you card from coordinator Brian Ferentz this week.)

    Iowa averaged 2.2 yards per run and yet the QBs were so bad the Hawkeyes still chose to run it 35 times.

    There’s only one logical solution to Iowa’s offensive woes at this point. It’s time for Kirk Ferentz to fire his son and hire Jeff Bowden.

    Under-the-radar play of the week

    If you missed the ending to Stanford vs. Arizona State, we understand. Watching that game was punishment for shoplifting in several states. And perhaps fittingly, the final moments were every bit as unfortunate as a matchup between two bad teams would suggest.

    Trailing 15-14, Arizona State chucked a Hail Mary throw down the sideline on fourth-and-19, which appeared to be hauled in by Elijhah Badger to set up a game-winning field goal with just seconds remaining.

    play

    0:52

    Arizona State falls to Stanford in the final seconds as Emory Jones has one foot out on the 4th-and-19 catch that would have set up a game-winning field goal.

    Upon replay review, however, the call was overturned, with officials saying Badger had a toe out of bounds on the catch, allowing Stanford to snap a 10-game conference losing streak.

    Under-the-radar game of the week

    Rhode Island and Monmouth put on a marathon Saturday, playing seven overtimes before the Rams emerged with a 48-46 win. Not since the famed Texas A&M-LSU epic has a college football game between two teams no one cared about gone on so very, very long.

    The game featured seven ties and four lead changes. Monmouth QB Tony Muskett — who also may have been a character on “Bonanza” — threw for three touchdowns. Rhode Island QB Kasim Hill threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, including a 73-yarder to Marques DeShields with 3:23 remaining to tie the game at 35, but he also tossed three picks.

    In the first OT, both teams traded touchdowns. Both went scoreless in the second frame. Then it went to 2-point tries, and the Rams and Hawks stayed even through four more frames. In the seventh OT, Rhode Island broke up a pass in the end zone, and Hill completed his throw to Ed Lee to secure the win.

    Sadly, Jimbo Fisher’s nephew was not able to attend, so this seven-OT game did not end with fisticuffs, and frankly, we cannot truly embrace seven overtimes unless someone wearing khakis starts taking swings at complete strangers.

    We hate to be the ones to bring this up, but it needs to be said: Liberty is 7-1.

    We know, we know: When quarterback Malik Willis left, we all hoped we could safely stop paying attention to the Flames. But somehow, they’ve kept winning, including a 41-14 stomping of BYU on Saturday behind 213 rushing yards from Dae Dae Hunter.

    Liberty’s lone loss came on a missed 2-point try against 6-1 Wake Forest.

    Liberty has won with three different starting QBs.

    Liberty is — deep breaths — good.

    Is it possible Hugh Freeze is fueled by the country’s anger at him, like the emperor in “Star Wars?” (We also assume that if Twitter existed in a galaxy far, far away, Palpatine would slide into Obi-Wan’s DMs to complain about rebel criticisms too.) There’s simply no keeping the guy down (even when he is literally kept down).

    So, do we need to take Liberty seriously? The only acceptable answer is yes. To embrace Freeze is to take away his power. Or, if not that, maybe Iowa should hire him.

    Heisman Five

    Even in a week in which three of the nine remaining undefeated teams lost, there wasn’t much room for shake-ups at the top of the Heisman hopeful list.

    1. Tennessee Volunteers QB Hendon Hooker

    Tee Martin won a national championship at Tennessee. UT Martin, on the other hand, struggled badly at Tennessee on Saturday. The Skyhawks had no answers for Hooker, who averaged more than 11 yards per throw and tossed three more touchdowns.

    2. Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud

    Exposure to the Hawkeyes’ offense took its toll on Stroud, who struggled through the first half, but thankfully Ryan Day was able to perform a full Iowa exorcism (it involves spewing creamed corn instead of pea soup) and Stroud rebounded with four second-half TD throws.

    3. Alabama QB Bryce Young

    Young did all he could to pull Alabama over the finish line last week against Tennessee, but we were still worried he might catch some strays from Saban during practice this week. Thankfully, he survived, and he returned with another strong day, throwing for 249 yards and two touchdowns in the Tide’s 30-0 win over Mississippi State.

    4. USC QB Caleb Williams

    USC was off Saturday, leaving Lincoln Riley with an extra week to find some defenders in the transfer portal.

    5. Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman

    Wake is 6-1 after drubbing Boston College, and in the lone loss, Hartman had six touchdown passes. He nearly matched that total Saturday, throwing for five touchdowns and running for a sixth in the win. Hartman now has the third-most passing TDs in ACC history (93), trailing only Tajh Boyd and Philip Rivers, all despite also working part time as a 1920s mafia hit man.

    The most college football thing to happen Saturday

    We talk often about the plague of #CollegeKickers, with flubbed chip shots invariably costing teams a needed win on an almost weekly basis. Long-snappers, on the other hand, tend to fly below the radar.

    Unfortunately for Weber State‘s Grant Sands, his Saturday will be remembered for a long time.

    Sands snapped the football over the punter’s head and out of the back of the end zone for a safety four times against Montana State on Saturday, handing the Bobcats eight points in a game that Montana State ultimately won 43-38.

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    Weber State is on the wrong end of the record books as it surrenders four safeties on errant special teams snaps.

    Big bets and bad beats

    Miami has been favored to win four times this season. The Hurricanes are now 1-3 in those games after a miserable eight-turnover loss to Duke on Saturday. Miami has now lost as a 25.5-point favorite to Middle Tennessee, a 10-point favorite to Duke and a four-point favorite to North Carolina. The Hurricanes’ lone win as a favorite came against Virginia Tech, after they failed to cover a nine-point spread in a 20-14 victory.

    Clemson trailed Syracuse 21-10 at the half on Saturday, which was just about the perfect spot for the Tigers — or at least for sharp bettors. The Tigers were -9.5 in the second half, and they covered that number easily, outscoring the Orange 17-0 in the final two frames. That makes Clemson coach Dabo Swinney 11-2 against the second-half spread in his career when trailing at halftime.

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  • Besides Bama, Georgia and Ohio State, who’s actually a contender? And who’s a pretender?

    Besides Bama, Georgia and Ohio State, who’s actually a contender? And who’s a pretender?

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    For close to 15 minutes Saturday afternoon, it seemed like Alabama was doomed. Bryce Young was hurt. Arkansas had all but erased a huge Crimson Tide lead. The college football world held its collective breath.

    For more than three quarters of action Saturday night, it seemed as if the kings had been dethroned. Georgia‘s offense sputtered. Missouri built a double-digit lead. The foundation of the college football world began to crumble.

    For five plays Saturday, Rutgers led Ohio State. No one really panicked here. It’s still Rutgers, and there was only so much stress to go around.

    In the end, college football’s Big Three of 2022 — the Buckeyes, Bulldogs and Tide — all survived. Ohio State rolled, Alabama used a pair of long runs to assert its dominance even without Young, and Stetson Bennett rallied Georgia to a 26-22 come-from-behind win. Order had been restored.

    It was a reminder that the Big Three are worthy of their place atop the sport, but also served notice that no one has a playoff berth carved into stone after just five weeks.

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    Jamon Dumas-Johnson is frustrated with Georgia’s defense as the Bulldogs give up a touchdown to go down by 10 in the second quarter to Missouri.

    Young’s injury served notice of how tenuous title hopes can be, even at a place like Alabama. And Ohio State has its own injury woes at the moment, with a trio of solid defenses awaiting on the schedule. Georgia has delivered back-to-back stinkers against the likes of Kent State and Missouri. After the game, Kirby Smart shrugged off the struggles by noting, “There’s nothing easy in the SEC.” Kansas State, which beat Missouri by 28 two weeks ago, might disagree, but who are we to argue with the coach who won last year’s national championship?

    So what happens if, one of these Saturdays, the Big Three don’t survive? Who’s next in the playoff pecking order?

    If Week 5 didn’t deliver the shocking upsets, it did offer some separation between the pretenders and contenders behind the Big Three.

    In Oxford, Ole Miss was decked out in helmets made of the same material used for those Coors Lite cans that turn blue when they’re cold, then delivered a silver bullet to Kentucky’ Wildcats playoff hopes. That the Rebels won with defense was an emphatic statement that Lane Kiffin’s team isn’t a one-dimensional attack. Kirby Smart and Jimbo Fisher each earned wins over Alabama last year, and Kiffin might now be the former Saban assistant with the best shot to upend his old boss.

    After NC State beat Clemson in double overtime last year in Raleigh, Dave Doeren celebrated with a red Solo cup and a cigar. We doubt Dabo Swinney will do the same after Clemson’s impressive 30-20 win over the 10th-ranked Wolfpack Saturday (though, perhaps he’ll indulge in a tall glass of milk and some wheat toast?), but the win was a statement that the Tigers are back in the playoff hunt in 2022. DJ Uiagalelei accounted for three total touchdowns, and the Clemson defense turned in a vintage performance, all but paying rent for the amount of time it spent in the NC State backfield.

    Baylor thwarted Oklahoma State twice last season, but on Saturday, the Cowboys delivered their response with a 36-25 win. Spencer Sanders, who struggled mightily in last year’s two losses, threw for 181 yards, ran for 75 more and accounted for two touchdowns. Mike Gundy’s team hasn’t gotten much love so far, but the Cowboys have won all four of their games by double digits and, if not for Big 12 power Kansas, would be a clear favorite to win the league.

    Iowa‘s plan to lull Michigan to sleep by playing offense failed miserably, too. The Hawkeyes punted on each of their first five full drives, which is usually a winning formula, but not against Blake Corum, who carried 29 times for 133 yards and a touchdown in Michigan’s 27-14 win.

    Meanwhile, Kentucky and NC State are likely to tumble out of the top 10. Penn State won, but served up five turnovers in an ugly performance against Northwestern. Minnesota couldn’t move the ball in a loss to the Purdue Owls with star tailback Mohamed Ibrahim sidelined. Oklahoma, Florida State and Washington all fell by the wayside in Week 5, too.

    We’re just one Saturday into October. We’re still farther from the finish line than the starting blocks. There’s little point in making sweeping declarations about the contenders at this point, but Week 5 did offer a clearer picture than we’ve had before.

    Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State keep winning — even if it hasn’t always been pretty.

    But Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma State and others offered their own reminder that, while only four playoff invites will go out at year’s end, the Big Three don’t need to check their mailboxes just yet.

    It’s time to believe in TCU

    It’s just like we’ve been saying for weeks: It’s time the rest of the country started paying attention to the upstart Big 12 team that’s opened the season 4-0 and deserves to be ranked.

    Oh, no, not Kansas. We’re talking about TCU.

    After finishing last season 5-7 and firing Gary Patterson, the Horned Frogs were hardly considered contenders in the Big 12 this season, but Sonny Dykes has clearly injected some life into the offense, and Max Duggan has emerged as one of the nation’s most productive QBs.

    If you weren’t a believer before Saturday, the 27 points TCU hung on Oklahoma in the first quarter should’ve had you convinced. And if you’ve ever wondered how many big plays are needed before Brent Venables’ head explodes, well, this game certainly took a swing at providing an answer.

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    Taye Barber has no one anywhere near him downfield as he hauls in the 73-yard touchdown.

    TCU racked up 668 yards in the 55-24 win, including four plays of 60 yards or more.

    Duggan was sublime, throwing for 302 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 116 yards and two more scores. If the stat line looked familiar for Sooners fans, it should. In the playoff era, the only other Big 12 QB with 300 pass yards, 100 rush yards, three pass TDs and two on the ground in the same game was Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts in 2019. Duggan is just the eighth player in the playoff era from any conference to hit those marks against a Power 5 foe.

    So, if Oklahoma can officially be scratched off the list of playoff contenders, is it time to start thinking about TCU as a possible Big 12 champ?

    This is the Horned Frogs’ first 4-0 start since 2017 and they now have notable wins vs. the Sooners and SMU. They’ve put up 38 points in each of their first four games and, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, the 55 points vs. Oklahoma marked the most allowed by the Sooners since the 2019 Peach Bowl. That one came against Joe Burrow and LSU. The last time Oklahoma allowed 55 or more against an unranked foe was 2016. That one came against Patrick Mahomes. Yikes.

    Still, for all the deserved attention TCU’s big win will get, it’s worth noting the Horned Frogs couldn’t deliver on their mid-game trolling. The family of Roger Maris will now need to attend every TCU game until the Horned Frogs score 62.

    Rebels dunk UK, but hoops schools still flying high

    The Ole Miss defense delivered a brutal blow to Kentucky‘s SEC hopes Saturday with a 22-19 win, then the Ole Miss social media team delivered an even more brutal blow after the win.

    Somewhere, John Calipari is sipping a bourbon, throwing darts at a photo of Shaheen Holloway he keeps pinned to his wall and laughing. Yes, Kentucky remains a basketball school.

    The Wildcats had their chances to pull off a road win, but an early safety left Will Levis‘ finger looking like he was trying to use his hands to do long division and was left with a remainder.

    But all is not lost for the basketball schools.

    Kansas had a message to those cowards voting in the AP poll, holding Iowa State cyclones to just 26 yards on the ground in a 14-11 win. Jalen Daniels‘ Heisman campaign took a bit of a hit as he completed just seven passes for 93 yards (we’re assuming he got in early foul trouble), but the defense more than made up for the offensive shortcomings.

    Syracuse, too, moved to 5-0. The Orange played Wagner, which may or may not have been a bunch of elementary school kids standing on each others shoulders, wearing trench coats and jerseys.

    And UCLA toppled Washington in a statement win Friday night, moving the Bruins to 5-0, too.

    Add in 4-1 starts by North Carolina and Maryland, and the basketball schools are looking awfully good on the gridiron — even if Kentucky didn’t get its one shining moment at Ole Miss.

    Auburn’s luck runs out

    The Bryan Harsin Experience just keeps getting weirder.

    Last week, Harsin was down to his fourth-string QB and just inches away from a loss to Missouri that seemed sure to be the final nail in his coffin — and he survived.

    Then this week, former Alabama QB A.J. McCarron made the unsubstantiated comment that Auburn had actually already fired Harsin, but was allowing him to keep coaching for a while longer, undoubtedly following the “Office Space” principle of simply fixing the glitch in payroll and assuming Harsin would eventually realize he was no longer employed.

    Nevertheless, Harsin was back on the sideline Saturday as Auburn hosted LSU, and for the first 20 minutes of action, it looked like he might find another escape hatch as Auburn jumped out to a 17-0 lead with 9:38 left in the first half.

    Then LSU figured out its offense, and Auburn never scored again. Its second-half drives: punt, turnover on downs, interception, punt, fumbled punt return, interception.

    Auburn will now be moving Harsin’s office downstairs to Storage B. They’ve got a lot of new people coming in, and they really need all the space they can get.

    U-Can!

    Ladies and gentlemen, UConn has an FBS win.

    Please, take a moment to gather your emotions.

    The Huskies engineered a 94-yard drive to score a go-ahead TD with 2:20 to play and finished with a shocking 19-14 win over Fresno State.

    It had been 1,050 days since UConn last won a game against an FBS opponent. In the interim, 23 teams have announced they’re changing conferences (including UConn, which went independent), Miami has been back — then not back — eight times, and James Madison, which was an FCS team a month ago, has won three games vs. FBS foes.

    Even that undersells just how long it’s been since UConn did something as unexpected as Saturday’s win. UConn had been a 19.5-point underdog — the money line for a UConn win was +1050 — and yet the Huskies pulled off a win. The last win was actually at home against equally woeful UMass in a game UConn was favored to win. To find UConn’s last FBS upset, you’d need to go all the way back to 2017. This was, like, five Taylor Swift albums ago.

    This is the beauty of UConn football. It serves as a time capsule for the rest of us, a means by which we can measure not the struggles of the Huskies, but rather how far the rest of us have come.

    Heisman Five

    Nearly every week this season, we’ve gotten an email from a reader accusing us of being a “Georgia homer.” It’s not true. We’re simply biased in favor of teams that win national championships. Still, last week, he noted Stetson Bennett‘s No. 2 ranking here and asked, “Do you even watch football? How do they let you get away with this stuff?”

    Well, dear reader, we’d like to let you know we flipped over to the Georgia-Missouri game several times this week during commercials in the big ULM-Arkansas State tilt, and we must admit — you’re right. Bennett did throw for 312 yards, but it was hardly a Heisman-worthy performance against woeful Missouri.

    So, we’re retiring Bennett from the Heisman Five and simply awarding him a Lifetime Achievement Award, which he can put on his trophy case next to his national championship trophy and his “World’s Greatest Dad” coffee mug Alabama’s defense gave him for Father’s Day this year.

    1. Alabama QB Bryce Young

    Nick Saban said Young’s shoulder injury isn’t serious, which is great news. Well, not for Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M Aggies, who’ll now lose by 30 next week, but for Alabama fans, it’s great news.

    2. Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud

    It was hardly Stroud’s best game — 13-of-22 for 154, two touchdowns and a pick — but Ohio State won easily and not it was actually a very sportsmanlike move to not pad his stats against Rutgers, as so many Ohio State QBs have done before.

    3. Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker

    Tennessee was off this week, but we assume Hooker at least got in a game of NCAA Football ’14, downloaded new rosters and threw for 600 yards and nine touchdowns against Florida, then sent some taunting text messages to dudes from the 2014 Gators just for fun.

    4. USC Trojans QB Caleb Williams

    Williams shrugged off last week’s struggles against Oregon State Beavers, accounting for TDs on each of USC’s first three drives against Arizona State on Saturday.

    5. North Carolina QB Drake Maye

    Maye threw for 363 and three touchdowns, ran for 73 and two more scores, and UNC dominated Virginia Tech Hokies 41-10. Maye has thrown for 300 yards and three TDs in four of his five games so far this season. And given that UNC’s defense has played horribly for most of the season, Maye’s going to have plenty of chances to keep putting up big numbers.

    Break up the Illini

    We’re five weeks into the season, and it feels like an appropriate moment for the college football world to take a quick step back, peruse the standings, and ask a question that has frustrated even the most renowned philosophers, scientists and scholars: Hey, is Illinois good?

    The Illini are 4-1 for the first time since 2015 after throttling Wisconsin 34-10 on Saturday, led by a Syracuse cast-off and an absolutely dominant run defense. It was Illinois’ biggest road win since 2015, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, and it snapped an eight-game losing streak at Camp Randall.

    On Saturday, QB Tommy DeVito pulled off a pretty neat trick: He ran for minus-2 yards in the game, but he also had three rushing touchdowns. It’s a rare feat to have five fewer rushing yards than rushing TDs, but at Illinois, DeVito has managed to combine a new-found scoring touch to go with his long established ability to serve as a tackling dummy. From 2019-21, DeVito was sacked 70 times at Syracuse, despite starting just 18 games. He’s been dumped in the backfield 11 more times this season, but he’s also racked up 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

    The big key to Illinois’ success thus far has been the defense, which has been a brick wall against the run. Wisconsin managed just 2 rushing yards on 24 carries Saturday, marking the worst output on the ground by the Badgers since 2015 against Northwestern. For the season, Illinois has allowed just 351 yards on the ground, and has held four straight opponents to less than 100 yards rushing.

    The most college football thing to happen Saturday

    Phil Jurkovec led Boston College to a 34-33 win over Louisville on Saturday, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns, including completions of 50, 57 and 69.

    Unfortunately, the throw that’ll likely show up most on SportsCenter this week wasn’t one to remember. Jurkovec was essentially in a full-on Neo-in-The Matrix position as he tossed the ball backward in the general direction of running back Pat Garwo III. From there, it got silly.

    But hey, all’s well that ends well. Malik Cunningham scored two plays later to give Louisville the lead, but the Cardinals couldn’t hold on, as Boston College earned its first ACC win of the season.

    Under-the-radar play of the day

    Jaivian Lofton‘s catch to open the scoring in Liberty‘s game against Old Dominion would warrant its inclusion here regardless. It’s a ridiculous one-handed snag on a 34-yard TD. But what truly puts this one over the top is the reaction.

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    0:26

    Liberty QB Kaidon Salter lofts a ball into the end zone, where Jaivian Lofton makes a one-handed catch for the score.

    Lofton basically treated the catch like he was picking up a DoorDash order at Arby’s. Zero emotion. We hope Lofton is like this in every aspect of life. Ace a test? No biggie. Win the lottery? Cool, he’ll send you his routing number in the morning. Finds out Kansas is 5-0? OK, no one could take that in stride.

    Under-the-radar game of the day

    Holy Cross toppled Harvard 30-21 on Saturday to move to 5-0 and, perhaps, put in its claim as the best team in Massachusetts this season.

    Crusaders QB Matthew Sluka threw for 300 yards and two TDs, while Jalen Coker caught 10 balls for 166 yards in the win. It marked the first time Harvard lost a game by more than one possession since its 2019 opener.

    Holy Cross is now 5-0, including a road win against FBS Buffalo last month, giving the Crusaders a pretty good case as the Commonwealth’s top team. Holy Cross has head-to-head wins over Merrimack and Harvard now, and both BC and UMass are below .500 for the season. That leaves Stonehill (3-0) as the only other contender, and frankly, we just learned that Stonehill was in Massachusetts.

    Big bets and bad beats

    Syracuse was cruising toward an easy cover over FCS Wagner on Saturday, but it turns out, it was a little *too* easy.

    The line closed at Syracuse -54, which seemed about right given that Wagner is 1-27 since 2019 and had already lost to Rutgers by 59 this season. And, as expected, Syracuse rolled early, jumping out to a 49-0 lead at the half.

    Easy cover, right?

    Well, no. Wagner waved the white flag, and sports books waived the bets.

    Syracuse went on to win 59-0 — a cover for the Orange and the under, but due to the shortened quarters, the bets didn’t count. Kudos to Caesars for having the courage to say what the rest of us were thinking.

    There’s no such thing as easy money, but the service academies at least offer something close. Air Force hosted Navy on Saturday in the first Commander’s Cup matchup of the season, and that means it’s time to throw some money on the under. What was the total? Doesn’t matter. Whatever the total is, bet the under. In the playoff era, the under in Commander’s Cup games is 22-2-1, and it’s hit 77% of the time.

    In this case, the the total closed at 38. It’s a low number. Low enough to worry about the under? Heck, no.

    OK, so you bet the under, then Air Force found the end zone on its opening drive on a 67-yard pass play. Now you’re worried, right? Ah, still no.

    Of the remaining 19 drives in the game, 10 ended with punts. The others: a Navy touchdown, two field goals (including one after Navy got the ball deep in Air Force territory), a turnover on downs, two fumbles (including one in the red zone), a missed field goal and a seven-play drive that chewed up the final 3:49 of the game.

    That, friends, is a recipe for another under. Final score: Air Force 13, Navy 10.

    The under has now covered in nine straight games that featured two of the three service academies, and 14 of the last 15.

    Oklahoma State jumped out to a big lead and cruised to a 36-25 win over Baylor. The Cowboys had been a 2.5-point favorite, which is hallowed ground for head coach Mike Gundy. As ESPN’s Chris Fallica noted, since 2016, Oklahoma State is now 14-3 in games when the spread is +/- 3.5 points, including a ridiculous 13-2 in those situations on the road.

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