Is there any way of having a clue about what time we would likely play on Sunday if we win tomorrow? Best I can tell the answer to my question is no.

Butch Thompson spoke to the media Wednesday to preview the upcoming series against No. 1 Arkansas, which begins Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT. Here's a summary...

** Exciting weekend to be home after a 5-game road trip. Looking forward to competing against Arkansas.

** Yesterday was really positive for us sending off the women's and men's basketball teams to NCAA Tournament and then go over and get a good win over South Alabama. Our pitchers bounced back and threw 75 percent strikes, which was very positive.

** Arkansas is very good, especially on the mound.

** Played No. 2 last week and No. 1 this week. Could play two more top five teams next two weeks. Our best players need to play at their best.

** Will have an Eagle Flight on Friday night, which is really special.

** Conner McBride has our longest and most productive starts. He will start Thursday. He's coming off an illness but was better yesterday and through a bullpen. Chase Allsup will go Friday and Joseph Gonzalez Saturday.

** On being swept at Arkansas in the first series and coming back to win 17 league games last year: This is a new team. We can look back at the past but need to concentrate on what's important with this team. Three teams in SEC were swept last year. The pitching in Nashville will not work in our league.

** Our right-handed hitters have not performed the last few games. Been behind on their swings. Get more production out of our starter. Those are the two things we need to improve the most.

** Can we circle the wagons around 6-7 arms this weekend?

** On the defense: Vandy's field had a little something to do with the troubles up there. Had one last night that we needed to catch. Cooper McMurray had knee surgery in the fall and can't move quite as well as he did a year ago. The guys around him have to know that. Being back at Plainsman Park helps. Our defense at Vandy was unacceptable.

** Christian Herberholz will be Tue starter, building him for that. Could make more adjustments after this weekend.

** There have been times during previous seasons that Butch has jumped in and helped with the pitching. He has full trust in Coach Teaf and Coach Foxhall to get it done. Teaf made the right decision going with Watts and sticking with him last night. Butch is concentrating on game management. Players love Coach Teaf and Butch believes he's doing an amazing job. It's good to have an experienced guy like Foxhall right next to him.

*****THAT'S ALL*****

Originally was set to visit this Saturday, but it's been moved to next Saturday (March 30). Huge weekend for Marcus Davis, who will have Smith and Caleb Cunningham here on the same day.
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The ticket prices would be decent if UConn isn’t playing.

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Bye bye Auburn Georgia?

Auburn hosted Jamichael Garrett Saturday and the in-state LB could have an early decision...

The claims of Oats taking a step back appear to be premature as Alabama is simply a program that reloads at this point. They acted quickly and already landed a huge portal prize.



Unfortunately, Bruce didn’t find himself in the top 25 and next year appears to be another rebuilder with much of the team jumping ship. Let’s hope Bruce can save the season with a Hail Mary of a portal class.

---

1. UConn Huskies​

• https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...-men-national-championship-game-sdsu-vs-uconn​

Projected starting lineup:

Stephon Castle (No. 15 in ESPN 100)
Solomon Ball (No. 55 in ESPN 100)
Jaylin Stewart (No. 84 in ESPN 100)
Alex Karaban (9.5 PPG)
Adama Sanogo (17.1 PPG)

2. Marquette Golden Eagles​

3. Duke Blue Devils​

Tyrese Proctor and Mark Mitchell have announced their intentions to return to Durham, while Dariq Whitehead is leaving. Kyle Filipowskiand Dereck Lively II could follow Whitehead out the door to the NBA. But Jon Scheyer is bringing in a terrific recruiting class, a group that includes three five-star prospects and five players ranked in the top 35. Jeremy Roach's status will be key.

Projected starting lineup:

Jeremy Roach (13.6 PPG)
Tyrese Proctor (9.4 PPG)
Mackenzie Mgbako (No. 8 in ESPN 100)
Mark Mitchell (9.1 PPG)
Sean Stewart (No. 16 in ESPN 100)

4. Kentucky Wildcats​

John Calipari is back with the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, and a potential starting lineup with at least three or four of those freshmen penciled in from day one. D.J. Wagner and Robert Dillingham should form one of the most dynamic backcourts in the sport, while Justin Edwards is the No. 1 recruit. The biggest question is what Oscar Tshiebwe opts to do. Will he come back for another year?

Projected starting lineup:

Robert Dillingham (No. 11 in ESPN 100)
D.J. Wagner (No. 2 in ESPN 100)
Justin Edwards (No. 1 in ESPN 100)
Chris Livingston (6.3 PPG)
Aaron Bradshaw (No. 4 in ESPN 100)

5. Florida Atlantic Owls​

The Owls aren't going anywhere, people. This year's NCAA tournament darlings are well-equipped to make another run even if it doesn't end with 35 wins and a Final Four appearance again. All five starters from the tournament will be back, with reserve guard Michael Forrest the lone expected departure from the rotation. As long as nobody enters the transfer portal or makes an ill-advised NBA draft decision, Dusty May and FAU will be back.

Projected starting lineup:

Bryan Greenlee (7.4 PPG)
Nick Boyd (8.9 PPG)
Johnell Davis (13.9 PPG)
Alijah Martin (13.1 PPG)
Vladislav Goldin (10.3 PPG)

6. Michigan State Spartans​

7. Kansas Jayhawks​

8. Arizona Wildcats​

9. Houston Cougars​

10. Creighton Bluejays​

Ba

11. Alabama Crimson Tide​

Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney are off to the NBA, Jahvon Quinerly leads a group of departing seniors and Nimari Burnett is heading to Michigan. But Nate Oats has already been busy in the portal, landing Wichita State transfer Jaykwon Walton. He's also bringing back Jaden Bradley, Mark Sears, Charles Bediako, Rylan Griffen and Nick Pringle from a team ranked No. 1 entering the NCAA tournament.

Projected starting lineup:

Jaden Bradley (6.4 PPG)
Mark Sears (12.5 PPG)
Jaykwon Walton (13.9 PPG at Wichita State)
Rylan Griffen (5.9 PPG)
Charles Bediako (6.4 PPG)

12. Arkansas Razorbacks​

13. Colorado Buffaloes​

14. Miami Hurricanes​

15. Purdue Boilermakers​

Under Armour or not, these look good, IMO.

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tia

Lozt in a lot of the REEEZENT BAZKITBALL HYPE haz been a reeezent foootball tranzfer that we got frum DUKE.
DORIAN MAUSI wuz a 20 GAME STARTA at DUKE. Thare are sum reports that he iz going through SPRANG PRAKTISS rite now.

Now, I know varry little about the kid, BUT, he did start for MIKE ELKO,
ELKO iz considered by MANY to be the premiere DEEEFENTZIVE MIND in the KUNTRY.
Our Deefentz iz gunnna STRUGGLE dis yeeeer, BUT, maybe dis kid kan HELP UZ.

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@grizzlyadams16
@BruceAu40
@crococile22

We were able to view more than an hour of practice today (Auburn's 7th of the spring). Here are some quick notes:

OFFENSE

First Team

Payton Thorne, Jarquez Hunter, Camden Brown, Cam Coleman, Robert Lewis, Rivaldo Fairweather, Jeremiah Wright, Tyler Johnson, Connor Lew, Izavion Miller, Dillon Wade

Second Team

Walker White, Jeremiah Cobb, Koy Moore, Colby Stafford, Grant Hidalgo, (couldn't see other receiver), Dylan Senda, Clay Wedin, Evan Richards, Favour Edwin, Bradyn Joiner

- Spent first part of viewing working on wheel routes and RPO between quarterback and running back.

- Also spent time on a different sort of wheel route with tight ends.

- Running backs were running with a ball that had a string attached to with a player behind them pulling on string trying to make them fumble.

- Coach Dom (strength coach) spent some time with the offensive line

- Thorne had nice passes to Robert Lewis and touchdown passes to Cam Coleman and Camden Brown. Brown won a jump ball over Kayin Lee in the end zone.

- Thorne had Rivaldo open on a wheel route but didn't see him.

- First play of 7-on-7, Thorne threw a pass that was intercepted by Keionte Scott. He responded with a great ball to Rivaldo.

- Kent Austin spent some time talking to Holden Geriner in between reps

- Walker White messed up on a RPO and made a bad toss to Brian Battie which was fumbled.

- Hank Brown missed a couple of passes in the flat to the running back.

- Hugh Freeze was extremely happy with Kay Moore on his blocking on a screen pass.

- Jarquez did a good job on picking up safety blitzes.

- Overall, the offense looked better than the defense for most of the 11-on-11.

DEFENSE

First Team

- Jalen McLeod, Gage Keys, Trill Carter, Keldric Faulk, Eugene Asante, Dorian Mausi, Kayin Lee, Champ Anthony, Keionte Scott, Sylvester Smith, Caleb Wooden (Austin Keys was subbing in for Asante, Jayson Jones and Malik Blocton were subbing in, Colton Hood was subbing in)

Second Team

- Jamonta Waller, Bobby Jamison-Travis, Zykeivious Walker, Darron Reed, DJ Barber, Robert Woodyard, JC Hart, Tyler Scott, Jay Crawford, Jerrin Thompson, Terrence Love

- Crime Dawg and D.J. Durkin were bringing the energy, per usual. Durkin is extremely vocal, especially during 5-on-5, making sure his guys are in the right spot.

- Crime was on Antonio Kite for playing too high in coverage on a couple of snaps.

- Keionte Scott would have taken the interception back for a touchdown but they called it dead.

- During individual drills, Bobby Jamison-Travis didn't have good reps. Vontrell called him out on it, saying it was soft and made him do it again.

- The D-Line spent some time identifying offensive line shifts.

- Kayin Lee had an interception but it got knocked away.

- Colton Hood was making some great reads at corner.

- Defense jumped offsides a couple of times. (Malik Blocton and Keldric Faulk). Whenever that happened, the QB threw it up to Cam Coleman.

#Auburn was the ONLY team in the #SEC who honored their country by staying on the court during the national anthem
Every other team left the court and went to the locker room....EVERY GAME
#fyi #SEC #GodFamilyCountry #AUFamily

I haven’t exactly brought it up to my wife yet, but should I start dating again or nah?

meanwhile colleges across the nation are reimplementing testing requirements for college after finding out they are indeed good predictors of collegiate success along with GPA's

Need a place around West Loop area to watch the games this weekend.

"She would constantly be hounding me about that: 'That wasn't your vision. That wasn't your vision.'"

Hugh Freeze had given up on being a SEC coach. His wife, Jill, didn't let him, and now he's sharing his vision with the Auburn football program.

STRONG

The latest from a busy weekend:

Auburn with a midweek contest at Troy before heading to Texas A&M this weekend. Tigers could use a tune up after starting SEC play 2-4.


STARTING LINEUP
2B Rose Roach (0-6, K)
C Anna Wohlers (2-3, HR, RBI, 2 HBP, SB)
DP KK McCrary (1-4, HBP)
SS Nelia Peralta (1-4, 2 K, HBP)
CF Makayla Packer (1-4, 3B, BB, 2 K)
RF Icess Tresvik (2-4, 2B, BB, K)
1B Amelia Lech (0-2, K, 2 BB)
— PH Axe Milanowski (1-1)
LF Abbey Smith (0-2, K)
-- PH Skylar Elkins (0-1)
3B Annabelle Widra (1-3, BB)

STARTING PITCHER
Maddie Penta (8-4, 1.28 ERA)

• Today: 8.0 IP, 11 K, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, HBP

Shelby Lowe comes in from the bullpen.

• Today: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 K

There's a new daily quiz game for baseball psychos.

Guess the player based off the repeating gif of the mystery player's swing silhouette. 6 guesses, 6 categories of hints revealed for each guess (much like wordle, yellow for close, green for match).

Batter Up!