Wednesday Scoop
Florida Series Preview, Opening Day and some golf
Happy Wednesday. We have a new podcast out with Collin Brister previewing the Ole Miss-Florida series, some spring football talk and March Madness. You can check that out here. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We took a day off on the newsletter yesterday, but are back with a ton of baseball and golf today.
Let’s dive in.
No Midweek for Ole Miss
Ole Miss’ highly anticipated revenge game with North Alabama was postponed due to inclement weather on Tuesday. Did it even rain in Oxford yesterday? I got a few texts wondering why the game was canceled given that the weather seemed fine. Who knows. That’s a question for Swayze Five Meteorologist Mike Bianco.
Anyway, if you’re wondering what the hell I am talking about, the last time Ole Miss played North Alabama was in 2019. The Lions, in their first year as a Division I program, beat the Rebels 10-4 in Oxford. If I am not mistaking, it was the worst RPI loss in the Mike Bianco era, which is actually a more competitive feat than you might think as the Rebels have had some odd results in the midweek through the years. This was one of the stranger baseball games I have ever witnessed. If you’ll remember, this loss came sandwiched in between the Rebels taking a road series at No. 8 Arkansas (at the time, OM was one of like two teams to have won a series in Fayetteville in the last 3 seasons or something absurd like that) and sweeping No. 16 Florida at home. Man, that was such an odd team and weird season.
Anyway, I don’t have much else to add. The only interesting note was that Drew McDaniel, not Josh Mallitz, was slated to start. My guess is it was going to be a bullpen day for a few guys. A bold move from Bianco to go with that strategy considering Ole Miss has never beaten North Alabama since it became a D1 school. Do the Lions have the Rebels’ number? Many people are asking. Back at it on Thursday in Gainesville. More on that later.
Spring practice rolls on
Ole Miss continues spring practice this week. If you're in Oxford, you can go watch the Saturday practice if you want. I don't have much to add at the moment. Here's some video though.
MLB Opening Day is Thursday
This excited me much more five years ago. I love baseball, but my Cubs fandom sort of died off getting into the media industry and if you don’t follow a team on a day-to-day basis, the MLB viewing experience is quite different. Opening Day sort of snuck up on me this year, but anyway, here are my rock solid predictions.
Division Winners
NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wildcard: Padres, Reds.
AL East: Yankees
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: A’s
AL Wildcard: White Sox, Blue Jays
World Series: Dodgers over the Yankees in 6 games.
Magnolia State Golf Update:
We’ve got a ton to cover in this space this week. What better way to lead off than two Ole Miss Women’s Golfers teeing it up at Augusta? Kennedy Swann and Julia Johnson are in the field at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur this week, which begins today, and will both be on the course by the time you’re reading this. This tournament is an awesome idea, getting in the field is an incredible accomplishment and I imagine getting to play Augusta at 20 years old is pretty neat as well. Follow the action here.
PGA Tour: Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, Texas.
No Mississippians in the field this week. One day soon there will be multiple.
Korn Ferry Tour: Emerald Coast Classic in San Destin Florida.
Mississippi State alum Chad Ramey tees off at 7:00 A.M. Thursday. He finished T-28 last week in Savannah and is firmly inside the top 10 in the standings, well in line to get a tour card. When I have more time and feel more motivated, I'll go look up the last time he missed a cut. It may take a while. Remarkable consistency from a guy with 7 top 10s, but has yet to win.
Hattiesburg native and Alabama alum Davis Riley tees off at 11:50. He finished t-62 last week. Riley is 3rd in the points standings and well in line to earn his PGA Tour card.
Tupelo native and Mizzou alum Hayden Buckley tees off at noon. He finished T-40 last week, two events removed from his win to begin the restarted/overlap season. Buckley is 27th on the points list with the top 25 earning PGA Tour cards.
Ole Miss alum Jonathan Randolph tees off at 12:30. After missing six of his last seven cuts on this tour, Randolph had a strong weekend in Savannah and backdoor-ed at T-20 finish. It bumped him up 10 spots to 97th in the standings. More than anything else, last week was his first positive result in a while and a good sign moving forward.
Ole Miss alum Braden Thornberry tees off at 1:30. He missed the cut last week after a T-8 in Louisiana. Thornberry sits at 45th in the standings, well within striking distance.
The Final Four is set
After a fairly pedestrian Elite Eight, though last night ended on a great note with an awesome game between UCLA and Michigan, the Final Four is now set. A couple quick thoughts:
1. I think the blowouts in the Elite Eight were simply a byproduct of having two teams that appear (and have all season long) far superior to the rest of the teams in the sport in Baylor and Gonzaga. I think we're on a collision course for them to meet in the title game and most who follow the sport have known this for a while. I would have been a little more hesitant saying that had Michigan won last night. I just don't see UCLA giving Gonzaga a game. Hell, no one has to this point. The Zags are 30-0 with 29 wins coming by 10+ points.
2. Mick Cronin is one of the best coaches in the sport and he finally made a Final Four with last night's win. It's a huge moment for UCLA hoops and the PAC 12. I underestimated both the Bruins and the league as a whole.
3. Houston and Baylor are your best bet for a good game this weekend.
4. I thought USC was really good. USC is really good. USC never stood a chance against Gonzaga. Perhaps the best indicator of the Zags' dominance is that the Trojans had the best player in the building last night and Gonzaga ran them off the floor, which rarely happens in hoops.
On the Horizon:
Mailbag Friday pod with LBs Greg. Send your questions now
Baseball-heavy newsletter tomorrow, another on Friday
New LBs deals for subscribers.
That’s all from me today. Back with more tomorrow. Feedback welcome as always. Thanks for Subscribing and share with your friends.