Tag: Associated Press

Notre Dame player honored by USBWA for fifth time in six weeks

Yes, the Irish are that good.

(This story has been updated to include additional information.)

At this rate, it will be shocking if the USBWA isn’t honoring a Notre Dame player almost every week for the rest of the season. The Irish have been that good.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was one of five players to earn weekly national honors by the organization for the week ending Dec. 15. She previously earned them for the week ending Nov. 24.

Through six weeks of the season, Notre Dame has had one of its players honored by the USBWA every week except for one. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] have earned national honors once, and [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] was honored as the nation’s top freshman once. The only thing the Irish haven’t won is the weekly team honor, but it would not be surprising if they did so before season’s end.

This hardly is a surprise given that Hidalgo already was named the ACC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for this past week. She also was the AP national player of the week. What probably stood out the most among voters was finishing two assists shy of a triple-double against UConn:

You know more awards will be coming for her very soon.

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Florida C Jake Slaughter named to AP All-America First Team

The postseason honors keep coming for Florida center Jake Slaughter, who was named an AP All-America First Teamer on Monday.

The Associated Press named Florida center [autotag]Jake Slaughter[/autotag] to the All-America First Team on Monday.

It’s Slaughter’s third All-America honor after being named to the first team by Pro Football Focus and second team by CBS Sports/247Sports. USA TODAY Sports included him on the All-SEC First Team, as did the AP, but the SEC did not name Slaughter in the All-Conference three-deep list. He was also snubbed as a finalist for The Rimington Award, given to the nation’s best collegiate center.

Slaughter is the third center in program history to be named to the AP All-America First Team, following in the footsteps of Bill Carr (1966) and Maurkice Pouncey (2009). He’s the second Gator to make the list under Billy Napier after guard O’Cyrus Torrence earned his brick in 2022. Torrence was selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.

Slaughter anchored Florida’s offensive line, playing 728 of 746 offensive snaps this season. Pro Football Focus graded him as Florida’s best offensive player (81.2), pass blocker (83.8) and run blocker (79.1) this year. Those figures rank fifth, 18th and sixth, respectively, among FBS centers who played at least 475 snaps.

He allowed just eight quarterback pressures — six hurries, one sack — earned a 98.7 efficiency rate and drew threw penalty flags all year.

Slaughter has one year of eligibility remaining but could opt to turn pro as a redshirt junior. The transfer portal is also an option, but he’s a player Florida would fight to keep if losing him came into question. Slaughter must decide by Jan. 15.

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Oregon football boasts a trio of AP All-Americans

The Associated Press announced their All-American teams and there are three Ducks included.

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel might have missed out on the Heisman Trophy, but he has plenty of other honors coming his way.

Gabriel, along with defensive lineman Derrick Harmon and offensive tackle Josh Conerly, Jr. has been selected to the Associated Press All-American team.

Harmon is on the Second Team All-American defensive team while Gabriel and Conerly are on the Third Team.

Coming from Michigan State via the transfer portal, Harmon just picked up where he left off in East Lansing, Mich. He fit into the Oregon culture right away and had a great season for the No. 1 Ducks. Harmon had 42 tackles, nine for loss to go with five sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He was also voted to the All-Big Ten Third Team.

Gabriel had an outstanding year, his first and only year with the Ducks. So far, he has 3,558 passing yards with 28 touchdowns and just six interceptions. The Oregon quarterback also has a 73 completion percentage. the highest for his career.

Conerly is also having the best season of his career as he his the heart of the Oregon offensive line. He could declare for the NFL draft after this season is over, but the Ducks are hoping to retain his services for one more year.

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Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts repeats as AP First Team All-American

This kid is good.

If anyone needed a clear-cut example of who the leader of Notre Dame’s vaunted defense is, they have it now. For the second consecutive season, safety [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag] has been named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press. He and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter of Colorado are the only holdovers from the previous season’s first team.

Although Watts’ five interceptions this season are fewer than the seven he had in 2023, he still leads all safeties in that category. The 12 he has in his collegiate career are the most for any Irish player since 1996.

He also has one fumble recovery this season, making him responsible for six of the 28 Irish takeaways that the lead the country. None were more explosive than the first 100-yard interception return in Irish history that might have been the most memorable touchdown of the victory over USC, and there were quite a few scores in that game:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3nlB9YIJFAI

Congratulations to Watts on this honor, and best of luck to him on the rest of the season.

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Duke women’s basketball star Reigan Richardson named AP national player of the week

Duke women’s basketball star Reigan Richardson earned AP national player of the week honors after her career game against Oklahoma.

Duke guard [autotag]Reigan Richardson[/autotag] played some of the best basketball of her career this past week, and the Blue Devils star earned national recognition for the performances.

Richardson was named the AP women’s basketball player of the week on Tuesday after she helped Duke sweep the Kansas State Wildcats, Oklahoma Sooners, and Columbia Lions.

Those first two wins, both over top-10 programs, came at the Ball Dawgs Classic out in Nevada. Richardson scored 16 points against the Wildcats, but she earned the award for her performance against the Sooners.

In a 109-99 overtime victory over Oklahoma, Richardson scored a career-high 35 points after she made 13 of her 22 attempts and five of her nine 3-point looks. She added seven assists, directly contributing to nearly half of the Blue Devils’ points, with three rebounds.

With 19 more points against the Lions at home on Sunday, Richardson ended the week averaging 23.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists for the week. She connected on 53.8% of her shots on 50.0% of her 3-point attempts.

Richardson led the Blue Devils with 12.4 points per game in 2023-24, but the senior has taken her game to another level so far this year. She’s produced 15.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists, all personal bests if she maintains that pace, and she’s made 42.9% of her triples.

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo wins two Player of the Week awards

Way to go, Hannah!

Notre Dame’s [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] played only one game last week, but it made enough of an impact for every women’s basketball fan to notice her. While she was known already, she reminded everyone of her existence anyway.

One day after Hidalgo was named the ACC Player of the Week, the Associated Press named her its player of the week. This came after a win over USC in which she had a line of 24 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals.

The game marked the 10th time in her collegiate career in which she achieved a line of at least 20 points and at least five each of rebounds, assists and steals. No other women’s basketball player has done it that many times in the past 25 years.

On at least one day, Hidalgo was the better player on the floor than Trojans standout JuJu Watkins. Here are some of her highlights from the game:

Many more honors will come to her this season. There’s no reason to think they won’t.

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Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo profiled for Associated Press story

She’s worthy of coverage for sure.

With the women’s basketball season about to get underway, major national media outlets are out to get the inside scoop. That means taking a look at the teams and players most likely to make this season a special one.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Notre Dame is expected to do big things during the 2024-25 season. Not the least of those reasons is [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who was a national player of the year finalist in her first season.

We could repeat every accolade and distinction Hidalgo achieved as a freshman, but Notre Dame women’s basketball fans know them by now. Not everybody knows though, so that’s where the Associated Press comes in.

Curt Rallo, who once covered the Irish for the South Bend Tribune, is the writer of an Associated Press story about Hidalgo. We learn about her honors, her attributes and a bit of her life before she joined the Irish.

Whatever the Irish do this season, Hidalgo will be the reason for it. There’s no way she won’t be.

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Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo named preseason AP All-American

The Irish truly have one of the best players in the country.

Anyone following women’s basketball knows about Notre Dame sophomore guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. She tore up the landscape as a freshman and even was named a finalist for national player of the year. She is the primary reason the Irish are expected to contend for the Final Four this season, though a returning [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] isn’t far behind.

The Associated Press realizes how special Hidalgo is and has named her to its preseason All-American Team. She is part of the first trio of sophomores to be named to this team alongside JuJu Watkins of USC and Madison Booker of Texas. Paige Bueckers of UConn and Watkins teammate Kiki Iriafen round out the team.

Hidalgo already has been named the ACC Preseason Player of the Year for this season. She led the country with 4.6 steals a game last season and was sixth nationally with 22.6 points a game. It would be shocking for her not to build upon that this season:

Congratulations to all five players who were selected for this honor.

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Notre Dame picks up one spot in AP Top 25 poll after beating Miami of Ohio

Notre Dame moves just one spot in the AP Top 25 poll after beating Miami of Ohio.

Notre Dame has moved up one spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll to No. 16 after beating Miami of Ohio 28-3 on Saturday.

The top five sees very little movement — the first four of Texas, Georgia, Ohio State, and Alabama remains the same. Tennessee moves up one spot to replace Ole Miss.

Notre Dame’s next opponent, Louisville, jumps four spots after beating Georgia Tech 31-19 and is now No. 15. The Fighting Irish will host the Cardinals in South Bend.

Another big mover was Michigan, jumping six spots to No. 12 after coming back against USC. The Trojans dropped two spots to No. 13.

Illinois jumped 5 spots to No. 19 after beating Nebraska 31-24 in overtime while Clemson picked up four spots after beating N.C. State. Big movers in the wrong direction were Oklahoma and Oklahoma State — both dropped six spots after losses.

Boise State enters for the first time, and is now ranked 25. Northern Illinois dropped out of the rankings after losing to Buffalo in overtime at home.

 

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Prominent AP writer picks Wisconsin to make 2024 College Football Playoff

What are the chances Wisconsin makes the College Football Playoff in 2024?

Wisconsin fans must accept a recalibration of expectations entering the 2024 season.

The Big Ten West is no more, which means the Badgers’ classic path to nine wins and a birth in the Big Ten title game is gone. Now, those marks must come after outlasting an 18-team conference that is now headlined by Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, Penn State, USC, Washington, and others.

Related: Big Ten starting quarterback power rankings from ProFootballFocus

In other words, it will require a significantly better Wisconsin team to finish 10-2 and reach the Big Ten title game. That is where expectations must change, as Luke Fickell leading the program to perennial 8-4 records would be impressive given the circumstances.

But although Big Ten titles just became arguably the toughest thing in the sport to win next to the national title, this new format does give programs like Wisconsin more opportunity.

That comes with the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. The new format includes the five highest-ranked conference champions, then seven at-large teams. There is a real argument to be made that the Badgers finishing 9-3 with a big win over Alabama or Oregon could be enough to earn them a spot.

Think that’s unrealistic? Well, prominent Associated Press college football writer Ralph Russo just picked the Badgers to make the inaugural 12-team CFP field. Here is his seed breakdown: