Tag: Cincinnati

How to watch, key players for Oklahoma Women’s Basketball vs. Houston Cougars

Here is how you can watch the Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball team take on the Houston Cougars.

While the Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball team struggled to end nonconference play, they are red hot in the Big 12 season. They are 10-6 on the season but 4-1 in conference play.

They defeated the [autotag]Texas Tech Lady Raiders[/autotag] 73-55 last weekend. Now, they face Big 12 newcomer Houston Cougars. The Sooners are undefeated against the newcomers, with wins over BYU and Cincinnati so far.

Houston is 11-5 on the season and 2-3 in conference play. This is part of a two-game road trip for Oklahoma. So, let’s take a look at some key players to watch for and how you can watch the game.

Former Wisconsin defensive lineman commits to Cincinnati

Former Wisconsin defensive lineman commits to Cincinnati

Former Wisconsin defensive lineman Darian Varner committed to Cincinnati earlier this morning.

He is off to the Big 12 school after playing three seasons at Temple and one at Wisconsin. His Temple career finished with all-conference honors and plenty of flashy plays, having entered the portal for the first time after a 35-tackle, 12.5 tackle-for-loss, 7.5-sack 2022 campaign.

Varner then had minimal impact in Madison last season, recording only five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He now joins a Cincinnati program under head coach Scott Satterfield that went 3-9 in 2023 and 1-8 in its first season in the Big 12.

Varner and Rodas Johnson, who also transferred out, leave behind a defensive line room in Madison that will rely on James Thompson Jr., Curt Neal, T.J. Bollers and others to hold strong up front. Stating the obvious, it does not appear to be one of the Badgers’ strengths entering 2024.

Report: Notre Dame has found their next wide receivers coach

Thoughts?

It appears Notre Dame has found their new wide receivers coach.

Less than a week after parting ways with Chansi Stuckey, the Irish are headed back to Wisconsin for another assistant.

Back to Wisconsin via Cincinnati, anyway.

According to reports from 247Sports and Bucky’s 5th Quarter, Notre Dame will be hiring Mike Brown to be their next wide receivers coach.  Brown coached the receivers at Wisconsin this season after having spent the previous four seasons at Cincinnati.

The Cincinnati connection is worth noting not just because of Marcus Freeman but also because of quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli whose time overlapped with Brown.  Both followed Luke Fickell to Wisconsin although Guidugli left for Notre Dame before coaching any games.

Brown played at Liberty University before spending three seasons in the NFL.

We will have more on this story as it develops.

Projecting the College Football Playoff’s Top 10

A best guess at what the top ten will look like later tonight when the College Football Playoffs announce their first rankings of the year.

Later this evening the College Football Playoff committee will release their first set of rankings this year. Since 2014, the first year of the CFP, they really have been the only rankings that really matter. Yes, the Amway Coaches and AP Polls are still important, but they don’t get you into the playoffs. Here is a best guess as what the top 10 will look like when the rankings are released later tonight.

Marcus Freeman not kidding around about improving Notre Dame talent

Is there a number of players Notre Dame should be putting into the NFL annually?

A fine catch was made by Blue-Gold Illustrated reporter Tyler Horka recently as he watched [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag]’s discussion at the Rockne Gala in Chicago last week. Freeman did a roughly hour long Q&A session with Notre Dame legend [autotag]Chris Zorich[/autotag] and covered seemingly all things regarding Fighting Irish football.

One thing that came up was Freeman’s time at Cincinnati, Notre Dame’s loss to the Bearcats last season, and the fact the Bearcats had seven more NFL draft picks this spring than Notre Dame.

“Cincinnati had nine guys drafted, right, and we had two, and don’t think talent didn’t have anything to do with that, and so that goes back to why recruiting is so important.” Freeman said. “Nine NFL players on that team and two on ours and that shouldn’t happen at Notre Dame and hopefully for the future that won’t ever happen again”

You can check out the full interview below.

Next: Let’s talk about it…

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10 potential undrafted free agents the Eagles could target after the 2023 NFL draft

We’re looking at ten potential undrafted free agents the Philadelphia Eagles could target after the 2023 NFL draft

The 2023 NFL draft is almost complete, and the Eagles are just getting started with filling their 90-man roster for this summer’s intense training camp sessions.

Howie Roseman has been open about previous undrafted free agent classes, with several big-named stars holding second-day draft grades.

One week after the 2022 NFL draft, the team announced the signings of 12 undrafted rookies ahead of the minicamp.

Four eventually found their way onto the 53-man roster at some point.

We reported last week that Philadelphia led all teams with $1.8 million spent in the previous year in post-draft contracts, and Howie Roseman annually is known as one being the biggest spenders after the draft.

Recent undrafted free agents who’ve had game action with Philadelphia include Reed Blankenship, Britain Covey, Josh Jobe, Corey Clement, Sua Opeta, Nate Herbig, Kayode Awosika, Joe Ostman, Jack Stoll, Brett Toth, Greg Ward, Marvin Wilson, T.J. Edwards, and future Hall of Famer Jason Peters, who originally signed with the Bills.

We’re previewing ten prospects Philadelphia could target at the draft’s completion.

4 things to know about new Bears WR Tyler Scott

From his pro comparison to his versatility, here are a few things to know about new Bears receiver Tyler Scott.

The playmakers keep coming for the Chicago Bears in the 2023 NFL Draft. Shortly after their selection of running back Roschon Johnson, the Bears added a weapon for quarterback Justin Fields when they drafted Cincinnati wide receiver Tyler Scott with the No. 133 pick.

Scott has top-end speed as a receiver and can take the top off a defense while also having the ability to be a dynamic playmaker when the ball is in his hands. He caught 54 passes for 899 receiving yards and five touchdowns during his final season with the Bearcats and gives Fields a new weapon to work with in a revamped wide receiver room.

Here are a few things to know about Scott and what he brings to the Bears.

Boston reportedly works out a pair of 2023 NBA draft prospects

Boston keeping an eye on the potential prospects available to be selected with the Celtics pick in the second round of this year’s draft.

The Boston Celtics and their fans are firmly focused on the Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Philadelphia 76ers that is about to begin. But the team itself has a sizable part of the organization keeping an eye on the potential prospects available to be selected with the Celtics pick in the second round of this year’s draft.

That pick may be the Houston Rockets’ second at No. 32, or the Portland Trail Blazers’ at No. 35 thanks to some arcane pick protections involving Boston’s trove of draft assets, but no matter how the draft lottery breaks, the Celtics will be picking near the top of the round, and have been holding workouts in that range of prospects per multiple reports.

One of the two prospects may end up returning to the University of Kentucky according to the New York Times’ Adam Zagoria, but has scheduled a workout with Boston, along with the Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets, and Sacramento Kings among other NBA teams.

Tyler Scott says he wanted to end up with the Bears all along

The newest Bears wide receiver is thrilled to have been drafted by Chicago.

Years ago, former Chicago Bears wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad once famously said Chicago “is where wide receivers go to die.” Don’t tell that to Tyler Scott though because he won’t listen to any of that negativity.

The Bears selected Scott with the No. 133 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, giving the team a speedy weapon at the receiver position. General manager Ryan Poles was clearly enamored with Scott and it seems the feeling was mutual.

After getting drafted, Scott posted the video of his reaction upon hearing the news with his family and said Chicago was always where he wanted to be. “EXACTLY who I wanted to draft me all along!!” Scott wrote in his tweet while tagging his new quarterback. “Time to get to work Justin Fields #DaBears #ChildofGod.”

Scott was overwhelmed by the news and got emotional as the former Bearcat put on his new Bears hat. Scott was sensational in 2022, catching 54 passes for 899 yards and nine touchdowns. He joins an overhauled wide receiver room that features D.J. Moore, Darnell Mooney, and Chase Claypool as the top options.

The Bears have done a phenomenal job of finding weapons and support for Fields this offseason and Scott is the latest example of that. It’s only a matter of time before these two get on the field together and make big plays.

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2023 NFL mock draft: Chargers 3-round projections

The Chargers address their biggest needs in the first two days.

We are just a little over a week away from finding out what general manager Tom Telesco, head coach Brandon Staley and the rest of the staff will do to complete the reconstruction of the Chargers ahead of the 2023 season.

With that, here is a three-round mock draft update for Los Angeles.