Tag: Florida State Seminoles

Oklahoma stays hot, lands 14th commit for 2024 in WR Zion Ragins

Oklahoma lands the commitment of consensus four-star wide receiver Zion Ragins over Georgia and Florida State.

There’s something to be said about Oklahoma’s ability to turn up the heat on the recruiting trail the way the Earth heats up from June to August.

Last year, July and August treated Oklahoma so well that it felt as if almost half of their recruiting class committed over those two months. The same summer recruiting explosion is becoming a staple for the Brent Venables era. Oklahoma landed its eighth commitment since June 20th when four-star wide receiver Zion Ragins committed on Tuesday afternoon.

Ragins is simply a blur once he gets going. Adding him to an offense that already likes to run at breakneck speed should give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares.

Ragins’ commitment marks a win for the Sooners in a state recruited so heavily by teams from the SEC and ACC.

The University of Georgia is an easy sell for any top athlete in the Peach State. Emmett Jones and the Sooners coaching staff deserve a lot credit for beating out UGA, Florida State, South Carolina, Miami, and Auburn, among others, for Ragins’ commitment.

The recruitment for Ragins took flight after Jones was hired to coach Oklahoma’s wide receivers after the season. An unofficial visit in January was followed by steady momentum in Oklahoma’s favor, which culminated in an official visit. Ragins would go on to take officials to UGA and Florida State after, but with no commitment to either, Oklahoma felt good about their chances.

Predictions from 247Sports and Rivals trickled in favoring OU and the rest is history.

Landing Ragins gives the Sooners another game-breaker with speed to add to a wide receiver corps that could resemble an SEC track squad.

Last season Ragins accumulated 46 receptions for 557 yards and three touchdowns while also carrying the ball 38 times for 161 yards and two more scores. His speed is elite, with verified times of 10.37, 10.53, 10.57, 10.58, 10.66, and 10.67 in the 100-meter dash. Many evaluators believe he’ll need to add some weight to his 5-foot-8, 165-pound frame to survive Saturdays in college. That didn’t slow down Marquise Brown, but Jerry Schmidt will get the first crack at that next year.

Ragins is the No. 215 prospect in 247Sports’ composite rankings and is a consensus four-star prospect. He joins [autotag]Zion Kearney[/autotag], [autotag]K.J. Daniels[/autotag], [autotag]Dozie Ezukanma[/autotag], and [autotag]Ivan Carreon[/autotag] in a deep wide receiver recruiting class.

With his commitment, the Sooners move up from No. 26 in the 247Sports team rankings to No. 22 and are breathing down the necks of their Red River nemesis, the Texas Longhorns.

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25 best college football records in the last 10 years

Here are the top 25 records in college football since 2013. Are you surprised by any of these?

As much as you may not like to admit it, the 2013 college football season was a decade ago, and a lot has happened in the sport since then. Florida State stormed its way up through the rankings with a Heisman Trophy winner in Jameis Winston to win the final BCS national championship in history before the sport changed over to the new College Football Playoff in 2014. But the more time passed, some things seemed to be the same.

Alabama continued to dominate more often than not. Ohio State racked up more wins among Big Ten teams than anyone. And the top Group of 5 contenders typically came form the same group. But what schools have had the most success in the win column over the past decade as we begin to prepare for the 2023 season? The answer is not at all surprising, but the order in how the top 25 teams rank may give you a few surprises once you look through the records. It can also give you a reminder that while the past couple of seasons may have been great for some, the past decade saw things even out a little bit here and there.

Here is a look at the best records among FBS college football programs since the start of the 2013 season up through the end of the 2022 season. The records referenced are sourced from Team Rankings.

Sooners continue to build momentum for talented 2024 wide receiver

Oklahoma looks to be picking up steam for four-star wide receiver Zion Ragins out of Georgia.

Oklahoma’s recruiting momentum at wide receiver is a sight to behold. Of course, Ohio State has been the standard bearer at wide receiver recruiting for the last several years, but Oklahoma and Emmett Jones are hitting all the right buttons on the recruiting trail.

Oklahoma has four wide receiver commits for the class of 2024: K.J. Daniels, Zion Kearney, Ivan Carreon and Dozie Ezukanma. By the looks of it, the Sooners could be adding a fifth: four-star lightning bolt Zion Ragins.

Ragins is a blur with the ball in his hands, and the Georgia native was predicted to land with Oklahoma by Florida State insider Chris Nee. Nee covers FSU for 247Sports. He doesn’t issue predictions often, but when he does, he doesn’t seem to miss.

Ragins’ heaviest suitors included Florida State, Georgia, Oklahoma and South Carolina. UGA, Oklahoma and Florida State received official visits as the summer unfolded. With weeks passed since Ragins was at any of those officials, the talented wide receiver prospect looks to be sorting things out with a potential decision sometime soon.

Georgia has the hometown advantage, and it is the back-to-back national champion in search of a three-peat. That will hold a lot of weight for a Georgia kid. However, Jones has done a great job to put Oklahoma in a fantastic spot.

Ragins’ ability to stretch the field vertically is a match made in heaven for Oklahoma’s penchant for throwing the deep ball under Jeff Lebby. If the Sooners could land the four-star playmaker, it would all but wrap up one of the best-receiving hauls of the 2024 recruiting cycle.

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On3 labels LSU vs. Florida State a ‘must-win’

The hype around the LSU/Florida State matchup continues to grow every day.

The hype around the LSU/Florida State matchup continues to grow every day. I understand it because it should be one of the best games during week one of the college football season.

What I don’t understand, is the game being labeled a “must-win” game for both teams. As we all remember, LSU lost to Florida State in New Orleans to open its 2022 campaign. Even with that loss, LSU was a win over Texas A&M and Georgia away from playing in the College Football Playoff.

Would it hurt the confidence of the team? Sure, but it would not be the end of the world.

“That game was exciting but I think this game will be played at a much higher level,” said On3’s Ira Schoffel. “There’s much more stakes on the line. It feels kind of like a make-or-break game for both teams. It would be such a huge win for each.”

LSU will kick off the 2023 season against Florida State on Sunday, Sept. 3 at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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Jayden Daniels explains significance of LSU’s season-opener vs. Florida State

The Tigers will look to get their revenge when the season kicks off in Orlando.

LSU enters the 2023 season with College Football Playoff hopes.

After overachieving in Year 1 under coach Brian Kelly, the Tigers return in 2023 looking to build off it. The first mark of progress would be avenging last year’s season-opening loss to Florida State.

That one-point loss happened in New Orleans. This year, the game shifts to Florida as the two teams meet at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

At the Manning Passing Academy, quarterback [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] detailed why that first game will be so important.

“We air mark it because it’s the first one. I mean, we all know what happened last year; we want that taste out of our mouths,” he said. “We’re going to go up against a great opponent in Florida State that hit a high note at the end of the season. So it’s going to be a dog fight. But it’s the first one. It should be a top-ten matchup. So, all eyes are gonna be on us.

“It’s very critical. We’re gonna play tough games down the stretch… Last year, we lost game one, and we had aspirations to go to the playoffs. So it’s kind of hard; you play a lot of close games. Once you lose that second game, it’s kind of hard to get back into that contention for a playoff spot at the end of the year. So winning game one is always very critical, especially for the things we want to accomplish.”

Both these teams could be ranked in the top 10 by the time this game gets underway, and it could have a lot of CFP implications come November.

The Tigers will hope to start the season on a high note and get revenge for last year’s game against the Seminoles.

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Alabama catcher Jaxson West transferring to Florida State

Alabama catcher Jaxson West announced that he is transferring to Florida State on Thursday via Twitter. West spent one season with the Crimson Tide.

Alabama catcher Jaxson West announced that he was transferring to Florida State on Thursday via his Twitter account.

West spent one season with the Crimson Tide. Coming out of high school, he was regarded as the No. 4 catcher and No. 34 overall prospect in the state by Perfect Game USA.

During his freshman season, West appeared in 20 games while making four starts. He finished the season with a .185 batting average with one home run and five runs batted in.

With Alabama hiring Rob Vaughn as its next head coach, West decided to explore his options in the transfer portal. Now, he will be transferring to his hometown to play for the Seminoles.

Historically, Florida State has a track record for developing some of the top talents in the country and is commonly known for having championship-caliber teams. Since 2000, the Seminoles have won seven conference titles.

After finishing with a 23-31 record last season, the ‘Noles are bringing in a big-time bat for next season with West jumping on board. West’s decision to transfer should not hurt Alabama all that much. The Tide will return both Mac Guscette and Dominic Tamez next season. The two were the top two catchers on the depth chart.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the Alabama baseball program and its involvement in the transfer portal.

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2023 Oklahoma Sooners a top 15 team per Pro Football Focus

Pro Football Focus has the Sooners ranked just ahead of their bowl opponent, the Florida State Seminoles heading into the 2023 season.

Oh, the smell of the college football season is in the air. We are counting down the days until the season kicks off. We are now 71 days away from the Oklahoma Sooners season opener.

One thing that fuels the anticipation for the season is preseason polls.

Pro Football Focus (subscription required) believes the Oklahoma Sooners are one of the best 15 teams in the country heading into 2023. They have the Sooners coming in at No. 13, just ahead of their bowl opponent, the Florida State Seminoles.

Brent Venables’ first season as Oklahoma’s head coach couldn’t have gone much worse, as the Sooners endured their first losing season this century. Still, there’s reason for optimism in 2023. Five of their seven losses were decided by one possession while four of them were by three points. Dillon Gabriel is back at quarterback and second among FBS signal-callers in 2022 with a 1.1% turnover-worthy play rate. – Max Chadwick PFF

Chadwick hit the nail on the head. While 2022 was disastrous, there’s plenty of optimism for 2023.

Familiarity with the schemes, especially defensively, will provide the biggest reason for a jump in performance from the Sooners.

Defense is so much about reacting. If you aren’t confident in the call or in your keys, it creates hesitancy.

A hesitant defense gets shredded, as we saw last season. Oklahoma being more comfortable in the scheme should eliminate that hesitancy, hopefully leading to a defense that plays fast and makes plays. There should be a pretty decent jump on the defensive side of the ball with more familiarity, but also with an improved defensive roster.

Offensively, they were pretty good last season but have to clean some things up on third and fourth down and in the red zone.

The pass catchers lack experience, and there isn’t a bonafide go-to player. That much has been well publicized, but the run game and the offensive line could actually be better. Again, the players being more comfortable in Jeff Lebby’s offense should help.

Returning players having more familiarity will allow them to better integrate the transfer portal acquisitions and 2023 recruiting class, creating better depth across the board.

All in all, there should be great expectations for the Sooners this season. Not national title chances, but double-digit wins and an appearance in the conference title game are very much attainable.

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5 Oklahoma Sooners earn NCAA All-Tournament team selections

Five Oklahoma Sooners selected to NCAA All-Tournament team after clinching national championship.

After an incredible run during the NCAA tournament, five Oklahoma Sooners were named to the All-Tournament team.

The tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag], is joined by battery mate [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], second basemen [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] and outfielders [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] and [autotag]Rylie Boone.[/autotag]

Only four teams were represented on the All-Tournament team, with the Sooners’ five leading the way. Florida State had three selections: Kathryn Sandercock, Kaley Mudge and Michaela Edenfield. Tennessee was represented by Kiki Milloy and Zaida Puni, and Stanford was represented by NiJaree Canady and Taylor Gindlesperger.

Here’s a look at what Oklahoma’s selections did during the NCAA tournament to earn their all-tournament team honors.

Team effort highlights Oklahoma’s national championship win

Oklahoma’s depth has been a key factor to its success in 2023 and it was on full display in their national title win over Florida State.

In Oklahoma’s magical run in 2023, the Sooners reset the standard for excellence in college softball. Their 61-1 record made them the winningest team in history after extending the game’s best all-time winning streak to 53 games.

On the final night of the season, in the game that clinched the Sooners’ third consecutive national title, Oklahoma’s deep roster powered the Sooners.

Alex Storako gave Oklahoma four strong innings before giving way to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Jordy Bahl. Storako allowed three hits and one run in the start. Though the home run put the Sooners behind in the game, she limited the damage when in danger with the help of some excellent defense behind her.

The Michigan transfer had been a huge key to Oklahoma’s success early in the season when Bahl was going through a bit of a sophomore slump. And on the grandest stage, Storako had a fantastic performance to keep Oklahoma in the game long enough for the bats to take off.

In the Sooners’ next at-bat, back-to-back home runs from Cydney Sanders and Grace Lyons put Oklahoma up, 2-1, in the game. That was the ninth home run of the season for both players. Sanders and Lyons each had more than 20 home runs in 2022, but this year the long ball was more difficult to come by. When it mattered most, the two power hitters powered Oklahoma to a lead and, ultimately a national title.

And that’s what has been special about this team. Despite Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings going hitless, the Sooners’ lineup is full of players that can hurt the opposition with one swing of the bat.

Their depth was the difference all season long. As Oklahoma dealt with injuries in the early part of the season or with early season struggles, the depth helped keep them afloat. And as the season wore on, it came through in critical moments, as it did on Thursday night.

In the wake of making their trip to the championship series, the Sooners celebrated with chants of “we too deep.” In their sweep of Florida State for the national title, they put that depth on display.

Best photos from the Sooners’ national title win

Twitter reacts to Oklahoma’s win over Florida State and 3rd straight national championship

Twitter reacts to Oklahoma’s win over Florida State to complete the national championship three-peat.

The Oklahoma Sooners are the back-to-back-to-back national champions. Oklahoma clinched its third straight national title, sixth in the last decade and seventh overall with a 3-1 win over Florida State on Thursday night.

It was another in a long line of incredibly clutch performances for what is being deemed the greatest softball team in the history of the sport. With their 61-1 record, the Sooners are the winningest team in the sport’s history. They finished the season on a 53-game winning streak and became the first program to score 500 runs in three straight seasons.

Their ace, Jordy Bahl, went 4-0 in the Women’s College World Series, and didn’t allow a run in the effort. She threw two shutouts, including in Game 1, and had two relief appearances of at least three innings that led to Sooners wins. For her effort, she was named the Most Outstanding Player.

The national title win was the culmination of a season filled with pressure-packed moments and incredible comebacks during their dominant run.

These Oklahoma Sooners somehow found a way to raise the bar yet again for the college softball world. They found a way to still amaze a fan base that has been in awe for years at what Patty Gasso’s program is capable of.

And in the win that clinched their third straight national title, the Sooners received a strong performance from Alex Storako, an incredible defensive play from Jayda Coleman, back-to-back home runs from Cydney Sanders and Grace Lyons and another dominant performance from ace Jordy Bahl.

From the first pitch to the final out, Twitter was buzzing, but it reached a fever pitch when Oklahoma clinched their third straight national title.