Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
No Notre Dame players.
We would like to wish you and your a Happy New Year. We continue to explore new ways to make this site a wonderful place to visit, and we can’t wait to share them with you. The fact that you keep coming back here motivates us to do better.
Here are the ACC’s major statistical leaders as we begin 2024:
Badgers snag another linebacker
The Badgers football team has been busy in the transfer portal over the last couple weeks and they added another player to their 2024 roster Thursday, gaining the commitment of former North Carolina linebacker Sebastian Cheeks.
Cheeks was a player that Wisconsin had their eyes on in the class of 2022 and he’ll now ultimately end up in Madison. The linebacker recorded just one tackle this season, appearing in one contest with the Tar Heels, but he’ll likely be an impact player with the Badgers.
He’ll join Luke Fickell’s squad with three seasons of eligibility remaining and Cheeks will join Leon Lowery (Syracuse) and John Pius (William&Mary) as the third linebacker to transfer to Wisconsin since the portal opened.
MADTOWN!!❤️👐🏽 pic.twitter.com/RrGmcJTRuF
— sebastian cheeks (@SebastianCheeks) December 28, 2023
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No Notre Dame players.
First of all, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas. We appreciate everyone who comes to our site to read our content because we wouldn’t be here without your support. Whatever reason you have to come to this site, we hope you continue to do so for a long time to come.
Now that the holiday greetings are out of the way, let’s take a look at the ACC’s major statistical category leaders:
No Notre Dame players.
The ACC season has reached the middle of December. Time is running out for players to get their numbers up before conference play really begins. If they don’t do it now, it might be more difficult for them to do so. Here are those who have answered the call though:
Howell is close with Drake Maye and the pair talk regularly with Howell often giving his former teammate advice.
Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell is winding down his first season as a starter in the NFL. This season has been full of ups and downs for Howell, who has shown glimpses of greatness but also had issues with turnovers and sacks, too.
Many of Howell’s issues can be chalked up to growing pains. But has he done enough to be considered Washington’s quarterback of the future? The Commanders are 4-9 and will be favored to lose each of their final four games. And while Washington’s current regime believes in Howell, the Commanders are expected to make wholesale changes after the season.
So, while Howell may be back in 2024 competing for the starting quarterback, Washington will have a top-five pick, putting the Commanders in position to select one of the 2024 NFL draft’s top passers. That list is headlined by Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels.
Maye is someone Howell knows quite well. The pair were teammates at North Carolina in 2021, Howell’s final season in Chapel Hill before declaring for the NFL draft. Now, Maye is considered an elite NFL prospect who will likely land somewhere among the top five picks in the upcoming draft.
The pair talk regularly, and Howell is excited to see Maye heading to the NFL. Maye announced this week that he was forgoing his final season of college and declared for the 2024 draft.
“I talk to Drake pretty much every day,” Howell said when asked about his relationship with Maye.
“He’s one of my really good friends, just super excited for him. What a great career, and it’s been so much fun to watch him and just knowing who he is, the type of person he is, and how hard he’s worked to get to where he is; it’s so much fun to watch. Obviously, super excited for him to be in the NFL, and he definitely deserves it. He has a good head on his shoulders and a lot of really good people around him that will help lead him in the right direction. I try to be there for him anytime he needs something. It’s getting ready to get busy for him with the training and everything, so I’m excited for him. He’ll handle it well, and he’ll come to the NFL and light it up, for sure.”
Washington’s new GM may not be ready to commit to Howell beyond 2024. The new general manager could take advantage of the Commanders’ draft position in April and select a quarterback.
What if that quarterback is Maye?
A potential future draft target for the Patriots declared for the NFL on Monday.
North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye has officially decided to forego playing in Duke’s Mayo Bowl against West Virginia and declare for the 2024 NFL draft.
Maye made the announcement on his social media on Monday.
“Tar Heel Nation, the best fans out there,” Maye posted. “You have made my time at UNC truly special, thank ya’ll. I have decided to forego the bowl game and declare for the NFL Draft. Forever and always, Go Heels!”
Maye has been projected by many to likely be one of the top-three picks of the draft, along with USC quarterback Caleb Williams and Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
— Drake Maye (@DrakeMaye2) December 11, 2023
There’s a chance the New England Patriots end up with one of the top-three picks, and they’ll be in the market for a quarterback. If the season ended today, they would pick No. 2 overall behind the Chicago Bears, who own the Carolina Panthers’ first-round draft pick.
Maye has the prototypical size with a rocket for an arm to make all of the big throws. He’s the sort of generational talent that could wipe away the current offensive nightmare and set the Patriots up for success for years to come.
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No Notre Dame players.
ACC teams are about to get to the middle of December. Full-time conference play isn’t here yet, but it’s creeping closer. Now is the time for all teams to get their mistakes out of the way before the games really start to count. For now though, here are the players atop the major statistical leaderboards:
Thanks to Golfweek’s Best rankings, we break out the top public-access courses around Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Looking to play one of the top golf regions in the world, with great courses stacked alongside great courses? Look no further than Pinehurst, North Carolina.
From classic dream layouts to modern works of art, there are a dozen courses within a half-hour’s drive of Pinehurst that rank among the top 20 public-access courses in North Carolina.
For this exercise, we used Google Maps and punched in each course as of a Saturday morning to determine drive times. And included with this list is a general map of where to find all these courses. Each one on the list below is represented with a number on the map – keep scrolling to see the numbers.
And keep in mind, the numbers represent how the courses are ranked, and it can become a bit confusing as the courses at the famed Pinehurst Resort are named numerically. For example, Pinehurst No. 2 ranks No. 1 on this list, and it appears accordingly as No. 1 on the map.
Included with each course is its position in North Carolina on the Golfweek’s Best public-access list. For any course that appears on our other popular rankings lists, those positions are included as well.
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A little background: The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.
The courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or casino, by staying at an affiliated hotel or purchasing a golf vacation package. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required, although Pinewild Country Club is a special case on this list with an editor’s note below.
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No Notre Dame players.
All ACC teams got a taste of what conference play will look like during the past week. We also started to see some more stability atop the statistical leaderboards as the criteria for making them tightened a bit. That means the numbers we’re seeing are a bit more honest. Here’s who we have atop those leaderboards right now;
Social media reacts to Dalton Knecht’s historic performance at North Carolina.
No. 16 North Carolina (6-1) defeated No. 11 Tennessee (4-3), 100-92, in the ACC/SEC Challenge at Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Dalton Knecht scored 37 points for the Vols.
He tied a record for most points ever by a visitor in North Carolina’s Dean E. Smith Center.
Knecht tied La Salle’s Lionel Simmons visiting scoring record at the Dean E. Smith Center, set on Jan. 9, 1988.
He left the game during the second-half after suffering an ankle injury.
Following the Tennessee-North Carolina game in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge, Vols Wire looks at social media reaction for Knecht’s performance. Social media reaction is listed below.
