Tag: opener

How to watch LSU baseball’s SEC Tournament opener against the Kentucky Wildcats

LSU is set to begin its postseason on Thursday afternoon, weather permitting.

The Tigers had a first-round bye at the SEC Tournament in Hoover this week thanks to a sweep in the final regular-season series that secured a No. 4 seed.

They’re probably very grateful for that, as there have been upsets aplenty through the first couple of days of single-elimination competition in Hoover, Alabama. The bottom two seeds in the field won, including a Kentucky Wildcats squad that became the first No. 12 seed to win a game in the tournament with a 3-1 upset over five-seeded Auburn.

Now, No. 4-seeded LSU will open its postseason on Thursday against that same Wildcats team in the double-elimination portion of the tournament. When exactly that game will happen remains to be determined, as Mother Nature has thrown a wrench into the plans this week with quite a few rain delays.

First pitch will take place at approximately 1 p.m. CT, as things currently stand. It will be the second game of the day, coming 30 minutes after the conclusion of a matchup between No. 8 Vanderbilt and top-seeded Tennessee at 9:30 a.m. CT.

With a win over Kentucky, the Tigers would draw the victor of that one in the winner’s bracket. With a loss, they would face the loser in an elimination game.

A strong showing could pay dividends for coach Jay Johnson’s team, which remains in the race to host a regional at the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week.

Here’s everything you need to know to follow the beginning of LSU’s postseason journey.

Peter King predicts Chiefs play AFC West foe in Amazon ‘Thursday Night Football’ opener

Could the #Chiefs play in Amazon’s opening Thursday Night Football game in Week 2? Peter King thinks so and names 2 AFC West foes as potential opponents.

Amazon is set to take over “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts in 2022 and the NFL is planning for the Week 2 debut to hit the ground running with a premier matchup.

In Peter King’s latest Football Morning in America column, he details that the NFL wants to make an impression on Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos in order to show their newest business partner that investing in “Thursday Night Football” was a worthwhile and profitable venture. It was quite an investment too, with reports of Amazon paying upwards of $1 billion per year to exclusively stream Thursday night games outside of local broadcast networks. They’ve also handed out some big contracts to broadcasters Kirk Herbstreit and Al Michaels.

It makes plenty of sense why the NFL would want a big game to kick off this new era of “Thursday Night Football.” According to King, they’re targeting the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes for one-half of the opening matchup. He also predicts that an AFC West team — either the Denver Broncos or Los Angeles Chargers —could be the opponent.

“Now for the Amazon opener. I’ve heard they want Kansas City and the Patrick Mahomes star power. Smart choice, if they can get it. As for the foe, I’m guessing Denver if the Broncos don’t make the opener, or the rejuvenated and explosive Chargers. Russell Wilson or Justin Herbert. Three times Herbert and Mahomes have faced off, and high-scoring tight games (margins of 3, 6 and 6) have resulted. Traditionally, the Week 2 Thursday-nighter has been a repository of mediocrity. This year, just watch: it will be an homage to Bezos.”

With how competitive everyone expects the AFC West to be this season, it’d certainly make sense for one of their games to be the Thursday night opener. I’d wager that a team like the Chargers would make a better opponent than the Broncos. In the early goings of the season, Denver will still be finding their footing with a new quarterback, roster and head coach. It’d be disappointing if they trotted the Broncos out there only for the Chiefs to complete their 14th consecutive victory against them. Meanwhile, Los Angeles and Kansas City have played much closer games in recent seasons as King notes.

We’ll surely find out more about this game as we inch closer to May, which is when the NFL is expected to release its 2022 schedule in its entirety.

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Seahawks QB Russell Wilson hoping to get reps against Denver

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is hoping to get reps Saturday night against Denver in the team’s preseason home opener.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson sat out the team’s preseason opener in Las Vegas as did most of the starting offense but he’s hoping things are different this Saturday at Lumen Field.

Like he does every game day, Wilson went through the pregame warmups and his mental reps against the Raiders – even though he ultimately ended up watching from the sidelines with his headset on.

“Throughout the game I’m always playing a game as if I’m out there,” Wilson told reporters Wednesday. “Physically not being out there is one thing but to mentally get the reps is the most important thing to be honest with you. To be there and have the crowd there in Vegas and all that and to hear it all, and feel it all, and get your emotions going. I think to prepare your mind to win; to prepare your mind to play is such a critical part of it all, that’s the best part of it.”

The Seahawks are set to square off against the Broncos at home on Saturday night and although Wilson will go through his same pre-game routine, there is no confirmation yet on whether or not he will take the field with his teammates.

“I’m always hoping to play,” Wilson said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s coach’s decision. I’m always ready to play, and obviously being in front of the 12s is always great so we’ll see what happens.”

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WATCH: Gators CB Marco Wilson Talks Season Opener, 2020 Expectations

Redshirt junior cornerback Marco Wilson, one of the veteran leaders on defense, talked about the matchup with the Rebels to the media.

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Florida’s 2019 offense, which featured the program’s most successful air attack in nearly 20 years, received a lot of praise during its 11-2 campaign last season. But the true anchor of the team was its ferocious pass rush and swarming secondary, which made life difficult for SEC quarterbacks not named Joe Burrow.

That defensive unit faces a challenge in UF’s 2020 opener against Ole Miss, who has the ability to put up points despite coming off a 4-8 season that resulted in the firing of coach Matt Luke.

Redshirt junior cornerback Marco Wilson, one of the veteran leaders on defense, talked about the matchup with the Rebels to the media.

“I’m excited,” he said. “The season got delayed, so it’s been a lot of practice against our own team, so we’re just excited to go against somebody else and start competing.”

Asked about his goals for the upcoming season, Wilson said he wants to lock down his fundamentals while having a greater impact on the game. He had 36 total tackles and three interceptions a year ago after coming back from a season-ending knee injury early in the 2018 season.

“Make sure I’m touching the ball every game, and just make sure my coverage is on point. I want to get more interceptions than I got last year, and that’s pretty much it. I just want to win.”

If Florida’s going to start off in the win column, it has to be prepared for not just one Mississippi passer, but two.

Coach Lane Kiffin is yet to announce a starter between sophomores John Rhys Plumlee and Matt Corral (a one-time Florida commit). Both quarterbacks split time fairly evenly last season, but Plumlee was much more productive in the ground game, rushing for over 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Both could see the field on Saturday, and Wilson said the defense is prepared to contain the dual-threat attack Plumlee could pose.

“We’ve just got to make sure we contain him,” Wilson said. “We’re aware that he’s a guy who can run, he’s a guy who’s fast, so we’ve got to make sure we keep an eye on that, don’t get lazy in our techniques up front, and make sure we hone in on that.”

Kickoff between the Gators and Rebels is set for noon on ESPN, and Wilson and the Florida defense will hope to spoil Kiffin’s debut in Oxford.

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Chiefs open as 9.5-point favorites over Texans in Week 1

The Kansas City Chiefs are big opening favorites to start the 2020 NFL season.

The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are favored to win their first game of the 2020 NFL season, which also happens to be the NFL’s season opener.

Following the NFL’s schedule reveal on Thursday evening, the folks over at BetMGM released their opening betting lines for the upcoming season. The Chiefs open their season at home in Week 1 against the Houston Texans in what will be their banner ceremony for Super Bowl LIV.

Kansas City is currently listed as 9.5-point favorites to open this matchup. The team was also 9.5-point favorites against the Texans in the divisional round of playoffs last season. The opening money line is set at -500 for the Chiefs and +375 for the Texans. The opening over/under point total hasn’t been set yet, but for reference, it was 55.5 points in Week 6 of 2019 and 48.5 points in the AFC divisional playoffs.

Houston every reason in the world to put their best foot forward against Kansas City in the season opener. They obviously have the motivation to get some revenge after blowing a 24-point lead against the Chiefs in the AFC divisional round in 2019. At the same time, there has been a lot of outside criticism of the offseason moves from acting general manager Bill O’Brien. Specifically, his trading away of one of the teams’ best players in WR DeAndre Hopkins for an oft-injured running back, a second-round draft pick and a future fourth-round pick. Defeating Kansas City at home on their banner night would certainly silence doubters for Houston, but right now confidence is at an all-time low.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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