Tag: usa today sports

Zach Goodall returns to Jacksonville as Jaguars Wire Managing Editor

Welcome letter: Zach Goodall returns to Jacksonville as Jaguars Wire Managing Editor.

Five years ago this week, I stepped away to try something new. It’s only fitting that NFL Draft week marks my return to the hometown beat.

My name is Zach Goodall, and I’m thrilled to announce that I have assumed the Managing Editor duties of Jaguars Wire, part of USA Today’s Sports Media Group’s Wire network.

I started my sports media journey covering the Jaguars part-time, beginning as a junior in high school from 2015 through April 2019. I worked my way up the ladder in Jacksonville, exclusively interviewing a free-agent signee and an assistant coach via my own connections before earning the team’s trust and receiving an offseason media credential after graduating.

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My final act was tipping the Jaguars’ entire 2019 draft class.

I’ve spent the past half-decade down I-10 and U.S. 301, in Gainesville, sharpening my skills as a beat reporter, on-air personality, and photographer and videographer while covering Florida football, recruiting and basketball full-time.

I also covered the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers during their Super Bowl LV run and the subsequent season with my previous outlet.

With a demand for quality stories and analysis, the collaboration with and advice of amazing journalists around me, and my formative years in this industry involving the professional-influenced evolution of college football, I believe my last stint prepared me to dedicate my coverage focus to an NFL team around the clock.

When such an opportunity arose with the NFL Wire network, in the city where I began my sports writing career, I jumped at it.

Given the Jaguars’ current status, with a franchise quarterback and crucial supporting pieces in place entering a pivotal campaign, the team’s 30th, the timing couldn’t have been better either.

At Jaguars Wire, you’ll find consistent and engaging content documenting every step of the way and beyond. Stories will be published daily by myself and, eventually, fellow contributors.

I’ll offer a full-time presence on the beat, with one press conference under my belt already and a short drive to Jacksonville scheduled for the upcoming NFL Draft.

Although this welcome story marks my official launch with Jaguars Wire, articles began to run last week. Find some of those works below.

2024 NFL Draft: Trent Baalke previews Jaguars’ first-round approach

Jaguars cap space entering the 2024 NFL Draft

Jaguars, QB Trevor Lawrence Begin Contract Extension Conversations

2024 NFL draft: Jaguars’ biggest positional needs

Jaguars NFL Draft prospect profiles: CB Terrion Arnold

Jaguars NFL Draft prospect profiles: WR Rome Odunze

Jaguars NFL Draft prospect profiles: CB Quinyon Mitchell

Jaguars NFL Draft prospect profiles: WR Malik Nabers

Jaguars NFL Draft prospect profiles: CB Kool-Aid McKinstry

Trevor Lawrence ‘expecting’ Press Taylor to call Jaguars plays in 2024

USA TODAY Sports ranks Ricky Pearsall among top 50 draftees

Pearsall’s stock has been rising meteorically of late as the NFL draft approaches.

The NFL draft is coming up and football fans are getting fired up for the apex of the sport’s spring season. Unfortunately for Florida Gators fans, there is not too much to be excited about but at least there is one former standout whose stock has been rising meteorically in recent weeks.

Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, a two-year Gainesville resident after transferring from the Arizona State Sun Devils two offseasons ago, had an impressive pair of campaigns with the Orange and Blue despite a lackluster quarterback room. Between his consistently superlative efforts and highlight-reel plays, the 6-foot-1-inch, 189-pound pass-catcher had put together a solid collegiate resume heading into the pros.

USA TODAY Sports’ Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz recently undertook the task of ranking the top 50 prospects in the 2024 NFL draft, with Pearsall landing at No. 47. He explains why the talented receiver made the cut.

“With his crisp routes, reliable hands and impressive body control, Pearsall should quickly endear himself to his future quarterback as a highly efficient slot weapon,” Middlehurst-Schwartz notes.

“Though he posted some explosive marks at the combine (4.41-second 40-yard dash, 42-inch vertical leap), he likely will be relegated to a short-to-intermediate target unless he proves he can consistently beat press coverage and create separation downfield.”

The 2024 NFL draft kicks off on Thursday, April 25, at 8 p.m. ET in Detroit, Michigan, at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza. It continues on Friday at 7 p.m. ET, concludes on Saturday starting at noon ET and will be broadcast on the NFL Network, ABC, ESPN and ESPN Deportes.

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Rutgers basketball makes the USA TODAY ‘Way-too-early’ top 25

USA TODAY has Rutgers basketball in the top 25 of their ‘Way-Too-Early’ rankings.

The hype for Rutgers basketball is legitimate and real.

Rutgers basketball is projected to be nationally ranked this season, with head coach Steve Pikiell’s vaunted recruiting class the reason for much of the hype.

Expectations are high around Rutgers basketball, especially with a special recruiting class expected to arrive this summer. Highlighting the class are a pair of five-star recruits in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.

The duo gives Rutgers a top-10 national class with three ESPN 100 commits.

This combined with a strong start to the transfer portal (Eastern Michigan guard [autotag]Tyson Acuff[/autotag] and Princeton forward [autotag]Zach Martini[/autotag]) and there is legitimate top-25 buzz around the Scarlet Knights.

On Monday, ESPN’s preseason rankings have Rutgers at No. 21 in the nation. The rankings from USA TODAY have Rutgers at No. 25 according to Paul Myberg.

In part, Myberg wrote about the impact of Bailey and Harper on Rutgers:

Harper and Bailey are the stars of a recruiting class that ranks in the top five nationally and will give Rutgers a huge influx of talent and athleticism.

Also part of the 2024 recruiting class for Rurtgers is four-star center[autotag] Lathan Somerville.[/autotag] and four-star forward Dylant Grant.

USA TODAY Sports projects Alabama as a team that could break their Final Four drought

USA TODAY Sports details why Alabama could break their Final Four drought

The Alabama Crimson Tide has never been to the Final Four of an NCAA Tournament. They’ve made nine sweet 16s and one elite eight, but have never been crowned as region champions. As the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 Tournament with the best player in the country [autotag]Brandon Miller[/autotag] running the show it seemed as if that was destined to change, but a Sweet 16 loss to San Diego State ended those hopes.

This year’s team enters the Tournament flying a bit more under the radar as a four seed. Alabama tips off their 2024 March Madness campaign today at 6:35 p.m. C.T. against the Charleston Cougars. Alabama did land a very fortunate draw in their bracket with a potential round two game against St. Mary’s and likely North Carolina in the Sweet 16, the lowest-ranked one seed.

USA TODAY Sports writer Dan Wolken thinks that Alabama is one of the top teams that can break their Final Four drought. Wolken says of the Alabama side, “Nate Oats has been sniffing around some deep tournament runs, but it’s going to be a real challenge with this group because of its defense. Ranking just 112th in the KenPom efficiency stats, Alabama needs its outside shooting to be elite every time it takes the floor to have a chance against quality teams. It’s not impossible, but it’s hard to do − and Alabama comes into this tournament having lost four of its last six games.”

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Duke slips down in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll before March Madness

The Blue Devils dropped in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after last week’s loss to NC State, but how far did they fall?

Duke basketball suffered in the eyes of coaches after the NC State upset loss in the ACC Tournament.

The Blue Devils dropped three spots down to 14th in the poll released on Sunday after the quarterfinal loss to the Wolfpack, even though the in-state foes went on to win the conference crown.

Duke now sits 24-8 on the year after back-to-back losses against UNC (who dropped one spot to fifth in the rankings) and NC State.

The Blue Devils dropped below Auburn, Illinois, and Baylor.

Connecticut, the defending national champion, retook the top spot in the rankings just as they did in the AP Poll released on Monday. The Huskies received all 32 first-place votes.

Houston, Purdue, and Iowa State took the next three spots in the ranking.

No other ACC teams appeared in the top 25, but NC State and Pittsburgh both received votes. The Panthers were one of the committee’s First Four Out.

Duke baseball barely stays within top 10 of USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

After a series loss to Clemson at home, the Blue Devils barely clung on to one of the top 10 spots in the USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll.

Duke baseball, now 15-5 so far this season, is still a top-10 team in the eyes of the nation’s coaches,

USA TODAY Sports released its updated NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll on Monday, and the Blue Devils only slid down to ninth despite a home series loss to Clemson over the weekend.

Duke defeated the Tigers on Friday, a 5-2 victory led by a great performance from ace Jonathan Santucci, but Clemson took the Saturday and Sunday games to steal the series in front of the Durham crowd.

The Tigers won the deciding Sunday game in 10 innings, hitting two home runs in the first extra frame after the game was knotted at four runs each after the bottom of the ninth.

Duke catcher Alex Stone was thrown out at home in the bottom of the ninth, the potential walk-off run, after he tried to make it all the way around on a double from teammate AJ Gracia.

Clemson jumped up to fifth, the highest ACC team in the rankings. Arkansas remained first, with Oregon State, Vanderbilt, and LSU rounding out the top four.

Five other ACC teams appeared in the top 25, led by Virginia at 11th and Florida State in 12th. Wake Forest (14th), North Carolina (17th), and Virginia Tech (23rd) also appeared.

Gators slip a seed in USA TODAY Sports bracketology ahead of postseason

The Gators lost a little ground in USAT’s bracketology but they are still very firmly on the Big Dance invitation list.

The college basketball regular season has officially come to a close and what a campaign it was for the Florida Gators. After a sluggish start, Todd Golden’s gang went perfect in December before hitting another roadblock at the start of the Southeastern Conference schedule.

Then midway through January, the Orange and Blue found another gear, winning 10 of its last 14 to wrap up the regular season; the one blemish was the final loss last weekend.

Following Saturday’s defeat at the Vanderbilt Commodores, USA TODAY Sports’s bracketology update dropped Florida down a spot to a No. 7 seed, moving from the East Region to the West. There, the Gators are matched up with the No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers to start things off, while the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 15 Sam Houston State Bearkats also join them in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Southeastern Conference is represented by the West Region’s top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, along with the Kentucky Wildcats (No. 3, Midwest), Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 4, Midwest), Auburn Tigers (No. 4, Eat), South Carolina Gamecocks (No. 5, South) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (No. 11 West).

Mississippi State is also one of the last four in while the Texas A&M Aggies are among the next four out.

Florida is a No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament, giving it a first-round bye and matching the Gators up with the winner of Game 2 on Thursday, March 14, inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Tipoff is slated for a late 9:30 p.m. ET start on the SEC Network.

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Florida switches regions in USA TODAY Sports bracketology update

The Gators switch regions but are still a No. 6 seed in USA TODAY Sports’ bracketology update.

Florida basketball continues its ascendence up the rankings and bracket watched as the regular season comes to a close. The Gators were mired in mediocrity back in mid-January, but a stretch of 10 wins in 13 tries has turned that around dramatically.

Following Tuesday night’s victory over the visiting Alabama Crimson Tide, USA TODAY Sports’s bracketology update kept Florida at a No. 6 seed, but this time moving from the Midwest Region to the West Region. There, the Gators are grouped with the No. 3 Baylor Bears, No. 11 Nebraska Cornhuskers and No. 14 High Point Purple Panthers.

The Southeastern Conference is represented by the West Region’s top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, along with Alabama (No. 4, South), the Kentucky Wildcats (No. 4, East), Auburn Tigers (No. 4, Midwest), South Carolina Gamecocks (No. 6, East) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (No. 10, South).

The Texas A&M Aggies are the final team in the “next four out” category.

Florida wraps up its regular-season schedule on Saturday, March 9, in Nashville as the Gators travel for a rematch with the Vanderbilt Commodores. Tipoff is slated for 4:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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Duke’s latest seeding and region in USA TODAY Sports Bracketology

With all eyes on Durham ahead of this weekend’s battle with North Carolina, here’s an idea of where Duke stands in the NCAA Tournament field according to this week’s USA TODAY Sports projections.

Duke never needs additional motivation to beat North Carolina, especially in Cameron Indoor Stadium in front of home fans. No Blue Devils can easily stomach even one loss to the Tar Heels in a season, much less two.

If you are looking for an additional layer, however, keep an eye on NCAA Tournament projections.

USA TODAY Sports released its latest full-field bracket projections earlier this week, and the Blue Devils are the No. 3 seed in the East region while UNC finished as the No. 2 in the South.

Both ACC powerhouses are top-10 teams by every national metric, meaning the Blue Devils can’t be far away from one of those second slots in a region. Perhaps they are close enough for one more big win and a share of the conference title to make the difference? Only one way to find out.

Duke occupies the East with No. 1 Connecticut and No. 2 Iowa State as the top seeds, and the Blue Devils would play High Point in the opening round. Depending on one of the First Four games, they would play South Carolina, Seton Hall, or Colorado in the second round if they get past the Panthers.

3 Tigers honored in USA TODAY Sports’ postseason SEC women’s basketball accolades

The Tigers were unsurprisingly heavily featured in the postseason superlatives.

USA TODAY Sports released its postseason SEC honors on Wednesday, and it should come as no surprise that LSU features heavily on the list.

The highlight is [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag], who was named SEC Player of the Year. She also won that award from the league itself, and she’s featured on the First Team All-SEC.

Joining her as a First-Teamer is [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag], and the DePaul transfer was also named the SEC Newcomer of the Year after a tremendous first season in Baton Rouge.

Finally, [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag] was named to the Second Team All-SEC after she continued to build on a tremendous true freshman season as a sophomore this year.

USA TODAY didn’t release any freshman honors, but [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag] was named the Freshman of the Year by the league, while [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag] joined her on the All-Freshman Team.

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