Culture
For Diana Taurasi, one last Olympic hurrah to cap a one-of-a-kind career
PARIS — Van Chancellor knew he wanted Diana Taurasi on the 2004 Olympic team in Athens. She was young, skilled, confident, brash. He expected she would be a centerpiece of American basketball in the years to come, but he also knew that she would still be able to contribute on the squad of superstars that had been selected for his team — “Dream On” members who had helped re-center the world of women’s basketball by retaking the gold in 1996 in Atlanta.
On Taurasi’s first day with Team USA that year, just the morning after she had helped UConn to a national title over Tennessee, she sat down on the bus next to Chancellor and asked him a very straightforward question: What do you need out of me, Coach?
“I need for you to act like a rookie,” he told her.
“Coach Chancellor,” she said, “if that’s all you need, I’m ready to roll. I’m ready to help this team.”
That was Diana 20 years ago. It was her four days ago, too, when after 33 consecutive Olympic starts for Team USA, coach Cheryl Reeve moved her to the bench in their quarterfinal game against Nigeria in favor of 26-year-old Jackie Young, the second-youngest player on the roster. When the team broke the huddle, Taurasi bounded back to the bench as if it were where the ball would be tipped. She sat down, rubbed her hands together and locked in.
What did the team need from her in that game? To do exactly that. Be the best leader and teammate, to pass the torch a bit and light everyone else’s fires on the way.
On Sunday, Taurasi will play in her final Olympic basketball game. It’s hard to imagine a USA Basketball world in which Taurasi doesn’t play a part. Of the 60-consecutive wins the program has had, she has been a part of 43.
“She has defined USA Basketball,” Reeve said. “I don’t know that there’s a greater competitor. … Dee is Mount Rushmore in that way.”
“She has defined USA Basketball,” USA coach Cheryl Reeve says of Diana Taurasi. “I don’t know that there’s a greater competitor.” (Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto / Getty Images)
After the team won gold in 2021 in Tokyo, Taurasi, then 39, surprised everyone when she stared into the NBC camera and ended her postgame interview by yelling, “See you in Paris!” before she walked off. Sue Bird, who had been in on the interview, too, looked back at the camera with a laugh and remarked, “She said what she said.”
While many assumed the statement was in jest, she did not. She said what she said. And then, she did it. She came to Paris and led this team. First from the starting lineup, and then from the end of the bench.
Against Nigeria, she didn’t enter the game in the first half, and instead was the first to jump out of her seat with good plays from her teammates and coached people up when they came to the bench.
After the semifinal win over Australia, Reeve said that when this is all over, she could speak more truthfully about the burden of carrying the legacy of eight straight gold medals and the expectations of this program. She hasn’t slept much and instead has toiled in the film room imagining all the ways basketball could be unfair to one of the greatest rosters ever assembled. She said she received a message from Dawn Staley, who coached the team in Tokyo to its seventh consecutive gold medal, that read: “There’s nothing I can say to you. I know what you’re feeling. You just have to go through it.”
What do you need out of me, Coach? You can imagine Taurasi saying.
To take a benching, as competitive Taurasi is, in a way speaks to the unselfish nature of this team. To be as steady as possible in a world where Reeve must feel like Atlas at every corner. To be someone who Reeve doesn’t have to worry about when she looks down the bench. Because they have Dee. She has seen everything. Nothing rattles her.
OK, would be Taurasi’s response, if that’s all you need, I’m ready to roll. I’m ready to help this team.
In her sixth and final Olympics (that part is fact — she quipped to reporters in London ahead of the Olympics that they would see her in Los Angeles … “on the beach with a beer”), her inclusion in this roster has been argued by keyboard jockeys who couldn’t name three players on the team.
But as she was in 2004, she is in 2024 — she’s here to help this team. It looks different now than it did a decade ago, two decades ago, but it’s the same Diana. Still, at 42, she leads the guards and wings through every drill. She’s the first to stand up and clap from the bench. First to high-five teammates. First to pull players into the huddle, and first in those huddles to speak.
Diana Taurasi has embraced the mentor’s role on this U.S. team, coming off the bench in each of the Americans’ last two games. (Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
If that sounds cliché and unimportant, then perhaps it’s because the pressure this team exists underneath is entirely its own. Other teams don’t need a Dee because other teams don’t operate in this unique space of perfection.
Perhaps there’s no better endorsement of Taurasi than the fact that the two best players in the world — A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart — cede their space, their speaking time, their ability to “be first” to someone else.
“The biggest thing that I love about DT is that she does not change,” Wilson said. “She is always so consistent in what she does — that is a sign of greatness.”
Taurasi’s greatness has been on display through these Games. In moments big and small. In how she has handled herself. In her graciousness in understanding her role, and how it has changed. In how she has remained constant in who she is not just in these six games, but in her last 43.
“Think about that — two decades not two Olympics,” said Geno Auriemma, former U.S. national team coach and Taurasi’s college coach at UConn. “The commitment and passion, the love of the game — all these in and of itself would be monumental. But add in that for two decades she was the face of the team, the best player, best teammate and the greatest winner in the history of the game.”
With that commitment and that time has come age. For several years now, Taurasi has made efforts to take care of her body in a different, more focused, way — went vegan, did lengthier pre- and post-practice stretching and treatment regimens longer than the practice itself. She has sacrificed to continue to play, to continue to be here for not just herself but her teammates.
On Sunday, Taurasi will put on her No. 12 USA jersey one final time in an Olympic setting. No athlete has done what she has done before, and it’s hard to imagine it happening again. Nearly half of her life has been spent representing the U.S. on an international stage. But before Taurasi came around, it was hard to imagine 60-straight wins or eight-straight gold medals. Now, Team USA is on the precipice of just that.
Her legacy is cemented, and has been, but in these final Games for her, she has shown what’s possible to both her teammates and the next generation of players. Stewart calls her the “gold standard” of USA Basketball, and she’s just that. And not just because she already has five gold medals to her name.
Every Olympic coach she has had has asked her to do something different for her team — be a rookie, be a scorer, be an elite passer, be a leader, be a veteran, come off the bench, use your voice more than your passing skills. In short: Be Dee.
“I’m here to compete. I’m here to play at a high level. I’m here to give to my teammates and I’m here to win a gold medal — that’s it,” Taurasi said when she arrived in Paris. “I don’t care about the last 20 years. I’m worried about the next 20 years.”
The next 20 years of Team USA are in good hands. Taurasi has made sure of it. Just ask Young. Or Wilson. Or Kahleah Copper. Or Sabrina Ionescu.
And four years from now, when this group is going for a gold medal in Los Angeles, she’ll hopefully be on a beach somewhere, drinking a cold one. She has more than earned it.
GO DEEPER
Can the rest of the world catch up to Team USA? Our women’s basketball experts debate.
(Top photo of Diana Taurasi during Friday’s semifinal game against Australia: Daniela Porcelli / Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Images)
PARIS — India Sardjoe is 18, with a mouth full of braces, and is on the hunt.
“I really like exchanging pins in the Olympic village,” she said Friday, after taking part in the inaugural Olympic breaking competition at La Concorde. Known in the breaking game as B-Girl India, the 2022 world champion had been one of the favorites coming into the competition but finished just off the medal stand, losing the bronze medal match to China’s B-Girl 671, aka, Liu Qingyi.
In the end, Japan’s B-Girl Ami, aka Ami Yuasa, defeated Lithuania’s B-Girl Nicka (Dominika Banevič) for the gold medal.
“I just, I didn’t nearly focus on medals, actually,” Ami said. “For the final, I just wanted to show my … everything. And I think I did that, yeah.”
A large, enthusiastic and occasionally curious crowd, which featured Snoop Dogg in the afternoon session and IOC president Thomas Bach in the evening one, helped break in breaking, a new sport here but which will not be part of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. There was intrigue in the afternoon when Afghanistan’s Manizha Talash, in her qualifying match against India, unveiled a cape under her jumper that read “Free Afghan Women.” Manash, who was a member of the Refugee Olympic Team, a 37-member contingent of displaced athletes from around the world, was officially disqualified from her match, but had already lost it on points before she displayed her cape.
The debate about whether breaking is walking away from its past, steeped in Black American culture through the dancing of young Black teenagers in the Bronx in the early 1970s, quickly followed by Latino kids in the city, will go on. But for those who pushed for breaking’s inclusion in the Games, after a decade or so of lobbying and building the form through breaking leagues around the world, Friday was a big moment.
Most importantly: Folks were watching on TV. Some, intently. Of course, it was not universally loved. But, what is these days?
Issues like appropriation and erasure of the original culture of breaking should be amplified and heard. But it was hard not to be impressed by the amazing international flavor of the inaugural event here, reflecting the different viewpoints and histories of the estimated 30 million breakers worldwide.
B-Girl Ami (Japan’s Ami Yuasa) on Friday won gold in the inaugural Olympic breaking competition. “I just wanted to show my … everything,” she said. (Elsa / Getty Images)
The evening was noisy and raucous, with a stage for the DJs and the judges set up like a boombox, an homage to the old days.
The MCs Friday, Malik and Max, hailed from France, and Portugal, respectively. The DJs were American (DJ Fleg) and Polish (DJ Plash One). The music they played ran the gamut: “Heart ‘n Soul,” by Booker T. Averheart; “Family Affair,” by MFSB; “Blow Your Whistle,” by D.C.’s go-go legends Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers; “Mu Africa,” by The Rift Valley Brothers; “Boom!,” by The Roots.
The final eight women hailed from France, Japan (B-Girl Ami and B-Girl Ayumi), China (B-Girl 671 and B-Girl Ying Zi), Ukraine (B-Girl Kate), France (B-Girl Syssy), the Netherlands (B-Girl India) and Lithuania (B-Girl Nicka). The two U.S. breakers in the field, B-Girl Sunny (Sunny Choi) and B-Girl Logistx (Logan Edra) were eliminated before the quarterfinals. U.S. breaker B-Boy Victor (Victor Montalvo) is among the favorites on the men’s side to medal at the men’s competition Saturday.
“Honestly, I didn’t really get to process everything yet,” said Kate, full name Kateryna Pavlenko, who lost in the quarters. “But I can’t believe it’s over. I was waiting for this day for a long time. Now it’s done, for me. It feels great. I think everybody did a great job, and I think (the) representation of breaking was super-high level from the b-girls. I’m very happy I ended up in the top eight — best b-girls in the world, let me say.”
The athletic ability of so many of the breakers was astounding, as they top rocked and down rocked. B-Girl Ami, who didn’t appear to have a fixed spine, dominated France’s B-Girl Syssy in the opening quarterfinal, 3-0, then squeaked out a 2-1 semifinal over India. B-Girl 671 seemed to change directions, somehow, while balanced on her head. Nicka didn’t spin as much as she floated along the ground. Nicka beat 671 in the semifinals, 2-1; 671 beat India for the bronze.
Someone asked 671 afterward if the tears in her eyes were because she was happy at winning bronze, or because she lost a chance at winning gold.
“Both,” she said. “The first Olympics I go to, the medal, first, I’m happy. But also, the battle turned out a bit (badly). But I will still keep going.”
From left, B-Girl Nicka (silver), B-Girl Ami (gold) and B-Girl 671 (bronze) show off their medals from the inaugural Olympic breaking competition. (Elsa / Getty Images)
B-Girl Kate moved to Los Angeles just before the Russian invasion into Ukraine in 2022. Her family remains there. So it is even more imperative to her to use breaking to send a message of hope and possibility to her people back home.
“It’s very important, because I was born there,” she said Friday. “It shaped me as a person. It made me who I am. Because of Ukraine, I thought it might be not fair to represent any other country. I’m Ukrainian. I was born and raised there. I left early. For me, I know a lot of b-boys and b-girls are watching me, and I give them a little bit of hope to represent, somebody they can look up to. And for me, it’s the highest reward ever. … If I can inspire or touch somebody from Ukraine with my dance, I’m happy.”
There will likely never be a happy marriage between the old and new schools of breaking. Maybe a marriage of convenience is the best that can be done. The desire to monetize and showcase breaking on bigger platforms in the United States will likely make keeping it solely under the watch and influence of the originators of the art form impossible. But many among the new generation of breaking, and breakers, understand that attention must be paid to the originators and innovators that created the dance, and on whose shoulders they stand.
“It’s a huge responsibility to represent and raise the bar, every time, for breaking,” Nicka said Friday. “Because they did an amazing job. Big respect for the OGs and the pioneers that invented all those moves. Without them, it wouldn’t be possible. I’m grateful for them.”
GO DEEPER
A Ukrainian breaker’s journey to the Paris Olympics
(Top photo of B-Girl Ami during Friday’s breaking competition at the Olympics: Elsa / Getty Images)
NEW YORK — Nearly 3,000 miles away, Jack Flaherty will make his second start for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. After reviewing his medical records, the New York Yankees backed out of a preliminary trade agreement for Flaherty with the Detroit Tigers.
When asked after the trade deadline, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman did not specifically comment on Flaherty’s medicals, stating only that he could not match the ask of what the Tigers wanted.
“At the end of the day, I would’ve brought Jack Flaherty in if I could’ve matched up,” Cashman said. “I had difficulty matching up, and that was the reason I don’t have him.”
An argument could be made that trading for Flaherty, who has the seventh-best ERA in MLB, would have been worth the risk for the Yankees. It’s impossible to make direct comparisons between what the Dodgers traded and what the Yankees might have offered after they backed off their agreement, but let’s do so for analysis purposes.
The Dodgers traded catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo, an offensive-minded prospect in A ball, and Trey Sweeney, a former Yankees infield prospect. Roderick Arias and Jorbit Vivas seem like the safest equivalents. Arias has struggled this season with the Low-A Tampa Tarpons, carrying a 32.4 percent strikeout rate, but he could develop into a strong major leaguer in a few years if he reaches his potential. Vivas might be on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster in 2025 as the starting second baseman.
The American League is wide open this year. Getting a top-of-the-rotation starter in Flaherty could have cemented the Yankees as the overwhelming favorite heading into October. Instead, the Yankees’ starting rotation is filled with question marks. Since June 1, only the Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies have a worse starting pitching ERA. After Nestor Cortes’ Thursday night dud in which he gave up six runs to the Los Angeles Angels, the Yankees’ starters have combined for a 5.48 ERA since June 1.
How you doin’? 😉#RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/u5eovtRZlf
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) August 8, 2024
Yankees manager Aaron Boone says he’s unconcerned with how poorly his rotation has pitched in the last two months.
“Our guys are more than capable,” Boone said. “More help is on the way with guys coming back from injury. We have everything we need.”
Even with the Yankees removing themselves from the Flaherty sweepstakes, not adding another starter feels like a miss. Cortes has allowed 24 runs over his last five starts, the most for any pitcher since July 11. Marcus Stroman’s 6.32 is the fourth-worst ERA since June 1. Carlos Rodón’s 5.83 ERA is the 11th worst since the start of June. That doesn’t even get into Luis Gil’s career-high workload coming off Tommy John surgery and Gerrit Cole, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, not looking sharp just yet.
But outside of Flaherty, there weren’t many appealing starting pitchers traded. The Houston Astros overpaid for Yusei Kikuchi, the second-best starter who got moved. James Paxton, Frankie Montas, Martín Pérez, Michael Lorenzen, Erick Fedde and Zach Eflin were other notable starters traded, but each profiles as a depth option rather than an impactful acquisition.
Once the Yankees didn’t get Flaherty, it made sense for them to not pursue any of the second-tier options because Clarke Schmidt, who was pitching like one of MLB’s best starters before his lat injury, could be back in the rotation by the end of the month. Schmidt threw his first live batting practice Tuesday and is expected to throw another Saturday. If that goes well, the Yankees could send him on a rehab assignment beginning next week. If everyone stays healthy from now until Schmidt’s return, the Yankees may have to make a decision on whom he should replace in the rotation. Cortes and Stroman are the two likeliest candidates to get bounced.
“I don’t feel like Nestor is that far off,” Boone said. “It just comes down to finishing off execution. Stro, we have to get rolling a little bit.
“We have the guys to go out there. It’s just getting a few guys going and getting to that next level of execution.”
4 of the 20 worst starting pitcher ERAs in MLB since June 1 (min. 40 IP) are by Yankee pitchers: Stroman, Rodon, Cortes, Cole.
No other team has more than 2 pitchers in that group. https://t.co/j3Aoq9MCSU
— Katie Sharp (@SharpStats17) August 9, 2024
Stroman had his start date pushed back from Thursday to Sunday as he works on his mechanics, which he felt were out of sync in his last outing. Stroman said Thursday afternoon that he believes he’s “figured some things out,” but he wouldn’t specify what he may have tweaked. Stroman has a career-worst walk percentage, strikeout percentage and ground-ball percentage. Since Stuff+ and Location+ debuted in 2021, Stroman is running career lows in both categories, too.
With how they’ve performed lately, it’s possible both Stroman and Cortes could find themselves out of the Yankees’ playoff rotation. Their best four starters right now are Cole, Rodón, Gil and Schmidt, if he bounces back fine from his lat injury. The Yankees could use Cortes out of the bullpen as another left-hander because the only other lefty option is ground-ball specialist Tim Hill. But thinking about the playoff starting rotation configuration seems like a moot point if Cole can’t return to being a legitimate ace.
“Anytime we give the ball to Gerrit, we expect good things,” Boone said. “He’s spoiled us with that.”
The Yankees need Cole to return to the form he showed in 2023, or at least come close to it. If he can’t be that pitcher this season, the starting rotation won’t be strong enough to carry them through October. That’s why taking a risk on Flaherty, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, would have felt worthwhile in a year with high stakes, especially with Juan Soto in pinstripes for only one guaranteed season.
(Photo of Nestor Cortes handing the ball to manager Aaron Boone after getting pulled Thursday: Wendell Cruz / USA Today)
College football’s postseason enters a new era in 2024 with the arrival of the 12-team College Football Playoff, featuring automatic bids for the five top-ranked conference champions plus seven at-large selections. The bracket intrigue will only build throughout the fall, but one thing’s for sure: More teams will have a realistic shot to play for a national title than ever before.
But how many more? It’s assumed many of the nation’s elite programs will play their way into the top 12 most years, but the expanded field leaves room for a number of surprises, especially in the first year of a new system. Below, The Athletic’s college football writers make their picks for this season’s most enticing sleeper College Football Playoff teams. Programs ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll and voted atop their league’s preseason media poll were excluded from consideration.
This might be the Hokies’ best team since Frank Beamer retired. Tech found something in quarterback Kyron Drones and won five of its last seven games, including a bowl, to close out 2023. Drones threw for 17 touchdowns with just three picks and ran for 818 yards last season, igniting a long-dormant offense. Defensive lineman Antwaun Powell-Ryland (14.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks) and a loaded secondary return on the unit in which head coach Brent Pry specializes. The Hokies rank top-five nationally in returning roster production, per ESPN’s Bill Connelly. Maybe there’s room for a slow-cooked sleeper to sneak into the 12-team field. — Kyle Tucker
The Cyclones return nine starters on both offense and defense, including breakout quarterback Rocco Becht, his top four receivers, the defense’s top five tacklers and leading rusher Abu Sama. Iowa State beat Oklahoma State and Kansas State last year and wraps up this season with a trip to Utah and at home against K-State. — Scott Dochterman
Jeff Brohm led the Cardinals to a 10-win season and an ACC championship game appearance in his first year at the helm, and he has some key pieces in place for what should be a sound defense, including end Ashton Gillotte. Can Texas Tech transfer quarterback Tyler Shough thrive in Brohm’s system? There will be ample opportunity to rise up the rankings with games against Notre Dame, Clemson and Miami. — Jesse Temple
Believe in the second-year leap. Louisville returns 15 players with at least five starts in 2023 and bolstered that group with a robust transfer portal class. The schedule is also favorable: Louisville only plays two of the top eight teams in the ACC preseason poll (Clemson and Miami), and the road trip to South Bend is a prime opportunity to beef up the playoff resume. —Kennington Smith III
Are we not talking and writing enough about the Mountaineers? Quarterback Garrett Greene has a shot to contend for the Heisman. Neal Brown’s team has a chance to upset Penn State and make an immediate statement in Week 1. West Virginia has seven home games, which could help tip the scales with plenty of showcase opportunities as Penn State, Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Baylor and UCF all travel to Morgantown. — Audrey Snyder
The Bobcats came in atop the West Division in the Sun Belt preseason poll but still finished behind East-leading Appalachian State in the overall vote, qualifying them as a G5 sleeper. G.J. Kinne’s first team went 8-5, including a season-opening road win over Baylor, and Kinne dipped into the transfer portal this offseason for quarterback Jordan McCloud, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year for James Madison. The schedule sets up favorably, too: The Bobcats have winnable yet respectable nonconference games at home against Arizona State and UTSA, plus a Sun Belt slate that avoids the East Division’s top five teams based on the preseason poll. — Justin Williams
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UCF
The Knights were the only Big 12 newcomer last season to reach a bowl game, and head coach Gus Malzahn drastically upgraded his roster through the transfer portal, adding 27 new players with 327 college starts between them. Quarterback K.J. Jefferson comes over from Arkansas to lead the offense, which features two 1,400-yard rushers from a year ago in RJ Harvey and Peny Boone (Toledo transfer). They’ll score plenty. — Manny Navarro
UNLV
What in the name of Randall Cunningham? (Or Stacey Augmon?) Actually, it’s in the name of Barry Odom, who was a very good defensive coordinator at Missouri and less of a good head coach there but has found his level out west. UNLV was picked second in the Mountain West, and the only big question is how it will replace quarterback Jayden Maiava, who transferred to USC (after first committing to Georgia). That matter does need to be resolved quickly because three early nonconference games will be pivotal to any CFP hopes: at Houston, at Kansas, home against Syracuse. It’ll be tough, but UNLV making the first expanded CFP would be a great story. — Seth Emerson
If the Rebels can figure out how to replace Maiava, they are going to be dangerous. The Rebels reached the Mountain West championship game in Odom’s first season, and his team has a ton of talent surrounding the quarterback. But we all know how important quarterbacks are in college football. — Daniel Shirley
Call me crazy, but I believe in the Scarlet Knights this year. Greg Schiano has done a great job recruiting in the program’s backyard and returns a ton of talent from a team that actually led Ohio State at halftime last season. They’ll have a new quarterback in Minnesota transfer Athan Kaliakmanis, and running back Kyle Monangai is one of the best running backs the country doesn’t talk enough about. The schedule breaks right for contention, too: The Scarlet Knights don’t play Penn State, Oregon, Ohio State, Iowa or Michigan this year. — Cameron Teague Robinson
You want to get nuts? Let’s get nuts. The parameters for this exercise basically require a team to be in a high-leverage situation where one or two unexpected twists and turns upends all assumptions. I give you the Badgers, who get Alabama at home in mid-September — the first time since 1971 that an SEC team will play at Camp Randall Stadium. The place will be bonkers, and the Crimson Tide will be coached by someone other than Nick Saban. Then there’s USC on the road two weeks later. Not insurmountable! And finally, Oregon, at home, in mid-November, when the climate could be very unfriendly to those unfamiliar with late fall in the Midwest. Even if the Badgers lose one or two of these games, that’s no longer fatal in a 12-team playoff. And Tyler Van Dyke at quarterback is, himself, a high-leverage wild card. — Brian Hamilton
The Bulls took a huge leap forward in Alex Golesh’s first season as head coach, going from 1-11 to 7-6 with a 45-0 bowl win against Syracuse. With star quarterback Byrum Brown back and a defense that can only get better, keep an eye on Tampa. The nonconference schedule is tough with Alabama and Miami, but the conference schedule could be favorable, with USF set to play four of the bottom five teams in the AAC preseason poll, plus conference frontrunner Memphis at home. If the Bulls can get through the first five games at 3-2, watch out for a late run. — Chris Vannini
SMU
The ACC race feels like a bit of a wild card, so why not pick the conference newcomer to make waves in Year 1? Last year’s Mustangs ranked No. 8 in the FBS in scoring offense en route to an 11-3 record and an AAC championship. Quarterback Preston Stone returns after throwing for 3,197 yards (26th in the FBS) and 28 touchdowns (11th) with a 161.3 passing efficiency rating (13th) as a redshirt sophomore. Of course, the Mustangs were beat out by undefeated Liberty for last year’s G5 New Year’s Six bid, so there’s an added chip on their shoulders against the committee. — Jayna Bardahl
I’m a big believer in new coach Jon Sumrall after his time at Troy, where he inherited a program that won a combined 15 games in the previous three seasons and went 23-4 in his two years there with back-to-back Sun Belt titles. Sumrall brought both of his coordinators with him to Tulane and did a solid job of adding portal talent to an already athletic Green Wave roster. The schedule offers opportunities to impress the committee with a home game against Kansas State and a road trip to Oklahoma. And Memphis, the AAC preseason favorite, must travel to New Orleans in the regular season finale. — Sam Khan Jr.
The Sun Belt contenders could cannibalize themselves as Playoff hopefuls, and Liberty’s strength of schedule likely won’t be all that impressive. That leaves room for someone else to break through and earn the G5’s guaranteed spot in the 12-team playoff. After a reset year that featured nine wins (two over Power 5 schools), the Bulldogs bring back quarterback Mikey Keene and have the schedule that could set up for a nice run even with the retirement of head coach Jeff Tedford this summer. — Antonio Morales
(Top illustration photos: Chris Jones, Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)
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