Alabama
Alabama edges Ohio State football in ESPN’s preseason FPI ranking, but Buckeyes lead in playoff odds
COLUMBUS, Ohio — ESPN’s preseason Soccer Energy Index says Ohio State soccer and Alabama will play for the nationwide championship for the second time in three years.
The Crimson Tide topped the preseason rating with a rating of 28.9 — merely 0.6 factors forward of OSU. Defending nationwide champion Georgia is shut behind at 27.4, whereas FPI predicts Clemson (23.2) will even return to playoff type.
Nevertheless, the Buckeyes lead the contenders in a few of FPI’s predictive metrics. Ohio State’s 32.5% likelihood of going undefeated is one of the best within the nation. So is its general predicted win complete (11.8), its convention championship odds (73.6%) and its chance of constructing the playoff (82.3%).
FPI presently offers OSU a 50% likelihood to make the nationwide championship sport, with Alabama barely forward at 51.6%.
Amongst different FPI’s different notable preseason reads:
• Michigan will come again to earth a bit after its playoff run. The Wolverines are ranked seventh with 9.5 anticipated wins and a 9.9% likelihood of profitable the Huge Ten East.
• Wisconsin is the highest-ranked Huge Ten West group at No. 1. Nevertheless, No. 35 Nebraska is given barely increased odds to win the division and meet OSU within the Huge Ten championship sport (29.2-28.9).
• No. 6 Texas (21%) is the one group outdoors the highest 4 with a greater than 20% likelihood to succeed in the playoff. No. 5 Notre Dame (17.6%) is subsequent most-likely. The Combating Irish open the season at Ohio Stadium.
• Cincinnati, which reached the playoff final season underneath former OSU participant and coach Luke Fickell, is ranked No. 32, with solely an 0.4% likelihood of reaching the playoff.
Get the most recent Ohio State Buckeyes merchandise: Right here’s the place you’ll be able to order Ohio State soccer gear on-line, together with jerseys, T-shirts, hoodies, hats and way more.
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Alabama
Tony's takes: Alabama needs more from Mark Sears but maybe fewer shots
Nate Oats doesn’t mince words when it comes to Mark Sears. The head coach isn’t shy to criticize his point guard, or even bench him when the time calls for it.
Don’t take that the wrong way. Oats loves Sears. He needs him, too. That’s likely why he’s been so vocal about his star’s struggles lately.
If Alabama is going to make another Final Four run this season, Sears will once again need to be the one leading the way. The Crimson Tide has one of the deepest rosters in the nation, but none of its other guards can match the Muscle Shoals native’s ability to take over games.
And generally speaking, as Sears goes, so does the Tide. Just take a look at the numbers.
In Alabama’s four losses this season, Sears is averaging just 13.75 points per game while shooting a combined 14 of 54 (25.9%) from the floor and 5 of 32 (15.6%) from beyond the arc. In the Tide’s 21 wins, he’s averaging 20.3 points while shooting 42.6% from the floor and 39.1% from 3.
Saturday night was one of those bad outings, as Sears struggled during No. 2 Alabama’s 94-85 defeat to No. 1 Auburn on Saturday night. The graduate guard scored a team-high 18 points for the Tide but did so on an inefficient 4 of 17 clip, including a dismal 2 of 11 from deep.
He also recorded just two assists, often choosing to charge recklessly into the lane instead of looking for better options. That led to him going 2 of 6 on layup attempts. It also contributed to a poor shooting night for his teammates, who too often had to settle for contested shots as Alabama went 5 of 26 from beyond the arc.
After alluding to Alabama’s lack of distribution during the opening statement of his post-game press conference, Oats didn’t hold back when asked about Sears’ struggles in the lane.
“Not good,” Oats said. “He shot 4-for-17. Obviously, he’s a competitor. He wants to win at a high level. He’s been able to impact winning for most of his career by scoring the ball. We had him 2-for-6 at the rim, 2-for-11 from 3. Those are typically the efficient shots you get.”
“I thought maybe a couple of them – I thought he got fouled on one, but refs aren’t gonna be perfect, and we sure weren’t perfect as coaches or players. There’s probably some missed reads in there, I’ve got to go back and look at them. It wasn’t one of his better shooting nights.”
Oats isn’t worried about shooting percentages. The former math teacher knows the law of averages will even out and Sears will rediscover his hot hand sooner than later. Alabama’s problem is getting its star to adjust when he’s having an off night.
As Oats said, no one is perfect. Saturday won’t be the last time Sears and the Tide go cold from the floor this season. If Alabama wants to take home its first national title in a couple of months, chances are it will need to withstand a night like that during the six games it will take to cut down the nets in San Antonio.
When that inevitably happens, Oats and Alabama are going to need Sears to change his style.
“We’ve gotta be able to play hard even when shots aren’t going well,” Oats said. “I think that’s a sign of high-character guys. How hard do you play when shots aren’t dropping? Can you keep moving the ball? Maybe sometimes he needs to get 10 assists.”
Along with his 3-point touch, Sears’ ability to bowl past defenders while drawing fouls in the lane makes him deadly with the ball in his hand. But lately the 6-foot-1, 190-pound guard has been a bit too reliant on whistles going his way.
Sears’ tendency to run down blind alleys resulted in him turning the ball over a combined 19 times during a three-game stretch against Mississippi State, Georgia and Arkansas. He’s handled the ball better in his last two outings, committing three turnovers against Texas and just two during Saturday’s loss to Auburn.
However, as it did this past fall, Alabama needs its quarterback to do a better job of scanning his options before dropping his head and charging forward. And Sears has already proven he can be a capable pocket passer.
Sears leads Alabama and ranks third in the SEC averaging 4.9 assists per game. He’s also shown that his distribution skills can overcome poor shooting nights.
Sears tallied a career-high 11 assists against Oklahoma on a night where he shot just 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. He had seven assists at North Carolina when he shot 2 of 7 from deep and nine assists at Kentucky when he was 4 of 12 from 3. Alabama won each of those games, averaging 101 points across them.
Following its loss to Auburn, Alabama (20-4, 10-2) will finish out its regular-season schedule against six straight ranked opponents. Four of those sit inside Ken Pomeroy’s top 15 in terms of defensive efficiency, including to-ranked Tennessee (87.3 points allowed per 100 possessions), No. 6 Texas A&M (91.9), No. 9 Florida (93.5) and No. 14 Auburn (94.4.)
Alabama will need Sears to put on his cape if it wants to make it through that gauntlet run, but that might not always involve the Tide’s hero putting the ball in the net himself.
In the spirit of sharing, this is a good time to mention the Sunday Fun Days from our friends at Sessions Cocktails. Alabama fans might not be in the brightest spirits following Saturday’s IBOB loss, but that’s nothing an oversized espresso martini can’t fix.
If you’re still in Tuscaloosa and need a pick-me-up, grab a few friends and take on Session’s Espresso Mar-titan. The giant cocktail is just like a regular espresso martini but made for more people. Pass one around the table, but make sure to drown your sorrows responsibly.
Cheers!
(Commercial break: My drink of the week section is now sponsored by my friends at Session Cocktails in Tuscaloosa. Session has been a mainstay in Tuscaloosa’s cocktail scene since 2019 and offers some of the tastiest drinks in town. Stop by and tell them I said hi!)
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Alabama
Alabama given a No. 1 seed in initial NCAA Tournament top-16 reveal
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. – Alabama got a peak behind the curtain for what seed it could receive come NCAA Tournament time. The official tournament committee revealed the top 16 seeds as things currently stand during the college basketball season.
Alabama is in excellent shape ahead of its run of seven straight games against ranked opponents. In Saturday’s reveal, it received the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 seed overall. Alabama’s archrival, Auburn, received the No. 1 overall seed. The Tide and Tigers will face off as the No. 1 and No. 2 teams on Saturday afternoon.
The selection committee also gave Duke and Florida No. 1 seeds. The NCAA tournament will be officially selected four weeks from tomorrow on March 9.
Here are all of the 16 seeds from the tournament committee.
No. 1 seeds
1. Auburn (South region)
2. Alabama (Midwest region)
3. Duke (East region)
4. Florida (West region)
No. 2 seeds
5. Tennessee
6. Texas A&M
7. Purdue
8. Houston
No. 3 seeds
9. Iowa State
10. Kentucky
11. Wisconsin
12. Arizona
No. 4 seeds
13. Texas Tech
14. Michigan
15. Kansas
16. St John’s
This story will be updated
Alabama
Former Alabama high school standout ready for Major League comeback

Pitcher Kendall Graveman will attempt a Major League comeback with the Arizona Diamondbacks after missing the 2024 season.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and the former Benjamin Russell High School standout have reached agreement on a one-year, $1.35 million contract, MLB.com and ESPN reported on Friday.
Graveman had shoulder surgery in January 2024 that kept him from playing last season.
Graveman’s past 196 MLB appearances have come out of the bullpen.
The Diamondbacks’ saves leader in 2024, Paul Sewald with 16, left in free agency for the Cleveland Guardians last month. But he was removed from Arizona’s closer role in August.
Justin Martinez saved eight games from Aug. 5 through Sept. 3 and returns. The Diamondbacks also have former Miami Marlins closer A.J. Puk available in the bullpen.
In his most recent season, Graveman pitched in 45 games for the Chicago White Sox before being pitching in 23 games for the Houston Astros after being traded into the pennant race. He posted a 3.12 earned-run average (2.42 for Houston) in 66.1 innings. The right-hander went 5-6 with eight saves while striking out 66.
A four-year starter as a pitcher and shortstop at Benjamin Russell in Alexander City, Graveman went to Mississippi State after posting a 6-3 record with a 1.19 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 63 innings as a high school senior.
At Mississippi State, Graveman compiled a career record of 19-13 with a 3.69 ERA in 68 appearances before departing as an eighth-round choice of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2013 draft.
In his first full minor-league season, Graveman had a 14-6 record with a 1.83 ERA at four levels in the Toronto system before making his MLB debut as a September callup in 2014.
One of the four players traded by the Blue Jays to the Oakland Athletics on Nov. 28, 2014, for former Faith Academy and Auburn star Josh Donaldson, Graveman had a 23-29 record in 78 starts for Oakland before sustaining an arm injury.
Graveman had Tommy John surgery in 2018, and he didn’t play in a big-league game between May 11, 2018, and July 27, 2020.
In his comeback with the Seattle Mariners in 2020, Graveman made the transition to the bullpen after making two starts.
In his career, Graveman has a 37-43 record with a 3.95 ERA and 24 saves in 280 games. In 652 innings, Graveman has 494 strikeouts.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
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