Theo Humphrey, a champion on and off the golf course

The Vanderbilt University Men's Golf team tees off tomorrow at 12:42 PM CT in the NCAA Championships along with 29 other teams, as we set our sights on taking it 2 steps farther than last year when we were victorious in the stroke play event and advanced all the way to  the Final Four at Rich Harvest Farms Golf Course 60 miles outside of Chicago. This year, our 4th ranked team tees it up with with No.5 seed Alabama and No.6 seed Florida tomorrow at 12:42 PM and Saturday at 7:22 AM CT.  

The NCAA Championship will hold 3 days of stroke play competition, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, 54 holes, and after 54 holes, the 30 team field will be cut to 15. The 15 teams will play a fourth day of stroke play on Monday and the top 8 teams after 72 holes will advance to the 8 team match play competition. The quarterfinals will commence on Tuesday morning, the semifinals will take place Tuesday afternoon, and the championship match will be held on Wednesday. Golf Channel will televise the final stroke play round from 3-7 PM CT on Monday, the quarterfinals Tuesday from 10 AM-12:30 PM, the semifinals Tuesday from 3-7 PM CT, and the championship match Wednesday from 3-7 PM CT.

We and the other 29 teams will play Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma, home to the No.1 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. Karsten Creek is a 7,416 yard, par 72 layout. Key holes are Numbers 15-18. Number 15 is a 215 yard, par 3, that is well bunkered around the green. The green is the largest and most severely sloped on the golf course, so putting will be tricky. The 16th is a 471 yard, par 4, that is a slight dogleg right with a sloping left to right fairway protected on the right by a large tree and a fairway bunker. The green is very large and surrounded by sand. The hole is a glimpse of 3 of the best finishing holes in golf according to the Tulsa World.

No.17 is a 471 yard, par 4 that is considered by many as the most challenging hole on the course. It's uphill off the tee into a prevailing wind. The tee shot must carry 180 yards to clear the lake. The fairway is extremely tight with large trees and dense undergrowth on either side. The approach is typically 200 yards and into the wind, which could very well be a factor. If the competitor hits it left, the ball will kick down into the lake. Tough hole. No. 18 is a 551 yard, par 5 that is downhill and normally downwind. It has a chance to give up quite a few birdies and maybe some eagles. However, the player's tee shot must carry 241 yards to clear the lake and the entire length of the hole is bordered by Lake Louise to the left. Big numbers could loom for risk takers. The green sets the stage for an electric finish to the championship round. 

The weather looks hot all weekend and into next week. Tomorrow 91, winds 9 to 15, chance of a t storm: Saturday, sunny, 94, wind 7-10; Sunday, sunny, 96, winds 8-12; Monday, sunny, 95, wind 10-15; Tuesday, sunny to partly cloudy, 95, 10-15 winds; Wednesday, Sunny, 97, winds 12-17. So the intense heat and the wind will be a factor for the last 5 days of the tournament.

Coach Scott Limbaugh will send senior Theo Humphrey, juniors Will Gordon and Patrick Martin, sophomore John Augenstein and redshirt freshman Mason Greenberg onto the course. The championship will take the top 4 scores each day to compute the winner in stroke play and the top 15 and ultimately top 8 finishers. 

Humphrey grew up and lived in New York City until he was 15, when his family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, where he spent his years in high school before coming to Vanderbilt to play. Theo has had a well decorated career and was named as the SEC Player of the Year this season. I spoke with Theo on Tuesday and here's what our talented senior had to see as his team prepares for the ultimate opportunity in college golf.

DW: How's life, how's golf going right now?

TH: It's going pretty well. Prepared and ready for the NCAA's in Oklahoma. Hope we can finish the season off the right way.

DW: I know you were selected SEC player of the year, what does that mean to you?

TH: It's a huge honor. A lot of great players have been able to win that. To be in that company and be rewarded for my good play this season is obviously exciting and something I'll always remember and be proud that I achieved.

DW: Tell me about growing up in Greenwich. That's an interesting place to grow up. And tell me about your family.

TH: My parents met in college at Fordham University in New York City and they're life long New Yorkers. I was born out in Chicago actually, my parents moved there for a brief period of time. I lived in New York City until I was 15 and then the last few years we've lived in the suburbs in Greenwich, Connecticut. I love the Northeast. It's been a great place to grow up and play golf. The weather is not as good as it is in the south but there are so many unbelievable golf courses to play on, so from that perspective it's been great.

DW: What courses do you like playing up there?

TH: My favorite course I've played is Winged Foot. I live about 10 minutes from there, and I have some friends who are members. I get to play there a good bit. My home course is Sleepy Hollow, it's a C.B. MacDonald course on the Hudson River and it's really nice and a lot fun to play. 

DW: What are your parents' names and what are they doing?

TH: Tom and Cynthia. My dad works in finance at a small investment bank called Guggenheim. My mom currently does not work, but she is a lawyer. 

DW: Tell me about your siblings.

TH: I have a 17 year old sister, Ava , who has one more year left in high school before college, and she's figuring out her college plans. She does horseback riding. I don't think she knows the answer if she will do Equestrian in college. She'll have to see how it all falls. 

DW: What schools is she looking at right now.

TH: She' ll be looking this summer and early fall.

DW: Theo, you had a heckuva summer making the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur, tell me about that experience.

TH: Last summer. I finished second at the Northeast Am, I finished second at the Players AM, and obviously making it to the semifinals of the U.S. Am was a really fun week. My dad caddied for me, which was a lot of fun. He's done it a couple of times before, but that was the first time on a big stage, so we had a lot of fun together.  It would have been nice to win one or two more matches, but I think everything kind of happens for a reason.

DW: Where was the event played?

TH: Riviera in LA. 

DW: Did you learn from that experience how to compete even better for your senior year?

TH: I don't know if I learned how to compete any better, but it definitely helped prove to me that I'm one of the best players in college golf and I can take confidence from that when I'm playing this year knowing I can beat those guys.

DW: Are you pleased with how your senior year has gone so far?

TH: Yes, I have. It's been a good year. There are a couple of shots here and there that I wish I could get back in a couple of final rounds. I've been playing some great golf and winning an event this spring was awesome. Being around guys who make me better has been awesome too.

DW: You won the Schenkel Invitational (in Georgia)? 

TH: That's correct.

DW: I know it's late in the season, but is there a part of your game you want to hone up before the NCAA's?

TH: I've been practicing my chipping this past week. It's normally the best part of my game, but at (NCAA) regionals it was pretty bad, so I'm trying to get back to knowing what I'm good at, and put in a little extra time and take confidence in that and it'll be better this week.

DW: Theo, golf is such a confidence game, so how do you maintain that confidence even if things aren't going as well?

TH: I think a couple bad tournaments here and there or a couple of bad rounds, it's easier to keep the confidence because you know the work has been really good. Having said that, going through bad stretches of golf, it's tough because you have to see some results after a while. Thankfully, I haven't gone through that in a while, I've been confident and that's allowed me to play some good golf.

DW: Tell me about this team. You have everybody back from a team that made the Final Four last year except Matthias (Schwab), a lot of veterans. Do you need to lead or with the experience with Will, Patrick, and John you don't need to lead as much? How do you feel about that?

TH: I think in terms of how to play the golf course and how to handle the moments, the pressure, I don't need to lead in that regard. Those guys have been there. We go about things differently but we all know what we're doing. But I think on the course leading by example, telling these guys the right things and kind of being somebody they can look up to because I am the only senior. And in the smaller things, being a leader is important. In terms of how to hit your 7 iron, where you need to hit it, I don't need to lead those guys there. They know what they're doing.

DW: Do you like being a senior in a leadership role?

TH: Yes, it's fun. I like being impactful on the other guys and help them out. Just kind of show them how to do it the right way. I love it.

DW: How is it playing for Coach Limbaugh?

TH:Limbaugh has meant a lot to me. He's taught me so much, not only as a player, but I've grown up so much as a person. I attribute everything to him. He's really pushed me a lot in all the best ways. He's someone I can trust. He's helped me take what I have and make me as good of a player as I can be, and he's really prepared me for professional golf.

DW: I know you're totally locked in this weekend, but what are your goals in golf, your future goals.

TH: I never have been a super goal oriented person. I've kind of always thought about one day, one week at a time and do the best at what I have that week. I've been told I do a lot of things well, and if I do what I can hopefully that'll be good enough, though I can't control what the other guys do.

DW: What are you going to get your degree in?

TH: Economics.

DW: What will you do with that after golf?

TH: I really don't know,. Golf is what I've always wanted to do, but at the same time I know the reality is it doesn't work out for everybody. I've always been a good student and tried my best at school. I know an Econ degree is pretty applicable, so I know I'll have some doors open if golf doesn't work out in a few years.

DW: What is your GPA now?

TH: 3.6.

DW: Tell me this, what do you know about Karsten Creek Golf Course?

TH: I know it's hard and it's a really, really good course. There is definitely a premium on driving the ball in the fairway. They've got some crooked holes and places where you can't find the ball, so playing from the fairway will make it a lot easier. I just know it's a good, fair test and I think it'll be a good golf course for us. Obviously I don't know that, but I feel like it's a pretty good setup. 

DW: Your freshman year you made the Elite 8, your sophomore year you made the Elite 8, and last year you made the Final Four. I know the competition is fierce every year, it's amazing what you guys have done. What do you think it'll take to win it all?

TH: I think with the way the format is with 4 rounds of stroke play and match play obviously you need to play good golf to make it into that final 8 and we've done that the last 3 years. In match play, things just have to go your way more than they have for us. Match play is a lot more volatile than stroke play. It doesn't always reward the best team or best player. With that said, I think we've got what it takes to make the match play and we can go from there.

DW: Is there a PGA player you look up to and like to emulate?

TH: Growing up I've always rooted for Phil Mickelson. I was at his first Masters win in 2004 and that's when I started rooting for him. But as far as emulating anybody, not really.

DW: What's your dream foursome?

TH: I think you gotta put Tiger Woods in that. Phil Mickelson as well. And Jack Nicklaus is arguably one of the best players ever, him or Tiger.

DW: You've played a lot of great courses. What are the top courses you've played and tell me why.

TH: I'd say for my favorite course, probably Augusta, that would be my favorite. I'd say Shinnecock where the U.S. Open is this summer. Winged Foot. Those are probably my top 3 that I've played.

DW: What is the hardest course you've played?

TH: When I played it, I would probably say Shinnecock because when I played it, it was so windy. All things being equal, I'd say Winged Foot is the hardest.

DW: Finally, Theo, what makes Augusta so special?

TH: Obviously you're going to be biased with all the history and all the good shots, but that aside, it's just the most beautiful golf course I've ever seen. It's fantastic. It's absolutely incredible. Everything is perfect. It's easier when you have an unlimited budget like they do, but still it's so impressive and so much fun to play.

DW: How fast are the greens there?

TH: They were pretty normal speed not too fast.

DW: How fast will these greens be at Karsten?

TH: They'll be 13, pretty fast.

Note: (Greens are measured by a stimpmeter which is a device that measures the speed of a putting green by applying a known force to a golf ball and measuring the distance traveled if feet. Anything over 10 1/2 is fast, and 13 is very fast, U.S. Open like).

DW: How excited are you for this weekend?

TH: I'm really excited. I've had a great four years here, and this is a great opportunity for me and an even greater opportunity for our team. So I can't wait to get there.

DW: How's your experience been at Vanderbilt? 

TH: It's been great. Academically it's been great. I've met a lot of people, friends I'll have for life and obviously the golf, it's been an unbelievable place to be a great player and hopefully that'll continue into my professional career. 

Prediction for Fort Worth Invitational

Defending champion: Kevin Kisner, -10. Outlasted Sean O'Hair, Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth by a shot.

Colonial Country Club, 7,209 yards, par 70, the 71st time this tournament has been played on this course. The Tour started playing there in 1946. Only Augusta National in 1934 has hosted a PGA tournament for a longer period of time. 

Last week, 21 year old South African born and former NCAA team champ at Oregon, Aaron Wise, shot 23 under to win the Byron Nelson on Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas. He defeated second place finisher Marc Leishman by 3 shots. Wise, the ultra-talented youngster, shot 65,63,68,65, in a superior display of golf. 

TV this week: Thursday-Friday, Golf Channel, 3-6 PM CT; Saturday-Sunday, Golf Channel, 12-1:45 PM CT, CBS 2-5 PM CT.

It's going to be hot in Fort Worth. 92 tomorrow, 95 Friday, 97 Saturday and Sunday. It'll be an endurance test, which favors the younger guys. 

Prediction

I'm going to take a 24 year old Texas college educated player, but it may not be the one you're thinking of. Believe in the way he's playing. He's knocking on the door of winning as regularly as you can on tour after emerging victorious at the John Deere Classic last July. I took him at the Players, and I'm going to take him again here.

I like the Clovis, California native by way of SMU to take home the hardware from Colonial.

Bryson DeChambeau

Remarkable season by the Women's Tennis team, Baseball falls but sets sights towards NCAA's; Price, Gray Buehler shine, Minor pitches well

Our phenomenal women's tennis team came up two games short of capturing another national championship. We won the doubles point over No.15 Stanford with victories by Astra Sharma/Fern Contreras and Emma Kurtz/ Emily Smith, but Stanford captured the first 2 singles point as the great Summer Dvorak fell for the first time in 8 matches, 3-6, 2-6. Emma Kurtz lost her match, 3-6, 3-6. But the great Sharma came back convincingly and won her No.1 singles match, 7-6, 6-3 to even things up at 2-2. Stanford took a 3-2 lead with Christina Rosca falling, 4-6, 2-6. We were down 3-2 and had lost the first sets of our final 2 chances with Fernanda losing her first set and Amanda losing hers'. But Amanda came back and was victorious, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a courageous effort, so it came down to Fern's match for the national championship. After falling, 4-6, in the first, Fern battled back and captured the second set 6-2. The third set was remarkable. Fern was down 4-5 and facing a match point at 40-40. When the game got to deuce, the next point decided the game and in this case, potentially the match. Fern fought off match point and captured the game to even the score at 5-5. As the great Geoff McDonald said afterwards to the press, "We were 5 points from winning the national championship." Fern was 40 all at 5-5 and fell on game point and lost 5-7 as the No.15 Cardinal captured the national championship.

But that doesn't even come close to taking away what these amazing young women accomplished this season. They were both regular season and SEC tournament champs, a remarkable feat. With the regular season down to the wire and us at 10-1, South Carolina at 10-1 and Florida at 10-1, we had to go to South Carolina and Florida for the final weekend. We defeated South Carolina, 4-2, and went to Florida with both teams at 11-1. Florida took a 3-1 lead in the match, in front of a very pro Gator fanbase, and was leading 4-1 in the final 3 singles matches. We came back and won all 3 matches. It was truly remarkable. Then we dominated the SEC Tournament defeating Florida, 4-0, to win the SEC tournament championship. We then defeated Alabama State, Clemson, Miami, Florida State and Georgia Tech to earn the right to play for it all. We came up just short but completed a 27-4 season with multiple accolades. Astra was named Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Tournament and Astra/Fern and Emma and Emily were named to the All Tournament team for doubles. The match ends the career of recent graduate Astra and Peyton Robinette, who both just earned their degrees. 

The great Astra will be moving on into the professional ranks, which is extremely exciting as she joins last year's standout senior Sydney Campbell as both try to navigate their ways to elite levels in professional women's tennis. I can't wait to keep up with both young women. We have an awesome group coming back.

Hats off to Coach Geoff McDonald, who has not only trained young women to be  phenomenal tennis players, but has also mentored phenomenal students with a team GPA of 3.6, and who are, to every single one of them, amazing young women. This team is the standard bearer for women's tennis nationally along with Stanford. Stanford owns multiple national championships, but we're on our way to capturing many more under the great McDonald.

One of my readers, MM Hamlett, put it best on Twitter yesterday.

What a run by the Vandy Women's Tennis team! The Championship match could not have been closer. I'm so proud of the #FightDores! We'll get them next time.

Amen, MM, amen. 

Vandy baseball falls to A&M, 3-1

Just couldn't get the bats going yesterday. We were just 2-for-16 (.125) with runners on base and 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Our defense was questionable at times, though we made some good plays. Our pitching was very good. Freshman Tyler Brown gave us 5 innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, with only 1 earned, 1 walk and 4 K's. Jackson Gillis pitched an inning and gave up 2 hits, but battled and didn't allow a run. Maddux Conger pitched 2 solid innings. Maddux looks like he could be a key guy for us in the NCAA's either out of the bullpen or as a fourth or fifth starter. he throws mid 90's and looks good with his control and his location. He went 2, gave up 2 hits, 1 earned, a bunt single that knocked in a run from third, with 0 walks and 2 K's. Chandler Day got the Aggies out 1-2-3 in the ninth. So I was very encouraged with our pitching. Our pitching staff is coming together. Some guys are shaping up for the NCAA's. I like the direction our staff is headed going into the postseason. Austin Martin kept up his awesome work this year, in every aspect of the game, with 3 hits. Julian Infante added 2 hits. Julian has started to get it going with the bat, which is huge with the tournament coming up. Julian plays an awesome first base as well.

So we're out of the SEC Tournament, but that's not a bad thing, really. It's actually a pretty good thing. It gives us a lot of time to get ready for the NCAA  Tournament, that is the most important tournament. We can figure out some things with the bats this week, keep solidifying our pitching and defense, and get mentally prepared for all important postseason play. This is what the guys have been dreaming about since day 1 back in October and it's about here. Know they're pumped.

The field will be announced this coming Monday, 5-28, at 11 AM CT on ESPNU. We've been projected by D1baseball.com as a No.2 seed. I think that will still stand on Selection Monday. With our strong finish, taking 6 of our last 7, that should be the case. Not totally positive, but we're in no matter what for the 13th consecutive year under the amazing guidance of Coach Tim Corbin. Some have us projected to the Raleigh, NC, NC State regional. Will let you know as soon as it's announced on Monday. 

We've got a new opportunity coming up, a new season, and the one that counts the most. We can excel this season, still. And the great news is we're playing a lot of super talented freshman who are laying the foundation for awesome things to come for this baseball program. So a lot to be excited about with the NCAA Tournament coming up and the amazingly bright future that is ahead for our program. We have a solid sophomore class led by superb right fielder JJ Bleday, and a solid junior class. Not sure how many guys will come back for their senior years, but hopefully quite a few. And we have the No.1 recruiting class coming in as freshmen next year. We may lose some in the draft, but we should have an outstanding group of freshmen for the 2018-19 season. Our 2019 class is also ranked No.1, and our 2020 class is No.2. So no slowing down Corbs and this program. Just ready to see how far we can go in this year. We can certainly go the distance. We are a pretty hot club right now despite the hiccup yesterday. A&M pitched well and had some timely hitting, but I do like where our team is at.

David Price, Sonny Gray, Walker Buehler, Mike MInor flourishing in Big Leagues

David was superb last Thursday in Fenway defeating the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2. David pitched a 9 inning, complete game. In 9 innings of work, DP allowed 5 hits, 2 runs, a 9th inning, 2 out, 2 run homer by Manny Machado, he walked 0 batters and struck out 8. He threw 95 pitches, 69 for strikes against 26 balls. Seventy four percent of his pitches were strikes. His accuracy was off the charts great. David hit 93, 94 most of the time and hit 95 a couple of times. His cutter, at 88-89, was stellar, and his changeup was clicking. All in all a spectacular performance by David. David moved to 4-4 and now has a 4,38 ERA. He's struggled a little bit and was on the DL for a little while before this start, but he looks back. Dennis Eckersley, the great commentator for the Red Sox New England Sports Network (NESN) broadcast team, called DP, "the most important player on this team." I agree. Chris Sale is a fantastic Number 1 guy, but David solidifies the rotation and is a leader in the clubhouse. This relatively young team will need David's leadership and stellar pitching to go the distance this season. David is certainly up to the task. Proud of DP.

Sonny was just as good for the Yankees Sunday in a 10-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on the road. Sonny pitched 8 innings, allowed just 4 hits, with 1 earned, 1 walk and 5 K's. He threw 92 pitches, 62 for strikes against 30 balls, a very good over 2:1 ratio. His fastball was hitting 93 consistently and got to 94 several times. His breaking ball was working perfectly, as well, His off speed stuff was clicking, too. Sonny moved to 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA. Sonny had been struggling this season, probably putting a lot of pressure on himself with this team picked by some to win the World Series with its amazing collection fo talent, but he just seemed calm, poised and highly confident on the mound, the Sonny Gray we're used to seeing. Hoping this is the start of something special for the man.

Walker Buehler pitched another gem for the Dodgers, but the team came up short, 2-1, to the Colorado Rockies on Monday Night. Walker went 7, gave up just 2 hits, 1 earned, a home run, walked 0 and struck out 6. Walker threw 90 pitches with 61 for strikes against 29 balls, another terrific 2:1 ratio of strikes to balls. His fastball was on fire. He hit 97 a couple of times and struck out a Rockies batter in the seventh on a 97 mile per hour heater. Walker was dealing. His change up was solid as well. Walker is ready for the prime time. The Dodgers, after a very slow start, are starting to find themselves having swept the Nationals at over the weekend at Washington and just won last night over the Rockies. So they'll get back in it in the NL West. They're only 4 1/2 back now, so they're in it. Walker is a key part of the Dodgers' resurgence. Walker is now 2-1 with a 2.38 ERA. He did not take the loss Monday Night.

Mike MInor pitched a  solid game against the Chicago White Sox Sunday. Mike pitched 5, gave up 6 hits, 3 earned, with 0 walks and 9 K's. His fastball was hitting 93-94, and his off speed stuff was outstanding. Mike and the Rangers took the loss, 3-0, but I was very encouraged with how our man pitched. Mike fell to 3-3 with a 5.59 ERA, but he pitched very well and it could very well be the start of some really good pitching out of MIke.

Men's Golf

Our Men's Golf team will be competing in the NCAA Championships starting this Friday. Huge deal for the team. Theo Humphrey, Will Gordon, Patrick Martin, John Augenstein and the team advanced to the Final Four last year, and look to take it 2 steps farther this year. The tournament will be played at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State will be hosting. There will be 30 teams competing, with the teams all playing 3 days of stroke play, and, after 54 holes, the field will be cut to the top 15 finishers in stroke play. On Monday, the 15 teams will compete in the final stroke play competition and the top 8 qualifying teams will earn their spots in the match play quarterfinals. The quarters and semis will be played next Tuesday and the Championship match will commence next Wednesday. We've got a very talented, hungry team and the best coach in America in Scott Limbaugh. As Coach Limbaugh always says, and it might be cliche but who cares, it's so accurate, it's not just one day at a time, but one shot at a time. That's how you become special. This team has a very good shot to do that. We'll be paired with Alabama and Florida for the first 2 rounds Friday and Saturday. Will keep you posted throughout the weekend. Golf Channel will televise the quarters, semis and championship match next Tuesday and Wednesday. Will let you know TV times if we get there. We have a very good chance of doing that. 

Dansby in the bottom of the ninth with the Braves trailing Marlins 9-8

Dansby

143rd Preakness Prediction

Justify is a 2:5 favorite and everybody already has this horse as better than American Pharoah. If he wins the Preakness today (5:38 PM CT post time, NBC) they might start saying he's better than Secretariat. Please.

With the overwhelming hype, I just can't pick this overwhelming favorite. I'll take the 3:1 thoroughbred that gave Justify a run for his money at the Derby.

Good Magic

I'll take trainer Chad Brown, jockey Jose Ortiz and Good Magic to capture the second leg of the Triple Crown

Drake Fellows, Philip Clarke, the whole team excels in 8-1 victory; women's tennis moves on to the Elite 8

Drake Fellows pitched a superb game last night in an 8-1 Commodores' victory over Kentucky before 3,018 partisans Hawkins Field.

We move to 29-24 on the season and 14-14 in the SEC. No.19 Kentucky dropped to 34-19 and 13-15 in conference.

Drake was on fire last night. In 7..1 innings, Drake gave up only 3 hits, 1 run, with 0 walks and 6 K's. He was spectacular. His fastball was hitting anywhere from 91-94 and his breaking stuff was dominating. Drake just dominated last night. Fellows moved to 6-4 on the season and now has a 3.80 ERA. Super work by our sophomore hurler.

Freshman DH Philip Clarke led the hit brigade going 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs including 2 doubles, Philip now has 15 on the season. Freshman left fielder Par DeMarco crushed a breaking ball over the Monster in left for a 2 run shot, Pat's 8th of the season. Junior shortstop Connor Kaiser was 2 for 4 with 2 Ribeyes and Stephen Scott was 2 for 5 with a Ribbie. Junior first baseman Julian Infante was 2 for 3 with a run scored. Great to see Julian hit the ball well. Would really like to see Julian get his bat going because that could really help us. He was such an awesome hitter last year, and it's been a struggle for him this year, but he could be snapping out of it at just the right time.

Chandler Day came on and closed out the game blanking the Wildcats giving up 1 hit, with 1 walk and 3 K's.

We pounded out 12 hits. If our pitching gets it going we're going to be a really stellar team and last night was a super start to the weekend. Defense was superb again. Connor Kaiser is like a Hoover Vacuum at short, nothing gets by him. He's just a stellar player for us this year and one of our key leaders.

Patrick Raby on the hill for us tonight versus a pitcher to be determined by Kentucky. 6:30 PM CT on SEC Network+. Really like the way we started off this series.

Number 2 Women's tennis defeats Miami (FL), 4-0

The Women's tennis team advanced to the Elite 8 in Winston-Salem N.C. with a dominating 4-0 victory over Miami yesterday. We will now face Florida State Saturday at 3 PM CT in the Elite Eight. The match will be streamed by vucommodores.com.

No. 11 Astra Sharma and Fernanda Contreras won their doubles match, 6-0, and Emma Kurtz and Emily Smith won in doubles, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point. Astra, No.11 in the country in singles, defeated the No.3 player in the country, 6-4,6-2. Christina Rosca, and Amanda Meyer also won their singles match to clinch it at 4-0.

The No.2 ranked Dores are now 26-3. Another big test on Saturday versus FSU., The Seminoles defeated Florida, 4-3, yesterday. So tremendous test for our women. But as always, they'll be ready.

Baseball knocks the cover off the ball against MTSU, huge series with the Cats, Men's golf advances, Women' tennis in Sweet 16

Vanderbilt baseball pounded out 15 hits and scored 21 times in a 21-4 victory over Middle Tennessee Tuesday Night at the Hawk. That sets up a tremendously important series starting tonight through Saturday against the 19th ranked Kentucky Wildcats.

We enter the Kentucky series at 28-24 and 13-14 in the SEC. Kentucky is 34-18 and also 13-14 in the conference. We are presently 9th in the conference and could climb as high as 3rd with a big weekend or as low as 12th if it doesn't go as well. So major stuff going on at home starting tonight at 6:30 on SEC Network+. Game 2 is Friday Night @ 6:30 on SEC Network+, and game 3 is Saturday at 1 PM also on SEC Network+. All of those 3 games can be streamed on your computer, Ipad or phone.

Tonight, right hander Drake Fellows takes the mound for us. The sophomore is 5-4 with a 4.06 ERA, and has pitched quite well quite a lot this season. Drake will face Kentucky right hander Sean Hjelle (7-4, 3.86). Tomorrow night, right hander Patrick Raby takes the hill for us. Rabes had a stellar start against Tennessee last Saturday and comes in with a 4-5 record and a 3.43 ERA. Rabes looks like he's back to his form from a year ago, which is super heading into this series and into the postseason which begins next Tuesday in Hoover, AL. at the SEC Tournament. Kentucky's pitcher for Friday is to be determined at this point. Right hander Mason Hickman takes the mound for us Saturday afternoon. Mason is 7-2 with a 4.53 ERA. Mason has struggled as of late, but his arm talent and his mental makeup are certainly there to turn it around and give us a good performance on Saturday and going forward. Mason will face UK left hander Zach Thompson, who is 2-0 with a 4.56 ERA.

It's so good to have J.J, Bleday back in right field. The sophomore was awesome in his return to the field last weekend against Tennessee after being out for 2 months with a oblique injury. J.J. not only crushed the ball all weekend, but he also threw out a runner at home on Saturday evening that kept the score 2-0, Tennessee early in the game. From there on, Rabes settled down and pitched masterfully in a 7-2 victory. We were victorious in game 1 last Friday Night, 7-6, but dropped Sunday's matchup 8-7.  Really hit the ball well all weekend and kept it up this past Tuesday.

J.J. is such a valuable player for our team and we really missed him when he was out Awesome to have him back. Stephen Scott has been spectacular at the plate. He was 3 for 5 against Middle Tennessee with a homer, his 10th of the season and 4th in 4 games, a double, and 5 Ribeyes. Stephen is a really valuable player for us as well. Freshman 3rd baseman Jayson Gonzalez was struggling with his bat after coming back from injury, which always throws a player's rhythm off, but was excellent at the plate Tuesday, going 3 for 6 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Bleday didn't have a hit but walked 5 times and scored twice. Again his presence in the lineup just makes us a much better team. Connor Kaiser was 2 for 2 with 2 Ribbies, 2 runs scored, 2 walks and a double. Connor is not only hitting it well at .281, but also his defense at shortstop is beyond spectacular. In 186 chances, Connor has committed only 1 error. Wow. We are fielding at a .982 percentage this season which is the top mark in program history as of today. The program record was set in 2015 at .979. Dansby and all those guys.  

So we have an opportunity to do some really outstanding things this weekend. Our pitching needs to be good as the Wildcats can always hit. Freshman Tyler Brown got the start against MTSU, and though he had a rocky third, Tyler's stuff was good and he's an asset to the staff and the team. Maddux Conger came in for the 4th and pitched 3 innings of 3 hit ball with 0 runs, 1 walk and 4 K's. Maddux and Tyler can bring it in the mid 90's, so we'll need their arms going forward. They both may be able to help us this weekend. Paxton Stover, Justin Wilson and A.J. Franklin pitched one inning apiece of shutout ball to close out the victory. Good to see the bullpen pitch so well. We'll need them to be good this weekend and in the postseason.

Will have full reports throughout the weekend on each game. Tonight is the first one, and a huge game for us. Gotta try and take care of business at home starting tonight. Hopefully they'll be a super crowd tonight at the Hawk.

Men's Golf advances again to NCAA Championships

Patrick Martin played tremendously well at the NCAA Regional in Kissimmee, Florida (Photo, AmateurGolf.com).

The No.2 ranked Vanderbilt men's golf team advanced to the NCAA Championships with 29 other teams in a field of 30 by shooting 11 under par yesterday and finishing 3rd with a score of 22 under in the Kissimmee Regional hosted by Central Florida. The top 5 teams in each of the 6 regionals advanced to the NCAA Championships at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The championships will be held May 25-30th, next Friday through the following Tuesday with the first three rounds the top 15 teams that advance after the first 54 holes. Those 15 teams will play a final 18 hole stroke play competition on Monday with the 8 top teams matriculating into the match play to determine the Final Four and eventual national champion. The quarterfinals and the semifinals will take place Tuesday, May 29th, and the championship match will be Wednesday, May 30th. We have reached the Final Four 2 years in a row and have a superb team that has a shot to do well in Stillwater, where Oklahoma State is the host. Oklahoma is the defending national champion and in the championships as well. Oklahoma State, also in the championships, is No.1 ranked team in the country and we are No.2.

Florida won the regional shooting a blazing -42. Central Florida was next at -30. I will say, both teams are very familiar with the course, so both had an advantage. We came back from a tie for fifth place to capture third when Johnny "Clutch" Augenstein sank a birdie putt on No.9, his 18th hole, to catapult us over North Carolina into third place. North Carolina and Kent State rounded out the top 5. Teams from the other regions qualifying for the NCAA Championships are, from the Raleigh Regional, in order, Texas, Duke, NC State, Augusta University and Arizona State; from the Columbus, Ohio Regional, Oklahoma State, Illinois, UNLV, Northwestern and Texas Tech; from the Norman, Oklahoma Regional, Oklahoma, Brigham Young, North Florida, Arkansas and Auburn advanced; from the Stockton, California Regional, Kansas, Stanford, Iowa State, Alabama and Oregon advanced; and from the Bryan, Texas Regional, Texas A&M, Clemson, Baylor, UCLA and Kentucky advanced. Braden Thornberry from Ole Miss, who won the NCAA individual national championship last year, will compete as the top single player from the other teams that didn't qualify to play in the Championships. Only one player makes it from that group and Thornberry is quite good. 

Sophomores Patrick Martin and Will Gordon were stellar yesterday. PMart shot a 5 under, 67 and Will shot a 4 under, 68. Theo Humphrey shot 1 under, 71, and Clutch shot 1 under, 71, so excellent, sharp performance by the team in a critical time with our championship hopes on the line. Confident in our ability to do well in the field of 30. Like Coach Scott Limbaugh always says, one day at a time, one round at a time. Very much looking forward to seeing the guys compete. Highly competitive NCAA Tournament with elite teams and players so there's a tremendous challenge in front of us. The quarters, semis and championship matches will all be televised by the Golf Channel Tuesday and Wednesday, May 29th and 30th.

Women's Tennis in Sweet 16 today

Our awesome women's team plays No. 16 Miami today. We are the No.1 overall seed in the tournament and No.2 in the country, while Miami is the 16th seeded team in the Sweet 16 at Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Miami has a tremendous track record though. This is Miami's 12th time in 13 years to reach the Sweet 16. Miami is 18-7 overall and finished 11-3 in the ACC. This is the Canes 23rd all time Sweet 16 appearance. We are 24-3 overall and won the SEC regular season and SEC Tournament titles for the second straight year finishing 12-1 in the conference and 13-0 at the Currey Tennis Center. Astra Sharma, Fernanda Contreras, Christina Rosca, Emma Kurtz, Amanda Meyer and Summer Dvorak have been spectacular this season and need to continue to be so today.

There will be a live stream of today's match on the vucommodores.com women's tennis page. Just go to the site and then the Vanderbilt Women's tennis schedule page and you can stream it.  The match begins at 3 PM CT.

Will have a lot more coverage coming up on VU Confidential. 

The Regions Tradition, LPGA, PGA tournaments this week

The Regions Tradition, the Champions Tour's first of 5 majors, enters its 8th year of existence and 30th year as the Tradition.

The tournament was played from 2011-2015 at Shoal Creek then was moved to Greystone Golf and Country Club in 2016. It will be played on Greystone's Founders Course. The course will play a lengthy 7,256 yards and is a par 72. Bernhard Langer is the 2 time defending champion at The Tradition at Greystone. He just won the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands Country Club in the Woodlands, Texas 2 weeks ago, so he'll be a tough one to defeat. Langer has the all time record for major wins with 10 having set that record last year when he was the victor at the Regions for major victory No.8 to match Jack Nicklaus, then added No.9 a week later at the KitchenAid Senior PGA and then No.10 at the Senior Open Championship later in the summer .

There are some other interesting contenders in a solid field. Tom Lehman, who won at Shoal Creek in 20111 and 2012 and is a 1996 Open Championship champion, should be a factor. Vijay Singh, who won 3 majors on the PGA Tour,  the 1998 and 2003 PGA Championships, and the 2000 Masters, is now competing on both tours, and could be a force in the upcoming future.  David Toms, who won the PGA Championship in 2001, is now competing on the Champions Tour. So some big guns who are squaring off with Langer for the Champions Tour's first major.

Key Holes

No.15, 609 yards, Par 5

A lengthy par 5 and a a 3 shot hole for the Champions' competitors. Accuracy is critical on the player's first 2 shots so he can get it close on his third shot and make a birdie. There is a creek running along the left side that comes into play on the second and third shots.

No.16, 443 yards, par 4

The tee shot needs to be well placed on the right central part of the fairway which will leave the competitor a mid iron to the green. The bunker in front of the green is a pretty certain bogey if the player hits it in there.

No.17 201 yards, Par 3

A really good downhill par 3. Club selection is important when the wind is blowing on this elevated tee though the wind looks like it'll be anywhere from 5-8 MPH, so not a tremendous factor. It's considered a hard green to read because of the slopes surrounding the green can make reading the direction of a putt tricky with hillier terrain affecting a putt. It's considered an easy par and a difficult birdie hole.

 No.18, 526 yards, Par 5

An excellent finishing hole that requires 3 well placed shots, or for the bigger hitters, maybe a shot at an eagle though this green is small and there is water on the left side of the green, so hitting the putting surface in 2 will be challenging. If a competitor needs to catch the leader on Sunday, he may give it a rip. A creek borders the fairway on the right off the tee. If a competitor is trying for birdie, he need to hit it close and below the hole because putts above the hole are very quick and tough to hole. The leader, if he's in the last group and up by 2 shots, may want to play for the middle of the green and 2 putt for par. Pretty small landing area this green.

Weather:

85-89 for the 4 days. Pretty hot on Sunday with a high of 89 and humid. Winds 5-8 MPH each day. Rain chances are 60% on Thursday and Friday, 20% on Saturday and 60% again on Sunday. But they've been threatening heavy rain all week and we haven't gotten much, so they should be fine.

TV (Central Time)

Thursday-Friday: Golf Channel, 11:30 AM-2:30 PM. Saturday, Sunday, GC, 2-4 PM.

Prediction

Langer is the obvious choice. He's a total stud and he played with Saban today, so he probably got a motivational talk. But I'm going to choose a different player. I'm going with a player who is new to the Champions, but is quite an established PGA Tour player. He finished tied for 23rd last week at the Players Championship shooting -9, which is only 1 shot less than Si Woo Kim won the 2017 Players at (-10). So I'm going to take the 51 year old from Edgerton, Wisconsin. 

Steve Stricker

Like Stricker to capture the 8th Regions Tradition (Photo, Madison.com

Winner at the Kingsmill Championship

Defending Champion, Lexi Thompson

River Course at Kingsmill Resort, Williamsburg, Virginia, 6,445 yards, par 71

TV: Thursday-Friday, Golf Channel, 9:30 AM-11:30 AM CT; Saturday-Sunday, Golf Channel, 4-6 PM CT.

With the women taking center stage in 2 weeks at Shoal Creek in Birmingham  in the U.S. Women's Open, a huge event for the city and the state, I'll predict this week's tournament. Will have a full rundown of the Open before the tournament starts that week. Will also go hole by hole with Shoal Creek head pro Eric Williamson later next week, and ask him what kind of player can win at this classic Jack Nicklaus course. This week at Kingsmill as the women gear up for the U.S. , I'll take the 20 year old Canadian, who just won the Lotte Championship in Hawaii last month. 

Brooke Henderson

Brooke tunes up for Shoal Creek and the  in 2 weeks with a victory in Virginia (Photo, UPI.com). 

 

AT&T Byron Nelson

Trinity Forest Golf Club, 7,380 yards, par 71. New course south of Dallas after TPC Four Seasons, on the north side of town,  hosted it for  several years. The defending champion at the Nelson is Billy Horschel. The Golf Channel will televise Thursday-Friday from 3-6 PM CT, and Saturday and Sunday from 12-1:45 PM CT, with CBS picking it up Saturday and Sunday from 2-5 PM CT.

Winner

I'm going to take the 37 year old from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia (Know that sounds redundant but that's how it's listed in Wiki). He finished tied for 11th at the Players last week shooting 69,68,72, 68,  -11, 7 shots back of Webb Simpson, who was blasting the field until the 18th where he doubled but still came away with a 4 shot victory. This player has won 4 times in Texas, at the 2007 Shell Houston, the 2008 Byron Nelson, the 2010 Valero Open in San Antonio, and at the then Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth in 2014. Colonial will host the tour next week at  the Fort Worth Invitational. The 37 year old has 13 PGA Tour titles and captured a Green Jacket in 2013. I'll go Down Under and take the Aussie.

Adam Scott

Taking Scott at the Byron Nelson (Photo, ABC).

Fernanda Contreras has remarkable person, tennis player down pat

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.

Booker T. Washington

The hashtag on the Vanderbilt Women's Tennis twitter account is #FIGHTDORES, and there are a major number of super welterweights on this phenomenal tennis team that swept through and won the SEC regular season, the SEC tournament and just finished winning their first 2 matches in the NCAA's last Friday and Saturday to qualify for another Sweet 16, the 18th in the program's history under Coach Geoff McDonald. No super welterweight punches any harder than the awesome Fernanda Contreras.

Fern is not only ultra talented, she's a different kind of player. She doesn't play the typical college game, the power baseline game. Instead, she favors the technician part of the game, the mental part. "When I play an opponent who doesn't hit a low ball well, I'll slice it to their knees and below, and if an opponent doesn't hit a ball above her shoulders well, I'll hit a higher, heavier ball," she says.

It's paid off for this amazing junior on the Number 2 team in the country that aims for a second national championship in 4 years, with the first coming in 2015. Fern is ranked number 10 in the country, and has posted a 15-4 record this season. But she doesn't dwell on her overall record, or how well she's done this season. To Fern, it's about the "process."

That may very well come from her grandfather and her parents. Her grandfather, Poncho Contreras, won the NCAA doubles championship at Southern Cal and made it to the semifinals of Wimbledon in the mixed doubles. He was the captain of the Mexican Davis Cup team. Fern lived in Austin, Texas from 6th grade on up , but her roots are in Mexico. Her dad, Javier, was a top 300 player in the world and played on the Mexican Davis Cup team. Her mother, Magda, is a computer science programmer, and highly supportive of her daughter.

"They're an amazing family," Coach McDonald said. "To give you an idea of what kind of family they are, I didn't know this till last season, her sophomore year."

McDonald says it's awesome to watch Fernanda, a Mechanical Engineer with a 3.4 GPA, approach tennis.

"She's just a vibrant, curious, loves to learn, loves to compete type person, McDonald says. "She's upbeat. She's been blessed with a great disposition and personality.

"She wants to be good. We started out today thinking we were only going to go 45 minutes and ended up on the court for 2 hours. She was asking 'what about this shot, what about working on this. How about this.' Those are the kinds of kids you love. They're just passionate about tennis. That's who she is."

Fern says when it came down to a college decision, it was down to three choices, Vanderbilt, Rice, and Yale. That probably tells you what kind of student and person she is. 

"My first visit was to Vanderbilt, then Yale, then Rice, " she said. "I wanted a school where there was a personal relationship with the professors, the tennis was good, and I liked the people on the team and at the university." 

When Fern took her visit to VU, she was waiting on Coach McDonald to pick her up and was reading The Fault in the Stars." Coach McDonald drove up and saw her reading and started talking about books to her.

"He reads 2 books a week, it's amazing, Fern says of her coach. "He was an English Literature major at Virginia and loves Hemingway. He talks all the time about Hemingway. He's an amazing guy."

Geoff also played number 1 on the UVA team and was an All ACC player. Pretty talented guy. And that commitment to excellence has reverberated throughout this team. Fern is one of the best example of that commitment to excellence.

"She'll keep working hard, she's an incredibly hard worker," McDonald said. "She can get to be a player who gets close to playing in the Grand Slams and can play in them."

She's also quite an engineer. Fern and her roommate had a project in an Engineering class in which they created a ball picker upper.

"We tried it out in our room picking up different things and it worked, she said. "I was super happy."

The great Fernanda Contreras and her teammates take their next step in the process, as they travel to Winston Salem, North Carolina Thursday for the NCAA Championships.  We are the overall Number 1 seed in the NCAA's and we play No. 16 Miami, FL Thursday at 3 PM CT. The match should be streamed on vucommodores.com

The future looks super exciting for Fern, but she's taking it one step at a time. That's her character. That's who she is. 

NBA, NHL semifinals and finals predictions

The NBA and the NHL are down to their Final Fours now. It's prime time in both sports. Here's a look of which teams I like to win their respective conference finals, and, in the NBA, which team will win the Lawrence O'Brien Trophy as world champions and which hockey club I like to win the Stanley Cup.

NBA Conference Finals

Eastern Conference Final

Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Game 1, 2:30 PM  CT Sunday at TD Garden in Boston, ABC

LeBron is totally going off right now. He's throwing up 40+ on a nightly basis and dominating the Eastern Conference. He looks unstoppable and on a mission to capture his fourth NBA Championship. At the same time, these Boston Celtics are young, hungry and a group of battlers. I see this as a war with the Celtics surviving and advancing to the finals.

C's over Cavs in 7

Western Conference Final

Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors

Game 1, Golden State @ Houston, Toyota Center, Monday 8 PM CT, TNT

The Rockets have played the best basketball all season and Chris Paul is a leader and a warrior and makes this team go. James Harden certainly does his part. The Dubs know how to win it all as they've done it twice in three years. I like the Dubs to outlast the Rockets in a superb series just like the Eastern finals.

Warriors over Rockets in 7

NBA Finals

Golden State vs Boston

Coverage by ABC

The Warriors have the home court advantage and that's always significant. Kevin Durant and
Steph Curry and company are as tough an outfit as you can find to defeat. But I'm going to take the upset and go with Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and their amazing coach, Brad Stevens. 

C's over Dubs in 7

World Champions: The Boston Celtics

MVP of the Finals: Jayson Tatum

NHL Semifinals

TV Coverage on NBC Sports Network and NBC

Eastern Conference Finals

Game 2 Sunday @ Tampa Bay 7 PM CT NBCSN. Caps lead 1-0

Washington Capitals vs Tampa Bay LightningC

I'm a big believer in these Caps after they defeated 2 time defending champion Pittsburgh in 6 games with the final victory coming at Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh had been the Caps Achilles Heel denying them time after time of reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. This time the Caps got over the hump. It carries them even further here. The Caps move on to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Caps over Lightning in 5 games

 

Western Conference Finals

Game 1 at Winnipeg tonight @ 6 CT on NBC

Las Vegas Golden Knights vs Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg is coming off a major upset of the Nashville Predators, a devastating blow to the Preds and the city of Nashville which were hoping for a Stanley Cup title this year after posting the best record in the NHL in the regular season and reaching the finals last year. These are 2 hungry teams, but this Vegas team is so talented. I like Vegas.

Vegas over Winnipeg in 6

Stanley Cup Finals

Vegas vs Washington

Alex Ovechkin and the Caps won't be denied here. The great 8 and his team, including the Caps superb goalie, Braden Holtby, bring home a Stanley Cup to the Nation's capital that has been starving for a championship.

Caps over Vegas in 6

Stanley Cup Champions: Washington Capitals

Conn Smythe Trophy winner (Most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs)

Braden Holtby

The great Caps' goaltender, Braden Holtby, leads the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup title (Photo, Sports Illustrated).

 

 

Who will capture the 45th Players Championship title

The 45th Players Championship

TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (7,189 yards, par 72).

Defending champion: Si Woo Kim. The then 21 year old from Seoul, South Korea shot 69, 72, 68 and 69, -10, to outlast Louis Oosthuizen and Ian Poulter by 3 shots to capture the crown.

Weather: Thursday, 84 sunny, pleasant, winds, 8-14 MPH. Friday, 88, sunny, 8-14. Saturday, 85, partly sunny, winds, 8-14. Sunday, 40% chance of T-storms, Couple of showers and a T-storm chances. Winds 7-10. Winds can be tricky, particularly on the 17th where club selection is critical. It can be anywhere from a gap wedge to a 7 iron on this 137 yard classic. 

TV: Thursday-Friday, 12-6 PM CT, Golf Channel. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 PM CT, NBC.

Key holes

No. 16, 523 yards, par 5:

The short par 5 is very reachable in 2, but doesn't come without it's hazards. A player going for it, and that will be the case for the contenders on Sunday, will have to contend with water to the right of the green and large oak trees on the left. Can be tricky. The green has 2 tiers. Can lead to some major dramatics leading into the next massive challenge.

No. 17, 137 yards, par 3

The Island hole will bring electric drama every day, but particularly on Sunday. The tournament has been won or lost here through the years. With winds at 8-14, Thursday-Saturday, club selection is critical. Players can either overclub and knock it over the green and into the water or underclub and come up short in the water. There is a sand trap guarding the front right of the green. The green is pretty large and there have been some major dramatics here like Tiger's "better than most" 55'er for birdie in 2001. But plenty of other players, Rickie Fowler, Sergio and many others have made dramatic shots to this green in winning the tournament Rickie did it in winning in 2015 and Sergio did it in winning in 2008. Rickie actually birdied it 3 times on Sunday in 2015, birdieing it in regulation and twice in a playoff with Sergio and Kevin Kisner. It was spectacular. It's a remarkable hole with nerves a major factor in deciding who will win the 45th Players.

No. 18, 462 yards, Par 4

A phenomenal finishing hole, one I think is the most underrated in golf just because the 17th is so revered. A dogleg left that takes major precision off the tee box as there is water running along the entire left hand side of the hole and large spectator mounds and trees on the right. A cut is required off the tee and maybe a draw if you're brave enough and that's your shot. It's such a precise driving hole and a scary one on Sundays after survival on the 17th with the tournament on the line. The second shot is to a long green with water on the left and a bunker left and log. The front of the green has spectator mounds. With the wind this is a tricky second shot as well. Awesome finishing hole for an amazing tournament.

Winner

This 24 year old has been trending very well lately. He won the John Deere Classic last year and finished 2nd at the Arnie, 3rd at the RBC Heritage and 4th last week at the Wells Fargo. In 2015, he became the fifth player to win both the NCAA and U.S. Amateur titles joining Jack Nicklaus (1961), Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1996) and Ryan Moore (2004). He's got major talent, and while he's a bit quirky, I heard an interview with him during the Arnie and he couldn't have been more respectful of Arnie and the what it would mean to win his tournament. Very classy young guy. A little bit different but very likeable personality. I'll take this young gun from Modesto, California by way of SMU to capture the 5th major. 

Bryson DeChambeau

Like DeChambeau to be victorious at the 45th Players (Photo, Golf.com).

Sleeper

Rafa Cabrera Bello

The 144th running of the Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby, 144th edition

Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY.

Post time: 5:36 PM CT

2017 champion: Always Dreaming, trainer, Todd Pletcher, jockey, John Velazquez

150,000+ expected attendance

Television: NBC

 

Horses, with Post positions and records (win, place and show). Information, but not prediction, courtesy of USA Today.

1. Firenze Fire (50-1)

Owner: Mr. Amore Stable

Trainer: Jason Servis

Jockey: Paco Lopez

Record: 4-1-0 in 9 starts

Won three of his first four races as a 2 year old before finishing 7th at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

2. Free Drop Billy (30-1)

Owner: Albaugh Family Stables

Trainer: Dale Romans

Jockey: Robby Albarado

Record: 2-3-2 in 8 starts

He won his maiden race at Churchill Downs last June as a 2 year old, but finished 9th at the Breeders; Cup Juvenile. 

3. Promises Fulfilled (30-1)

Owner: Robert Baron

Trainer: Dale Romans

Jockey: Corey Lanerie

Record: 3-0-1 in 5 starts

Was 9th in his last race at the Florida Derby on March 31st. 

4. Flameaway (30-1)

Owner: John Oxley

Trainer: Mark Casse

Jockey: Jose Lezcano

Record: 5-2-0 in 9 starts

Flameaway is one of the most experienced horses with 9 career races. He finished 6th in his only race at Churchill Downs, the Grade 3 Iroquois last September. 

5. Audible (8-1)

Owners: China Horse Club International, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing and Winstar Farm

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: Javier Castellano

Record: 4-0-1 in 5 starts

Trying to take the same route as Pletcher's 2017 Derby winner Always Dreaming, which also entered after a victory at the Florida Derby. Audible won the Florida Derby by 3 lengths over Hofburg.

6. Good Magic (12-1)

Owners: E Five Racing Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Stables

Trainer: Chad Brown

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Record: 2-2-1 in 5 starts

Won the Eclipse Award for 2 year old juvenile males after winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at 11-1 odds last November.. In April, won the Blue Grass by 11 1/2 lengths over Flameaway.

7. Justify (3-1)

Owners: China Horse Club International, Head of Palm Partners, Starlight Racing and Winstar Farm

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Jockey: Mike Smith

Record: 3-0-0 in 3 starts

Justify will try to become the first Derby winner since Apollo in 1882 who didn't race as a 2 year old. The horse won the Santa Anita Derby by 3 lengths over Bolt d'Oro on April 7th.

8. Lone Sailor (50-1)

Owner: G M B Racing

Trainer: Tom Amoss

 Jockey; James Graham

 Record: 1-3-1 in 8 starts

Owned by Gayle Benson, the widow of Tom Benson, the former owner of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans. Tom Benson passed March 15th.

9. Hofburg (20-1)

Owner: Juddmonte Farms

Trainer: Bill Mott

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Record; 1-1-0 in 3 starts

Hofburg is inexperienced but had a strong stretch run at the Florida Derby where he finished 2nd to Audible, he's considered a sleeper at Churchill Downs.

10. My Boy Jack (30-1)

Owners: Don't Tell My Wife Stables and Monomoy Stables

Trainer: Keith Desormeaux

Jockey: Kent Desormeaux

Record: 3-3-2 in 10 starts

The Desormeaux brothers are the first trainer-jockey sibling duo in the Derby since Randy and Gerald Romero with Dixieland Heat, which finished 12th in 1993. Randy was  the jockey and Gerald was the trainer. Pretty good twosome here with major victories to their credit.

11. Bolt d'Oro (8-1)

Owner/trainer: Mark Ruis

Jockey: Victor Espinoza 

Record: 4-1-1 in 6 starts

Bolt d'Oro won his first 3 career starts and was the favorite at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile before finishing third. He was second to Justify at the Santa Anita Derby on April 7th.

12. Enticed (30-1)

Owner: Godolphin

Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin

Jockey: Junior Alvarado

Record: 3-1-1 in 6 starts

Enticed could have been declared the winner at the Wood Memorial after some bumping down the stretch, but Vino Russo was held up as winner and Enticed was second. 

13. Bravazo (50-1) 

Owner: Calumet Farm

Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas

Jockey: Luis Contreras

Record: 3-1-1 in 8 starts

Bravazo won his spot in the Derby by winning the Grade 2 Risen Star on Feb. 17th at Oaklawn Park at 21-1 odds.

14. Mendelssohn (5-1)

Owners: Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor

Trainer: Aidan O'Brien

Jockey: Ryan Moore

Record: 4-1-0 in 7 starts

Won the UAE Derby by 18 lengths on March 31st.

15. Instilled Regard (50-1)

Owner: Oxo Equine

Trainer: Jerry Hollendorfer

Jockey: Drayden Van Dyke

Record: 2-2-1 in 7 starts

Hollendorger originally declared not in the Derby by the trainer but after the Santa Anita Derby, he reconsidered.

16. Magnum Moon (6-1)

Owner: Lawana and Robert Low

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: Luis Saez

Record: 4-0-0 in 4 starts

His first race was a 4 1/2 length victory at Gulfstream Park. Like Justify, he'll try to become the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to be victorious at the Derby after not having raced as a 2 year old. 

17. Solomini (30-1)

Owners: Zayat Stables, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Record; 1-3-1 in 6 starts

Solomini would give Zayat Stables its first Derby winner since American Pharoah in 2015. Pharoah became the 12th Triple Crown winner of all time and the first horse to win the Derby, Preakness and Belmont since Affirmed did it in 1978, that was 37 years.

18. Vino Rosso (12-1)

Owners: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: John Velazquez

Record: 3-0-1 in 5 starts

Vino won the Wood Memorial by 3 lengths over Enticed on April 7th.

19. Noble Indy (30-1)

Owners: Winstar Farm and Repole Stable

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: Florent Geroux

Record: 3-0-1 in 4 starts

Was victorious at the Louisiana Derby on March 24th.

20. Combatant (50-1)

Owners: Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing

Trainer: Steve Amussen

Jockey: Ricardo Stantana Jr.

Record: 1-3-1 in 7 starts

Post position could be a problem here. 

Prediction

The great Bob Baffert has won 4 Derbys, 6 Preaknesses, and 2 Belmonts. He has a really strong horse in Justify. Baffert  trained 2015 triple crown victor American Pharoah, the 12th horse in the history of the sport to win the Triple Crown and last since Affirmed in 1978 to capture it. The 65 year old Baffert from Nogales, Arizona has proven his exceptional ability throughout his illustrious career. A representative of Starlight Racing and Winstar Farm called Baffert's 3:1 favorite Justify, "a man among boys," in training.

But there's another trainer I really like. That's Todd Pletcher, the 50 year old from Dallas, Texas. Pletcher didn't have any success in the Derby until 2010 when he won with Super Saver, an 8:1 odds winner. But in 2017, his superb horse, Always Dreaming, won the Derby, and his thoroughbred, TapWrit, won the Belmont. Pletcher had an awesome 2017. He's won 2 Derbys and 3 Belmonts. Pletcher has 4 horses entered in this Derby. Experts are pretty high on Vino Rosso, Pletcher's 12:1 thoroughbred ridden by John Velazquez. Velazquez was victorious on Always Dreaming last year. 

But, I'm going to go with Pletcher's Florida Derby winner. Last year, Always Dreaming won the Florida Derby and went on to win the Kentucky Derby. While Justify is the favorite, I believe the "Curse of Apollo," in which no horse that didn't race as a 2 year old has won the Derby since Apollo did it in 1882, holds up here.

When a historically good quarterback like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning comes to the line of scrimmage and sees the defense has stacked the box, they do the same thing I'll do with a stacked horse race that will be massively competitive. I'll do what the great Brady and Manning do. I'll call an,

 

Audible

Audible captures the 144th Derby (Photo, Kentucky Derby).

Women's tennis takes SEC Championship, Women's bowling national champions, baseball, MLBers, men's golf

This Vanderbilt Women's tennis team is spectacular. They are so mentally tough and driven, and there as superb in the classroom as they are on the tennis court, and that's an extremely high bar. 

The women did it once again. After winning the SEC regular season title with tremendously clutch victories at South Carolina and Florida last weekend, with all 3 teams heading into the weekend at 10-1, and after defeating South Carolina on Friday, being down 3-1 in the match to Florida a week ago Sunday and being down in the 3 final sets, and getting 3 victories to clinch the SEC regular season title, 4-3, over Florida at Florida. But the women were far from finished. With spectacular play from juniors Fernanda Contreras and Summer Dvorak, and the other women all playing superbly well, we defeated Florida yesterday, 4-0, to capture the SEC Tournament Championship.

It was the second year in a row the women have won both the regular season and tournament championships. Geoff McDonald and his women have done amazing things, and there's more to come. We've got a team capable of winning it all like we did in 2015. The women, led by senior Astra Sharma and the amazing Fernanda, will now prepare for their exams, get healed up and then be ready to play in the NCAA Tournament. We will in all certainty host a regional with 4 teams per regional. The NCAA Championships will be played at Winston-Salem, N.C. But Geoff and the girls are only concerned with one thing, improving every day to get ready for the regional. It's a phenomenal program and this is another phenomenal McDonald team. It doesn't get any better than women's tennis at Vanderbilt University. I will keep you posted on whom we will play in the regional which will almost certainly be played at the Currey Tennis Center in Nashville. We are ranked 2nd in the country and defeated No.1 North Carolina earlier this season. There is massive talent in this NCAA Tournament, so we'll have our work cut out for us. But I trust Geoff, Fernanda, Astra, Summer, Amanda Meyer, Emma Kurtz and Christina Rosca 100% to be prepared to do spectacular things in the national tournament. There an extremely special group of young women. Proud to have them representing us both in the SEC and in the national arena. If you haven't watched our women play either live or on the computer or TV it is well worth checking them out. They are something else.

 The regionals commence Friday, May 11th. Can't wait.

Women's Bowling takes second national championship

I didn't know if I would be interested in watching bowling, but after seeing our women's program capture their second national championship, the first was in 2007, it was tremendously exciting.

John Williamson's team was down 3-2 in the championship match versus McKendree University out of Lebanon, Illinois, the defending national champion. But with clutch strike after clutch strike, the women conquered McKendree and won another coveted national title. Led by co-MVP's Katie Stark, who was superb, and Emily Rigney, along with the stellar Kristin Quan, who has a 3.95 GPA in Biomedical Engineering, and anchor Maria Bulanova, the team showed amazing grit, heart and such incredible concentration and resilience, to roll the strikes and save spares that looked impossible at times. 

Really a spectacular job by Coach Williamson and our awesome bowling team. Katie S is a senior, so she goes out as a champion. Rigney is a sophomore, Quan is a junior and Bulanova is a sophomore and freshman Samantha Gainor is going to be superb. So next year looks just as promising. What a team though and what an accomplishment. Maybe our women's tennis team, our men's golf team and our baseball team can follow suit. Super stuff by our bowling team. They deserve a ton of credit.

Baseball

We took 1 of 3 at Missouri this weekend, winning the final game of the series, 6-2. On Saturday, freshman Mason Hickman gave us an outstanding start, going 7, giving up 4 hits, 2 runs with 0 earned, 0 walks and 4 K's. Mason was superb. Hard throwing redshirt freshman Reid Schaller closed the door on the Tigers with 2 innings of 2 hit ball, with 0 walks and 4 K's. Reid was hitting 97. He was awesome. Our great freshman, Austin Martin, who can play 3rd, center or 1st base and is an amazingly clutch hitter, was 3 for 5 with a Ribbie. Junior second baseman Ethan Paul was 3 for 5 with a pair of Ribeyes and freshman DH Philip Clarke, another one of the extremely talented freshman class Corbs has assembled, was 2 for 4 with 2 Ribeyes. We pounded out 12 hits on Saturday after struggling with the lumber on Thursday and Friday Nights. We didn't field it great this past weekend, but if we can get back to fielding it like we have been for most of the season, and hit the ball like we're capable of, we've got a shot to be special. Our starting pitching was awesome over the weekend. Thursday Night in a 2-1 loss, sophomore starter Drake Fellows went 7, gave up 4 hits, 2 runs with only 1 earned, he walked only 1 and struck out 9. Drake was super good. We just couldn't get more than one run home for him. Freshman Tyler Brown came in and gave us a good inning in the 8th, but we couldn't muster any offense on a cold, windy night in Columbia, MO. , not conducive to hitting. Friday Night Patrick Raby gave us another superior start, going 7, giving up 3 hits with 1 unearned run, 2 walks and 6 K's. Rabes, the veteran on this staff, was sensational. Tyler Brown came in and got a big out, but the rest of our bullpen struggled, and we gave up a 2 run single in the bottom of the 8th and lost 3-1. But the starting pitching was very encouraging as we move forward. 

We are now 24-16 overall, 10-8 in the SEC, and ranked 17th in the country by D1Baseball.com. We are tied with Georgia, Ole Miss and Arkansas for second place overall in the conference. No.1 Florida leads at 14-4. Florida is 32-5 overall. They're outstanding, but if we can get hot, we can give anybody in the SEC a run for their money.

Austin is leading the team in hitting at .373. He is just a winning player for us. Phlip Clarke is hitting .299. We're hitting .265 as a team, so we need to improve on that. I will say, Missouri has very good starting pitching, all 3 of their starters were left handers, and they were difficult to hit. They threw it hard and threw strikes. Missouri is also tough to beat at home. So I see us coming out of it our hitting slump and Saturday was a 12 hit day for the team, so that's very promising. Rabes is 2-4 with a 2.47 ERA, Drake is 4-3 with a 3.03 ERA, and Mason is 7-1 with a 3.69 ERA. Still figuring out who can be that 4th and 5th starter for the postseason, and still working of figuring out the bullpen, but I liked Reid S as a possible closer for us. He's got a cannon. Tyler Brown looks like he could be a stopper in the pen. Still believe in Jackson Gillis. He can be an important pitcher for us in this last month and a half. We're still fielding at a .983 percentage and junior shortstop Connor Kaiser has not committed an error, not 1, in 151 chances. It's amazing. Connor has a pretty good bat too and he's having an excellent year. We're still getting 3rd base figured out. First base is still a work in progress and center is still kind of developing. Freshman right fielder Pat DeMarco is an excellent baseball player, and junior Stephen Scott is a valuable member of this team in left, where he has really come on as a defensive player. Stephen is also very good behind the plate. Stephen gives us good power and run driving in lumber too. Sophomore Ty Duvall is giving us super work behind the plate and Ty hits it well. He had a huge 2 run triple in our 8-7 nightcap victory over Ole Miss a week ago. He was awesome in that game. Ethan hit a hugely clutch home run in the first game against a highly talented Ole Miss team, a game in which we also won, 8-7. And Austin, using his incredibly high baseball IQ and savvy, used a hidden ball trick on an Ole Miss runner at third. It was against right fielder Ryan Olenek, who had been killing us with his bat all weekend. Olenek was at third in a crucial situation and stepped off the bag momentarily. Austin, playing third, had acted like he had thrown the ball back to the pitcher, but actually had it in his glove. Once Olenek stepped off the bag, Austin snuck over and put the tag on him. It was awesome and was such a momentum builder for the team. Ole Miss is a terrific team, so taking the doubleheader from them was spectacular. Austin Martin is the most valuable player on the team at this point. He just makes so many super plays for us, both with the bat and in the field. He's a tremendous base runner for us as well. We are a very good base running team having stolen 74 bases in 91 attempts, 81%, and lead the SEC in steals. So sometimes we need to manufacture runs, and we've got the ability to do that with our prolific base running skills.  

We play South Carolina this weekend at home beginning Friday at 6:30 PM CT on SEC Network+ on the computer or a Roku TV. Saturday's game is at 2 PM CT and Sunday's game is at 1 PM CT. SEC Network+ will televise those 2 games as well. 

So we're getting into the last month of the regular season. We are dominated by juniors and freshmen on our roster. It's very promising for next year, but the way these talented freshmen have developed, they were the No.1 recruiting class in the country, and our juniors, who were also the No.1 class in the country, we've got a shot to make some serious noise this year. Our sophomore class is pretty good too. We only have one senior on the team, left handed pitcher Paxton Stover, who can help us down the stretch. A lot of great stuff ahead for this baseball program, hopefully this season.

MLB guys

Ryan Flaherty and Dansby Swanson, Braves

Ryan is hitting .362 and is leading the National League in hitting. Mookie Betts of the Red Sox is the only player ahead of Ryan in average at .366. Dans is hitting .342 and is 6th in batting in the NL. Both are spectacularly good defensive players. The Braves are 12-8 after having won a terrifically exciting game Saturday Night against the Mets. The Bravos were down 3-2 heading into the bottom of the 9th, and the Mets had their ace reliever, Jeurys Familia on the hill. Familia has a 1.50 ERA and 8 saves and throws it 97-98. Dans led off with a walk, and then Johan Camargo laced a triple up the middle that rolled all the way to the right central field wall. Dans hauled tail around the bases and scored. After a strikeout, Ender Inciarte drove home the winning run with a bunt single as the Braves took their 2nd game in a row over the Mets, 4-3. It was incredible. The Braves are for real. They've got really good young pitching and they can defend and really hit. If their bullpen can hold up, this team can challenge for the division and certainly a wild card. To me, it's about their bullpen. Can those guys get lock down as the season matriculates. The Mets are 14-6 and lead, the Phillies are 14-7 and a 1/2 game back and the Braves, at 12-8, are 2 back. The Nationals are beset by three injuries to 3 starters including the great Daniel Murphy, but they'll get in it once those guys return later this month or early May. But the Nationals are in a little danger with 3 key players banged up. If they're not careful, they could fall too far behind. They're certainly a potent team at full strength. The Braves are at the Reds today. MIke Foltynewicz is on the hill. Folty is 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA. He can hit 98,99, and, at 26, is one of the young arms the Braves are counting on to help lead them to greatness in the upcoming years. Another one of those young arms is Kyle Wright, who is coming up quickly through the minors. Kyle, who was stellar in at VU where he pitched last year, should be a key part of that rotation in the future. Really like where Dans and Ryan are right now. Playing superbly well.

David Price, Red Sox

David came up just short yesterday in a 4-1 loss to Oakland. DP went 7.2, gave up 9 hits, 4 earned with 1 walk and 6 K's. Dave had it going through 6 shutting down the A's bats for only 1 run. But he ran into some trouble in the seventh. After striking out Jed Lowrie for the third time, Lowrie is hitting .351, DP had 2 outs and had a chance to get out of the inning with his team tied at 1 with the A's. But his first pitch fastball was crushed by Khris Davis into the left field seats for a 3 run shot, and David fell, 4-1. He threw 96 pitches, 68 for strikes against 28 balls a better than 2:1 ratio. His stuff was electric, I just think he got a little tired out there. Manager Alex Cora could have taken David out and gone to a right hander in the bullpen, but he stuck with Dave and I'm glad he showed confidence in DP. It'll pay off in the future. The Sox are now 17-4 and lead the AL East by 4 games over the Blue Jays, which are 13-8. They lead the Yankees by 5 1/2 games. The Yanks are 11-9.

Sonny Gray, Yankees

Sonny has been having a tough time of it lately. He got hit pretty hard against the Blue Jays last Friday Night at Yankee Stadium. He was awesome through the first 3 innings but ran into a lot of trouble and got hit very hard in the 4th. The Yanks lost 8-5 to the Jays. I still believe Sonny, who is such a bulldog, will battle back and pitch well for the Bombers. Sonny pitches this Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins. Game time is 5:35 PM CT in the Bronx.

Mike Minor, Rangers

Mike pitched really well for the Rangers Friday Night albeit in a loss to the Seattle Mariners. Mike went 5.1 innings, gave up 6 hits, 1 run, earned, with 1 walk and 6 K's. I thought Mike was awesome. He hit 93-94 and his change up and curve were both solid. Can't remember if Mike throws a cutter or not, but I think he does. He was very effective Friday Night. Mike throws again Friday at Toronto.

Carson Fulmer, White Sox

Carson has been struggling with his control some, but is still in the starting rotation for the ChiSox as of today. Carson may pitch tomorrow or Wednesday versus the Mariners. That's to be decided. If Carson can get his control down, he can be a very effective major league pitcher.

Pedro Alvarez, Orioles

Pedro was swinging a very hot bat for a while, but has cooled off a bit lately. Would like to see El Toro get it going again because when he does, he's unstoppable and so good in the clutch. Believe very much in Pedro.

Walker Buehler, Dodgers

It's Buehler's day to go off in LA today as Walker will get the start for the LA Dodgers tonight versus the Miami Marlins. Will be pulling for Walker to have a big night in his first outing in the Bigs. Will tell you about it tomorrow.

Tyler Beede, Giants

Tyler had some struggles, so he was sent back down to Triple A Sacramento. That's OK. Tyler can keep developing in triple A and get back to the big club sooner rather than later.

Tony Kemp, Astros

One of my favorite all time players at VU, Tony is still at the Astros triple A Fresno team, but always plays well for them and has been up to the big club, including last year, and is just an injury or 2 away from getting up to this loaded team.  The Astros are so talented that it's really hard to break into this lineup let along their 25 man roster. But believe Tony can do it. Such a good player and an amazing teammate. 

Men's Golf

The No.2 ranked Men's Golf team heads to Sea Island, GA. to play in the SEC Championships starting Wednesday. There will be 4 stroke play rounds then match play for the 8 teams that emerge from stroke play. We won it last year on our way to the Final Four, and we're hoping for the same result in the SEC's and an even better result nationally. Theo Humphrey, Will Gordon, Patrick Martin and John Augenstein are a tremendous quartet. Mason Greenberg is a good fifth player to have on the team. Coach Scott Limbaugh has another stellar group. This could be his best team so far.  Certainly excited about what these guys can do.

Women's Golf

The Women's team advanced to the match play of the SEC Championships over the weekend and lost barely to Alabama, 3-2. The women will most likely play in the NCAA's. Good stuff for the Women.

Men's Tennis

The Men's tennis team heads into the SEC Tournament this week at the University of Alabama ranked 21st in the country. The men have had an awesome year and look NCAA tournament bound. Maybe we can be the darkhorse and pull off a surprise and win the SEC and flourish from there on out. 

Men's basketball

Just signed Syracuse transfer Matt Moyer. Moyer was a former 4 star and he is 6'8", 220. Like his size. Matt will sit out in 2018-19 and have 2 more years to play for us. Like this pickup. 

Romeo Langford, the No.6 player in the country, will make his announcement next Monday Night, April 30th, at his New Albany, Indiana gym. I'd say it's 50-50 on whether we get Romeo. Looks like it's between us and Indiana with Kansas still a factor. If we get Romeo, we'll be a spectacular team next year. Even if we don't get him,  we'll still be  awesome with 5 stars Darius Garland and Simsola Shittu coming in along with high 4 star Aaron Nesmith. Would love to add Romeo to this class along with our big men transfers who will be eligible next season, Yanni Wetzell (6'10, 235) and Matt Ryan (6'8", 209). Add the awesome Saben Lee, super exciting Maxwell Evans, developing big man Ejike Obinna, along with bigs Clevon Brown, Djery Baptiste and small forward Joe Toye in there and we've got the makings of an exceptional team next season. Larry Austin, Jr. and Payton Willis transferred. Hope both those guys have successful futures. 

But I really like what this team can do next year. If Romeo signs, this team could be Final Four material. It could very well be even without him, but come on Romeo, come to the West End and play for Bryce and the Dores.

Football

Will have more on our football team next week. Coach Mason is super excited about this team and calls this his most talented team in his 5 years on the West End. He has four new coaches he's very excited about and says this is also his best staff in his 5 years. I like our material. There's some youth at certain positions, but it's talented youth. Wide receiver is younger, but I really like our talent level there led by the awesome Kalija Lipscomb. Inside linebacker is not extremely deep, but we have good players there led by Jordan Griffin and Caleb Peart. Offensive line looks great and deep. Quarterback is in fantastic shape with Kyle, Deuce Wallace and Allan Walters coming in. We'll probably need to recruit 1 or 2 QBs in this 2019 class. Running back is loaded led by the Mamba, Ke'Shawn Vaughn, the transfer from Illinois who will light it up on Saturdays in the SEC. Khari Blasingame is primed for a big year, and Jamauri Wakefield and Josh Crawford are going to be excellent this season. Running back is stellar. Defensive line is deep and big. Like where we are there. Josh Smith and Charles Wright will lead a talented outside linebacking corps. Josh is ready for a breakout year. Charles is already a breakout player for us and will be spectacular in 2018. LaDarius Wiley and Joejuan Williams are ready for huge years at safety and corner respectively. Secondary is pretty loaded. We've got a good return game and the kicking game will materialize this summer. The freshmen who have played in the spring and the others who are coming in this summer are an outstanding class, many of whom can contribute right away. I'll have more coming up next week. Man, writing about this gets me ready. Anchor Down.  

Tyler's Beede's mom on his start for Giants Tuesday Night

MLBers excelling, VU baseball gets big series victory, VU men's golf, women's tennis keep cookin

David Price has been absolutely spectacular for the Red Sox. Dansby Swanson and Ryan Flaherty have been superb for the Braves. Mike Minor is excelling for the Texas Rangers. Carson Fulmer pitched extremely well for the White Sox last Wednesday. Pedro Alvarez is doing huge things for the Orioles. And Sonny Gray is gearing up for a big season in the Bronx.

Here's a look at each player.

David Price

DP is cookin for the Bosox though he hasn't been involved in a decision yet. In his first game against the Rays, he went 7, gave up 4 hits, 0 runs, with no walks and 5 K's. David threw 76 pitches with 55 of them for strikes against only 21 balls. He was super sharp. The BoSox won the game 1-0. Then, last Thursday against the Rays, David's control wasn't as sharp as the week before, but he pitched extremely well nonetheless, going 7 again, giving up 3 hits, 0 runs, with 3 walks and 5 K's. David threw 91 pitches with 56 of them for strikes against 35 balls. He's hitting 94 on his hard stuff, his cutter is excellent coming in at 88 to 90 with great movement, his change up is solid and his curve has become a weapon this season. Really like where David is. He doesn't have a decision yet, but his ERA is 0.00 and his WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) is 0.71, which is superb. David and the Red Sox have a shot to go a long way this season if their key players can stay healthy, including David. The Red Sox are presently 8-1, and ahead of the Blue Jays by 2 1/2 games. The Jays are 6-4. The Yankees are 5-5. David is on the hill again Wednesday at Fenway versus the Yankees and the super good Masahiro Tanaka. Should be a phenomenal matchup.

Dansby Swanson and Ryan Flaherty

Both on fire. Dans is hitting .382 and hit his first homer yesterday to go along with 7 Ribeyes. Dansby has found his spot on the Braves, and this season could be a spectacular one for the awesome Swanson. Ryan has also found a home in Atlanta as he's hitting a torrid .414. Despite a tough 10 inning, 3-2 loss to Colorado Saturday Night, Ryan drove in the game tying run in the top of the 9th with a sharp line drive single to center. Both are playing terrific defense, Dans at short and Ryan at third. The Braves are 6-3 and in second place in the NL East, a very good division. The Mets lead the division at 7-1. The Braves are at Washington today through Wednesday in a key early season series. Julio Teheran faces the terrific Max Scherzer tonight, the great young Mike Foltynewicz faces the awesome Stephen Strasburg tomorrow night and Brandon McCarthy of the Braves squares off with A. J. Cole of the Nats on Wednesday. Looking forward to seeing more Dans and Flash this week.

Mike Minor

Mikey was nothing short of brilliant Saturday Night in pitching the Texas Rangers to a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Mike went 6, gave up just 2 hits, 1 earned, with 2 walks and 7 K's. he threw 93 pitches with 54 for strikes against 39 balls. His fastball was hitting 93 and his changeup, cutter and curve were dynamic. Mike is on a pretty good team that is finding their way in the early season. Good to see Mike back on the mound competing. He's battled some injuries but has always had awesome stuff. Mike's 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA and an 0.84 WHIP. Mike pitches again Friday at the Astros, so a major test for the man.

Carson Fulmer

Carson got a victory in his first start this season, 4-3 over the Toronto Blue Jays at Toronto. Carson went 5, gave up 5 hits, 3 earned with 1 walk and 5 K's. He threw 73 pitches with 48 for strikes. Carson doesn't throw as straight line as David does. He throws a lot of curve balls and his fastball has so much movement and his balls mostly sink which makes it tough on any hitter. He's very similar to Sonny in that he's an awesome pitcher, but many of his pitches are so sharp turning and so sharp dropping that they are not in the strike zone. It's just the way Carson rolls. He certainly gets the job done and is a bulldog of a competitor. The White Sox have a lot of young, promising talent and Carson will be a key piece for them this season and going forward. They are presently 3-5. Carson pitches again tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday) versus the Rays. 

Pedro Alvarez

Pedro has been terrific as DH for the Baltimore Orioles. Friday Night in the top of the 14th, Pedro crushed a grand slam to right to lead the Orioles to the 7-3 victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. And yesterday, Pedro scored the winning run in an 8-7, 12 inning Orioles victory over the Yankees. He's been superb when called upon by manager Buck Showalter. Really proud for Pedro as his work ethic is spectacular and he's always maintained a super positive attitude even when things looked tough. El Toro is crankin.

Sonny Gray

Sonny got the victory over the Orioles on Saturday as the Yankees salvaged a game in the 3 game home set, winning 8-3 over the O's. Sonny fought hard going 5.1 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 earned, with 2 walks and 4 K's. Sonny is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP, which is a lot higher than he wants, but Sonny will compete, there is no doubt about that. I really see a lot of similarities between Sonny and Carson. They just keep battling, both are bulldogs and both bring it 93-95 with hard biting curves that can be impossible to hit. I like where Sonny is, as always. Sonny will give the Yankees everything he's got. Sonny pitches next at Detroit on Friday. 

Our baseball team

We took 2 of 3 from Georgia over the weekend which is very good as Georgia is ranked 17th in the country and are a really solid team. We're now No.15 in the country and are 19-13 and 7-5 in the SEC. Drake Fellows, in a loss, Patrick Raby, in a victory, along with a super relief performance from Chandler Day, who struck out 9, and Mason Hickman, in a victory, all pitched well. The bats picked it up on Saturday and Sunday and that was great to see. We had some fielding issues at times, but Connor Kaiser is such an awesome shortstop. Everybody needs to start stepping up their game as it is now time to do that if we want to be an elite team come May. We play Western Kentucky tomorrow at home and No.5 Ole Miss comes to the Hawk for a weekend set. Tomorrow night's game is at 6:30 CT on SEC Network+. Friday's game versus the Rebels is at 6:30 PM CT on SEC Network+, Saturday's game is at 2 PM CT on SEC Network+ and Sunday's game is at 4 PM CT on the U. ESPNU. We just need everything to start clicking, on the mound, in the field and at the plate. This team certainly has that ability. With the No.1 recruiting class in the country as juniors and the No.1 recruiting class as freshman, we certainly have the makeup to excel. Our sophomore class is pretty strong also. We're missing our stud right fielder J.J, Bleday, who is out with an oblique injury, that hopefully he can come back from pretty soon. But a lot of guys stepped up this past weekend and played well, particularly on Saturday and Sunday in our victories.

Men's Golf

Our men's golf team is presently ranked No.3 in the country and playing stellar golf. Oklahoma State is No.1 and A&M is No.2. We won the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Georgia 3 weeks ago. We will host the Mason Rudolph Championship this weekend. No.8 Alabama and No. 12 Florida will also be competing along with 11 other teams in a 14 team field. Theo Humphrey, Will Gordon, Patrick Martin and John Augenstein are stellar for us. After this weekend, we'll get ready for the SEC Championship April 25th-29th at Sea Island. Some great stuff going on with Scott Limbaugh's golf team.

Women's Tennis

Geoff McDonald has another spectacular team led by our No.2 player, Fernanda Contreras, who is ranked No.3 in the country. We are presently 17-3 overall and 10-1 in the SEC. We finished up our home slate over this past weekend and completed and 11-0 home mark with consecutive 4-0 victories over A&M and LSU respectively. Wow. Next up are road matches against No.5 South Carolina and No. 12 Florida this weekend, so some pretty stiff tests, but I have the utmost confidence in our women. They are spectacular. The SEC Championship commences April 18th and continues on through April 22nd at Knoxville. This team's got a shot to be really special. 

 NFL and VU football notes

Jordan Matthews was signed by the New England Patriots last week. JMatt will join forces with Adam Butler on an always loaded Patriots squad which is led by the superb Tom Brady. Never thought I'd be a Patriots fan, but I am now along with being a Texans fan (Zach and Andre) and Chargers (Casey) and wherever Jay ends up. Hoping Jay will get picked up by somebody. He's still got a lot of talent left to give to a team, and can help them win a lot of games in the right situation. His line last year at the Dolphins was less than stellar, but Adam Gase likes him and they've improved their line play, so maybe Gase will have Jay back at the Phins. I know Ryan Tannehill is coming back from injury, so Jay will have to beat him out or find another place to play. Injuries happen, so Jay's got a shot somewhere. He's a quality quarterback and has been helping our stellar upcoming senior quarterback Kyle Shurmur.

Kyle is poised for a big year. Hoping we can win several games and go to a very good bowl this season and build for a very bright future. We have good talent on offense. Defense has a lot of good players, just need to develop them in the weight room and in fall practice. Like the talent level that DMase has brought in though. We've got some really good freshman coming in. Deuce Wallace is an excellent backup quarterback for us and the Deuce's future is quite bright. Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig is very high on him. We have rising freshman Allan Walters coming in this summer. Allan's got a ton of talent. We'll need to add one or 2 quarterbacks in recruiting for 2019 as Kyle will be graduating and hopefully getting a shot in the NFL in 2019. The offensive line looks good, we've got a young but talented receiving corps, the running back situation is outstanding and tight end will be solid. On defense, I look for Joejuan Williams to have a huge year at corner if the opponent ever throws his way. Our d line is developing and we're a little thin at inside linebacker, but Jordan Griffin, Caleb Peart, and Josh Smith will be excellent players for us at linebacker. Kicking game needs to develop. We've got a shot to be good. I'll develop more in upcoming pieces. 

Captain America captures 82nd Masters, Bryce Harper, Stanley Cup playoffs predictions

Patrick Reed shot a final round 71 to backup rounds of rounds of 69, 66, and 67 and finished -15 to outlast Rickie Fowler by a shot and Jordan Spieth by 2 shots. Spieth shot a final round 64 and looked to have a serious chance until a bogey on 18 and stellar play by Reed on the final 5 holes kept him from capturing his 2nd green jacket and 4th major championship. Fowler birdied 18 from 6 feet to put added pressure on Reed, but the 27 year old from San Antonio,  by way of the University of Georgia and previously Augusta State, now Augusta, captured the coveted Masters.

Reed is not the most popular choice to capture the Green Jacket. He was kicked off the Georgia team for insubordination and suspended from the Augusta State team though he was let back on and helped lead them to the Division One national championship  2 straight years in 2010 and 2011. He struggled with his putting during his high school career. According to ESPN, his former coach at Georgia, Chris Haack, recalled that one of his assistants who was scouting Reed, said, "This guy hits it close all day long, but never makes anything. If he ever figures out the putter, he's going to be dangerous."

He certainly figured his putting out. He was masterful with his putter. Reed is not America's champion. Most of the Masters patrons were pulling for the great Spieth, a highly popular figure on tour. Fowler, considered one of the nicest guys on tour along with Spieth, was the other player fans were pulling for. Fowler, a crowd favorite and hilarious commercial figure like his Quicken Loans, "Dude that got weird," performance, played some stellar golf.  But Reed was not going to be denied. 

He has issues with his parents, whom his wife Justine has told everyone on Instagram, that they verbally and physically abused him. His parents have denied those accusations. Reed is estranged from both his parents and his younger sister and other family members. He's not your classic Masters champion. When Bubba won it twice (2012 and '14), when Jordan won it (2015), when Adam Scott was victorious (2013)  and when Sergio donned the Green Jacket last year, there was a sense of magic in Butler's Cabin. Those players revered the championship and were honored and humbled to put on the Green Jacket. To Reed, it was just about winning another golf tournament in his own words. That's not how you assess winning the Masters, the most coveted major championship in golf. Bubba, Jordan, Adam and Sergio were honored, humbled and felt privileged to win the Masters. It didn't have the same feeling with Reed.

Reed earned the moniker "Captain America" for his amazingly clutch playing at the Ryder's Cup in 2016 at Hazeltine, with his memorable 1 up victory over Rory in the singles competition which set the tone for the American victory. He's got uncanny mental toughness and an amazing will to win. After Rory McIlory shot 65 in Saturday to put him just 2 back of Reed and in the final pairing on Sunday, McIlory said all the pressure was on Reed and challenged him on national television. Mcilroy ended up shooting 74 on Sunday, finishing -9, tied for 5th, and 6 shots behind Reed. Reed once again prevailed over McIlroy.

 Reed is not a popular guy on tour, and his Masters acceptance interview with CBS's Jim Nantz, Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley, and Sergio, was less than impressive. His play speaks for itself. It's stellar. But he's not your classic Masters champion. He's got the game to do terrific things in golf, and if he keeps maturing people will warm up to him, and maybe he can reconcile with his parents and his younger sister. That would be a major step in the right direction for this super talented young guy whom the sky is the limit for in professional golf if he can keep growing up.

Bryce Harper

Harper could go down as one of the greats in baseball history if he can keep playing hard (Photo, New York Post).

One of the great talents to come into baseball in quite a few years, along with the major young talent that has flooded this great game and making it spectacular right now, is playing superb baseball right now, but made 3 mistakes last night that could cost his team a chance of winning it all if this keeps up. In the first inning, the 25 year old Harper crushed a 2 run shot into the right field seats to give the Washington Nationals a 2-0 lead over the Mets. He also posted 2 singles. But on a fly ball that was in foul territory in right field, Harper ran to it and stopped thinking he was going to run into the stands. He was about 5 feet away and let the ball drop. I can see why he didn't want to hit the railing, but he had room to spare and he was playing at home, so he should have known he had room. I'll give him a pass for that. It was 35 degrees and a hard night to play baseball. In a later inning with Harper on 2nd and a runner on first and no outs, the Nationals hit a grounder to third. Harper was running to third and the Mets' third baseman missed the tag on him as Harper got around him, so Harper advanced towards third. The Mets 3rd baseman chased him and tagged him out. If Harper had just slid into third he would have been safe, but he stayed on his feet and was tagged out. Really a major mental error. It was close to the bag and the slide could have jammed his ankle, but he could have gone in head first. A play he could have made. But the most egregious mistake occurred in the bottom of the 9th inning, when, with the score tied 5-5 and after a Harper walk with nobody out, the Mets pitcher made a snap throw to first to try and pickoff Harper. The ball got by first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and went into the corner of the first base, right field side of the field. Harper took off for second and could have easily gotten to third with his 3rd base coach waving him on, but he stopped at second. It was kind of unbelievable. The Nats hitter, Matt Adams, hit a deep fly ball to center that was caught near the warning track which would have easily scored Harper from 3rd and won the game for the Nats which sorely needed it after losing 4 in a row, but Harper could only advance to 3rd, and the Mets reliever got out of the inning without giving up a run. The Mets won 6-5 in 12 innings.

Harper is an awesome player and I really like him a lot. He has 6 homers and 12 RBIs already this season. He is a spectacular talent and a hard nosed tough competitor. I think he's a good guy too. But there is the massive contract looming after this season, some say possibly a $400 million contract, so he's got to have that in his mind and is hesitant to get injured. He's such a hard-working, hard-nosed competitor that I hope he gives the Nationals everything he's got this year because they have a team that can win it all. Second baseman Daniel Murphy has been out so far this season from a knee surgery last fall, and is expected to return later this month or by the first of May and he's a real leader and will help Bryce stay focused.

But the Mets are really strong this year and moved to 7-1 after sweeping the Nationals over the weekend at Nationals Park. The Braves look for real at 6-3 and play at Washington today through Wednesday with Julio Teheran facing Max Scherzer tonight and the great young Mike Foltynewicz facing Stephen Strasburg tomorrow night, so the Nationals really have their work cut out for them in the NL East. I see Bryce getting it together. He's been spectacular for the most part this season, and he's a superb baseball player. The Nationals have a chance to be a super team, but they need to get Murphy back and Harper needs his presence on the field to get him playing all out and leading this team to great things.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Can the Pittsburgh Penguins capture their third consecutive Stanley Cup Trophy, or can another team derail the 2 time defending champions. There's a lot to like about this Stanley Cup which starts Wednesday Night and will be televised throughout the next month and a half on USA, CNBC, NBC Sports Network and NBC with the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC Sports Network and NBC. Here are my predictions for what will be a thrilling Stanley Cup playoff.

Eastern Conference Semifinals

Tampa Bay over Toronto in 7

Washington over Pittsburgh in 7

going with the upset here. Pretty bullish on the Caps. They've beaten the Penguins in the regular season and are playing very good hockey.

Western Conference Semis

Nashville over Winnipeg in 5

Vegas over San Jose in 6

Eastern Conference Final 

Washington over Tampa Bay in 7

Western Conference Final

Nashville over Vegas in 6

Stanley Cup Final

I'm taking the Nashville Predators to bring home the Stanley Cup to a long suffering franchise that has found a resurgence the last 3 years. I like the Preds over the Washington Capitals in 6 games. The Radiators had an album a while back called The Law of the Fish. It was an awesome album, and the Nashville fans will be touting the Law of the Catfish throwing their catfish on the ice after a Preds championship. Smashville, after years of suffering through losing hockey seasons, capture their first Stanley Cup title. I like the awesome 23 year old  left wing Filip Forsberg to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

Here's a hype video for the playoffs.

 

The 82nd Masters prediction

Augusta National Golf Club, 7,435 yards,, par 72

Defending champion: Sergio Garcia

Weather: Sunny Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Temperatures anywhere from 70 to 78 on Thursday and Friday respectively to the low 60's on Sunday. There will be some wind, 7-10 on Thursday, Friday and Sunday and very windy, 16-25 on Saturday. Saturday looks a little sketchy weather-wise with rain and a heavier t storm possible. No. 12 is always a key hole with the wind. The 155 yard, par 3 requires precision to hit the green and the wind is always swirling, so club selection is at a premium.  

TV: Thursday-Friday, 2-6:30 PM CT, ESPN, Highlights 10:35-10:50 PM CBS. Saturday, 2-6 PM CT, CBS. Sunday, 1-6 PM CT, CBS

As my man Walter Pittman says, the tournament will be decided Sunday on the back 9. All tough holes with high pressure every shot for all contenders. Amen Corner, 11, 12 and 13 will be extremely interesting and test the nerves of the contenders, along with the par 5 15th, the par 3 16th and the epic 18th where there will be some major drama and electricity. No. 10, the 475 par 4, is always an electric hole. Bubba Watson won his first Green jacket there in a playoff over Louis Oosthuizen in 2012 hooking a gap wedge 164 yards out of the woods to 15 feet and won the tournament with that shot, making par as Louis O. bogeyed the hole. Adam Scott sank a 14 foot birdie putt to win in a playoff over Angel Cabrera in 2013 to capture his first and only Green Jacket so far on Number 10. So a very important hole, both in regulation and as the second hole in a playoff with 18 being the first playoff hole. 

Winner

You've got Tiger mounting an amazing resurgence and going for his 5th Green Jacket.  Rory., who just won at the Arnie 3 weeks ago, goes for the career Grand Slam with the Masters being the only title that has eluded him. Rory's won a U.S. Open, an Open Championship and 2 PGAs. Justin Thomas is playing superb golf as usual, though he hasn't been that hot since the Honda in early March. But JT will definitely be a factor. Jordan Spieth is playing better after a 3rd place finish last week at Houston. If his putter is clicking he can win his second Green Jacket after winning it in 2015. Dustin Johnson has not torn it up this season though he did win the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii in January. He's definitely a factor though. Jason Day is back in the hunt in majors after winning the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego  in late January. Jon Rahm is certainly a threat. He won the CareerBuilder in January. Phil, after winning the WGC Mexico Championship a month ago, has also resurfaced as a contender after not winning for 4 years. His last victory came at the Open Championship in 2013 at Muirfield, his fifth major championship.  He has 3 Green Jackets to his name. Hideki Matsuyama is always a factor. And Sergio Garcia is extremely confident on this golf course after putting on a performance for the ages last year in capturing his first major.

But I'm going with somebody else. I'll take the 39 year old from Bagdad, Florida to capture his 3rd Green Jacket after winning in 2012 and 2014. My winner is an experienced veteran who loves this golf course and excels on it. Should be spectacular all weekend and particularly on Sunday. 

Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson

Like Bubba to be pounding it right down the pipe and putting well and capturing his 3rd Green Jacket (Photo, GolfWeek)>

Nova-Michigan national championship prediction

Record:

Sweet 16: 4-4

Elite 8: 3-1

Final Four: 2-0

Overall: 9-5

 

Michigan (33-7) vs. Villanova (35-4)

Alamodome, San Antonio, 70,000

8:20 PM CT

TBS

Jim, Grant, Bill, Trace

Nova by 6 1/2

I really like both of these squads, particularly the Wolverines. They've had some tremendously hard fought victories in 80th edition of the NCAA Tournament. That 64-63 victory over Houston in the second round was classic as freshman Jordan Poole sank a 28 foot trifecta at the buzzer to snatch the victory for the Blue. It was an electric moment. They have an excellent squad. center Mo Wagner and guards Charles Matthews and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman are all tremendously talented players. Rahkman has struggled in the tournament, but he was terrific in the Big Ten tournament and is a highly capable offensive and defensive player. They have depth as well. 

Coaching is a wash. Jay Wright and John Beilein are both superb coaches for Nova and Michigan respectively. Both know how to get their teams over the top in this game. Both teams have veteran players, so both can handle a high pressure game unlike Kentucky or Duke this year. 

While my heart is with Michigan because I really like their fight, their spirit, the way they play defense and the way they shoot it, I'm going with the favorite. I like awesome junior guard Jalen Brunson and his teammates to cut down the nets for the 2nd time in 3 years. They won it in 2016 on a last second 3 pointer by Kris Jenkins to outlast a great UNC team, 77-74. UNC came back last year and won it themselves. Nova wins the championship at the Alamodome. 

Villanova 76, Michigan 68

 

Jalen Brunson and his teammates capture a national championship once again (Photo, Heavy.com).

 

Final Four previews, predictions

Charles getting fired up for San Antonio while singing to Samuel L and Spike in a Capital One Commercial

Home, home on the range, where the deer and the cantaloupe play.

Four stellar teams collide in the 2018 Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Star power is through the roof good in these 2 classic matchups. Can Sister Jean and her Loyola Chicago Ramblers move on to the National title game Monday Night or will the Wolverines of Michigan derail the Ramblers' dream run through the tournament. The great Villanova Wildcats team squares off with a fantastically talented Kanas team as 2 of the blue bloods of college basketball play for a shot at winning it all.

Here's a look at the games along with White's World's predictions for who will be playing Monday Night.

First semifinal

Loyola Chicago (32-5) vs. Michigan (32-7)

Alamodome, San Antonio, 72,000

5:07 PM CT

TBS

Jim, Raft, Grant, Trace

Michigan by 5 1/2

How they got here

Loyola, Round 1, 64-62 over Miami on last second 28 foot 3 pointer by Donte Ingram, 63-62 over Tennessee in the second round on a 7 foot leaner by Clayton Custer that bounced off the rim hit the backboard and fell through the net. That's when it was obvious this team meant business. 69-68 over Nevada in the Sweet 16 and 78-62 over Kansas State in the Elite 8.

Michigan, First round 61-47 over Montana, second round, 64-63 over a strong Houston team in which freshman Jordan Poole cooly sank a 28 foot 3 pointer at the buzzer to help the Blue move on. 99-72 over Texas A&M in the Sweet 16, and 58-54 over Florida State in the Elite 8.

Key players 

Loyola

 Guard Clayton Custer, 13.2 points per game, guard Ben Richardson, 7.0 per game, but scored 23 in the victory over K State including 6-for-7 from trifecta range. Marques Townes 11.2 points and sank a massively clutch 3 pointer late in the Nevada game to seal the game.

 Michigan

Center Mo Wagner, 14.3 ppg, 6.9 rbg. Scored 21 against A&M and can be a dominant player. Guard Charles Matthews 13.0 ppg, 5.6 rbg, 2.5 assists, Scored 18 against A&M and 17 against FSU. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, 12.8 ppg, 3.9 rbg, 3.3 assists. Scored 24 against A&M and had 7 assists. When he gets going Michigan really cranks it up.

Decision

Sister Jean has been a great story. She's inspiring. But the media has overblown it some. It's not SJ's fault, but it's gotten a little tiresome. Still a great run for her and her team, and this is a very formidable group and a very tough out. Still I'm highly bullish on this Wolverines team. Mo Wagner, Charles Matthews and Abdur-Rahkman are superb players and there are other highly skilled players around them. Both teams can shoot, and really get after it on defense. I'm looking at a very tight, close contest here, but I'll go with the Blue.

Michigan 74, LC 71

Second semifinal

Villanova (34-4) vs. Kansas (31-7)

Alamodome

7:49 PM CT

TBS

Jim and company

Nova by 5

How they got here

Nova, 87-61 over Radford, 81-58 over Alabama, 90-78 over West Virginia in the Sweet 16 and 71-59 over Texas Tech in the Elite 8.

Kansas, 76-60 over Penn, 83-79 over Seton Hall, 80-76 over Clemson in the Sweet 16 and a tremendously exciting 85-81 overtime victory over Duke in the Elite 8.

Key players

Kansas

Guard Malik Newman, 14 ppg, 4.9 rbg, 2.1 apg. Scored 32 against Duke, was 5-for-12 from triple and 11-of-12 from the stripe. Superb player. Devonte' Graham. 17.2 ppg, 4.1 rbg, 7.3 apg. The heartbeat of the team, the point guard just makes things happen on the court for the Jayhawks with his pinpoint passing, his defense and his pretty accurate shooting. Scored 29 against Penn in the first round, 16 against Clemson in the Elite Eight and had 11 points and 6 assists against Duke. He also had 9 assists against Seton Hall in the second round. Udoka Azubuike, 7'0", 280 pound senior. Just a dominator in the paint. He had 14 points and 11 boards against Clemson. and 9 points and 8 boards against Duke. Superior talent and disrupter in the middle. Kansas has an advantage with Azubuike. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk. 14.7 ppg, 4 rebounds, 3 assists. Scored 16 against Seton Hall in round 2 and 11 against Duke including the game tying trifecta that sent the game into overtime. He's a super clutch shooter. Prolific from long range. Wow, there is some serious talent on this squad.

Nova

Jalen Brunson, 19.2 ppg, 4.6 assists. Now this guy is another heart and soul player for his team, like Graham is for Kansas. Scored 27 against West Virginia in the Sweet 16 going 8-for-15 from the field, 3-for-6 from deep and 8-for-9 from the stripe. He added 15 against Texas Tech in the Elite 8. Really outstanding junior. The leader of this basketball team. Mikal Bridges, 17.8 ppg, 5.4 rbg. Another awesome talent. The junior guard poured in 23 against Alabama, 16 against West Virginia in the Sweet 16 and 12 against Texas Tech in the Elite 8. Eric Paschall, a 6'9", 255 pound power forward averaged 10.3 ppg and 5.3 boards. Posted 12 points and 14 rebounds against Texas Tech. When he gets going on the boards, he can dominate. Really important player for Nova. Donte DiVincenzo, 12.9 ppg, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists. Scored 18 against Alabama, and 12 against Texas Tech. Just a scrappy, hard-nosed northeastern player. Fits the Philly prototype well. Another extremely important player on this basketball team.

Decision

These 2 teams are superbly talented with great shooters, great rebounders and lockdown defenses, particularly Nova's D. This is as tough a pick as the first one, but I'll take the 2015 national champions to get another shot at a national title. But Kansas will give them everything they want. Should be a spectacular basketball game.

Villanova 78, Kansas 76

Houston Open, ANA Inspiration and MLB previews, predictions

Houston Open, formerly the Shell Houston Open, no sponsor this year

Golf Club of Houston, 7,441 yards, par 72

Defending champion: Russell Henley. Henley, the former Georgia Bulldog, won his 3rd PGA title shooting a 65 on Sunday which included 10 birdies as he defeated Sung Kang by 3 shots. Henley finished -20.

Weather:  Tomorrow, showers in the morning, clearing up, 83, wind 6-9 MPH. They've got severe chances today. Friday through Sunday perfect. 79-83, sunny, wind anywhere from 7-12 MPH. 

TV: Thursday-Friday, Golf Channel, 3-6 PM CT; Saturday-Sunday, 1-2 PM CT, Golf Channel, 2-5 PM CT NBC.

Key hole

No. 18, A 488 yard, par 4 that features a lake running down the entire left side of the hole, so driving the ball is at a premium. Players will try to carve as much distance as they can off the lake and cut it into the fairway. There is sand on the left hand side of the fairway too that can be problematic when the player goes over the water. The right side is the safer play but leads to a longer approach in. On Sunday, the contenders will have a decision to make on the tee, play if conservatively or take a chance. Most will choose the latter to try and win it. The approach has to carry sand on the right and not be overcooked or the contender's ball will go in the water. Challenging, really outstanding finishing hole.

Winner

I'm going with one of my favorites on the tour. This Vanderbilt University graduate and 33 year old from Seattle, Washington and Baylor High School in Chattanooga, took Justin Thomas into a playoff at the Honda Classic a month ago. He had a shot to win it on 16 after Justin missed an 8'er for birdie and he faced a 7'er, which could have very well closed the deal. He missed barely to the left, and ended up losing to JT on the first playoff hole. He tied for 3rd here last year with Rickie Fowler, and needs emerge victorious to earn an invitation to the Masters. I like thid young bomber to get over the hump this week and win his first PGA title and earn a spot at next week's premiere major.

Luke List

Like List at Houston (Photo, BODITRAK Sports)

Sleeper

J.B. Holmes 

The 2015 champion, plays the course well. Lost in a playoff to Paul Casey in 2009 and defeated Jordan Spieth and Johnson Wagner in a playoff 3 years ago. 

ANA Inspiration

The first of the 5 majors on the LPGA Tour in Rancho Mirage, California. The second major, the U.S. Women's Open, will be played at Shoal Creek in Birmingham on May 31-June 3rd. The other 3 majors are the Ricoh Women's British, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and the Evian Championship.

 The defending champion of the ANA is Ryu So-yeon who defeated Lexi Thompson in a catastrophic way, as Thompson was assessed a four stroke penalty on Sunday from her Saturday round when she was deemed to have placed her ball back improperly on the green on a 16 inch putt. She was assessed a 2 stroke penalty for misplacing her ball and a 2 stroke penalty for signing an improper scorecard. It was brutally tough on Thompson. She lost in the playoff to Ryu.

I like the 23 year old from Coral Springs, Florida to come back and win it this year. Lexi wins her 10th LPGA title and second major at the ANA. She also won the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April of 2014, a major then. 

TV times: Golf Channel: Thursday, 11 AM-3 PM CT, 6-8 PM CT; Friday, 11 AM-4 PM CT, 6-8 PM CT, Saturday and Sunday, Golf Channel, 4-8 PM CT.

Champion: Lexi Thompson

Like Thompson to recover from last year's disaster and win her 2nd major on tour (Photo, Sporting News).

MLB Predictions

The Major League baseball season opens up tomorrow and it will be a classic this season. Can the Houston Astros repeat or can the LA Dodgers knock them off this year or somebody in the American League, the powerful Yankees with their 3 bash brothers in Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, or the Red Sox with elite players and headlined by super starters Chris Sale and David Price. Or can the Nationals finally get over the hump in Bryce Drew's most likely final season in D.C. Here are my predictions for the 2018 season. 

AL Wild Card

Yankees over the LA Angels, 6-2

NL Wild Card

Diamondbacks over Cardinals, 3-2

ALDS

Astros over Yanks in 5

Red Sox over Indians in 5

 

NLDS

Nationals over Dbacks in 4

Dodgers over Cubs in 5

ALCS 

Astros over Bosox in 7

NLCS

Nationals over Dodgers in 7

The World Series

Bryce Harper has a lot to play for this year. Not only does he want to excel for his team, his next contract after this season is rumored to be in the $400 million range. Wow. But he's a heckuva player. I saw him almost hit it out of Nationals Park 2 years ago sitting behind home plate with my daughter. The ball must have traveled 470 feet. It was phenomenal. While Harper, Daniel Murphy, and the Nationals arsenal are prolific and Max Scherzer is all time good on the mound, the Houston Astros have the most firepower in baseball with the great 2017 MVP and three time batting champion second baseman Jose Altuve, elite  shortstop Carlos Correa and superior centerfielder George Springer, last year's world series MVP. Justin Verlander is as big a game pitcher as Scherzer is. USA Today asked Astros ace lefty Dallas Keuchal if there will be a problem with complacency this season. and he said, "No. We're not the Cubs!"

But I'll take an upset here and go with Harper, Murphy, Scherzer and ace right hander Stephen Strasburg. The Astros will be locked in, but I like the Nats to extremely hungry this season as they want Bryce Harper's likely last season in the nation's capital to count.

Nats over Astros in 7

 

NL MVP

Bryce Harper

 

AL MVP

Carlos Correa

NL Cy Young

Max Scherzer

 

AL Cy Young

Justin Verlander

 

World Series MVP

Bryce Harper

Harper and the Nats make DC ecstatic in October (Photo, SI.com

Here's a 2018 MLB hype song to get you ready for the season. 

Tomorrow

 Final Four Previews and Predictions