Thursday, July 6, 2017

USA Today Preseason Top 25; Alabama, Of Course, Will Headline 2017 SEC Media Days; Tide Tennis Hosts Annual ITA Summer Circuit Tournament; Family Weekend Announced For UA In September




USA Today Preseason Top 25






A total of six Southeastern Conference football teams are listed in the USA Today 2017 Preseason Top 25 college football poll. The University of Alabama Crimson Tide is ranked the highest of all SEC schools, coming in at No. 2 on the national rankings.

Florida State, in the opinion of the powers-that-be USA Today prognosticators, is the No. 1 school in the land. No "points" were given, so not clear "how close" the Tide was to the Seminoles. 

Following Alabama as the only Southeastern Conference school in the Top 10, the SEC has LSU (11), Auburn (14), Georgia (17), Tennessee (18) and Florida (22). 


  1. Florida State
  2. UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
  3. Ohio State
  4. Michigan
  5. Washington
  6. Oklahoma
  7. USC
  8. Penn State
  9. Clemson
10. Oklahoma State
11. LSU
12. Wisconsin
13. Virginia Tech
14. Auburn
15. Stanford
16. Boise State
17. Georgia
18. Tennessee
19. Louisville
20. South Florida
21. Utah
22. Florida
23. West Virginia
24. Texas
25. UCLA



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Alabama, Of Course, Will
Headline 2017 SEC Media Days



UA head football coach Nick Saban at 2016 SEC Media Days
Photo Credit: UA Athletics


HOOVER, Alabama - It's that time of year again! We can officially, sorta, start thinking University of Alabama and Southeastern Conference football again. Next week is the 2017 SEC Media Days, with all 14 Southeastern Conference schools sending its head coaches and three representatives from its respective football programs.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban and his contingent will be interviewed on Wednesday, August 12th with a start time of 9:05 a.m. CT set. Saban's crew? Senior center Bradley Bozeman, junior defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick and junior wide receiver Calvin Ridley. These four will represent the Crimson Tide and speak to reporters about (almost)-everything Bama football.

Last year it was seniors Eddie Jackson, Jonathan Allen and O.J. Howard representing the Tide.

Besides the University of Alabama, it will be representatives from Texas A&M, Kentucky and Missouri on Wednesday.

SEC Media Days is once again being held at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham at the Winfrey Hotel located at the Galleria.

Here is a complete list of the Southeastern Conference schools as well as their representatives at the 2017 SEC Media Days:


University of Alabama 
Bradley Bozeman, Sr., OL 
Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jr., DB 
Calvin Ridley, Jr., WR
Arkansas 
Austin Allen, Sr., QB 
Frank Ragnow, Sr., OL 
Kevin Richardson II, Sr., DB
Auburn 
Daniel Carlson, Sr., K 
Tray Matthews, Sr., DB 
Braden Smith, Sr., OL
Florida 
Duke Dawson, Sr., DB 
Marcell Harris, Sr., DB 
Martez Ivey, Jr., OL
Georgia 
Nick Chubb, Sr., RB 
Sony Michel, Sr., RB 
Roquan Smith, Jr., LB
Kentucky 
Mike Edwards, Jr., S 
Stephen Johnson, Sr., QB 
Courtney Love, Sr., LB
LSU 
D.J. Chark, Sr., WR 
Derrius Guice, Jr., RB 
Christian LaCouture, Sr., DE
Ole Miss 
Javon Patterson, Jr., OL 
Shea Patterson, So., QB 
Breeland Speaks, Jr., DT
Mississippi State
Donald Gray, Sr., WR
Dez Harris, Sr., LB 
Martinas Rankin, Sr., OL
Missouri 
Eric Beisel, Sr., LB 
Drew Lock, Jr., QB 
J’Mon Moore, Sr., WR
South Carolina 
Jake Bentley, So., QB
Hayden Hurst, Jr., TE 
Deebo Samuel, Jr., WR
Tennessee 
Emmanuel Moseley, Sr., DB 
Jashon Robertson, Sr., OL 
Kendal Vickers, Sr., DL
Texas A&M 
Christian Kirk, Jr., WR 
Koda Martin, Jr., OL 
Armani Watts, Sr., DB
Vanderbilt 
Oren Burks, Sr., LB 
Kyle Shurmur, Jr., QB 
Ralph Webb, Sr., RB




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Tide Tennis Hosts Annual ITA Summer Circuit Tournament


Photo Credit: UA Athletics


TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - The University of Alabama tennis programs will be hosting it's annual ITA Summer Circuit Tournament July 14-16, and will be welcoming over 100 tennis players to Tuscaloosa for the three-day weekend event.

There will be a full 64-person singles and 32-team doubles draw for both men's and women's competition. Matches will begin each morning at 9 a.m. CT at the Alabama Tennis Stadium and the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility.

The 2017 ITA Summer Circuit will be featuring more than 50 tournaments spread across the nation this summer. The circuit is slated to run for a six weekend period of time, beginning the last weekend in June and continuing through the last weekend in July. Players that advance out of the qualifying tournaments will head to Fort Worth, Texas, to take part in the ITA Summer Nationals, scheduled for August 12-15 at Texas Christian University (TCU).

The ITA Summer Circuit, which began in 1993, provides college tennis players, along with junior players and alumni, the opportunity to compete in organized events during the summer months.


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Family Weekend Announced For
University of Alabama In September

The Cruz Family
Rollin' toward a Family Weekend at UA

Family Weekend at the University of Alabama has been officially set for September 15-17, 2017. It is touted to be a weekend of fun, food and tradition. Registration, in fact, is now open. 

The football game that weekend is between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Colorado State Rams. It will, of course, be held at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. UA has announced that the packages will include admission into its three signature events, including the Rollin' on the River even on Friday night, the Family Weekend Tailgate prior to kickoff on Saturday as well as the Student Life Brunch on Sunday morning. The university says there will be abundant opportunities to enjoy campus life, spend time with your student attending UA, as well as get to know the resources that are available for your family at The Capstone.



Join the Cruz family at Family Weekend at UA!