Women's Golf Top Seed At NCAA Shoal Creek Regional
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The NCAA Shoal Creek Regional has been scheduled for May 5-7 on the par-72, 6,470-yard course. This year's regional marks the 11th straight invitation to postseason competition for the Crimson Tide. Bama's first NCAA Championship came in 2012 at the Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.
Alabama women's golf head coach Mic Potter said, "We weren't surprised where we wound up since we already knew we were hosting. It's a balanced field and the course is in fantastic condition. The greens are fast and firm and I think it's a course that's going to separate the field the way it should. I think the best teams are going to advance and the best players are going to excel."
The Crimson Tide has advanced to the NCAA Championship for 10 consecutive years now. This 2016 selection makes this the 18th NCAA appearance for Alabama women's golf.
Those teams joining the Alabama Crimson Tide at the NCAA Shoal Creek Regional are No. 2 seed Northwestern, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 California, No. 5 Iowa State, Florida State, Tennessee, Missouri, Purdue, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Clemson, Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, Eastern Kentucky, Oakland (Michigan) and Alabama State.
The top-six finishers at the Shoal Creek Regional will advance to the NCAA Championship at the Eugene Country Club on May 20-25 in Eugene, Oregon, and join the teams that will advance from the Stanford (California), Bryan (Texas) and Baton Rouge (Louisiana) Regionals.
The Crimson Tide finished tied for fourth at the NCAA Raleigh Regional in Raleigh, North Carolina last season before posting its sixth consecutive top-15 finish at the NCAA Championships.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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Crimson Tide Baseball To Face Samford Tonight
Graphics Credit: RollTide.com
The Alabama Crimson Tide men's baseball team makes a short road trip to Birmingham today to face Samford for the fourth consecutive away game. Bama and the Bulldogs will meet tonight at Joe Lee Griffin Field at 6 p.m. CT.
Tonight's contest will be the 102nd meeting in a series that dates back to 1894. Of course, going that far back the Samford Bulldogs technically didn't exist, as the school was then known as Howard College. The Tide owns the Bulldogs in the series 89-12, including a 17-5 record when playing in Birmingham. The two teams met twice last season, with Bama winning both games, extending its winning streak to nine consecutive games.
Alabama will call on freshman right-hander Brock Love to start on the mound this evening. This will be his third start of the season, is currently 0-0 and has a 2.25 ERA (2 ER/8.0 IP) in his first two starts.
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Track & Field Teams Move Up In National Rankings
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Team Rankings have been released, and both the Alabama men's and women's team have moved up in this fourth week of national rankings. The men advance one spot to No. 8 this week, while the women advance three places into the No. 27 spot.
Leading the Alabama men this week is senior sprinter Ahmed Ali who is ranked in the top 15 in the both the 100 meters and 200 meters, as well as boasting the fastest wind-legal 200-meter time (20.16) recorded by a college runner this season. Ali's time is the fourth-fastest in the world.
Leading the Alabama men this week is senior sprinter Ahmed Ali who is ranked in the top 15 in the both the 100 meters and 200 meters, as well as boasting the fastest wind-legal 200-meter time (20.16) recorded by a college runner this season. Ali's time is the fourth-fastest in the world.
For the women's team the name comes as no surprise. Junior two-time NCAA champion Quanesha Burks leads Bama with 34.77 points in the long jump. Her point total is number one in the country in that particular event.
The USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings are compiled by a mathematical formula based on national descending order lists. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Preseason marks were included through week three of the rankings and included results from the previous season.
Turning to the South Regional Index, this week the Alabama men are ranked third behind Florida and Georgia while the women are second behind Florida. The Southeastern Conference continues to dominate the boards by earning the No. 1 spots on the men’s and women’s conference Index Top 10 list totaling 1,859.50 points for the men and 1,976.45 points for the women.
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Speaks May Be Speaking From Where He Shouldn't
Sometimes players should just keep their mouths shut.
Ole Miss sophomore defensive lineman Breeland Speaks has already begun poking at a hornet's nest, well before the start of the 2016 college football season. And he's poking at the defending national champions.
Yesterday on the SEC Network speaks decided to speak of the "rivalry" that is Alabama-Ole Miss football. Though not using any stats in his bold declaration, the 6' 3", 313-pound defensive tackle said that the Rebels are "supposed to beat Alabama." Let that sink in.
"Supposed to beat Alabama."
Now, Speaks had a good season for Johnny Reb last season. He finished 2015 with 32 tackles, 5.5 of which were for a loss, one sack, two pass breakups and three quarterback hurries. But obviously he didn't finish the season with humility considering how Ole Miss fared the remainder of the season after managing to upset the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa last year.
Not to say that 10-3 is a bad record. But no SEC West Title, no SEC Title and no National Championship. Oh, that's right, Alabama won all three of those. But Ole Miss is "supposed to beat Alabama."
Admittedly, Alabama head coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide will be looking to avoid a third consecutive loss to the Rebels this season when Bama travels to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi on Saturday, September 17th. Though playing the game away to an SEC West foe is more difficult than at home, it will be even harder for the Rebels to tame the Tide a third straight year. Five mistakes cost the Crimson Tide last season's contest, falling to the Rebs 43-37.
Of course spring chat is always easy. Come the fall, backing it up won't be quite so easy as opening mouth to insert foot.
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2017 Football Commitments For Alabama Football
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team currently has 8 student-athletes who have committed to furthering their football careers at the Capstone. As new commits are announced the list will be updated and released.
Here is the complete list of 2017 commitments to UA as of 4/26/16:
- Najee Harris, RB (6-1, 210), Antioch, Calififornia
- Alex Leatherwood, OL (6-4, 300), Pensacola, Florida
- Chadarius Townsend, ATH, (6-0, 180), Tanner, Alabama*
- Xavier McKinney, DB (6-1, 170), Roswell, Georgia
- Brian Robinson, RB (6-2, 210), Tuscaloosa, Alabama*
- Aaron Sterling, DL (6-1, 270), Stone Mountain, Georgia
- Gary Johnson, LB (6-2, 225), Dodge City (Kan.) Community College
- VanDarius Cowan, LB (6-4, 217), Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
*State of Alabama Recruits/Commitments
