Alabama Football
Crimson Tide Prepares For MSU Bulldogs
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| Nick Saban - Dan Mullen Photo courtesy GridIronNow.com |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - The University of Alabama football team took to the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields on Tuesday afternoon for a two-hour practice session in full pads. It's another nationally-ranked match up this Saturday with the No. 1/2 Crimson Tide traveling to Davis Wade Stadium to take on the 16th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Minkah Fitzpatrick was practicing yesterday, although he was still wearing the medical device on his hamstring to help after the pair of incidences on the field this past Saturday against the hard-hitting LSU contest.
Though having been limited on Monday during practice, outside linebackers Anfernee Jennings and Jamey Mosley appeared to be in good form during yesterday's session.
Jonah Williams is still sidelined with his injury, and looked on as Alex Leatherwood was working in his first-team left tackle slot.
The injury-ravaged Alabama defense will be tasked with stopping a Mississippi State rushing attack that ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference that averages 233.2 yards a game. Not only is the State offense one to be reckoned with, but the Bulldogs' rushing defense is also one not to be overlooked, also ranked fourth in the SEC. It's an important SEC West contest that is scheduled to be broadcast live on ESPN starting at 6 p.m. CT at Davis Wade Stadium. Dave Pasch will be handling play-by-play duties for the network with former Bama quarterback Greg McElroy joining him in the booth as analyst. Tom Luginbill will be handling the duties on the sidelines.
UA leads the all-time series 81-17-3 (79-18-3 after vacations/forfeits), and is currently riding a nine-game winning streak over over the Dogs. Bama won the most recent meeting between the two schools 51-3 last season in Tuscaloosa. The Tide is dominate in Starkville just as at home, holding an all-time advantage of 17-4 (16-4 after vacations). Alabama won the last meeting at Davis Wade Stadium in 2015 by a score of 31-6.
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College Football Playoff National Rankings
Crimson Tide Again No. 2
The Georgia Bulldogs once again sit atop the College Football Playoff poll. Georgia is one of five teams from the Southeastern Conference to make the CFP Top 25. The ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE is again No. 2 in the rankings. If the playoffs were held today it would be #1Georgia vs #4Clemson and #2Alabama vs #3Notre Dame.
Besides Georgia and Alabama, other teams from the SEC are Auburn (10), Mississippi State (16) and LSU (24).
Here are the Top 25 according to the College Football Playoff committee:
1 Georgia
2 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
3 Notre Dame
4 Clemson
5 Oklahoma
6 TCU
7 Miami
8 Wisconsin
9 Washington
10 Auburn
11 USC
12 Michigan State
13 Ohio State
14 Penn State
15 Oklahoma State
16 Mississippi State
17 Virginia Tech
18 UCF
19 Washington State
20 Iowa
21 Iowa State
22 Memphis
23 NC State
24 LSU
25 Northwestern
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Alabama Volleyball Hosts 7th-Ranked Kentucky
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - The University of Alabama volleyball team will play host to the seventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in a big Southeastern Conference contest tonight at Foster Auditorium in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide (16-10, 4-8 SEC) versus Wildcats (20-3, 11-1 SEC)
confrontation will take place tonight and can be viewed at 7 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
UA senior Leah Lawrence currently leads the Bama offense with 237 kills and a .322 hitting percentage, followed closely in kills by freshman Christine Jarman with 223. Lawrence also leads the Tide with 104 blocks and is tied with freshman setter Meghan Neelon with a team-leading 26 service aces. Junior Quincey Gary leads the defense and ranks fourth in the SEC with 449 digs.
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Jalen Hurts Named Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalist
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| Graphics/Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Everyone that loves Crimson Tide football already know how valuable he is, and now University of Alabama sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts has been named a semifinalist for the 2017 Davey O'Brien Award. The Davey O'Brien Foundation made the announcement on Tuesday.
Hurts is one of 16 quarterbacks from all across the nation who have been named to the semifinalist list. This is the second time that Hurts has been a semifinalist for this prestigious award, having been a candidate last year during his freshman season as the Alabama starting quarterback. appearance among the semifinalists is the second of Hurts' career.
Hurts is already the Alabama football record-holder in quarterback rushing touchdowns (20) and ranks No. 2 in quarterback career rushing (1,570 yards), third in career touchdown responsibility (53), sixth in career total offense (5,756 yards), seventh in career touchdown passes (33) and 10th overall in career passing yards (4,186) after not quite two seasons. This season Hurts is 106-of-175 passes for 1,406 yards and 10 touchdowns with just one interception. He is also Bama's second-leading rusher with 98 carries for 616 yards and seven touchdowns.
Since 1981 the Davey O'Brien Award has been presented annually to the nation's top quarterback. This year's winner will be announced at the ESPN College Football Awards in Atlanta, Georgia in December.
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Alabama Women's Basketball
Crimson Tide Selected For NCAA Advancement Program
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – University of Alabama women's basketball has been selected to take part in the two-year NCAA Women's Basketball Advancement Program. The program pairs schools with professionals in the area of marketing with the goal of increasing attendance and improving overall fan atmosphere and experience.
Crimson Tide women's basketball head coach Kristy Curry commented, "We are so thankful for being selected as one of only 30 teams across the country for the NCAA Women's Basketball Advancement Program. Since day one, one of our biggest goals has been to grow our fan base and get people excited about Alabama women's basketball. We've certainly made some great progress in that area, but look forward to taking another step forward with the help from this program."
The NCAA received more than 80 Division I applicants for the 30 spots in its pilot program. Joining UA in the first program will be Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Boise State, Colorado, Dayton, Drake, Florida State, Georgetown, Liberty, Marquette, Miami, NC State, Ohio State, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, San Francisco, Southern Illinois, UAB, UCLA, UMass-Lowell, UMKC, USF, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Western Kentucky and Winthrop. The professional advisors will work with the teams individually to evaluate and assess current marketing efforts, specifically in advertising and promotions, tickets and social media, and then assist in ways to improve.
