By Colin Rajala

The Seton Hall men's golf team entered the 2022-2023 season as the defending Big East champions and continued their winning ways with individual and team wins at the Alex Lagowitz Memorial Invitational on Sept. 3-4.

The Pirates shot 23-under-par, 277-280-284-84, to win the team title by 12 strokes over second place Yale University, while Junior Wanxi Sun shot a career-best 11-under-par to win the individual title, his first career win. The sophomore also was named Wednesday BIG EAST Men's Co-Golfer of the Week.

“These eight guys knew what it meant to win it,” Head Coach J.T. Harper said. “The team has wanted to win this event since Seton Hall first started playing in it. I actually spoke earlier today with Gregor [Tait] and Dre [Andres Acevedo], our two seniors last season, and they felt like that was the one thing that they never got to accomplish. This team came in after the Big East championship and locked in and said we want to do this for [Associate Head Coach] Ian [Lagowitz]. We’ve had this circled on our calendar.”

The invitational is named in memory of Lagowitz’s son, who tragically passed away in 2016 at the age of 23 just a couple of years removed from being a top golfer at Colgate University, who hosts the annual event.

“To think or say we were going to win it is one thing, but to actually win it was special. To lead the event start to finish was incredibly emotional. It was just as awesome as we imagined. I think I gave Ian five hugs in like 30 seconds,” according to Harper, who noted that the “trophy went straight to Coach Lagowitz.”

Sun recorded five birdies and 13 pars in the opening round to post a five-under-par, 67, before returning in the afternoon to shoot a four-under-par, 68, which included an eagle on the par-5, 12th hole. The performance put him in the individual lead after 36 holes and provided The Hall a seven-stroke team lead.

“The week leading up to the tournament, he looked like he was not going to miss a shot. He played nearly flawless golf the first day. The first 36 holes he made one bogey, which is outrageous, especially on that course [ Seven Oaks Golf Club in Hamilton , N.Y .],” Harper said.

He added that Sun had another great range session prior to Sunday’s final round but opened round three with bogeys on the first two holes before shooting a double bogey on hole three.

“So, he’s sitting four over through three holes, which is for any college golfer about as nightmarish of a start as you can imagine. He calls me over on the fourth tee and we have a small chat and I say those three holes just happened, there's nothing you can do about it except trust that you are playing unbelievable golf right now and commit to the next shot and know that you've proven that you can make a ton of birdies on this course,” Harper said.

Sun responded to his new head coach’s words and proceeded to birdie the next two holes before playing the last seven holes at five-under-par to finish the final round with a two-under-par, 70.

“What I am most proud of Wanxi is his resiliency,” Harper said. “To have the maturity to take a step back and reset and have full confidence in oneself, that kind of turnaround is so rare for these young men.”

Sun won the individual title by five strokes over Villanova University's Ryan Palmer.

Finishing in third place was Seton Hall senior Wenliang Xie, who was five under-par, 71-69-71-211, good enough for his sixth career sub-par tournament (tied his for sixth-most in Seton Hall history) and his fourth career top-five finish.

“Wen is our senior, our captain and he might be the best college golfer I’ve ever seen. Wen is as solid as it gets and he showed up to Colgate with what felt like his C-game,” Harper said. “He showed so much mental toughness and was able to turn three rounds that could have gone south quickly into three under par rounds and helped lead our team to victory.”

With Yale closing in during Xie’s final round, he bogeyed the 1 th hole to bring him to two-over-par, but he was unfazed by the pressure as he approached Assistant Coach Gary Dunne on their way to the 16th hole and said to him, “Gary, I got this,” Harper recalls.

Xie went on to birdie the last three holes to finish the final round one-under-par.

Rounding out the Pirates performance were sophomore transfer George Fricker, who tied for sixth place overall with a two-under-par 70-71-73-214 in his first collegiate event; sophomore Angus O’Brien, who tied for 24th place with a three-over-par 69-77-73-219; freshman Jack Bosworth, who tied for 35th place with a six-over-par 76-72-74-22; and junior Brody Hanley, who tied for 42nd with a seven-over-par 78-75- 70-223.

“I know our guys are incredible golfers, but what Wenliang and Wanxi and everybody in the starting lineup did was incredible ... Every single one of those guys down the stretch played their last four holes at even or better. Yale was on our tails at that point and they responded. That, to me, is the sign of a good golf team and that’s what we got,” Harper said.

The resilience and poise of the current squad has Harper excited for the continued improvement of the team, which saw Xie and Sun finish tied for 22nd and 31st , respectively, in last year’s Alex Lagowitz Memorial Invitational.

“The most exciting thing is, technically all eight of our guys can come back next year and most of them have more than two years of eligibility left,” Harper said.

“Seton Hall started to find success when we had all five guys capable of shooting a great score and doing so consistently, because it’s not just about the top guys,” he continued. “My favorite thing about this squad is that not only do we have a couple studs leading the way, but we’ve got eight players that are battling for a starting spot. They continue to push each other and make each other better because it’s guys like our freshmen and our transfers that are coming in and saying I’m not here just to be happy to be a part of it, I’m going to push to make the starting lineup, which makes everybody better and is going to make for a lot of fun qualifiers,” Harper said.



Conclusion tomorrow

South Orange, N.J. - Coming off of a gritty 1-0 road win at Iona on Sunday, the Seton Hall women's soccer team returns home for their lone contest of the week against Columbia at Owen T. Carroll Field on Thursday at 6 p.m.

STREAM INFORMATION

All PSN and BEDN events can be seen on FloSports, one of the leading streaming services in the world. Special Seton Hall pricing is available only through this link for fans who want to subscribe to watch Seton Hall events, home and away, as well as other live events on the FloSports platform. https://my.flosports.tv/partner/big...t=teams&utm_term=setonhall&rtid=&coverage_id= Fans with a .edu school address can purchase a subscription for $6.99 per month, and all other fans can purchase a subscription for $12.50 per month. The non-Seton Hall pricing on FloSports is normally $29.99 per month.

GAME PROMOTION

Tomorrow's game is the Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff. Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Four Latinx student organizations will be tabled alongside the athletics marketing table and engaging in conversation with fans and students regarding their respective organizations.

NEWS & NOTES

• Since falling in their season opener, Seton Hall has gone 3-1-2 with wins over Saint Joseph's, Central Connecticut State and Iona.
• First-year Seton hall head coach Josh Osit was previously an assistant coach at Columbia for eight seasons and helped build Columbia into one of the Ivy League's most consistent programs.
• The Lions produced 35 All-Ivy League selections, six United Soccer Coaches All-Region honorees and the 2017 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year with Osit on staff.
• In seven seasons of competition with Osit on staff, Columbia had a winning record in six campaigns, including a 9-3-4 mark in 2019, which constituted the program's highest winning percentage since 2008. Between 2015 and 2017, the Lions were the only women's soccer program to finish top three in the Ivy league all three seasons. Columbia became a top-50 RPI team for the first time in program history in 2019 and reached as high as No. 28 in the RPI in 2021, the highest ranking in program history.
• Senior goalkeeper Grace Gordon (Chester Springs, Pa.) took home BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honors for the second time in her career after posting five saves and a clean sheet in the win at Iona on Sunday.
• Gordon currently ranks 17th in the nation, and first in the BIG EAST, for save percentage (.900) and 18th nationally for goals against average (.360).
• Senior Abbie Roberts (Bedfordshire, England) was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after scoring the game-winning goal against the Gaels and assisting in the shutout effort from her defensive midfield position.
• Roberts' goal was the second of the season and her career. Both have served as game-winners.
• Seton Hall is 8-5-2 against non-conference opponents over the last two seasons.
• Roberts, Gordon and the Seton Hall backline made up of sophomore Chiara Pucci (Munich, Germany), junior Alex Fuggle (London, England) and sophomore Rachel Gerrie (Littleton, Colo.) have held opponents scoreless in four of Seton Hall's seven matches this season.
• Pucci was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on August 29, the first Pirate to be named defensive player of the week since 2012.

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Summer of 2008 I was living in LA, drove to Vegas for weekend to see exhibition at Thomas and Mack vs Canada in game Sammy D would have been in if not for falling out with Team Canada...3 or 4 weeks later Saturday night living in LA live game for gold medal all time zones...one of best intl games for gold medal ever

By Gary Parrish

We asked coaches for their thoughts on the impact NIL legislation has had on college athletics​

Graphic by Keytron Jordan

CBS Sports college basketball writers Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander surveyed roughly 100 coaches for our annual Candid Coaches series. They polled everyone from head coaches at elite programs to assistants at some of the smallest Division I schools. In exchange for complete anonymity, the coaches provided unfiltered honesty about a number of topics. Over the next few weeks, we'll be posting the results of the questions asked.

A world where student-athletes would be able to profit from their name, image and likeness (like all other students) is something some of us discussed constantly in the years leading up to it becoming a reality. Reasonable minds could disagree on the impact it would someday make on college sports, among them the sport of men's basketball. But now, a little more than a year into this new way of doing things, it's undeniably a big deal that has reshaped how athletic directors and coaches do their jobs. With this as the backdrop, we asked roughly 100 college basketball coaches the following question:

Quotes that stood out​

Helping​

• "Probably too early to tell but I think it is helping the college basketball product. You saw some really good players return to college because of the financial implications."

• "We are keeping more guys in college basketball and the really good players at each program are more likely to stay at their school than transfer."

• "Overall NIL is helping college athletics -- (but) it does need some guardrails. Even pro sports have salary caps. It has made coaching more of a challenge because there is an expectation of getting a deal at the snap of your fingers."

• "I like NIL -- I just don't think it's been managed properly. Some of the money out there right now, I just don't understand or see how it's sustainable. I certainly think NIL should be an option for college athletes, it's just gotta be managed somehow better. It's out of control right now. I don't understand where all this money is coming from and how it can be sustainable. It's good for a place like my school because we would never cheat, and now it allows us to offer our players something in a legal way. It's a good thing for college basketball, but certainly somehow needs to be managed a little better because it's just a little bit out of control right now."

Hurting​

• "It's increased so many ways for people to move money to players, handlers and families that have nothing to do with NIL but can fall under the guise of it. Pay-for-play is more brazen than ever before.
  There is no teeth in any legislation that you don't feel the right lawyers couldn't get you through."

• "Recruiting has become a silent auction for recruits going to the highest bidder. It's not about where the best fit is anymore, style of play, role, development, etc. for a recruit's future."

• "I think NIL has eliminated 'college' athletics, and much of this is due to the lack of progressive thought by leadership in the NCAA. They had numerous years and opportunities to find ways to allow players to profit off true NIL. Because of their backtracking, they got backed into such a corner they essentially opened the floodgates -- to not players profiting of name, image and likeness, (but) legit pay-for-play. I do think the market corrects itself in the years to come. I think less people will be interested in giving money on the front side."

• Overall, I think the combination of NIL and the transfer portal has hurt college athletics. I think both on their own would be fine, but when you put the two together you have poison. Mid-major farm teams. Collusion at the high-major level and free agency with no contracts. At least in the NBA there is a salary cap and contracts with penalties."

By Eugene Rapay

A lot to unpack from the Big East recruiting trail.

You read that headline correctly, Georgetown offered eighth-grader Omari Chaudhry (Marietta, Ga./Robert L. Osborne) and is getting there before the rest of the pack. It is the 6-foot-2 guard’s first Division I offer.

Other than that, it was a big week for other Big East teams, with Butler, Marquette, DePaul and Xavier all receiving commitments.

DePaul finally gets on the board for 2023, getting 7-foot big man Babacar Mbengue (Senegal/Olympus Prep). Butler gets its second 2023 commit in Boden Kapke (Victoria, Minn./Holy Family Catholic).


Marquette loads up with another four-star 2023 commit, as Tre Norman (Dorchester, Mass./Worcester Academy) becomes the Golden Eagles’ third four-star pledge of that class.

...and lastly, Sean Miller continues to clean up on the recruiting trail, notching his fourth commit since May. He has three four-star 2023 commits, and now, three-star center Onyekachi ‘Kachi’ Nzeh (Upper Darby, Pa./George School).

Here’s the rest of the action from this past week:

Big East commitments:

• Three-star 2023 forward Boden Kapke (Victoria, Minn./Holy Family Catholic) commits to Butler. He did also have an offer from Xavier.
• Three-star 2023 center Babacar Mbengue (Senegal/Olympus Prep) committed to DePaul, also had an offer from Xavier.
• Four-star 2023 guard Tre Norman (Dorchester, Mass./Worcester Academy) committed to Marquette, also had an offer from Georgetown.
• Three-star 2023 center Onyekachi ‘Kachi’ Nzeh (Upper Darby, Pa./George School) committed to Xavier over a Final Four that also included Iowa, VCU and Saint Louis.

Non-Big East commitments:

• Four-star 2023 guard Isaiah Coleman (Fort Washington, Pa./National Christian Academy) committed to Charleston, also had offers from DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Seton Hall and Xavier.
• Three-star 2023 guard Lawrent Rice (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne) committed to Murray State. He also had offers from Georgetown, Marquette and Xavier.
• 2024 guard Robert Wright III (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) committed to Baylor, also had Seton Hall and Georgetown offers.
• Four-star 2023 forward Akil Watson (Middletown, N.Y./Roselle Catholic) committed to Arizona State. He had offers from more than half of the Big East — Creighton, UConn, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s, and Xavier.

Final cuts:

• Three-star 2023 guard Jalen Carruth (Suwanee, Ga./North Florida Prep) excluded Xavier from his final six.
• Three-star 2023 guard Brady Dunlap (Valencia, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) included Providence in his final six list, but cut Xavier.

New offers:

• Four-star 2024 wing Marcus Allen (Miami, Fla./AZ Compass Prep) received an offer from Villanova.
• Five-star 2024 center Flory Bidunga (Congo/Kokomo) received an offer from Butler.
• 2025 guard Myles Blackley (Summit, N.J./Summit) received an offer from Providence.
• 2027 guard Omari Chaudhry (Marietta, Ga./Robert L. Osborne) received an offer from Georgetown.
• 2024 forward Bryce Dortch (Somerville, Mass./Brimmer and May School) received an offer from Marquette.
• Five-star 2024 forward Trentyn Flowers (Jefferson, Ga./Sierra Canyon) received an offer from Creighton.

Offer Tracker:​

Hit link above

Pirates picked 6th in BE and an at large NCAA berth..
Projects 6 BE teams in Dance.

Has Rutgers ranked 31st.

Myron Medcalf
ESPN Staff Writer

The University of Connecticut and former men's basketball coach Kevin Ollie have reached a settlement of $3.9 million for claimed reputational damages and attorney's fees to conclude the lengthy legal battle that has ensued between them since his firing for allegedly violating NCAA rules in 2018.

The settlement effectively ends a potential federal race discrimination suit Ollie had considered against the university.

Ollie, a former UConn point guard who guided the Huskies to a 127-79 record and the 2014 national championship in six seasons as head coach, was let go after two losing seasons.

After he was fired, Ollie sued the school after it refused to pay him the money remaining on his multimillion-dollar contract. The school cited the alleged violations for its decision to fire Ollie with cause and without compensation.

In January, an arbitrator ruled that UConn had "improperly fired" Ollie and he was awarded $11.1 million.

Per a joint statement between Ollie and the school on Thursday, the $3.9 million settlement has resolved "all outstanding matters related to his former employment with the University of Connecticut and to avoid further costly and protracted litigation."

"I am grateful that we were able to reach [an] agreement," Ollie said in the statement. "My time at UConn as a student athlete and coach is something I will always cherish. I am pleased that this matter is now fully and finally resolved."

The NCAA's investigation of Ollie's alleged violations led to two years of probation for the school and three-year show cause penalty for Ollie.

Ollie, who coached his alma mater to a national championship in 2014, continued to fight for what he and his team called an improper dismissal before an arbitrator ruled in their favor earlier this year.

Ollie's legal team called the January ruling "vindication" for Ollie, who had been accused by the Committee on Infractions of deceptive actions within the investigation.

Thursday's settlement comes as Ollie's three-year show cause is set to expire, which could open the door for him to return to collegiate coaching.

The votes are in, the quotes are thought-provoking and the question lingers: Is the 30-second clock hurting college hoops?​

By Matt Norlander


Graphic by Keytron Jordan

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander surveyed roughly 100 coaches for our annual Candid Coaches series. They polled everyone from head coaches at elite programs to assistants at small Division I schools. In exchange for complete anonymity, these coaches provided unfiltered honesty about a number of topics. Over the course of three weeks we are posting the results of our summer survey on the state of college basketball.

For almost a century, men's D-I basketball didn't have a shot clock. In 1985, after some conferences experimented with one for a few years, the NCAA officially instituted a shot clock for all of its games.
A whopping 45 seconds per possession were allowed.

That first generation of the shot clock era lasted for nearly a decade. In 1993, 10 seconds got lopped and men's college hoops played with a 35-second clock for more than 20 years. Another shave came in 2015 when it was cut to 30. In the past decade, there has remained a push by some to get the clock 24 seconds, which is the length in every other major men's iteration of competitive organized basketball around the globe.

Some argue college basketball has playing and coaching styles that are accentuated by a longer shot clock and that those attributes shouldn't be taken away in the spirit of trying to emulate the NBA or other professional leagues.

With that in mind, we wanted to see where college coaches stood on this topic in 2022.

NEW YORK – Seton Hall junior Wanxi Sun (Danville, Calif.) was named BIG EAST Men's Co-Golfer of the Week on Wednesday.

Last week, Sun put together one of the finest single-tournament golfing performances in Pirate history, and in the process, lifted The Hall to the team title of the Alex Lagowitz Memorial. With three sub-par rounds, he shot a remarkable 11-under-par, 67-68-60-205, to win the individual title by five strokes over the second-place finisher, Villanova's Ryan Palmer. Sun's 205 is tied for the second-lowest par-72, three-round score in program history. Furthermore, his 11-under-par is tied for the most strokes under par ever for a Pirate.

It's Sun's first career win and second career top-5 finish.

Sun shares the award this week with Connecticut's Jared Nelson who was 15-under-par at the Doc Gimmler last week.

Sun and the rest of the Pirates will return to the links on September 24-25 for three rounds of golf at the Dartmouth Invitational at Montcalm Golf Club in Enfield, N.H.

Elijah Gertrude is going to take an official visit to SHU on Sept. 15 - 16.

The sport grew to 363 teams this year, but as D-I awaits further transformation, what's the best number for college hoops?​

By Matt Norlander



Graphic by Keytron Jordan

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander surveyed roughly 100 coaches for our annual Candid Coaches series. They polled everyone from head coaches at elite programs to assistants at small Division I schools. In exchange for complete anonymity, these coaches provided unfiltered honesty about a number of topics. This is our final week of posting the results of our summer survey on the state of college basketball.

Our Candid Coaches poll question from Monday addressed the looming curiosity over whether the NCAA Tournament might face any tweaks or remodels in the coming years. The only reason the controversial topic is potentially up for debate is due to the existence of the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee, which was formed in 2021 to help modernize college athletics.

Among the litany of actions that committee has been tasked with, the biggest in scope is redefining what it means to be a Division I institution and/or deciding if Division I will be tiered out into subgroups based upon university resources, spending budgets, conference affiliations and other to-be-determined factors. College basketball is the biggest elephant in that room. The sport's roster of teams has bloated yet again, increasing to 363 for the 2022-23 season, up five from a year ago. No American sport has more teams under one umbrella than D-I college basketball; it's 726 when accounting for men's and women's. Twenty-five years ago, Division I basketball had nearly 60 fewer schools.

When does it stop? Is it already too big, or can the sport support this many teams? Should the transformation committee splinter Division I up into two, maybe even three subdivisions? That's today's Candid Coaches poll question.

#137 for SHU in national universities latest rankings out today. Not trending the right way. I know rankings should be taken with grain of salt but perceptions matter. Particularly some of the names ahead of SHU. No good reason not to be in 75-100 range..

NY football season ended today. Jets and Giants appear to be as bad as last year. Can’t wait for season to start.

Stupid question, but did anyone else get a thank you email from Cale Cares, offering to send a free t-shirt and notebook? They are not asking for much personal info--just home address--but my wife and I are hyper-vigilant about fishing schemes, internet privacy, etc. Thanks.

On one hand its essentially a rule by death to feature a black female these days

On the other hand its a mythical mermaid kids movie.

more upset that disney decided to hit the "collect money" button by remaking all the classics into terrible live action movies

South Orange, N.J. – Seton Hall men's soccer returns home to wrap up non-conference play on Tuesday night against Army at 6:56 p.m.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS NIGHT
In partnership with the Office of International Programs, Seton Hall men's soccer will be hosting International Students Night on Tuesday. All international students are invited to attend the match and can sign up at the marketing table for a chance to participate in an on-field soccer skills challenge at halftime. Seton Hall will also honor the Office of International Programs pregame. In addition, there will be free soft pretzels available while supplies last.

LAST TIME OUT
Seton Hall earned its third shutout victory of the season with a 1-0 win on the road over Fairleigh Dickinson. The Pirates played a man down starting in the 48th minute after Luca Dahn (Kahl, Germany) was issued his second yellow card of the match. Quenzi Huerman (Vannes, France) scored his third goal of the season and his second in as many matches.

LINDBERG SEARCHING FOR 200
Head Coach Andreas Lindberg sits just one win away from 200 for his career. Now in his fifth season in South Orange, Lindberg has amassed a career record of 199-68-32 in 17 seasons as a head coach.

With his 200th win, Lindberg would become the third coach in Seton Hall history to surpass that milestone, joining Ed Kelly and Manfred Schellscheidt. Lindberg would also become the fifth active BIG EAST coach to hit that mark.

SCOUTING ARMY (2-2-1 THIS SEASON; 8-7-3 / 4-4-1 IN 2021)

• Army was selected to finish sixth in the Patriot League preseason poll.
• Enter play having won each of its last two games, both by shutout. Army has not allowed a goal in its last 203:18 of game time.
• The Black Knights have one common opponent with the Pirates this season, as they tied Fairleigh Dickinson, 1-1, on Aug. 29.
• Army and Seton Hall met last season in West Point, with the Pirates earning a 3-2 overtime victory. Johannes Pex (Stephansposching, Germany) scored the game-winner in overtime.
• Army leads the all-time series 24-4-2, however the Pirates have won four of the last five meetings.

NEWS & NOTES

• Seton Hall has won its last five matches, and 14 of its last 15, when scoring the first goal.
• If Quenzi Huerman scores, he will become the first Pirate to score in three straight matches since CJ Tibbling, who did so during the 2020 season.
• The Pirates' first three wins of the season have all been shutouts, the second time in three seasons that has occurred. Seton Hall has only had its first four wins of a season all be shutouts twice (2020 and 2014).
• The win over Oregon State was the Pirates' first over a top-10 team in the United Soccer Coaches rankings since beating No. 2 Georgetown to win the BIG EAST title on Apr. 17, 2021. The win also marked the first time Seton Hall has defeated a top-10 non-conference foe since winning at No. 3 Virginia in the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
• The Pirates conceded just one goal through its first three matches of the season, the program's best defensive start to a season since 2005.
• Fourteen different Pirates found the back of the next last season. Of that group, nine of them return for the 2022 season.
• This season's roster boasts 12 freshmen, the most since the 2018 team which featured the same number.
• The Pirates also welcome in a pair of transfers: junior Quenzi Huerman (Vannes, France) from Palm Beach Atlantic, and sophomore Tyler Hutchinson (Cliffside Park, N.J.) from Clemson

WATCH
All PSN and BEDN events can be seen on FloSports, one of the leading streaming services in the world. Special Seton Hall pricing is available only through this link for fans who want to subscribe to watch Seton Hall events, home and away, as well as all other live events on the FloSports platform. Fans with a .edu school address can purchase a subscription for $6.99 per month, and all other fans can purchase a subscription for $12.50 per month. The non-Seton Hall pricing on FloSports is normally $29.99 per month.

The link to watch all Seton Hall Men's Soccer games can be found here.

Does Judge catch Maris?

54 and counting to 61.

23 New York Giants 1-0

The Saquon Barkley Show has been renewed. A finally healthy Barkley totaled 194 yards from scrimmage with a touchdown and the game-winning two-point conversion. The Giants didn’t just snap a streak of five straight season-opening losses, they are .500 for the first time at any point in a season since the end of the 2016 after a 21-20 win over the Titans.


30 New York Jets 0-1

Dropped passes. Missed blocks. Fumbles. Blown coverages. Name a sloppy mistake and the Jets made it during a 24-9 loss to the Ravens. Joe Flacco has lost his last seven starts but will make at least two more with Zach Wilson sidelined … unless head coach Robert Saleh caves to the fans calling for third-stringer Mike White.

The Big Dance hasn't seen a change in more than a decade, so what's the point in tweaking a near-perfect event?​

By Matt Norlander




CBS Sports' Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander surveyed roughly 100 coaches for our annual Candid Coaches series. They polled everyone from head coaches at elite programs to assistants at small Division I schools. In exchange for complete anonymity, these coaches provided unfiltered honesty about a number of topics. This is our final week of posting the results of our summer survey on the state of college basketball.

Earlier this offseason, sources told CBS Sports that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey had been vocal in meetings with major college sports stakeholders over his willingness to consider changing the NCAA Tournament. This was confirmed in August, when Sankey went on the record (albeit with language that was equal parts understated and vague) with Sports Illustrated.

"Just take a fresh look at all of it," Sankey told SI. "As we think collectively, everyone goes to the corner and says, 'I have to hang on to what's mine.' But how do we contribute and build it better together?"

Sankey's words carry significant weight because, aside from running the almighty SEC, he is also co-chair of the Division I Transformation Committee. That commission is 21 people deep and has the ambitious duty of outlining and helping administer an overall restructuring of NCAA athletics as we know it, tectonic-like changes that are scheduled to materialize in the near future.

What the SI story did not include was Sankey referencing an inflammatory detail that sources shared with CBS Sports earlier this summer: in one meeting with high-ranking NCAA officials, Sankey postulated over the idea that the NCAA Tournament(s) in basketball deserve at least a cursory look at a format without automatic bids -- or at the very least, a marked reduction of them.

It's an idea ripe for everlasting wrath from college basketball fans. The NCAA Tournament is nearly perfect, and Sankey would become public enemy No. 1 in basketball if he led a charge to remodel one of the best sporting events in the world. But what do coaches think about the potential to reshape March Madness?

During the last Subway series I turned on SNY and the game wasnt on, so figuring it was only on the NYY station, I watched about 6 innings of Michael Kay before I got smart enough to try Channel 11. Maybe cause I am used to them, maybe cause of my feelings for Gary C cause he is our guy, or maybe cause they are just far better, but I was shocked at how, for me at least, inferior the Kay broadcast was. Talking to an old friend the other day (I was absolutely sick as a dog the day of the IW BET finals heroics - this guy had bought me a ticket, and I said I was too sick to go, up there on my worst decisions...I was sick as hell, but I could stil walk...) he is a huge NYY fan, and agreed about Kay vs Cohen.

Do you Yankee guys agree?

Rooting for Aaron the break the record btw. And wondering what NL team breaks this Dodger's heart...my money is on Atlanta again though the Mets and St L scare me too. Even Phillie...

We will get our 1st 2023 recruit soon!