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auburnwire.usatoday.com A look at Auburn's top NFL draft prospects ahead of the 2023 season Taylor Jones 3–4 minutes After a disappointing 2022 NFL draft that only saw one player selected, Auburn had better luck in the 2023 edition with five players ultimately hearing their names called. In a draft headlined by defensive talent, Derick Hall kicked off the draft for Auburn by being selected No. 37 overall by the Seattle Seahawks. Fellow defensive players Colby Wooden and Owen Pappoe were selected in rounds No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. The lone offensive player to be taken was premier back Tank Bigsby, who was selected No. 88 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars, with kicker Anders Carlson rounding out the draft by being drafted in the sixth round by the Green Bay Packers. Buy Tigers Tickets What could the 2024 NFL draft look like for the Auburn Tigers? Ric Serritella of NFL Draft Bible shared his top five Tigers that have the best chance to be selected in next year’s draft with Lindy’s Sports. Based on his picks, Auburn’s haul to the NFL draft will once again be defensive-heavy. Here’s a look at Auburn’s top five NFL draft prospects heading into the 2023 season according to Ric Serritella. Zach Bland / AU Athletics Position Height Weight Class DL 6-3 294 Sr Just like last season’s draft class, expected Auburn to send plenty of defensive players to the next level. Harris has recorded 58 tackles in two seasons at Auburn, and is expected to be a headliner on the Tigers defensive line again this season. Michael Chang/Getty Images Position Height Weight Class CB 6-1 170 Sr Auburn’s defensive backfield will be the program’s most experienced unit heading into the season, with James headlining the way. James made 37 tackles and eight pass deflections in his first season at Auburn, and was the defense’s highest-graded player with a final Pro Football Focus grade of 82.3. Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports Position Height Weight Class S 6-1 177 Sr Simpson has improved his stock with every season. In 2022, he met career highs in tackles (37), interceptions (2), and pass deflections (5). If the trend continues, expect the 2023 season to be the best yet for Simpson. AP Photo/Butch Dill Position Height Weight Class RB 5-10 210 Jr Hunter is the first offensive player to be featured on this list, and, spoiler alert, is the only offensive player to be featured on this list. Hunter has played two seasons in the shadows of Tank Bigsby, and has done well considering. He has 1,261 yards and ten touchdowns in two seasons at Auburn on 193 total attempts. In a new offensive system with a revamped offensive line, can Hunter surpass Bigsby’s production in 2023? AP Photo/Butch Dill Position Height Weight Class CB 6-1 182 Sr Pritchett made 37 stops in 2022, which is a career high for him. He also runs a 40-yard dash in 4.45. Serritella believes that Pritchett will benefit from getting a year of experience under new defensive backs coach Wesley McGriff this season. Out of all of Auburn’s candidates, Pritchett has the best chance to hear his name called first. “Based on his body of work and skills, he seems destined to hear his named called as a top 100 selection.”- Serritella

6 Tigers tabbed preseason AllSEC by Phil Steele Nathan King 4–5 minutes Five of Auburn’s six selections on Phil Steele’s 2023 preseason All-SEC teams are returning players Auburn certainly bolstered its roster with the nation’s No. 3-rated transfer class, but several of the team’s returning pieces will be crucial to the Tigers’ 2023 success, too. Five of Auburn’s six selections on Phil Steele’s 2023 preseason All-SEC teams are returning players, led by running back Jarquez Hunter and cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett on the second team. Steele, whose preview magazine is one of the nation’s most extensive and popular, also tabbed Auburn kicker Alex McPherson, punter Oscar Chapman, kick returner Brian Battie and linebacker Cam Riley on his third team. A former 3-star recruit from Mississippi, Hunter bided his time behind Tank Bigsby for two full seasons, and now it appears he's in line to be Auburn's lead tailback for a new-look Auburn offense. There are plenty of reasons for the Tigers to be excited about that: Hunter was an effective runner as a freshman, then made more strides last year, finishing with 675 yards and seven touchdowns, plus 17 receptions and two more scores through the air. Hunter's 6.5 yards per carry in 2022 are the second-most by a returning SEC running back who had at least 100 carries (Arkansas' Raheim Sanders). "He's probably the best running back I've ever coached,” Hugh Freeze said during spring ball. Auburn’s returning leader in pass breakups from last season (eight), Pritchett returned to a full-time cornerback role after playing nickel in 2021, and posted his best all-around college season. The Jackson, Alabama, native turned in 37 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. A glaring omission from Steele’s list is Auburn senior cornerback D.J. James, who does not occupy any of the eight cornerback spots on the four All-SEC teams. James was a breakout player for the Tigers last season, with 37 tackles, six pass breakups and a pick-six against Western Kentucky. Per Pro Football Focus, James allowed only receptions on only 40.7 percent of his targets last season, good for the 10th-best rate among all FBS corners. Now entering his fourth season as the Tigers’ starting punter after coming over from Australia, Chapman has been one of the most consistent specialists in the SEC over the past two years. Last season, his average net yardage per punt of 42.1 ranked third in the conference, and opponents returned only 17.5 percent of his kicks. Auburn’s second straight No. 1 kicker recruit, McPherson will take over next year for Anders Carlson, after doing so toward the end of last season when Carlson suffered a season-ending injury. He made 6-of-7 field goals in the Tigers’ final three games, including a 51-yarder. The team’s top returning tackler, Riley will be a veteran in Auburn’s linebacking corps, after posting 64 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. Battie was also selected by Steele as a third team All-American at the all-purpose position. The USF transfer was a consensus first team All-American kick returner in 2021, after he led all of college football with three kick-return touchdowns, and was No. 6 nationally at 32.5 yards per return. Auburn’s 2023 season kicks off Sept. 2 against UMass (2:30 p.m. CST, ESPN). *** 50% OFF SUMMER SPECIAL: Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more ***

247Sports predicts Auburn football to go 7-5 in 2023 Lance Dawe 2–3 minutes The Tigers are looking for a solid year one underneath Hugh Freeze. Fans are uncertain of what the ceiling truly is, given Auburn's chaotic nature, but most media outlets have capped Auburn at nine wins in 2023. The majority of opinions float around 6-6 to 8-4. Brad Crawford of 247Sports recently released his entire 2023 SEC football predictions, placing Auburn at sixth in the SEC West with a 7-5 record (3-5 in SEC play). Take a look at how Crawford sees Auburn's schedule playing out: Sept. 2nd vs UMass - W Sept. 9th at California - W Sept. 16th vs Samford - W Sept. 23rd at Texas A&M - L Sept. 30th vs Georgia - L Oct. 14th at LSU - L Oct. 21st vs Ole Miss - W Oct. 28th vs Mississippi State - W Nov. 4th at Vanderbilt - W Nov. 11th at Arkansas - L Nov. 18th vs New Mexico State - W Nov. 25th vs Alabama - L Auburn would start out the year 3-0 before losing three straight through the bye week. Conference wins against Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt would be nice, but Hugh Freeze and the Tigers certainly have more in mind for the upcoming season. Losing to Arkansas for the second season in a row would be the first time the Tigers lost two straight to the Razorbacks since 2011-12. "Considering the Vegas number is 6.5, Auburn fans will be excited if the Tigers hit seven wins this fall," Crawford wrote. "On the contrary, a .500 finish is obviously not what Hugh Freeze has in mind for his first season on the Plains. This roster has vastly improved through the portal, but simply isn't strong enough yet to fight for a spot near the top of the division standings. It will come, though."

thank you for that! my mom said archie was god to her and her best friend.

Auburn soccer reveals 2023 schedule JD McCarthy ~3 minutes The Auburn Tigers revealed their 2023 schedule Thursday. The season will be head coach Karren Hoppa’s 25th in charge of the Tigers. “I am excited to start my 25th season on The Plains with what may be the toughest schedule in my tenure here,” Hoppa said. “We have two extremely difficult non-conference trips along with some great home non-conference opponents. The SEC schedule is always a grind, especially in the West division. This schedule is one that will give us the opportunity to compete at the highest level, and we look forward to the challenge.” Auburn will have 20 matches this season with 10 taking place at the Auburn Soccer Complex. They are looking to improve on their 6-6-6 record from last season. The Tigers will open their season on Aug. 9 in an exhibition against Mercer. They will then travel to South Alabama on Aug. 12 for their final exhibition ahead of the season. Their season will officially start with a match against Samford, the reigning SoCon champions on Thursday, Aug. 17. They will then face Troy on Aug. 20 before starting their first road trip of the season. The Tigers will open SEC play at Mississippi State on Sept. 15 before hosting Missouri on Sept. 21 for the conference home opener. The final home game will be against LSU on Oct. 22 with the regular season finale coming against Georgia on Oct. 26. The SEC Tournament will start on Oct. 29 in Pensacola, Florida, at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex with the NCAA Tournament starting on Nov. 10. Here is a look at the full schedule. Date Time (CT) Opponent Aug. 9 6:30 p.m. Mercer (Exh.) Aug. 12 6 p.m. at South Alabama (Ech.) Aug. 17 6:30 p.m. Samford Aug. 20 6 p.m. Troy Aug. 24 TBA at Syracuse Aug. 27 12 p.m. at Army Aug. 31 6:30 p.m. Wake Forest Sept. 3 2 p.m. American Spet. 7 6 p.m. at West Virginia Seot. 10 11 a.m. at Ohio State Sept. 15 6:30 p.m. at Mississippi State Sept. 21 6:30 p.m. Missouri (SEC Opener) Sept. 24 2 p.m. at Ole Miss Sept. 29 6:30 p.m. South Carolina Oct. 5 6 p.m. at Alabama Oct. 8 6 p.m. Arkansas Oct. 13 6:30 p.m. Texas A&M Oct. 19 5 p.m. at Florida Oct. 22 4 p.m. LSU (Senior Night) Oct. 26 5 p.m. at Georgia Oct. 29 – Nov. 5 TBA SEC Tournament Nov. 10 – Dec. 3 TBA NCAA Tournament More Auburn News! Kerryon Johnson named University of North Alabama's director of player personnel Auburn to play exciting SEC schedule in 2024 according to On3 Roundtable Tigers occupy No. 20 in final D1Softball poll Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow JD on Twitter @jdmccarthy15 Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire

i have no idea where it came form or if it was a coverup. all i know is one friend in particular laid in the hospital fighting for his breath and his life until his body gave out. and it as a long and horrible death.

lets look into the trump kids and ALL of trumps illegal activities. i bet we get enough logs to build a city and i am not joking. italy had the goods on trump illegal stuff and barr and durham refused to even here it. so spare us please. trump was ok for you guys a long time and all of sudden you are interested in the law? that is hilarious..............

i love me some Auburn. i never played anything for auburn but i wilol be an auburn fan until the day i die as well.

news.yahoo.com Calmes: Kevin McCarthy's clowns wasted your tax dollars and Congress' time this week Jackie Calmes 6–7 minutes Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) outside the House chamber Wednesday after the Republican majority voted to censure him for comments he made years ago about investigations into President Trump's ties to Russia. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Officially, House Republicans censured Rep. Adam B. Schiff this week. What they actually did was give a YUGE in-kind contribution to the California Democrat’s campaign for the Senate. That was just one example in recent days of the Republicans’ clown car backfiring in the party’s bumbling drive to weaponize the government against political foes — the very crime it inaptly projects onto Democrats. Separately, Republicans trumpeted a House hearing into a recent report widely derided as a dud — except in their parallel, fact-free, Fox-friendly MAGA universe — that tried to show Democratic bias in the origins of the government investigation, ultimately led by Robert S. Mueller III, into the 2016 Trump campaign’s dalliance with Russian operatives. Predictably, Democrats, including Schiff, humiliated the Republicans’ star witness, special counsel John Durham, a Trump holdover and the report’s author, as they confronted him with the fact that he found no Deep State shenanigans and won no convictions. - ADVERTISEMENT - And in a third episode, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) had to scramble to prevent one of his caucus’ most incendiary troublemakers, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, from forcing a House vote on a resolution to impeach President Biden. That contretemps included a nasty face-off on the House floor between Boebert and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, sponsor of a competing impeachment resolution. (The term “cat fight” is loathsomely sexist, but in the case of these right-wing rivals, if the fur fits ….) All of these goings-on add up to a big waste of time and money. The Durham investigation alone took four years and more than $6.5 million to end “with a whimper.” Sure, the battling satisfies former President Trump and serves up red meat for a party base that likes vengeance as much as he does. But the Republican carnivores are doing nothing to advance a positive agenda for the country and expand their party’s appeal beyond the bloodthirsty true believers. Read more: Calmes: Republicans attack the DOJ and the FBI, but it's Democrats who should have a beef with the feds Which is just the point Schiff made in a fundraising email about his censure: “These political smear tactics divert the resources of the House away from the pressing priorities that Congress should be addressing, and that I want to tackle as your Senator.” Are the Republicans so blinded by Trumpian sycophancy that they didn’t realize what a gift they gave Schiff by singling him out for supposedly misleading voters about Trump? It’s not just the money Schiff no doubt is raising for his race against Democratic Reps. Katie Porter of Irvine and Barbara Lee of Oakland to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein. By making a victim of Schiff, the Republicans polished the otherwise colorless congressman’s image and established him as one of Congress' most effective anti-Trump figures. For anyone grounded in reality, the censure was downright comical. The resolution charged that Schiff, as the former lead Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and a Trump impeachment manager, “spread false accusations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.” But the accusations weren’t false. However much the Republicans malign the Mueller investigation, its account of a Trump Tower meeting, shared polling data, WikiLeaks and more establishes that. Forget the semantic or legalistic debate over the word “collude” and call it by another name: The Trump campaign and Trump himself were cooperating, encouraging and welcoming any help from Russia. (“Russia, if you’re listening ....") Read more: Column: For Adam Schiff, censure is a gift from House Republicans Also, how rich that McCarthy, from the speaker’s dais, would cite Schiff’s alleged “falsehoods, misrepresentations and abuse of sensitive information.” You’d think he was describing Trump’s 37-count indictment for hoarding and hiding hundreds of classified documents. Then, speaking of misrepresentations, there’s this: The Republican sponsor of the censure was freshman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who hails from the Rep. George Santos school of self-creation, according to a deep dive the Washington Post did into her background. (Speaking of Santos, why haven’t Republicans censured him for his lies and admitted fraud?) Luna charged that Schiff had “ripped apart American families across the country” with his falsehoods about Trump. Has she followed the former president’s career? Read about the Thanksgiving dinners nationwide disrupted by his divisiveness? Forgotten the families literally ripped apart at the border by his policies? The Durham hearing was supposed to dovetail with Schiff’s censure. Yet try as they might, the Republicans on the House committee could not spin their way out of the facts: Durham found no criminal wrongdoing by high-level Justice and FBI officials (let alone former President Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden), no Deep State conspiracy to get Trump, nothing prosecutable on the part of the Hillary Clinton campaign. Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of Torrance mockingly said at one point, “I don’t actually know what we’re doing here.” Neither did the Republicans, it turns out. The House is such a circus under their (mis)management, one can hardly wait for the jesters to bring their half-baked Biden impeachment resolutions back to the floor. If you want to weaponize the levers of power, you need facts, not pop guns. @jackiekcalmes This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

ACLU lawsuit says Georgia school district ignored racism targeting Black students RUSS BYNUM 3–4 minutes SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Four Black students sued a Georgia school district in federal court Friday, saying teachers and administrators violated their civil rights by fostering “a longstanding and ongoing environment of racial discrimination." The American Civil Liberties Union filed the civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Effingham County School District in southeast Georgia. The unnamed teenage plaintiffs, identified only by their initials, allege that school officials ignored complaints of white students casually using racist slurs, and at times made Black students feel like troublemakers for reporting them. A Black student identified only as N.T. said that after posting his reaction on social media to racist comments by white peers, his high school's athletic director “blamed Black students for the White students’ language, asserting that White students used racial epithets because Black students used racial language when talking to each other,” according to the lawsuit. - ADVERTISEMENT - A Black girl identified only as H.L. says that in September 2020 she started crying after white students in her class mockingly reenacted the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, which she recorded with her cellphone. The lawsuit says the white students were removed from the school and didn't return until the following academic year. But it also says the school principal told H.L. “to delete the video from her phone and told her not to send it to anyone else.” Another Black girl, identified as G.L. in the lawsuit, says high school administrators sent her home for wearing red braids in her hair, with one of them saying: “you know that’s not a natural color for your kind.” While the school dress code requires students to keep their hair in natural colors, the lawsuit said, white girls were allowed to attend with hair dyed purple and green. Effingham County School Superintendent Yancy Ford declined Friday to comment on the allegations in the lawsuit. But Ford denied that his school district permits race discrimination. “Regardless of the details alleged, the Effingham County School District does not tolerate racism or discrimination whatsoever,” Ford said in an emailed statement. “And I will continue to work toward ensuring all students in the District are able to enjoy a learning environment free from negative impacts of racial bias, prejudice, and discrimination.” About 65,000 people live in rural and suburban communities in Effingham County west of Savannah. The county's population is 80% white and 16% Black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Effingham High School's sports teams compete as the Rebels with a Confederate soldier mascot. The lawsuit says the district has allowed students to wear clothing decorated with Confederate flags but prohibited Black Lives Matter T-shirts.

news.yahoo.com Black nun who founded first African American religious congregation advances closer to sainthood LUIS ANDRES HENAO 5–6 minutes Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange -- a Black Catholic nun who founded the United States’ first African American religious congregation in Baltimore in 1829 -- has advanced another step toward sainthood. Under a decree signed by Pope Francis on Thursday, Lange was recognized for her heroic virtue, and advanced in the cause of her beatification from being considered a servant of God to a “venerable servant.” The Catholic Church must now approve a miracle that is attributed to her, so she can be beatified. Lange grew up in a wealthy family of African origin, but she left Cuba in the early 1800s for the U.S. due to racial discrimination, according to the Vatican’s saint-making office. After encountering more discrimination in the southern U.S., she moved with her family to Baltimore. Recognizing a need to provide education for Black children in the city, she started a school in 1828, decades before the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. In 1829, she founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence -- the country’s first African American religious congregation. They were trailblazers for generations of Black Catholic nuns who persevered despite being overlooked or suppressed by those who resented or disrespected them. The Oblate Sisters continue to operate Baltimore's Saint Frances Academy, which Lange founded. The coed school is the country’s oldest continually operating Black Catholic educational facility, with a mission prioritizing help for “the poor and the neglected.” “She lived her virtuous existence in a hostile social and ecclesial context, in which the preeminent opinion was in favor of slavery, personally suffering the situation of marginalization and poverty in which the African American population found itself,” the Vatican’s saint-making office wrote. Lange is among three Black nuns from the U.S. designated by Catholic officials as worthy of consideration for sainthood. The others include Henriette Delille, who founded the New Orleans-based Sisters of the Holy Family in 1842 because white sisterhoods in Louisiana refused to accept African Americans, and Sister Thea Bowman, a beloved educator, evangelist and singer active for many decades before her death in 1990. Pope Francis’s advancement of Lange's sainthood cause "is a monumental step forward in the long fight for Black Catholic saints in the United States and for recognition for the nation’s long embattled African American Catholic community, especially nuns," said Shannen Dee Williams, a history professor at the University of Dayton and author of “ Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle.” Currently there are no recognized African American saints. Williams said Lange joins three other African American sainthood candidates who have been declared "venerable — Delille, Father Augustus Tolton and Pierre Toussaint. Williams said only one Black woman has been declared a saint in the modern era — St. Josephine Bakhita, a formerly enslaved Sudanese nun who made “the extraordinary journey from slavery under Islamic auspices to freedom in an Italian Catholic convent in the late 19th century." “This is why Lange’s cause is so important and revolutionary,” Williams said via email. “There is absolutely no way to tell Lange’s story or the story of her order accurately or honestly without confronting the Catholic Church’s mostly unreconciled histories of colonialism, slavery, and segregation.” Williams said that unlike most of their counterparts in religious life, Lange and the Oblate Sisters of Providence were not segregationists, and never barred anyone from their ranks or institutions based on color or race. Instead, Williams said, Lange’s multiethnic and multilingual order preserved the vocations of hundreds of Black Catholic women and girls denied admission into white congregations in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. "Lange and her Oblate Sisters of Providence’s very existence embody the fundamental truth that Black history always has been Catholic history in the land area that became the United States." Williams said, Their story “upends the enduring myth that slaveholding and segregationist Catholic priests and nuns were simply people ‘of their times.’" Williams said. "Mother Lange and the Oblate Sisters of Providence were also people of those times." __ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

thanx for replying. i will say i wish we had a better 3 party platform and maybe it would wise up some folks in office and make them do better because of it. i have little faith in government.

yahoo.com Analysis: Donald Trump's war on truth confronts another test with voters DAVID KLEPPER 7–9 minutes WASHINGTON (AP) — The cherry tree folklore is too good to be true, but it's no lie that George Washington had a thing for the truth. “I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy,” he wrote in his farewell address. A few decades later, another future president's reputation for veracity earned him a well known nickname: Honest Abe Lincoln. Then there's Donald Trump, who during his presidency faced questions about business dealings in Moscow. “I have nothing to do with Russia,” he said in 2016. He switched stories when the facts of his decades-long effort to build a luxury tower there emerged. “Everybody” had always known about the project, according to Trump, who suggested only a sucker would drop such a proposal just because they wanted to serve their country as president. “Why should I lose lots of opportunities?” Trump said. America has had prevaricators in the Oval Office before, but never one who has been at war with the truth as regularly, on so many different subjects. As a candidate and as president, Trump demonstrated a keen ability to use broadcast and social media to amplify his distortions, and found remarkable success in convincing large chunks of the American public. As Trump seeks a second term while fighting federal charges, the nation faces the prospects of another campaign riddled with falsehoods and misinformation, and the not-impossible outcome that such a well-documented purveyor like Trump could be returned to the White House by an electorate that either believes his falsehoods, or doesn't care. “This is a test moment. We haven’t been in a situation like this,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Jamieson said that before Trump, the assumption was that certain lies — lies that undermine faith in democracy or the courts, for instance — would be disqualifying for a person seeking public office. “If saying the election was rigged doesn't fall into that category, then what does?” As a candidate, Trump made misinformation a major campaign tactic, routinely using falsehoods to demean his rivals, as he did when he bizarrely asserted that Ted Cruz's father may have played a role in the Kennedy assasination. Cruz is now an unapologetic Trump supporter. As a president, Trump misled Americans about economic indicators, about a hurricane, about climate change and about his past actions and meetings with foreign leaders. While leading the nation through the pandemic he underplayed the severity of coronavirus while endorsing fake cures. In today's fragmented information ecosystem, efforts by journalists to fact-check the president didn't always reach those who accepted his words as truth. That may be changing, according to one Republican strategist who said he thinks his party is waking up to Trump's alternative fact universe. “To me, he’s sort of a tragic 77-year-old individual who is totally out of touch with reality, sort of creates his own reality,” said Craig Fuller, who served in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Fuller said he believes the relatively large field of Republicans vying with Trump for the GOP endorsement is a sign that many voters want a more honest alternative, even as a large field also improves Trump's chances of winning. “I think it’s almost too dangerous to contemplate,” Fuller said when asked to imagine a second Trump term. A message seeking comment from Trump's campaign was not immediately returned on Friday. During his presidency, Trump lied so often — in person, on TV, on Twitter — that tallies of his falsehoods quickly crested 100, then 1,000, then 10,000 and then 30,000. An entire wikipedia page was created dedicated to keeping track. Elections and voting have long been the most frequent target of Trump's mistruths. He won the 2016 race but claimed that it was rigged anyway because he lost the popular vote. He declared the 2020 race rigged even before Election Day, and said before the vote that the only way he could lose the election was due to cheating. Proof was never offered, and after the election, Trump's claims were rejected by dozens of courts, including ones overseen by Trump-appointed judges. It was Trump's lies about democracy, and about the integrity of elections and the courts, that worry experts on voting, politics and history the most. “It's not the first step, it's the 100th step on the road to despotism,” Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, said of Trump's attacks on judicial independence and law enforcement. “What's shocking to me is how open Trump is about it.” Conflicts between presidents, Congress and the courts are a fundamental part of American government, Engel said, and plenty of presidents have shaded the truth about failings personal and public. But none have openly defied another branch in the way that Trump has. For months before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Trump implored supporters with a steady stream of false claims about rigged elections, voting by mail and stuffed ballot boxes. He then did little to disperse the violent crowd that soon descended on the Capitol. The congressional investigation into the attack concluded that Trump engaged in a conspiracy to overturn the election. To activists working to strengthen American democracy, the deadly riot showed what happens when lies are allowed to take the place of truth. “On Jan. 6 we re-learned how fragile our democracy is,” said Nathan Empsall, an Episcopal priest who leads Faithful America, a nonprofit religious organization that has criticized efforts to rewrite the history of Jan. 6. “If we don’t remember that, if we forget what happened, we may not be able to hold the line next time.” While Trump didn't create the factors that led to our current era of polarization and misinformation, he did exploit those factors, said Julian E. Zelizer, a Princeton University historian and political scientist. “I don’t know if Donald Trump is the chicken or the egg but I know he’s part of the scramble,” Zelizer said. “He entered politics in an age of social media and growing issues of distrust and he catalyzed them. He poured gasoline on the smouldering flames, and the statements he makes apparently don't need to be tethered to reality because his believers like his version better." When Trump was arraigned in April in New York on charges that he falsified business records to obscure hush money payments in an effort to influence the 2016 election, many of his online supporters openly compared the scandal-plagued thrice-married tycoon to Jesus Christ, who Christians believe rose from the dead following his cruxificion. His vocal online supporters have stayed just as supportive following his federal indictment this month. Trump may be emblematic of our current era of misinformation, but distrust and political polarization can't be ascribed to one individual and typically arise from deep societal fissures and economic pressures, according to Nealin Parker, executive director of Common Ground USA, a nonprofit that studies ways to bridge America's political divide. “Often people are looking for a silver bullet: if only we didn’t have this one political leader we’d be fine," Parker said. “But that's not how it works.” —- EDITOR'S NOTE — David Klepper has covered misinformation for The Associated Press since 2019.

we are what 14 games a year now including the bowl and not the cfp right? i think ten should be our standard. i just think our staff is so much better they will surprise a lot of folks.

the ends worry me on D but some writer said we were loaded. running backs i believe we improve. i have no idea about the secondary.

as always thanx for stopping by!

247sports.com College football Texas AM Miami among CBS Sports projected bounceback teams for 2023 season Raymond Lucas Jr. 8–10 minutes Some of these teams are in desperate need of improvement after struggling last season. The 2022 season is in the rearview mirror as we inch closer to the upcoming season. There are several teams looking to get back on track after struggling last season and CBS Sports' David Cobb listed 10 teams poised for bounce-back seasons in 2023. Featured on this list are teams that overachieved, struggled as predicted or took a step forward last season. Cobb pointed at USC and Florida State as examples of programs that were able to bounce back last season. "A year ago, USC and Florida State were coming off losing seasons and looking to find their footing again as proud programs stuck spinning their wheels in the mud of mediocrity," Cobb wrote. "Both reclaimed their standing among the sport's premier teams in short order, with USC finishing 11-3 in Year 1 under coach Lincoln Riley and Florida State reaching 10 wins for the first time since 2016." Get offseason and recruiting information on your favorite college team for $1 for first month. Below are 10 programs that could bounce back and reach a bowl game in 2023. Appalachian State (Photo: USA TODAY Sports) Appalachian State had a rare down-year last season. It opened the season with a 63-61 loss to North Carolina and then beat Texas A&M the following weekend, so the Mountaineers eventually missing a bowl game was surprising. In 2023, a rematch with North Carolina awaits. A win against the Tar Heels last season would've given Appalachian State enough to play in a bowl game, so winning the rematch could be rewarding. CBS Sports: "The Mountaineers missed the postseason for the first time since 2014 (a transition year to the Football Bowl Subdivision) after finishing 6-6 last season but weren't bowl eligible since two of their victories were against FCS teams. Don't expect it to become a trend." ‌ FAU (Photo: Dylan Widger) FAU landed Nebraska transfer quarterback Casey Thompson, who showed promise last season in the Big Ten and throughout his time at Texas. He threw 17 touchdowns with 10 interceptions while logging 2,407 passing yards in 2022. Thompson needs to show more consistency before he's deemed savior of the Owls and a fresh start could help him achieve that. CBS Sports: "Games at Clemson and Illinois are tough. But FAU's AAC slate is manageable and provides a path to bowl eligibility for the Owls." ‌ Arizona (Photo: Arizona Athletics) Can Arizona improve upon last season's growth in a steeper Pac-12 than we saw in 2022? We'll see. The Wildcats have utilized the transfer portal to haul in new talent while developing younger players that saw action last season. How the team blends will determine what type of success we see out of the Wildcats. Progress will be tougher to evaluate this season on the West Coast due to the depth of the Pac-12. CBS Sports: "Offensively, the Wildcats are well-positioned to score in bunches. If the defense can even be decent, then Arizona will go bowling in coach Jedd Fisch's third season." ‌ Iowa State (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave, USA TODAY Sports) Iowa State's season concluded with a 62-14 loss to TCU. That blowout loss was only the second game the Cyclones lost by double-figures. Losing close games is demoralizing and a reflection of missed opportunities. Proper execution in 2022 would've resulted in a trip to a bowl game, which is why it's not wise to judge a team's 2023 potential strictly off its record from the previous year. CBS Sports: "Six of Iowa State's eight Big 12 losses in 2022 came by a single possession as the Cyclones limped to a 4-8 mark, ending a five-year bowl streak. But it was likely just an aberration for a program that is on firm footing under eighth-year coach Matt Campbell." ‌ Virginia Tech (Photo: Grant Halverson, Getty) Virginia Tech opened the 2022 campaign with a 20-17 loss to Old Dominion. It responded with wins over Boston College and Wofford but won just one game from that point. The Hokies open the 2023 season with a rematch against Old Dominion and would love to start the season off right by getting revenge on their in-state foe. The Hokies' toughest ACC foe is Florida State, avoiding a matchup with Clemson along with clashes with North Carolina and Duke. CBS Sports: "With two non-conference games against Big Ten teams, Virginia Tech is not an obvious choice to make significant strides from last season's 3-8 mark under coach Brent Pry." ‌ Michigan State (Photo: Sean Scherer, 247Sports) Michigan State has had a rough offseason due to the transfer portal, losing quarterback Payton Thorne to Auburn and wide receiver Keon Coleman to Florida State. Thorne wasn't the guaranteed starter, but he had game experience that Noah Kim and Katin Houser both lack. Thorne had 19 touchdowns to 11 interceptions a season ago. What's left is a team that's been counted out and could have added motivation to silence doubters. The Spartans could leave the nation stunned if able to topple Washington in Week 3. CBS Sports: "MSU finished 11-2 in coach Mel Tucker's first season, but last season marked a disappointing return to Earth." ‌ Miami (Photo: Christopher Stock, Getty) Mario Cristobal enters his second season at the helm of his alma mater and growth is expected now that he's had more time to establish a new culture. The Hurricanes took their lumps last season and the low-point was a lopsided defeat to Middle Tennessee. The 2023 season provides quarterback Tyler Van Dyke an opportunity to silence critics and reinsert himself into NFL Draft conversations. CBS Sports: "Barring another unthinkable non-conference loss against Miami (Ohio), Bethune-Cookman or Temple, the Hurricanes will need just three ACC wins to reach bowl eligibility. With Georgia Tech, Virginia, Louisville and Boston College on the schedule, that shouldn't be a problem." ‌ Nebraska (Photo: Michael Bruntz, Getty) Nebraska hit the transfer portal hard in search of instant results and the result is a heightened ceiling ahead of Matt Rhule's first season at the helm. Nebraska was a mess last season, falling to Northwestern and Georgia Southern in two of its first three games. The Cornhuskers aren't ready to compete for the Big Ten title but are capable of shaking things up with upset victories. CBS Sports: "An improvement on last season's 1-2 non-conference record seems like a guarantee in Year 1 of Matt Rhule's tenure." ‌ Auburn (Photo: Austin Perryman / Auburn Athletics) Auburn is in a better place than it was a year ago because of the hire of Hugh Freeze. The Tigers boast the No. 3 transfer class, which features 11 four-stars and eight three-stars. Auburn went 5-7 last season and Freeze has a solid foundation to build on as he looks to rebuild the program into a SEC contender. CBS Sports: "The last time Auburn failed to reach a bowl in consecutive seasons was 1998 and 1999. It could be close, but the Tigers ought to reach six wins in coach Hugh Freeze's first season." ‌ Texas A&M (Photo: Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports) Everything that could go wrong did for Texas A&M last season and that disrupted its aspirations of competing for the SEC championship. The Aggies are the most talented team in this analysis and in theory, that should translate to it being the top bounce-back candidate. That said, we saw last season that preseason expectations could leave Texas A&M lost in the bright lights. CBS Sports: "The Aggies rank No. 4 in the Blue-Chip Ratio at 247Sports because of how well they have recruited under Jimbo Fisher. Even if Texas A&M loses at Miami in Week 2, the rest of the non-conference schedule is a cakewalk."

si.com DJ James is one of the best returning corners in the SEC Andrew Stefaniak ~2 minutes DJ James is one of the highest graded returning corners in the SEC. DJ James was lockdown for the Tigers last season, and his Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade proves that statement. James has the third-best returning PFF grade in the SEC with an 82.3. James was behind only Kool-Aid McKinstry of Alabama at 82.5 and DeShawn Gaddie of Ole Miss (previously at North Texas) at 84.8. James is in for a big 2023 season that will likely shoot him up, draft boards. No one would be surprised if James worked his way into a day two NFL Draft selection. James and teammate Nehemiah Pritchett will be one of the best one-two punches in college football this season. With James locking down wideouts in the SEC, moving the ball through the air against the Auburn Tigers will be tough. When it's all said and done, I expect James to be one of the best corners in college football this season.

247sports.com How Hugh Freeze fared against every SEC team at Ole Miss Nathan King 6–8 minutes Freeze will coach just one season back in the league before it undergoes expansion to 16 teams next year Much has changed since the last time Hugh Freeze coached in the SEC. Numerous coaching changes aside, Freeze will coach just one season back in the league before it undergoes expansion to 16 teams next year, adding Texas and Oklahoma. At Ole Miss, Freeze compiled a 19-21 overall SEC record across five seasons, with a strong two-year stretch from 2014-15 in which the Rebels went 11-5 in the league and were ranked in the top 5 for multiple weeks. Those numbers, of course, ignore the 27 wins that were vacated from Freeze’s tenure after the program’s NCAA violations. A comparison from Freeze’s tenure in Oxford to his new situation at Auburn obviously isn’t apples to apples. With the Tigers, he’ll be expected to field more talented squads on an annual basis, and Auburn traditionally has higher standards in terms of wins. Of course, many aspect of Freeze’s contributions at Ole Miss would certainly constitute success on the Plains, seeing as he brought in a pair of top-10 recruiting classes, and had the Rebels ranked in the top 10 for 11 weeks across the 2014 and 2015 seasons. We’ll take a look here at how Freeze fared against every SEC opponent during his last coaching stint in the conference — and for obvious reasons there’s no Ole Miss here, and Auburn will also be omitted. Ole Miss did not face Kentucky or South Carolina under Freeze. ALABAMA Overall record: 2-3 Biggest win: 43-37 at Alabama (2015) Biggest loss: 25-0 at Alabama (2013) Next Auburn matchup: 2023 Naturally, Freeze’s success against Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide generated plenty of attention nearly a decade ago, and it still does now, as Freeze now becomes the only SEC head coach with multiple wins over Alabama in his career. The Rebels almost had a three-peat, too, leading Alabama 24-3 in 2016 before Jalen Hurts led a Crimson Tide comeback in Oxford. The 43 points scored by Ole Miss in 2015 remain the third-most by a team in Tuscaloosa under Saban, after Auburn in 2014 and LSU in 2019. ‌ ARKANSAS Overall record: 2-3 Biggest win: 34-24 vs. Arkansas (2013) Biggest loss: 30-0 at Arkansas (2014) Next Auburn matchup: 2023 Ole Miss seemed positioned for a 10-win season in 2014 before faceplanting on the road in an unsightly loss to the Razorbacks. The loss was one of three straight for Freeze against Bret Bielema and Arkansas, after the Rebels took the first two in the series after Freeze became head coach. Freeze was able to get one back against Arkansas with Liberty this past season, though, taking down the Razorbacks 21-19 in Fayetteville. ‌ FLORIDA Overall record: 0-1 Next Auburn matchup: TBD Much like the Arkansas loss in 2014, Ole Miss’ 38-10 defeat in Gainesville was a blemish in an otherwise impressive season that saw the Rebels rise as high as No. 3 in the AP poll after a 4-0 start. The Gators were slated to face Auburn in 2024 before the SEC schedules were reworked in preparation for Texas and Oklahoma joining the league. ‌ GEORGIA Overall record: 1-1 Next Auburn matchup: 2023 Kirby Smart said earlier this offseason that Freeze brings a “tremendous” offense back to the SEC at Auburn: “He’s got great belief in his players and his system. His players believe in him. He’s a really good leader and a great football coach.” Freeze bested Smart’s Alabama defenses twice in 2014 and 2015, then Ole Miss blasted Smart’s first Georgia team, 45-14 in 2016. In all, Freeze’s offenses at Ole Miss averaged 23.6 points across five meetings against Smart’s defenses — both as Alabama’s coordinator and Georgia’s head coach. ‌ LSU Overall record: 2-3 Biggest win: 38-17 vs. LSU (2015) Biggest loss: 38-21 at LSU (2016) Next Auburn matchup: 2023 Before Freeze arrived, Ole Miss had lost nine of its last 12 meetings against LSU, including a 52-3 shellacking in Oxford the year before Freeze became head coach. After falling 41-35 in Baton Rouge in Year 1, Freeze took two of the next three from the Bayou Bengals, including a victory over No. 6 LSU in 2014, when the Rebels were unranked. Freeze gets the difficult task of not only traveling to Baton Rouge this coming season, but also facing a loaded LSU team that won the division last season. ‌ MISSISSIPPI STATE Overall record: 3-2 Biggest win: 41-24 vs. Miss State (2012) Biggest loss: 55-20 vs. Miss State (2016) Next Auburn matchup: 2023 With the Egg Bowl serving as the biggest rivalry for Freeze’s Ole Miss teams, the matchups from 2012-16 were also during some of the most successful seasons in Mississippi State program history under Dan Mullen. Still, Freeze was able to guide Ole Miss to a winning record in the series overall, including a victory over the No. 6 Bulldogs in 2014, and another ranked win the following year. ‌ MISSOURI Overall record: 0-1 Next Auburn matchup: 2024 Freeze matched up with Missouri only once — in Year 2 at Ole Miss, when his Rebels lost 24-10 at home to Gary Pinkel’s team. In fact, Ole Miss is 1-7 all time against the Tigers, and Freeze will have an opportunity to notch his first career win in the series next year, when Auburn travels to Columbia as part of the reworked SEC schedule. ‌ TENNESSEE Overall record: 1-0 Next Auburn matchup: TBD Freeze’s 2014 team decimated Tennessee, 34-3 in Oxford after beating No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 3 Alabama the two weeks prior. The nearest possible matchup for Freeze to face the Vols again would be 2025, and Tennessee looks to be on a major upswing in both on-field success and recruiting under Josh Heupel. ‌ TEXAS A&M Overall record: 3-2 Biggest win: 23-3 vs. Texas A&M (2015) Biggest loss: 41-38 vs. Texas A&M (2013) Next Auburn matchup: 2023 Freeze and the Rebels fell victim to the Johnny Manziel experience in each of his first two seasons with the program, then the Rebels won three straight over the Aggies, all of which were over top-15-ranked Texas A&M teams. If Freeze is able to win in College Station this September, Jimbo Fisher would have losses to three different Auburn coaches since 2019 (Gus Malzahn, Cadillac Williams and Freeze). ‌