aubiefifty

Panel approves awarding a technical foul for flopping in men’s basketball Officials will no longer give a warning to players who fake being fouled Story Links The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved allowing men's basketball officials to assess Class B technical fouls to players who fake being fouled, beginning in the 2022-23 season. If a player is called for flopping, the opposing team would shoot one free throw. Previously, officials would issue a warning before assessing a technical foul in subsequent incidents judged to be flopping. The proposal came from the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee. Committee members defined flopping as an unsporting act that occurs when a player attempts to influence an official's judgment by creating an appearance that a foul has been committed when there has been incidental or no contact. When evaluating potential flopping situations, officials will be asked to judge whether the player's physical reaction to the contact with another player is consistent with what would have been expected, given the force of the contact. When the reaction is not consistent, the player is most likely exaggerating the nature of the contact in an attempt to gain an advantage, and flopping has occurred. A similar proposal was made in 2021, but there were concerns in the men's basketball community that removing a warning before awarding a technical foul would not have the desired effect. The Division I Men's Basketball Oversight Committee and the Division I Men's Basketball Competition Committee supported the concept of allowing officials to call technical fouls without warning when they determine a player has faked being fouled. Technology rules The panel also approved continuing experimental technology rules for conferences to allow teams to view live video and preloaded video on their bench for the upcoming season if the conference submits a waiver request. Conferences that choose to use this experimental rule must decide what technology can be used within its parameters. The experimental rule will also be allowed in multiple-team events and the 2023 National Invitation Tournament. NCAA women's basketball teams can also experiment with this technology rule during conference games for the upcoming season if the conference submits a waiver request. Media timeouts Conferences as well as the National Invitation Tournament can experiment using five media timeouts on the first dead-ball situations under the 17-minute, 14-minute, 11-minute, 8-minute and 4-minute marks of the second half. The rationale is to help the flow of the game so commercial breaks will not be taken when teams use their allotted timeouts. Print Friendly Version

2023 NCAA Tournament Bracketology By Joe Lunardi Updated: 6/14/2022 at 07:00 a.m. ET Will the Kansas Jayhawks become the first repeat champion in men's college basketball since Florida in 2006-07? That's among the questions to consider in the offseason prelude to the 2022-23 season, a period that accounts for a frenzy of transfer movement and the usual spate of NBA draft decisions. When the dust settles, Division I's 350+ teams will begin considering the march to the 2023 NCAA tournament, a journey that will end at Houston's NRG Stadium for the Final Four on April 1 and 3. ESPN will be there every step of the way with its 2023 bracket projections, evaluating the current state of the bubble and identifying the top seeds for the game's showcase event. Bracket Watch Top Overall Seed Gonzaga First Team Out Providence Last Team In Saint Mary's We should have known Gonzaga would one day reclaim its seemingly permanent status as the No. 1 overall seed. The Bulldogs, led by All-American forward Drew Timme, reloaded quickly from their Sweet 16 loss to Arkansas and are once again poised to enter a season as the nation's top-ranked team. Eventually, the Zags will need to turn those rankings into a national title or risk a change in reputation from "overachiever" to "underachiever." In the meantime, I would be comfortable with any of three teams -- Kentucky and North Carolina being the others -- at the top of our offseason bracket. This time it's Gonzaga's turn. On the Bubble Last Four Byes Florida Wyoming St. John's Notre Dame Last Four In Memphis Seton Hall Rutgers Saint Mary's First Four Out Providence Iowa St. Loyola Chicago Stanford Next Four Out Wisconsin Tulane LSU Cincinnati 68-Team Bracket Moved Up Moved Down New Team to Bracket Automatic Qualifier 16Nicholls St. 16Jackson St. 11Rutgers 11Saint Mary's 16Norfollk St. 16Sacred Heart 11Memphis 11Seton Hall WEST (LAS VEGAS) Denver 1 Gonzaga - aq 16 Morehead St. - aq 8 Xavier 9 USC Orlando 5 San Diego St. - aq 12 UAB - aq 4 Auburn 13 UC Santa Barbara - aq Des Moines 6 Michigan 11 Notre Dame 3 Creighton - aq 14 Oral Roberts - aq Sacramento 7 Texas Tech 10 Iowa 2 UCLA - aq 15 Youngstown St. - aq MIDWEST (KANSAS CITY) Birmingham 1 Houston - aq 16 Nicholls - aq/ Jackson St. - aq 8 Miami 9 Oklahoma St. Sacramento 5 Arizona 12 Toledo - aq 4 TCU 13 Grand Canyon - aq Orlando 6 Oregon 11 Rutgers/ Saint Mary's 3 Arkansas 14 Louisiana - aq Birmingham 7 Purdue 10 St. John's 2 Baylor - aq 15 Vermont - aq SOUTH (LOUISVILLE) Columbus 1aq - Kentucky 16aq - Norfollk St. aq - Sacred Heart/ 8 UConn 9 Virginia Tech Albany 5aq - Dayton 12aq - Furman 4aq - Indiana 13aq - Drake Greensboro 6 Illinois 11 Oklahoma 3 Duke 14aq - Iona Des Moines 7 Saint Louis 10 Florida 2 Kansas 15aq - Colgate EAST (NEW YORK) Greensboro 1aq - North Carolina 16aq - UNC Asheville 8 Texas A&M 9 Ohio State Albany 5 Alabama 12aq - Liberty 4 Villanova 13aq - Towson Columbus 6 Virginia 11 Memphis Seton Hall/ 3 Tennessee 14aq - Penn Denver 7 Michigan St. 10 Wyoming 2 Texas 15aq - Montana St. Conference Breakdown Conference Team Big Ten 8 SEC 7 Big 12 7 ACC 6 Big East 6 Pac-12 4 Mountain West 2 WCC 2 American 2 Atlantic 10 2 All NCAAM Conferences

The Top 50 Atmospheres in #CollegeBasketball

i have no idea who this is or if they are legit. if they are not let ma know and i will not post these anymore.

thanx mikey i thought it was high but i have watched very little baseball and i was hoping someone in the know would answer.

does Sonny di have any chance of making it in the pro's? he has two auburn rookie cards in an auburn uni but they are kinda pricey at 31 bucks a piece so maybe i need to wait until a better deal comes around? thanx

‘Staying in the fight’: No. 14 Auburn ready for No. 2 Stanford in CWS Auburn University Athletics 3 minutes OMAHA, Neb. – One of only seven teams still in contention for the national championship, No. 14 Auburn practiced Sunday at Bellevue East High School before Monday's matchup with No. 2 Stanford. "The man, the woman, the team that refuses to quit is hard to beat," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "Staying in the fight is a message you hope this club understands. This is one step at a time. We've got make a grind here." Consistency – never losing more than wo in a row over the course of a 63-game season – and not beating itself, Thompson says, have defined the Tigers in 2022. Auburn lost its opening game Saturday to Ole Miss, falling 5-1 while producing only four hits. "We couldn't do enough offensively to have a chance to be in the ballgame," Thompson said. "They'll get to right that ship tomorrow, hopefully, and play good offense. We didn't beat ourselves necessarily, but we sure didn't do enough to win a ballgame yesterday." To reach the championship series, Auburn will need to win four games in four days, starting Monday with Stanford. While that represents a daunting task, the Tigers take confidence from having already produced a four-game win streak to start this tournament, sweeping the Auburn Regional and taking the first game of the Corvallis Super Regional. "These players have got to be microscopic and really tune into one task at hand at a time," Thompson said. After laying out the big picture, Thompson and the Tigers narrowed their focus to the second-seeded Cardinal, a team with a penchant for power hitting. "This is an offensive club," he said. "This is the No. 2 overall seed. All the higher seeds lost in the first round. Now we're all here to duke it out and the loser's bracket has some pretty good ballclubs." Auburn and Stanford are two of them. After they meet Monday at 1 p.m. CT, one will move on, the other will head home. Since 1981, four teams have lost their CWS opener before rallying to win the national championship. South Carolina did in 2010. Oregon State pulled off the feat twice, in 2006 and again in 2018. "We talked about what it's going to take to get back to play for a national championship," Thompson said. "It's going to take four games. We want to be the fifth team that's ever done that in history." Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer

Can Auburn find its swing with season on the line against Stanford in College World Series? By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com 6-7 minutes Auburn went quietly into the night in its College World Series opener, silenced by the right arm of Ole Miss pitcher Dylan DeLucia, who sent the Tigers into the losers’ bracket. Now if Auburn hopes to make some noise in Omaha, Neb., it’ll have to come from the distinct ping of its bats. For that to happen, though, the Tigers will have to shake out of a bit of a funk at the plate. After opening the postseason with a 51-run outburst over three games in the Auburn Regional and seven runs in its Super Regional opener at Oregon State, Auburn has struggled to string together any sort of consistent offense. Read more Auburn baseball: With “tall order” ahead in College World Series, Auburn vows to come back fighting against Stanford Why Auburn fell to Ole Miss in CWS opener How Sonny DiChiara became one of college baseball’s most feared hitters The Tigers are 12-of-94—hitting .128 as a team—over their last three games, including Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Rebels in which they mustered just four hits off DeLucia, who carried a perfect game into the fifth inning. “That’s three games in a row where we just haven’t (hit),” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “We won the third game of the Super Regional with three hits. It’s the third game in a row where we just couldn’t get a leadoff man on to ever create an inning.” While no one has swung the bat particularly well during that three-game stretch, the top of Auburn’s order has certainly had its share of struggles. Blake Rambusch and Cole Foster are a combined 1-of-21 and have reached base two times over the last three games — a stat that becomes harder to swallow when you factor in who has been hitting behind them: SEC Co-Player of the Year Sonny DiChiara (3-of-10 with two RBI, a home run and a walk to lead all Auburn hitters during this recent stretch). They’ve not been alone in the struggles at the plate, though. Brooks Carlson (2-of-11 with an RBI), Bobby Peirce (2-of-11 with two runs scored and an RBI) and Brody Moore (2-of-10) are the only other Tigers with more than one hit over the last three games. The entire lineup couldn’t get things going in the first game in Omaha. DeLucia retired the first 14 batters he faced before Moore singled with two outs in the fifth. Auburn didn’t muster a run until the seventh, when the Tigers strung together three straight hits to open the inning. Garrett Farquhar— in for Foster, who left the game due to illness and was dealing with dehydration on a sweltering day at Charles Schwab Field — led off with a double past the center fielder. DiChiara followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and Peirce drove in the team’s lone run of the game with an RBI single through the left side. That was all the Tigers could muster, though, as DeLucia worked out of the jam. Auburn only had one baserunner the rest of the game — Rambusch, who reached on a fielding error with two outs in the eighth but was picked off at first to end the inning. The Tigers finished the night with four hits, no walks and 13 strikeouts, 10 of which were recorded by DeLucia. “We never could garner any offense,” Thompson said. “…It just didn’t seem like we were ever in a count. Bobby mentioned [DeLucia] getting ahead. There was just not those big disadvantage counts for us to do damage. It seemed like the whole day we were trying to make contact, more or less, than trying to get into some advantageous situations, getting the leadoff man on, getting set for an inning. It just hadn’t happened for us the last couple of games.” Auburn only faced three-ball counts four times against Ole Miss, producing two baserunners (one hit and an error), and generally struggled to get ahead in the count. Whether the Tigers can establish a better approach—and better results—at the plate will dictate whether their stay in Omaha will be extended past Monday, when they square off against No. 2 seed Stanford at 1 p.m. (ESPN). Stanford was walloped by Arkansas in the early game Saturday, giving up 17 runs on 21 hits to the Razorbacks en route to a 17-2 loss. However, the Cardinal are likely to call upon junior left-hander, Quinn Mathews (9-1, 2.62 ERA). The 6-foot-4 southpaw has appeared in 26 games for the Cardinal, with nine starts, nine wins and nine saves over 96 1/3 innings of work. He leads the team in ERA and has struck out 110 and walked 47, and opposing hitters are batting just .204 against him this season. It’s another daunting challenge for Auburn in its journey for a College World Series title, and while Thompson hasn’t been shy about his team’s recent inconsistency at the plate, he believes the solution is about simplification. After all, he only needs to look back two weeks — back when the offense was “unconscious” and on “autopilot” — to see what this lineup is capable of. As he said Sunday afternoon: It’s in there. It’s just a matter of settling in and unlocking it against some of the best arms the nation has to offer. “We’ve seen good arms, and we’ve played good offense before,” Thompson said. “This is the moment where you want to go, and all these years here, the last time here — my two trips here, I want to see Auburn have success here. I don’t think anybody is panicking or anything; you’re going to see great arms. “You’re going to have to beat great arms. You’re going to have to do things like that. That’s what tomorrow’s opportunity is about.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

i would recommend the documentary Who We Are which is about racism in america. it is very eye opening and contacts instead of the usual crap concerning documentaries. it is three minutes shy of two hours but i believe it to be very informative. it is critically acclaimed.

Auburn is getting one more boost to its roster for this season, and it's at a major position of need. Marcus Bragg, a graduate transfer from Western Kentucky has announced his commitment to Auburn. "Man it feels wonderful," Bragg said. "Being that this team took me in under the conditions, I just feel the love and I’m happy. Happy to be here." Bragg played three seasons for the Hilltoppers after transferring in from Mississippi Delta Community College, becoming an important piece to the defensive line in 2021, totaling 27 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and a forced fumble. Before Bragg even left his visit he committed to Auburn. "I had an idea when I first got the call from Coach Roc," Bragg said. "He sounded excited to have me, he told me how bad he needed me, how bad he wanted me here." The need for Bragg though cannot be overstated. Before landing Bragg, Auburn had just three scholarship edge rushers on the roster in Derick Hall, Eku Leota and Dylan Brooks. Hall and Leota were key pieces to Auburn's defense last year, but Brooks is a redshirt freshman without game experience. After spring practice Auburn opted to move linebacker Joko Willis over to the edge room to help alleviate some of the depth concerns, but now Bragg and Willis should help solve those issues. Hall and Leota are expected to reprise their roles as the starting edge rushers after racking up nine and seven sacks, respectively. But the need to replace T.D. Moultry, Auburn's third edge rusher was clear. Last year Moultry had 33 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Bragg could be looking at a role similar to that as he steps in at Auburn. "He (Roc Bellantoni) just told me there’s only two people that are really playing right now and we will all rotate in and get a lot of plays, a lot of sacks," Bragg said. "It’s going to be a big year." The 6-foot-5, 268-pound defensive end entered the transfer portal in the beginning of March, before Western Kentucky began its spring practice. Originally from North Miami, Florida, Bragg enrolled at Western Kentucky as a 3-star recruit from his time playing in JUCO. 7COMMENTS Bragg is the tenth addition to Auburn's roster through the transfer portal, joining LSU wide receiver Koy Moore, Memphis defensive lineman Morris Joseph, Iowa State safety Craig McDonald, Miami wide receiver Dazalin Worsham, Oregon defensive lineman Jayson Jones, North Carolina linebacker Eugene Asante, Oregon cornerback DJ James, Texas A&M quarterback Zach Calzada and Oregon quarterback Robby Ashford. Bragg is eligible immediately with one year left to play.

i just saw this on reddit and was checking to see if it was posted. how is he ranked and all that?/will he seriously help us?

there are certain sects of christians that believe the world is ending soon. they also keep saying the rapture is coming and have been that i know of since the early eighties. we are still here and people have not been called to heaven yet. this is also what a friend told me long ago is that some folks he went to church with said they could care less about climate control destroying earth because god will call everyone back home before then.

Facing 'tall order' in College World Series, Auburn vows to come back 'fighting' By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com 5-6 minutes Auburn's Garrett Farquhar (11) scores a run against Mississippi in the seventh inning during an NCAA College World Series baseball game Saturday, June 18, 2022, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/John Peterson)AP Butch Thompson knows history isn’t on Auburn’s side, so the Tigers will have to create their own if they hope to keep their College World Series hopes alive. Following Auburn’s 5-1 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday, the team is facing the possibility of a short-lived stay in Omaha, Neb. Auburn will face Stanford on Monday at 1 p.m., with the loser sent packing and the winner keeping its championship aspirations afloat. If Auburn hopes to remain in contention for its first-ever national championship, it will have to fight its way back through the losers’ bracket—something that, historically, has been difficult to do. As Thompson pointed out in his postgame press conference Saturday night, only four of the last 40 College World Series champions have lost their first game in Omaha. “It’s a tall order, but that’s what’s good about the way the tournament is set up,” Thompson said. The Tigers will try to become the fifth team since 1982 to accomplish that task. Standing in their way is No. 2 seed Stanford—one of the three national seeds in Omaha to lose its opening game this week. Stanford was dismantled by Arkansas, 17-2, on Saturday afternoon. Auburn’s result wasn’t nearly as discouraging, but the Tigers were still understandably disappointed following the opening-game loss to Ole Miss. Auburn couldn’t crack Ole Miss starter Dylan DeLucia, who twirled a gem over 7 2/3 innings of work — just one run on four hits while striking out 10 and walking none. The Tigers also struggled to get finish off innings defensively, with four of the Rebels’ five runs coming on two-out hits. “It’s just kind of how the whole year has been, too,” said right fielder Bobby Peirce, who drove in Auburn’s lone run against Ole Miss. “We’ve battled back a lot, and one loss isn’t going to kill us. We’re going to come back Monday fighting. I know for sure we’re a team that’s going to fight every game, no matter what. If we’re down five, if we’re up 10, whatever it is, we’re going to fight, so I can promise you we’re going to come out Monday fighting.” It will be a quick turnaround for Auburn after playing the late game Saturday. The Tigers returned to their hotel shortly before 9:30 p.m. and will regroup Sunday with a team meal, meetings and then practice ahead of Monday’s early afternoon elimination game—which happens to be against one of the best teams in the country. Stanford is 47-16 on the season, won the Pac-12 regular-season title — finishing just ahead of the Oregon State team Auburn toppled in the Super Regional — and won the Pac-12 Tournament before earning the No. 2 national seed. “Just over the last couple of years, (Stanford is) a very offensive ballclub,” Thompson said. “We just went through Oregon State, and Stanford kind of squeaked them out, so we know exactly what we’re going to face. As far as the players and the scouting report and watching video and prepping, we’ve not done that, and we haven’t done that all year. The SEC teams are familiar, but we still have to do a lot of work for each team. There’s just no putting the cart in front of the horse.” While Auburn will have to quickly brush up on Stanford, the Tigers feel like the last four months, particularly the grueling slate of a conference that produced half the College World Series field, have adequately prepared them for the challenge ahead. “The league we played in is one of the top leagues in the country,” reliever Carson Skipper said. “For 10 weekends straight, it was going through a gauntlet. You’re going to lose a game here, you’re going to lose a game there, but it’s how you respond and bounce back that really defines who you are.” Auburn is confident it has that response in it, even if the Tigers again find themselves as an underdog Monday. It won’t be the first time they’re counted out, of course; remember, they were picked to finish seventh in the SEC West and second-to-last in the league heading into the season, and few gave them a chance at knocking off Oregon State — which had never previously lost a Super Regional on its home diamond. “It just shows [that] nobody’s really believed in us,” Peirce said. “Nobody’s believed in us on this side of our bracket, nobody’s picked us to win. And that’s OK with us, because we believe in ourselves. We believe that we’re going to win even after one loss.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Auburn set for CWS opener against Ole Miss Caleb Turrentine, Johnny Congdon 3-4 minutes The 2022 Men's College World Series is underway in Omaha with two first round games being played Friday at Charles Schwab Field. The Auburn baseball team is waiting patiently for its chance to hit the field as the Tigers got one more practice in before their first round meeting with fellow SEC team Ole Miss. This is Auburn's sixth trip to Omaha for the Men's College World Series. The Tigers have made it into the semifinals just once, back in 1967. This marks the program's first trip since 2019 when Auburn went 0-2, being eliminated by Louisville. "This is our sixth trip to Omaha, and our university is ecstatic," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. "We were here in 2019. We do have a few of those players that returned. And those are probably some of our best leaders. We've added some pieces along the way to get back here, two of the last three tournaments. Couldn't be happier." Auburn is hoping this trip to midwest brings some more success than the one in 2019 did. The Tigers are one of just four nationally seeded teams remaining in the tournament and have their sights set on a higher finish than just one or two wins. SEE ALSO: Updated schedule, results from 2022 Men's College World Series SEE ALSO: Auburn beats Oregon State 4-3; Headed to College World Series "The motto back in 2019 was let's make it to Omaha," Auburn pitcher Carson Skipper said. "And this year it's, go out and let's win a national championship. Just making it here is not good enough for us. We'll go out and do everything we can to prove it and prove ourselves." Auburn was at a nearby high school Friday afternoon to take some infield and batting practice as the team prepares to play Ole Miss for the fourth time this season. Auburn took one game of a three-game series against then-No. 1 Ole Miss in March. The Tigers won the second game 19-5 but Ole Miss took the series with a 13-6 win and a 15-2 win. Since that series, Auburn has a 28-14 record. Saturday's game is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch. "I think we've just kind of grown, like growing into our team identity," Auburn's Sonny Dichiara said. "And I mean those first couple of weeks you're playing other people when you hit the SEC in conference play, you kind of hit the ground running, you have to figure out who you are real quick. From that weekend on we just figured out who we were going to be and what we were going to do." Auburn will turn to Joseph Gonzalez on the mound. He has posted a 2.95 ERA across 73 innings over 14 appearances and he leads the team with seven wins. "He's pitched for us a lot this year he was out the first portion of the year," Thompson said. "I know he did not pitch against Ole Miss the first time around. But he's kind of been throwing in the 3 hole for us or third slot there. And as we worked through, we got him to the 2 slot. And we eventually got to the 1 slot because he missed some time early in the year. Arguably, at the end of the day, he's probably our best starter."

5 reasons Auburn made the College World Series By Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com 5-6 minutes Auburn (42-20) will participate in the College World Series for the sixth time in program history starting on Saturday at 6 pm CT against Ole Miss (37-22) in Omaha at Charles Schwab Field on ESPN 2. The Tigers clinched the second CWS in the three years under seven-year coach Butch Thompson with a 2-1 series win in the Corvallis Super Regional. Beating Oregon State 4-3 on Monday to win the series was historic. Auburn became the first team to beat the Beavers at Goss Stadium in a Super Regional. Auburn was picked last in the SEC West, as head coach Butch Thompson pointed out several times throughout the Tigers’ playoff run. Read More Auburn Baseball: Auburn, Ole Miss meet again as familiar foes, different teams in College World Series How Auburn’s Sonny DiChiara became one of college baseball’s most prodigious hitters From Little League World Series to Omaha, Game 1 nod means ‘everything’ to Auburn’s Joseph Gonzalez Auburn took the chip on its shoulder from the perceived slight into an opportunity for a national championship. Of course, it’s important to remember that Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Texas A&M join the Tigers from the SEC West to make up half of the eight teams in the MCWS. “They’ve been challenged with low expectations, and it just drove them even more to this point,” Thompson told reporters Thursday after practice. We’re walking in here thinking we’re not done yet. That’s a great feeling for a baseball team. We hope the best is yet to come this week, but we’re sure thankful to be here. This is the pinnacle for us and college baseball. I’m glad the Auburn Tigers are part of this session.” Let’s take a look at some reasons why Auburn is in the College World Series. 1. Sonny DiChiara choosing Auburn. DiChiara has 22 home runs, including four in the playoffs. His homer on Monday put the Tigers ahead 2-0 in the eventual 4-3 win to clinch the series. His batting average (.392), on-base percentage (.560), and slugging percentage (.809) are the best in the Southeastern Conference. He’s drawn 68 walks, which leads the nation, and has reached base in 60 of the 62 games he’s played this season. The Birmingham Native and Samford bats third for the Tigers, making life easier for the hitters in front of him because you don’t want to put them on base with walks. DiChiara’s on-base percentage helps the batters behind him as well. A prime example was his leadoff walk in the sixth inning during Monday’s win. Auburn scored two runs in the frame and went up 4-1 against Oregon State. Without those runs, the Tigers aren’t in Omaha seeking a title. 2. Bullpen Auburn’s bullpen covered 8 2/3 innings during Saturday’s 7-5 win against Oregon State. But, the most important performance was in defeat. Chase Isbell kept the Tigers within striking distance on Sunday with 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Isbell kept the Tigers from having to use closer Blake Burkhalter. Carson Skipper and Tommy Sheehan are among several Auburn relievers that pitched impactful innings during the Tigers’ run. 3. Burkhalter The second-SEC team pitcher has 15 saves and 66 strikeouts versus seven walks in 44 innings this season. Burkhalter finished off UCLA in the Auburn Regional with a save. His brightest moment came in the pivotal game on Monday against Oregon State. The Dothan native had an eight-out save to send Auburn to the College World Series. 4. Clutch Offense. Auburn is hitting .303 in six tournament games after going .209 and scoring 11 runs in the four games before the playoffs. The Tigers scored 51 runs in three games in the Auburn Regional with wins against Southeastern Louisana, Florida State, and the Bruins. Auburn has 65 runs on 67 hits in their last six games. The Tigers scored four runs on three hits in Monday’s win against the Beavers. It hasn’t mattered if the Tigers crush balls over the fence or have to achieve with baserunning. 5. Thompson Thompson wouldn’t take the credit; however, the Tigers are in their second MCWS appearance and recently went to their third Super Regional in four years. Auburn has elevated as a baseball program during Thompson’s seven-year tenure. Here’s what DiChiara told reporters about Thompson on Thursday in Omaha during a press conference. “I think it just kind of shows the testament to this man right here, how hard he works every day. How much he enjoys us and how much he just loves investing in us and getting more people to come,” DiChiara said. I didn’t know Coach Thompson that well until I got on campus. So just the way he’s invested in me, I know that’s how every new player is. He just invests in them. Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.

Auburn, Ole Miss meet in College World Series as familiar foes, different teams By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com 5-6 minutes Three months’ time can change plenty. Just ask Auburn and Ole Miss. The two SEC West rivals last met during the opening weekend of conference play in mid-March. The Rebels rode into Plainsman Park as the nation’s top-ranked team, while the Tigers — who enjoyed a strong start in nonconference play — were projected to finish last in the SEC West this season. Read more Auburn baseball: For Butch Thompson, of course Auburn’s path to a College World Series begins with Ole Miss How Sonny DiChiara became one of college baseball’s most feared hitters From Little League World Series to College World Series, Game 1 starting nod means “everything” to Auburn’s Joseph Gonzalez Now the two division rivals will square off again, this time with much higher stakes, Saturday at 6 p.m. in the opening round of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. While the Rebels took two of three from the Tigers on the Plains in March, no one should expect the matchup at Charles Schwab Field to mirror those past results. “There’s obviously a little bit of being familiar with them and watching some of the video today, knowing the names, but we’re a different team,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “They’re a different team.” Auburn is hardly the team many prognosticators picked to finish last in the division entering the year. The Tigers head into the College World Series at 42-20 overall after posting a 16-13 mark in SEC play, sweeping through the regional round after hosting for the first time since 2010 and then going across the country to defeat Oregon State in the Super Regional last weekend. They boast the SEC Co-Player of the Year in All-America first baseman Sonny DiChiara and another All-American in reliever Blake Burkhalter. DiChiara has set the tone at the plate for the Tigers, while Burkhalter has been nails out of the bullpen, bolstering a solid pitching staff for Auburn. “I think we’ve just kind of grown, like growing into our team identity,” DiChiara said. “And I mean, those first couple of weeks you’re playing other people when you hit the SEC in conference play, you kind of hit the ground running, you have to figure out who you are real quick. From that weekend on we just figured out who we were going to be and what we were going to do.” That identity has carried Auburn to its second College World Series appearance in the last three postseasons, returning to Omaha for the sixth time in program history after last making the trip in 2019. Ole Miss, meanwhile, is back in the College World Series for the first time since 2014. The Rebels were tabbed as contenders entering the season, starting the year ranked in the top-five in the country — even climbing to No. 1 in some polls ahead of SEC play. After the series win at Auburn, though, things began to unravel for Ole Miss. They were clobbered by Tennessee the following weekend and eventually fell to 7-14 in conference play following a series loss to Arkansas. “We kind of struggled to figure certain parts out, especially the pitching side of it, and maybe most specifically the starting pitching,” Bianco said. It wasn’t until last month that the Rebels really got back on track. They won seven of their final nine games to close the regular season, including a series sweep of then-No. 9 LSU on the road. Despite an opening-round loss in the SEC Tournament, Ole Miss earned a postseason bid. The team swept through the Coral Gables Regional at Miami and then swept nationally seeded Southern Miss in the Hattiesburg Super Regional last weekend. In all, the Rebels have won 12 of their last 15 games entering Saturday’s showdown at Charles Schwab Field. “(We) didn’t point fingers,” Ole Miss first baseman Tim Elko said. “Didn’t try to do too much. Just really tried to keep believing in ourselves and know that we are one of the best teams in the country. We’ve got to just go out there play better. So, we were able to do that and got on a roll and now we’re here.” Making Saturday’s opener even more intriguing for the two SEC West foes is the pitching matchup that looms. Auburn will start sophomore right-hander Joseph Gonzalez (7-3, 295 ERA), who did not pitch against Ole Miss during that weekend series three months ago. Junior right-hander Dylan DeLucia (6-2, 4.35 ERA) will take the mound for the Rebels. He tossed 3 1/3 innings of relief in one appearance against the Tigers in March, allowing two runs on six hits, but has since moved into the starting rotation. In the Regional and Super Regional rounds, DeLucia has tossed a combined 11 2/3 innings while allowing four earned runs and striking out 21 against one walk. “Since we played them the first time, we’ve kind of hit our stride,” Auburn reliever Carson Skipper said. “That first weekend, SEC weekend, everybody’s jittery and ready to go. But at the same time, not everything is solidified. Not everything’s where you want it to be. “So, it’s kind of two different teams playing Saturday. It will be fun to see.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

i just feel ichy is a guy and i have no reason other than a gut feeling. but to be honest i have paid no attention to the non gender thing.

why would it matter? this is kind of odd.

Teen charged in death of Auburn announcer Rod Bramblett, wife, now jailed on child porn charges By Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com 3-4 minutes The teen charged in the crash that killed Auburn announcer Rod Bramblett and his wife, Paula, is back behind bars. Johnston Edward Taylor, now 19, was arrested Thursday on felony warrants charging with six counts of possession of child pornography. Auburn police and the Alabama Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force launched an investigation on June 7, Assistant Chief Clarence Stewart announced late Thursday night. Taylor was developed as a suspect and, after a search warrant and the collection of evidence, he was arrested and charged. Taylor was booked into the Lee County Jail with bond set at $60,000. No additional details about the alleged crimes have yet been made public. Taylor was charged with manslaughter in the May 25, 2019, deaths of the Brambletts. It was just after 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 25, 2019 when the Brambletts were killed. Taylor -- then a 16-year-old Lee Scott Academy student -- was traveling south in the outside lane on Shug Jordan Parkway approaching West Samford Avenue in his Jeep Laredo. The Brambletts, in a 2017 Toyota Highlander, were stopped in the southbound outside lane of Shug Jordan parkway at a traffic light. The Jeep struck the Bramblett’s SUV to the right of center, according to the crash report. The impact caused the Jeep to hit a pedestrian and a traffic light pole before coming to a final rest. The Bramblett’s vehicle was pushed into the intersection and through the opposing lanes of traffic before coming to a final rest on the curb. Taylor’s “blood sample contained THC, which is the primary psychoactive component of marijuana, and is indicative of recent usage of marijuana at the time of the collision,” records state. The teen was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Paula Bramblett, 53, was airlifted from the scene but had to be diverted to East Alabama Medical Center due to the severity of her injuries. She was pronounced dead in the emergency room from multiple internal injuries. Rod Bramblett, 52, who was the driver of the Highlander, was airlifted to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, where he later died from a closed head injury. At the time of the deadly crash, Taylor was driving 89 mph in a 55-mph zone, under the influence of marijuana, and still accelerating, authorities said, when he rammed into the back of the couple’s SUV. A judge in April of 2021 granted Taylor youthful offender status in the manslaughter cases. Lee County Circuit Judge P.B. McLauchlin, a retired judge handling the case, in his order said, “At the time of the accident the defendant was a 16-year-old teenager with no prior criminal history, who had smoked or used marijuana and had been diagnosed with marijuana use disorder,’’ McLauchlin wrote. “None of this justifies what happened; however, it does lend itself to treatment as a Youthful Offender.” The youthful offender status eliminates a jury trial, if there is a trial, and the range of punishment goes from two to 20 years had he been tried as an adult to zero to three years maximum. Youth offender cases are sealed, so the outcome of that case is not made public.

why do you keep calling ichy she?

i know this guy fetterman well. he asks me for money every single day almost running for office.

i would. single parent homes. gangs. anger. i am not suggesting they fight but i think it would be a blessing and keep a lot of youth out of prison.

well there is hope for the future. when you get old like i am just use your scrotum to hang glide with. they get. you will look silly but maybe you will still be alive...............grins

i have a question for you. if i have already asked which i did a few years back but here it is............i think all kids at 17 or 18 should and in school or not should have to serve in the military for a minimum of one year. the israeli's started doing this and it is my understanding they have less crime or kids and young adults getting in trouble. a lot of people would disagree but i think it would change lives for the better for all concerned. what say yee? s