Happy Thursday, everyone. Kristy Curry takes her Alabama women’s basketball team to Lexington tonight for a huge ranked matchup against a very good Kentucky squad.
After a two-point loss to No. 23 Vanderbilt, the Alabama Crimson Tide heads to Memorial Coliseum to take on Kentucky in the Wildcats’ first top 25 matchup during SEC play. Unfortunately, the Tide is coming looking for redemption, despite defeating the ‘Cats by 17 last season in Tuscaloosa. Plus, Alabama boasts one of the more veteran rosters in the country, with five graduate students, and only seven underclassman on the 14-woman lineup.
These two teams are extremely similar on paper. Kentucky averages 79.0 points per game. Alabama? 79.5 points per game. Kentucky shoots 46.1% from the field. Alabama, on the other hand, shoots 46.3%. It’s no doubt that Kenny Brooks and the Wildcats have been preparing for this day since the beginning of the season. Especially since Brooks and Alabama head coach Kristy Curry have met only one time before. In 2018, Virginia Tech and the Tide battled it out in the WNIT quarterfinals. Brooks came out victorious.
Tip-off is at 6pm CT on SEC Network.
Alabama didn’t even make the first 12-team playoff this year, but make no mistake: Alabama is The Story. According to Bill Connelly, the two best games of the year were Alabama’s.
After the most exciting 30 seconds imaginable, Georgia still had one more chance to make a comeback. But Zabien Brown picked off Beck in the end zone with 43 seconds left, and Alabama kneeled out a wild win.
The best moment (to date) of the post-Saban era in Tuscaloosa was quickly followed by the worst.
Vanderbilt followed the upset script as well as any underdog ever has. The offense scored TDs on two early drives before stalling out for a bit, the defense contributed a pick-six on the perfectly deflected ball of all time, and special teams contributed a 51-yard Brock Taylor field goal in the second quarter. The Commodores led 23-7, and every time the Tide would charge back, Vandy would respond. Ryan Williams’ 58-yard touchdown catch made it 30-28 Vandy late in the third quarter, but the Commodores responded with a field goal, a sack-and-strip fumble recovery, and a Diego Pavia-to-Kamrean Johnson touchdown with 5:07 left. Williams scored again to bring Bama within five points, but an eight-yard Pavia run on second-and-7 allowed Vandy to kneel out the game and trigger an incredible celebration.
The goalposts were walked miles, down Broadway and into the Cumberland River. Vandy: Turnt indeed.
The best word to describe Kalen Deboer’s first season in Tuscaloosa is “volatile.” Besides the Georgia to Vandy contrast, you had the blowout of a good LSU team on the road followed by the still unfathomable 24-3 no show effort in Norman that was rendered even more baffling a week later when LSU beat the Sooners by three touchdowns. There were high highs and low lows, but the potential was always there for the Tide. Here’s hoping they can find a bit of consistency with a less tumultuous offseason.
We now have a Division II player who transferred to FBS, trying to get eligibility back for time spent at the lower level.
Fourqurean also states in the lawsuit that the NCAA is denying him an opportunity to profit from his name, image and likeness by failing to award him additional eligibility with the Badgers.
The NCAA denied his request for a waiver for additional eligibility Wednesday, his attorneys told the court in the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Madison, Wisconsin.
In the lawsuit, Fourqurean’s attorneys asked the court to grant a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would prevent the NCAA from enforcing its bylaws pertaining to its five-year rule for eligibility, three-year eligibility limits for transfers, and to rule that Fourqurean’s first season at Grand Valley State be considered a missed opportunity under NCAA rules because of the death of his father in 2021.
Brad Crawford has Alabama 8th in his early rankings.
8. Alabama Crimson Tide: Who is the starting quarterback and what is his upside? — The keys to the always-explosive Kalen DeBoer offense go to a new signal-caller next season. Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and even true freshman Keelon Russell could all realistically win the job.
Last, Jalen Milroe is predictably polarizing at the Senior Bowl. His athleticism is off the charts and he has a Howitzer attached to his right shoulder, but accuracy issues, hand size and questionable decision making continue to be in issue. Still, there is little doubt about the man’s character.
Riley Leonard, Milroe’s roommate at the Senior Bowl, called the Alabama quarterback “normal,” a person he stays up late with talking about things “completely outside of football,” someone who is a leader, an encourager, unselfish and roots for those around him.
“He just wants to make everybody else around him better,” Leonard said.
To Milroe, that’s what being an Alabama football quarterback looks like, something that doesn’t turn off once he leaves the roster.
“There are so many resources at the University of Alabama,” Milroe said. “If you just stay on track, it will catapult you to where you want to see your future.”
Following this, his GPA during his time at Alabama began to turn heads, and it was impressive to say the least. Milroe became just the seventh NFF National Scholar-Athlete from Alabama, graduating in December 2023 with a 3.52 GPA and a degree in management with a concentration in entrepreneurship. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in sports management.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
