Jumbo Package: Softball drives another promising young player straight into the Portal

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Holiday.

Not much in the ole’ hopper today, but CB is working on the Softball year-ending piece, and I have no doubt it’s going to be a scorcher.

Which brings me to Softball, and The Gut running off yet another talented young player after misusing, then sidelining, her talents.

Say goodbye to Kennedy Marceaux — in a move that will almost certainly not come back to bite a fetid, stagnating program (and its complacent coaching) right in the ass. I would say that perhaps this is a wake up call for Greg Byrne, but he doesn’t care about women’s sports, provided they are reasonably competent, stay out of trouble, and can decently break even or perhaps even nudge towards a profit.

Know your place.

Marceaux played in 27 games with 10 starts this season for the Crimson Tide, mostly at third base. She hit .310 with two home runs and nine RBIs. The only player on the roster to appear in fewer games than Marceaux was freshman pitcher Braya Hodges. She made the all-tournament team for the Easton Bama Bash after going 6-for-10 at the plate that weekend.

The infielder started in seven of Alabama’s first 17 games but saw her playing time and opportunities at the plate and in the field dwindle as the season went on. Her last start came on April 25 against Missouri. She did not have a plate appearance for the Tide during the NCAA tournament.

Marceaux came to Tuscaloosa as a highly-touted played out of the state of Louisiana, winning the 2024 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state. She was the No. 8 overall player in the class of 2024 by Extra Innings Softball. Marceaux will have three years of eligibility remaining.

The absolute criminal waste of talent continues apace in Tuscaloosa for a man that has now driven off: KB Sides (SEC player of the year, Arkansas); Skylar Wallace (SEC player of the year, Florida); Lexi Kilfoyl (Big 12 Pitcher of the year, Oklahoma State), and many more.

Funny how players become better once they leave, huh? We wish Kennedy nothing but the best, even as the program she flees is drowning under the weight of all that #mudita. Perhaps she’ll even shortlist for Player of the Year next season, if history is any indication.

Alabama Baseball did not earn a national seed and host opportunity — they really needed to make their case against Tennessee in the SECT — despite having the No. 13 RPI. Several other, far less deserving squads did earn those bids, including the Tide’s host partner: the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

After losing in the second round of the SEC tournament last week, Alabama coach Rob Vaughn made his case for the Tide earning a No. 1 seed as a regional host. But Alabama, which ranks No. 13 in the NCAA’s RPI metric, had been projected as a No. 2 seed by Baseball America and D1 Baseball after the loss.

This marks the third consecutive appearance for Alabama in the NCAA baseball tournament, a first for the program since 2009-11. Alabama last year lost to UCF and Stetson in the Tallahassee regional. In 2023, the Tide hosted and won its regional before falling to Wake Forest in the super regionals.

The Tide and Eagles are regular combatants, and earlier this season ‘Bama topped USM in one of their characteristic shootouts.

Alabama will play No. 3 seed Miami at 2 p.m. CT on Friday, and ESPN2 will broadcast the game.

The Tide will then face either No. 1 seed Southern Miss or No. 4 seed Columbia on Saturday. The winner of the double-elimination regional will face the winner of the Nashville regional, which is hosted by No. 1 overall seed and SEC champion Vanderbilt, in the super regionals.

Barring a complete collapse, this is a winnable region for ‘Bama — no worse than a tossup, TBH. But the Tide’s late relief has been abysmal of late, so taking a lead into the middle innings may be the most dangerous spot for a team that can score in scads..and give them up just as easily.

And, somewhat related:

Richie Bonomolo Jr, showed out and earned the honor of being named to the All-SEC team on Sunday.

Bonomolo Jr. had an impressive performance throughout Alabama’s two games in the SEC tournament last week. As Alabama’s center fielder, Bonomolo Jr. went 4-7 at the plate, driving in three RBIs. Notably, all three RBIs came in the Tide’s 15-10 loss against Tennessee. In that game, Bonomolo Jr. finished with three hits, including two doubles.

The Tide’s center fielder and the entire Alabama baseball team have been relentless all year, with Bonomolo Jr. coming away with an RBI single in the ninth inning of the tide’s game two loss to Tennessee, which saw the Tide score four runs in the final inning of the game to cut a nine-run deficit into only a five-run game.

Read More: Tide Outfielder Named on All-SEC Tournament Team | https://tide1009.com/richie-bonomolo-jr-named-on-all-sec-tournament-team/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

One of the collateral victims of Warde Manuel’s madness with the CFP Committee has been future scheduling. Say goodbye to the possibility of a nine-game SEC schedule, and almost certainly marquee OOC matchups that we’ve come to love:

“You can’t just run down a College Football Playoff selection idea without thinking about, ‘Well if we play eight or nine games, what are the impacts?’” Sankey said. “So that’s the depth of analysis. We also look at, and we’ll go through this tomorrow, whether people want to agree with it or not, that’s up to them, we can go through the analytics and who the rigor of our schedule is different than anyone else’s, period.”

Sankey bemoaned the idea of teams having to ditch difficult non-conference games, saying he felt it was bad for the on-field product. However, he said the teams getting snubbed provided a lesson to the league moving forward.

“One of the things we learned is, you’re not gonna divorce your regular-season schedule from College Football Playoff selection,” Sankey said. “In fact, I think there’s more of a feeling that regular-season scheduling is governed by College Football Playoff selection.”

The way around that is more automatic qualifiers. Sankey got especially testy when challenged on the notion that conferences with great teams deserve more playoff spots.

“There’s critics all over the place. So if you actually go back and do the research, that kind of format could cost us positions depending on the number of teams. I don’t see the critics actually digging in to understand that reality. I don’t see the critics actually analyzing like I’ve just described, how schedules are evaluated so the critics can run to the microphones and share their opinions. We’re trying to find a format to determine whatever number it is. It’s the best teams in college football,” Sankey said.

He’s right to be angry. And it sucks, but if your difficult road isn’t factored in, much less rewarded, why not play an Indiana schedule?

I hate this timeline. I hate the playoffs. I hate sports media. I hate the NCAA. I hate class action attorneys. I hate the narcissism engine of social media. I hate the recruiting industry. I hate Judge Claudia Wilkins. I hate this pay-for-play nightmare. And I hate Tennessee.

The punchline here? The Big 10 and SEC actually don’t have to play nice at all. They can cram-down a proposal to give themselves eight of sixteen bids, and as long as ESPN blesses it (and they would), then the rest of the country has to go along:

And here’s the kicker to this overhaul of a system that has been allowed to play out a grand total of one time: the Big Ten and SEC reportedly have authority to make decisions about the future playoff structure, provided they have “meaningful consultation” with other conferences and television partner ESPN. They can do what they want, more or less, and what they want to do is stack the deck in their favor.

They don’t have to do it, of course. The two conferences already have more top programs than everyone else, having combined to win the past six national championships (four by the SEC, two by the Big Ten). They’ll almost assuredly get at least four teams in every season in a 16-team playoff. But those should still be earned on the field, not pre-ordained before a season even begins.

The two leagues already have the most money, the richest media deals, the most fans and the deepest tradition. They don’t need any additional advantages without earning them on the field. But these SEC meetings this week could echo the Big Ten gathering last week that produced support for the so-called 4-4-2-2-1 model of automatic playoff bids.

https://www.si.com/college-football/sec-greg-sankey-reshape-college-sports-bad-guy-blowback

That was a provision of which I was unaware. It probably also explains why the ACC and Big 12 are so salty. They’re not only de facto junior partners, they don’t even have a meaningful vote. (And, let’s be honest, they probably don’t deserve much of one.)

The much-ballyhooed Saban-chaired committee on college sports has been shelved for the time being, as America’s feckless, lazy, overpaid, unaccountable Congress drafts legislation that would make the committee’s work and conclusions a nullity.

The White House has decided to wait before making an official foray into college sports.

Plans for a presidential commission on college sports co-led by former Alabama head coach Nick Saban have been paused, Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported Thursday. The move is possibly rooted in the commission’s potential impact on current Senate negotiations over legislation in the same sphere.

It’s unclear how long the pause will last, but it will give a group of five senators, including Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) more time to reach an agreement on legislation for a sport whose leaders have been begging for federal intervention in recent years.

Sure, guys. We believe you’re working on this. Just like you allegedly have been for the last six years.

Ready for an early season CFP prediction? Andy Staples is sky-high on the Tide’s fortunes this season:

No. 11 Miami at No. 6 Alabama: Surprised to see the Hurricanes here? If the hire of defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman and an infusion of transfer portal talent on that side of the ball works, Miami has an excellent chance to be here. I considered the Hurricanes, Illinois and Indiana — yes, the Hoosiers are still good — for this spot. Basically, it came down to who I thought would beat another CFP-caliber team. Miami beating Notre Dame in its season opener felt more likely than Illinois beating Ohio State or Indiana beating Oregon or Penn State. In this projection, the Hurricanes beat the Fighting Irish and then lost to Florida and then to Clemson in the ACC title game. (Given how the committee protected title game losers last year, it’s possible a team in this situation could drop another regular-season game.)

Meanwhile, I have ultra-talented Alabama going 11-1 against its regular-season schedule and losing to Texas in the SEC title game. Assuming whoever Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer picks as QB1 — we’re assuming Ty Simpson — has developed through the season as a first-year starter, Alabama’s roster would make it very dangerous in a single-elimination tournament. The Crimson Tide win and move on to the quarterfinals.

Florida Man recognizes talent, at least.

And, finally, your moment of levity:

Have a great morning. Roll Tide