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Clemson’s offense is in trouble! Arch Manning is all hype! There’s no way Georgia can three-peat!

Not so fast.

Spring football is prime time for overreactions. So with spring games wrapped up and the latest transfer portal window closed, let’s go through some of the season’s hottest takes while also providing a reality check for each one.


Alabama will return to the College Football Playoff

Spectating hasn’t been part of “The Process” under Nick Saban at Alabama. But that’s what the Crimson Tide were last season come College Football Playoff time — spectators. They watched from home as Georgia captured its second straight national championship. Alabama has been to every playoff but two since the 2014 season, but it will be back on college football’s grand stage in 2023. Saban likes the makeup of his new-look coaching staff, and there’s an edge and physicality to this team that might have been lacking a year ago. There’s also plenty of motivation — or the “yummy” rat poison — as Saban calls it. Already, we’re starting to hear (yet again) that the window is closing on Alabama’s dynasty and that perhaps Saban’s best days are behind him. The last time we heard that, Alabama won two of the next three national titles and played in four straight national title games. There’s plenty of blossoming talent on this team, in receiver Malik Benson, defensive tackle Jaheim Oatis, offensive guard Tyler Booker, offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor, running back Jam Miller and safety Caleb Downs. Talent or depth won’t be a problem in 2023.

Reality check: Yes, there’s the obvious question about quarterback. It’s a fair one: If the Crimson Tide can’t win a national title with Bryce Young (they did win an SEC title), is it realistic to expect them to win with Jalen Milroe or Ty Simpson, and now, last-minute Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner? How well Alabama is able to run the football this season will be a key, and look for the defense to be much more aggressive in forcing turnovers and negative plays. It also helps that just about all of Alabama’s toughest opponents (LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas) have to come to Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2023. So probably best not to sleep on the Tide.

Chris Low


Colorado will compete in the Pac-12

The Deion Sanders experiment has been a phenomenon in Boulder. Everything about it. An overnight transformation from a program fading toward irrelevancy to one of the most talked-about in college football is nearly impossible in the sport. Yet, here the Buffs are. The hype matters, too. Without talent, there is no winning. And the most important thing Sanders has accomplished is that he’s made CU a place where sought-after players want to compete. With every player who enters the portal to leave, there is seemingly several more — mostly better — players ready to step into that scholarship spot. By the time the roster movement stabilizes prior to next season, the Buffs will have a roster capable of competing in the Pac-12. Now, let’s be clear: Having the ability to compete does not mean Colorado is suddenly a betting favorite to win the conference. But a betting slip for that to actually happen might not turn to trash until the middle of the season.

Reality check: Taking away the 2020 season for obvious reason, Colorado’s second-best record in the Pac-12 since joining the conference was a 3-6 record (twice). Let’s pump the brakes and watch an actual game before expecting someone who has never coached at the FBS level try to win games against several proven commodities.

— Kyle Bonagura


Arch Manning can’t contribute this year

Texas fans rose to their feet as Arch Manning entered the Longhorns’ spring game and seemed to be holding their breath on every play. It was their first glimpse of perhaps the most famous recruit of his generation, a new line in football royalty. So when Manning struggled in his first appearance in a Longhorns uniform, completing 5 of 13 pass attempts for 30 yards, the message boards lit up. After arriving to much fanfare, Manning finished the spring as the third-string quarterback behind returning starter Quinn Ewers and redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy, a four-star recruit last year. Ewers looked comfortable, completing 16 of 23 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown, and Murphy showed off his arm, completing 9 of 13 for 165 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown to another freshman, Johntay Cook II. Manning, it seems, has a long way to go.

Reality check: Manning was often playing with backups and several other freshmen, and only coach Steve Sarkisian knows the plan for what he hoped to show off in the spring game. Manning spent most of the day on the move: On his 20 dropbacks, he was sacked four times (including three times on his last drive), scrambled three times for 15 yards and was hurried three more times on the 13 occasions where he actually got rid of the ball. Ewers was sacked three times, but on 27 dropbacks with zero hurries, and Murphy wasn’t sacked or hurried. The freshman could take his lumps, but there’s not much to judge off this one performance, until he gets to play with the line and receivers his counterparts do.

— Dave Wilson


The Pac-12 preseason conversation likely will center on USC, led by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, and two-time defending league champion Utah. But Washington might be the most complete team in the conference. After watching the Huskies practice on a beautiful morning — thank you, Seattle weather gods — I came away impressed with the star power on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. might become Williams’ primary challenger for the Heisman. He will throw to two 1,000-yard receivers (Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan) and a good group of tight ends, and play behind a solid line that protected him well in 2022. The key is the Huskies’ defense, which had been the program’s calling card until recently, but could soon be again. Washington returns one of the nation’s best edge-rushing tandems in Bralen Trice and Zion Tupuola-Fetui. There’s optimism at linebacker with Edefuan Ulofoshio and USC transfer Ralen Goforth. If the secondary can avoid injuries, the unit could be significantly better. I also liked how confident Washington’s players were in setting big goals for the season.

Reality check: Washington’s schedule is an absolute grind, as the Huskies face Boise State and Michigan State in non-league play, and open November with USC, Utah and Oregon State. The defense is filled with talented players who have some troubling injury histories, too, so a wait-and-see approach there makes sense.

— Adam Rittenberg


The Clemson offense isn’t fixed!

If you tuned in to watch the Clemson spring game, you saw an offense that looked average … again. But how could that be with Garrett Riley as offensive coordinator? GASP! When Dabo Swinney decided to make perhaps the splashiest hire of the college football offseason, there came with it raised expectations. If anyone could get the Tigers back to the offensive production that had been missing the past two seasons, it would be Riley. After all, he helped Max Duggan go from backup to Heisman finalist, as TCU made it into the national championship game. Surely, he would immediately do the same with Cade Klubnik. But once the spring game rolled around, Klubnik had some good plays and some bad — throwing two interceptions and no touchdown passes. His first-team offense moved in starts and stops, and while we got a small glimpse of what plays Riley could potentially rely on, it was hard to come away from the spring game and think, “Everything is all better now!” Afterward, Klubnik conceded there were “lots of ups and downs,” but he also said he feels comfortable in the offense. “I would just say I feel like I’m playing like me again,” he said. “I feel comfortable to step out there and I don’t have to play for anybody I just get to go play free. I just feel at peace right now.”

Reality check: There is no reason to read into how Clemson looked on offense and think it’s doomsday all over again. Clemson played without several key players, including running back Will Shipley, three starters on the offensive line and receivers Beaux Collins and Adam Randall. Defenses tend to be ahead of offenses in spring games, and that was the case here. That’s especially true this year as Klubnik and his teammates adjust to a new scheme. Plus, Riley wasn’t going to give away everything for opponents to scout with his playcalls, so we still don’t really know how this will all look once the season opens. One spring game performance should not damper the enthusiasm for 2023.

— Andrea Adelson


Georgia can’t win three national championships in a row

No team in modern FBS history has won three straight national championships. Georgia, which waited 41 years to win a national title before finally getting over the hump in 2021, will have a chance to do it this coming season. After setting an NFL draft record with 15 players being selected in 2022, including five defensive starters in the first round, Georgia still managed to finish 15-0 and win its second straight CFP National Championship this past season. The Bulldogs had three more players, defensive tackle Jalen Carter, offensive tackle Broderick Jones and edge rusher Nolan Smith, picked in the first round on Thursday. They also lost quarterback Stetson Bennett, tailback Kenny McIntosh, cornerback Kelee Ringo and tight end Darnell Washington to the pros. Perhaps more importantly, offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who helped Kirby Smart get his program past the finish line, left for the same position with the Baltimore Ravens. Former Colorado State coach Mike Bobo, who played quarterback at Georgia, is back for his second tenure as his alma mater’s playcaller.

Reality check: Until someone knocks off Georgia in the SEC, it will be among the favorites to win a national championship every season. Smart and his staff have stockpiled that much talent in Athens, Georgia. Safety Malaki Starks and end Mykel Williams were starters as freshmen last season. Georgia’s linebacker corps — Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Smael Mondon Jr. and Jalon Walker — is as good as any in the FBS. Carson Beck will probably end up winning the quarterback job, and he’ll have All-America tight end Brock Bowers and a deep receiver corps to work with. Georgia’s offensive line should have won the Joe Moore Award last season, and it’s going to be good again. After canceling a nonconference game against Oklahoma, the Bulldogs will play nonconference games against FCS program UT Martin, Ball State, UAB and Georgia Tech. They won’t play Alabama, LSU or Mississippi State during conference play. They’ll be heavy favorites in every game going into a Nov. 18 showdown at Tennessee.

— Mark Schlabach


Sam Hartman will struggle at Notre Dame

Hartman has always had his doubters, even as he was rewriting the ACC record book at Wake Forest, but his decision to transfer to Notre Dame for a sixth season certainly came with some question marks — questions that grew even more prominent after the coach who recruited him there, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, bolted for Alabama. It’s one thing for Hartman to throw for a million yards in Wake’s unique offensive attack (and one that had its share of top receiving talent, too). It’s another thing to assume Hartman’s role in that offense will translate well to Notre Dame’s more pro-style approach on a team with bigger question marks at receiver and a far bigger spotlight put on the program. Hartman often shunned media during his time at low-key Wake, but at Notre Dame, each pass will come with a slew of second-guessers. The questions were on display early in spring, too, as Marcus Freeman suggested last month that the QB competition between Hartman and incumbent Buchner could go all the way to fall camp.

Reality check: Well, so much for that QB competition. Hartman delivered in Notre Dame’s spring game, completing 13-of-16 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns in a little less than a half. Freeman gushed over Hartman’s development when it was over, noting the slow start to spring was understandable for a guy who’d just arrived in South Bend, but the version fans saw in the finale was what the team expected from the veteran QB. It was such an impressive performance, in fact, that Buchner opted to follow Rees to Tuscaloosa, announcing a transfer to Alabama on April 27. If Hartman’s late-spring performance wasn’t enough to quiet the doubters entirely, it at least served notice that he’s the clear-cut QB1 for the Irish, and his five years at Wake Forest have prepared him for a quick transition to his new home.

— David Hale


You don’t sign a five-star quarterback away from a conference rival — the highest rated QB in school history, no less — to let him sit on the bench while there’s no surefire starter on the roster. College football is no longer the sport where freshmen come in and bide their time, especially not quarterbacks, and Moore is no different. Not only does he ooze with talent, but during a spring camp that has featured five Bruins quarterbacks pining for the job, Moore has stood out. Chip Kelly will never tip his hand on a decision, and it’s likely that a starter won’t be named until deep into fall camp, but Moore’s dual-threat ability and overall poise at a young age has set him up well to supplant Kelly’s longtime quarterback in Westwood — Dorian Thompson-Robinson. In fact, Moore has been spending time with and learning from DTR on campus while the longtime staple of the Bruins offense prepared for the NFL draft.

Reality check: For all his talent, Moore has no college experience, and the leap from high school ball to Saturdays is one not many quarterbacks make well. Kelly is coming off his best season since he took the coaching job at UCLA, and while Moore’s ceiling is skyscraper high, there’s a line of thinking that could push Kelly toward a safer choice like redshirt junior Ethan Garbers who backed up DTR last season or incoming Kent State transfer Collin Schlee in order to assure another solid, though not spectacular, season.

— Paolo Uggetti

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Baffert’s Rodriguez wins Wood, enters Derby field

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Baffert's Rodriguez wins Wood, enters Derby field

Rodriguez led all the way to win the $750,000 Wood Memorial on Saturday, earning enough points to move into the 20-horse field for next month’s Kentucky Derby.

Breaking from the rail, the Bob Baffert-trained colt ran 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:48.15 under Hall of Famer Mike Smith in light rain and 45-degree temperatures at Aqueduct in New York. Rodriguez won by 3 1/2 lengths.

The victory was worth 100 qualifying points for the May 3 Derby, potentially giving Baffert three entrants as he seeks a record-setting seventh victory in his return to the race from which he was banned for three years.

Later Saturday, Baffert was to saddle Citizen Bull, last year’s 2-year-old champion, and Barnes in the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby in California, where it was sunny and 82 degrees.

He sent Rodriguez to New York to split up his Derby contenders. The colt was sent off at 7-2 odds in the 10-horse field and paid $9.30 to win the 100th edition of the Wood. He is a son of 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic.

“Bob told me this horse is probably quicker than you think,” Smith said. “He can get uptight pretty easy, and the whole key was just letting him alone out there. I don’t think he necessarily has to have the lead. He just wants to be left alone.”

Smith has twice won the Kentucky Derby. Rodriguez would be his first mount since 2022. At 59, he would be the oldest jockey to win.

“That’s up to all the owners and Bob,” Smith said. “I was glad they pulled me off the bench and I hit a 3-shot for them.”

Grande, trained by Todd Pletcher, was second. He went from having zero qualifying points to 50, which should get him into the Derby starting gate for owner Mike Repole, who is 0 for 7 in the Derby.

Passion Rules was third. Captain Cook, the 9-5 favorite, finished fourth for trainer Rick Dutrow, who hasn’t had a Derby runner since 2010 after winning the 2008 race with Big Brown.

The $1.25 million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland was postponed from Saturday to Tuesday due to heavy rain and potential flooding in the region. That race and the Lexington Stakes on April 12 are the final Derby preps of the season.

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Nebraska transfer WR Gilmore dismissed from team

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Nebraska transfer WR Gilmore dismissed from team

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska receiver Hardley Gilmore IV, who transferred from Kentucky in January, has been dismissed from the team, coach Matt Rhule announced Saturday.

The second-year player from Belle Glade, Florida, had come to Nebraska along with former Kentucky teammate Dane Key and receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr. and had received praise from teammates and coaches for his performance in spring practice.

Rhule did not disclose a reason for removing Gilmore.

“Nothing outside the program, nothing criminal or anything like that,” Rhule said. “Just won’t be with us anymore.”

Gilmore was charged with misdemeanor assault in December for allegedly punching someone in the face at a storage facility in Lexington, Kentucky, the Lexington Herald Leader reported on Jan. 2.

Gilmore played in seven games as a freshman for the Wildcats and caught six passes for 153 yards. He started against Murray State and caught a 52-yard touchdown pass on Kentucky’s opening possession. He was a consensus four-star recruit who originally chose Kentucky over Penn State and UCF.

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What are torpedo bats? Are they legal? What to know about MLB’s hottest trend

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What are torpedo bats? Are they legal? What to know about MLB's hottest trend

The opening weekend of the 2025 MLB season was taken over by a surprise star — torpedo bats.

The bowling pin-shaped bats became the talk of the sport after the Yankees’ home run onslaught on the first Saturday of the season put it in the spotlight and the buzz hasn’t slowed since.

What exactly is a torpedo bat? How does it help hitters? And how is it legal? Let’s dig in.

Read: An MIT-educated professor, the Yankees and the bat that could be changing baseball


What is a torpedo bat and why is it different from a traditional MLB bat?

The idea of the torpedo bat is to take a size format — say, 34 inches and 32 ounces — and distribute the wood in a different geometric shape than the traditional form to ensure the fattest part of the bat is located where the player makes the most contact. Standard bats taper toward an end cap that is as thick diametrically as the sweet spot of the barrel. The torpedo bat moves some of the mass on the end of the bat about 6 to 7 inches lower, giving it a bowling-pin shape, with a much thinner end.


How does it help hitters?

The benefits for those who like swinging with it — and not everyone who has swung it likes it — are two-fold. Both are rooted in logic and physics. The first is that distributing more mass to the area of most frequent contact aligns with players’ swing patterns and provides greater impact when bat strikes ball. Players are perpetually seeking ways to barrel more balls, and while swings that connect on the end of the bat and toward the handle probably will have worse performance than with a traditional bat, that’s a tradeoff they’re willing to make for the additional slug. And as hitters know, slug is what pays.

The second benefit, in theory, is increased bat speed. Imagine a sledgehammer and a broomstick that both weigh 32 ounces. The sledgehammer’s weight is almost all at the end, whereas the broomstick’s is distributed evenly. Which is easier to swing fast? The broomstick, of course, because shape of the sledgehammer takes more strength and effort to move. By shedding some of the weight off the end of the torpedo bat and moving it toward the middle, hitters have found it swings very similarly to a traditional model but with slightly faster bat velocity.


Why did it become such a big story so early in the 2025 MLB season?

Because the New York Yankees hit nine home runs in a game Saturday and Michael Kay, their play-by-play announcer, pointed out that some of them came from hitters using a new bat shape. The fascination was immediate. While baseball, as an industry, has implemented forward-thinking rules in recent seasons, the modification to something so fundamental and known as the shape of a bat registered as bizarre. The initial response from many who saw it: How is this legal?


OK. How is this legal?

Major League Baseball’s bat regulations are relatively permissive. Currently, the rules allow for a maximum barrel diameter of 2.61 inches, a maximum length of 42 inches and a smooth and round shape. The lack of restrictions allows MLB’s authorized bat manufacturers to toy with bat geometry and for the results to still fall within the regulations.


Who came up with the idea of using them?

The notion of a bowling-pin-style bat has kicked around baseball for years. Some bat manufacturers made smaller versions as training tools. But the version that’s now infiltrating baseball goes back two years when a then-Yankees coach named Aaron Leanhardt started asking hitters how they should counteract the giant leaps in recent years made by pitchers.

When Yankees players responded that bigger barrels would help, Leanhardt — an MIT-educated former Michigan physics professor who left academia to work in the sports industry — recognized that as long as bats stayed within MLB parameters, he could change their geometry to make them a reality. Leanhardt, who left the Yankees to serve as major league field coordinator for the Miami Marlins over the winter, worked with bat manufacturers throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons to make that a reality.


When did it first appear in MLB games?

It’s unclear specifically when. But Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton used a torpedo bat last year and went on a home run-hitting rampage in October that helped send the Yankees to the World Series. New York Mets star Francisco Lindor also used a torpedo-style bat last year and went on to finish second in National League MVP voting.


Who are some of the other notable early users of torpedo bats?

In addition to Stanton and Lindor, Yankees hitters Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have used torpedoes to great success. Others who have used them in games include Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers and Toronto’s Davis Schneider. And that’s just the beginning. Hundreds more players are expected to test out torpedoes — and perhaps use them in games — in the coming weeks.


How is this different from a corked bat?

Corking bats involves drilling a hole at the end of the bat, filling it in and capping it. The use of altered bats allows players to swing faster because the material with which they replace the wood — whether it’s cork, superballs or another material — is lighter. Any sort of bat adulteration is illegal and, if found, results in suspension.


Could a rule be changed to ban them?

Could it happen? Sure. Leagues and governing bodies have put restrictions on equipment they believe fundamentally altered fairness. Stick curvature is limited in hockey. Full-body swimsuits made of polyurethane and neoprene are banned by World Aquatics. But officials at MLB have acknowledged that the game’s pendulum has swung significantly toward pitching in recent years, and if an offensive revolution comes about because of torpedo bats — and that is far from a guarantee — it could bring about more balance to the game. If that pendulum swings too far, MLB could alter its bat regulations, something it has done multiple times already this century.


So the torpedo bat is here to stay?

Absolutely. Bat manufacturers are cranking them out and shipping them to interested players with great urgency. Just how widely the torpedo bat is adopted is the question that will play out over the rest of the season. But it has piqued the curiosity of nearly every hitter in the big leagues, and just as pitchers toy with new pitches to see if they can marginally improve themselves, hitters will do the same with bats.

Comfort is paramount with a bat, so hitters will test them during batting practice and in cage sessions before unleashing them during the game. As time goes on, players will find specific shapes that are most comfortable to them and best suit their swing during bat-fitting sessions — similar to how golfers seek custom clubs. But make no mistake: This is an almost-overnight alteration of the game, and “traditional or torpedo” is a question every big leaguer going forward will ask himself.

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