Author Archives: ianbethune

UConn Depth Chart For Louisville

Louisville Cardinals @ UConn Huskies

UConn Huskies head coach Paul Pasqualoni has released his depth chart for the Louisville game on Saturday at Rentschler Field and there are no changes from the depth chart from two weeks ago against Syracuse.

There’s still no Blidi Wreh-Wilson on the depth chart but Pasqualoni said during Monday’s Big East Coaches teleconference that Wreh-Wilson is questionable for the game. He stated that he’ll need to see how Wreh-Wilson performs in practice this week and could end up being a game-time decision.

While Wreh-Wilson has been out, opposing offenses have been abusing the Huskies secondary. They did allow only 275 passings in the win over Syracuse and compared to what had been happening, that’s pretty good. But the return of Wreh-Wilson would make the opposing offenses think twice about passing his way and would only help the Huskies on defense.

One other quick note as well.

The game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on November 26th will start at 12 p.m.

For a full look at the UConn depth chart for Louisville, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

OFFENSE

LT: 71 Mike Ryan (RSr., 6-5, 335)
50 Tyler Bullock (So., 6-4, 298)

LG: 69 Steve Greene (RSo., 6-4, 304)
70 Gary Bardzak (RSr., 6-3, 289)

C: 57 Moe Petrus (RSr., 6-2, 302)
70 Gary Bardzak (RSr., 6-3, 289)

RG: 63 Adam Masters (RJr., 6-4, 292)
65 Gus Cruz (RFr., 6-4, 288)

RT: 77 Kevin Friend (RSo., 6-5, 300)
61 Stephen Brown (So., 6-6, 290)

TE: 89 John Delahunt (RJr., 6-3, 247) OR
94 Ryan Griffin (RJr., 6-6, 248)
81 Corey Manning (RJr., 6-5, 247)

WR: 6 Kashif Moore (RSr., 5-10, 175)
31 Nick Williams (Jr., 5-10, 185) OR
84 Tebucky Jones (RFr., 5-11, 186)

FB: 39 Mark Hinkley (RJr., 5-11, 226)
47 Reuben Frank (RFr., 6-3, 238)

QB: 18 Johnny McEntee (RJr., 6-3, 224)
11 Scott McCummings (RFr., 6-2, 218) OR
2 Mike Nebrich (Fr., 6-1, 204)

TB: 43 Lyle McCombs (RFr., 5-8, 172)
1 Jonathan Jean-Louis (RSr., 6-0, 207) OR
45 Martin Hyppolite (RSo., 6-0, 215)

WR: 83 Isiah Moore (RSr., 6-1, 195)
85 Geremy Davis (Fr., 6-3, 211)

DEFENSE

DE: 48 Trevardo Williams (Jr., 6-1, 231)
97 B.J. McBryde (RFr., 6-4, 277)

DT: 4 Twyon Martin (RSr., 6-2, 273)
53 Ryan Wirth (RJr., 6-2, 268)

DT: 99 Kendall Reyes (RSr., 6-4, 295)
59 Shamar Stephen (RSo., 6-5, 315)

DE: 91 Jesse Joseph (Jr., 6-3, 262)
98 Teddy Jennings (RJr., 6-5, 248)

LB: 3 Sio Moore (RJr., 6-1, 232)
32 Jefferson Ashiru (Fr., 6-1, 210)

LB: 33 Yawin Smallwood (RFr., 6-2, 229)
36 Michael Osiecki (Fr., 6-1, 238) OR
55 Jerome Williams (RJr., 6-1, 255)

LB: 28 Jory Johnson (RJr., 6-1, 227)
46 Marquise Vann (Fr., 6-0, 225)

CB: 7 Dwayne Gratz (RJr., 6-0, 195)
29 Taylor Mack (So., 5-9, 169)

S: 15 Jerome Junior (RJr., 6-1, 215)
2 Gilbert Stlouis (So., 5-11, 183)

S: 40 Ty-Meer Brown (RFr., 6-0, 192)
25 Harris Agbor (RSr., 5-11, 1990

CB: 16 Byron Jones (RFr., 6-1, 187)
21 Gary Wilburn (RSr., 5-11, 197)

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK: 38 Dave Teggart (RSr., 6-0, 203)
13 Chad Christen (RSo. 6-2, 211)

P: 86 Cole Wagner (RSo., 6-2, 211)
13 Chad Christen (RSo. 6-2, 211)

H: 13 Chad Christen (RSo., 6-1, 201)
86 Cole Wagner (RSo., 6-2, 211)

DS: 67 Adam Mueller (So., 6-1, 207)
66 Dominick Manco (Fr., 6-1, 251)

KR: 31 Nick Williams (Jr., 5-10, 185)
29 Taylor Mack (So., 5-9, 169)

PR: 31 Nick Williams (Jr., 5-10, 185)
29 Taylor Mack (So., 5-9, 169)

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Video: 2011-12 UConn Women’s Basketball Intro

Here is the intro video that will be played before each UConn Huskies women’s basketball home game at Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center for the 2011-12 season.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1pW8HdCMHGE

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Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 11/14

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they are at Gampel Pavilion tonight to take on the Wagner Seahawks. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on SNY.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Duke Fame [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Jeff Adrien on D-League Experience [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Husky Fans Asked to Bring Canned Food to Basketball Games This Week [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn men look to rebound vs. Wagner [CT Post]

At UConn-Wagner Meeting, A Reunion Of Coach And Player [Hartford Courant]

Huskies need to fix frontcourt problem [New Haven Register]

Calhoun is looking for a better effort from his team tonight [The Day]

UConn Football links

Big East bowl projections: Week 12 [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Big East power rankings: Week 12 [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Geno’s Cancer Team is sidelined [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Doty welcomed back [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Geno Auriemma Thrilled With Doty’s Day [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Lobo Among List of Nominees For 2012 Hall of Fame [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Holy Cross-UConn Series May Have Reached Its End [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Doty Returns In Style For The Huskies [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Holy Cross Series On Hold? Lobo A Hall Of Fame Candidate [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Women’s Hoops Defeats Holy Cross, 77-37 [UConnHuskies.com]

Husky Fans Asked to Bring Canned Food to Basketball Games This Week [UConnHuskies.com]

Doty leads UConn women to victory over Holy Cross [CT Post]

UConn Women Defeat Holy Cross, 77-37, In Season-Opener [Hartford Courant]

Caroline Doty Makes Noise In Return [Hartford Courant]

Tiffany Hayes Hopes The End Is As Good As The Beginning This Time [Hartford Courant]

Caroline Doty returns, Huskies cruise in opener [New Haven Register]

Series with Holy Cross may come to a close [New Haven Register]

UConn’s Caroline Doty returns to the court [The Hour]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. Huskies Drop Heartbreaker To St. John’s In OT, 1-0 [UConnHuskies.com]

Field Hockey. No. 5 Huskies Defeat Penn State To Advance To Final Four [UConnHuskies.com]

Field Hockey. UConn-PSU Quotes [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Volleyball. Huskies Tripped Up in Season Finale at Seton Hall, 3-2 [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Swimming. Women’s Swimming and Diving Top Penn; Men Fall [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Swimming. Huskies Fall To Pennsylvania In Storrs [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Cross Country. Lauren Sara Qualifies As Individual For NCAA Championships [UConnHuskies.com]

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BCS Standings – Week 5 (Nov. 13)

The BCS Standings are out for the fifth time this season and it should come as no surprise to anyone that the LSU Tigers have now been on top all five weeks.

BCS Standings Oklahoma State is a solid No. 2 behind the Tigers and they are followed by the Alabama Sooners, Oregon Ducks and Oklahoma Sooners.

There are no Big East teams ranked in the BCS Top 25 this week with Cincinnati losing to West Virginia on Saturday.

You can head over to the BCS website to see how the poll is computed weekly and how the teams are selected for the BCS bowls.

For a full look at the BCS Standings, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

BCS Standings – Nov. 13, 2011
Rank	Team	Harris Poll		USA TODAY poll		Computer rank		BCS Average
1	LSU	1	1.0000	1	1.0000	T-1	.9800	.9933
2	Oklahoma State	2	.9565	2	.9559	T-1	.9800	.9642
3	Alabama	3	.9113	3	.9085	3	.9100	.9099
4	Oregon	4	.8852	4	.8814	T-4	.8600	.8755
5	Oklahoma	5	.8275	5	.8325	T-4	.8600	.8400
6	Arkansas	6	.7990	6	.7932	6	.8000	.7974
7	Clemson	8	.7040	8	.7064	8	.6700	.6935
8	Virginia Tech	9	.6779	7	.7085	9	.6400	.6755
9	Stanford	7	.7099	9	.6942	11	.6200	.6747
10	Boise State	11	.6143	11	.5634	12	.6100	.5959
11	Houston	10	.6233	10	.6285	13	.4500	.5673
12	South Carolina	15	.4605	14	.4929	10	.6300	.5278
13	Kansas State	17	.3798	17	.3397	7	.7700	.4965
14	Georgia	14	.4751	15	.4732	14	.4100	.4528
15	Michigan State	12	.5117	12	.5363	18	.2700	.4393
16	Nebraska	16	.4383	16	.4169	17	.2900	.3817
17	Wisconsin	13	.4835	13	.5051	28	.0100	.3329
18	Michigan	18	.3117	18	.3234	T-19	.2500	.2950
19	TCU	21	.2407	19	.2658	T-19	.2500	.2522
20	Southern Miss	20	.2431	20	.2617	21	.2300	.2449
21	Penn State	19	.2661	21	.2447	23	.1800	.2303
22	Baylor	25	.0504	—	.0380	15	.3200	.1361
23	Texas	—	.0306	—	.0183	16	.3100	.1196
24	Auburn	—	.0056	—	.0000	21	.2300	.0785
25	Florida State	23	.0908	22	.1281	29	.0000	.0730

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St. John’s IceCaps 4, Connecticut Whale 3

St. John’s, Newfoundland, November 13, 2011 – Eric O’Dell’s goal with 3:01 left in the third period gave the St. John’s IceCaps a 4-3 win over the Connecticut Whale Sunday afternoon at Mile One Centre, and a sweep of a two-game series between the two teams.

CT Whale St. John’s had knocked off the Whale by an 8-4 the night before on Mile On Centre Ice.

O’Dell buried a centering pass from former Hartford Wolf Pack Garth Murray on the winning goal, after Murray won a puck battle with Wade Redden in the corner of the Whale zone to goaltender Chad Johnson’s left.

Jason King also had two goals for the victorious IceCaps, and defenseman Kyle Bushee had a goal and an assist. John Mitchell, Tommy Grant and Carl Hagelin scored the Whale’s goals, all in the first period, and Blake Parlett had three assists.

The Whale had leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in the first, but St. John’s would score the last three goals of the game.

“We played more of a full game today (than the previous night), I thought,” Parlett said. “We had the lead again today, but we just kept giving it (goals) to them. I thought we did a good job for most of today of playing in their zone, and we just had a couple of breakdowns in our zone that led to their goals.”

After the Whale and IceCaps combined for six goals in the first period of Saturday night’s game, the two sides put five on the board in the first on Sunday.

The Whale got the first two, starting at 7:14, when Mitchell increased his Whale team-leading goal total to seven with his third in the two games in Newfoundland. With two seconds left on a Whale power play, Mitchell snapped a shot from the right side of the slot past IceCaps goaltender Peter Mannino, who was making his first appearance since returning from a recall stint with the Winnipeg Jets.

Grant made it a 2-0 lead for the Whale at 12:20, with his second goal of his rookie season. After St. John’s’ Marco Rosa turned the puck over to Parlett in neutral ice, Grant took Parlett’s pass and fired a shot off right wing past Mannino on the stick side.

St. John’s got on the board on a power play 2:20 later, with Bushee scoring only four seconds before Stu Bickel was to step out of the penalty box after serving a hooking minor. Johnson (23 saves) stopped a shot from the left side by Spencer Machacek, but the rebound came right to Bushee at the right side of the goalmouth, and Bushee had most of the net to shoot at for his first AHL goal of the year.

Connecticut answered that one only 38 seconds later at 15:18, with Hagelin’s sixth goal of the season and third in the last three games. The Swedish-born rookie paid a price for the goal, as Parlett’s shot from the right-wing side hit Hagelin in the face before getting by Mannino. Hagelin had to leave the game for repairs but would return for the second period.

Mannino would shut the door on the Whale for the rest of the game after Hagelin’s goal, making a total of 35 saves in the game, and King started St. John’s’ comeback during a four-on-four situation, with his first goal of the game 49.2 seconds before intermission. King beat his check down the left side, and Rosa found him with a cross-slot feed for a shot past Johnson’s stick side.

“We had a pretty successful first period,” Parlett said. “We had a power-play goal there, and then we just struggled a bit on the power play (finishing 1/7) for the rest of the game. I still thought we did a good job moving the puck around, but we just didn’t have the right bounce today late in the game.”

King’s second goal tied the game at three at 3:19 of the second period, as King took a feed from Aaron Gagnon and put a shot past Johnson’s catching glove and into the top corner. That tie lasted until O’Dell’s late goal in the third, and Mannino held the Whale off on a power play opportunity, resulting from a cross-checking penalty to Zach Redmond, shortly after the IceCaps took the lead.

The Whale are now 0-3-0-0 on the year against the IceCaps, who lead the AHL with 25 points (11-2-3-0) and have won six straight. The Whale are now 7-4-1-2 on the year, and 1-3-1-0 in their last five games.

The Whale are now off until this Friday night, November 18, when they return to the XL Center for a GEICO Connecticut Cup game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at 7:00. In celebration of Veterans Day, the Whale is proud to offer a buy-one-get-one-free discount on Lower Level tickets for that game to any military personnel who present a military/veteran ID at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Connecticut Whale 3 at St. John’s IceCaps 4
Sunday, November 13, 2011 – Mile One Centre

Connecticut 3 0 0 – 3
St. John’s 2 1 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Connecticut, Mitchell 7 (Erixon, Parlett), 7:14 (PP). 2, Connecticut, Grant 2 (Parlett), 12:20. 3, St. John’s, Bushee 1 (Machacek, Redmond), 14:40 (PP). 4, Connecticut, Hagelin 6 (Parlett, Valentenko), 15:18. 5, St. John’s, King 6 (Rosa), 19:10. Penalties-Redden Ct (hooking), 2:03; Nightingale Ct (roughing), 2:40; King Stj (roughing), 2:40; Murray Stj (cross-checking), 5:16; Bickel Ct (tripping), 12:44; Bickel Ct (roughing), 17:40; Ramsey Stj (roughing), 17:40.

2nd Period-6, St. John’s, King 7 (Gagnon, Bushee), 3:19. Penalties-Ramsey Stj (tripping), 0:19; Murray Stj (hooking), 5:43; Newbury Ct (slashing), 7:13; Erixon Ct (high-sticking), 10:25; Bushee Stj (cross-checking), 15:04.

3rd Period-7, St. John’s, O’Dell 2 (Murray, Wiebe), 16:59. Penalties-Parlett Ct (interference), 0:48; Redmond Stj (slashing), 4:43; Audy-Marchessault Ct (tripping), 5:20; Bickel Ct (cross-checking), 7:26; Redmond Stj (cross-checking), 17:45; Mannino Stj (interference), 19:56.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 12-13-13-38. St. John’s 12-4-11-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 7; St. John’s 1 / 7.
Goalies-Connecticut, Johnson 3-3-2 (27 shots-23 saves). St. John’s, Mannino 3-2-0 (38 shots-35 saves).
A-6,287
Referees-Jean Hebert (43).
Linesmen-Joe Maynard (15), Todd Horwood (56).

UConn Women Open Up Season With Win Over Holy Cross

Connecticut's Bria Hartley, left, and Tiffany Hayes, right, pressure Holy Cross' Alex Smith, center, in the first half of an NCAA women's college basketball game in Storrs, Conn., Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011.

New season, new faces, even an old one is back for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team. And as most of the state of Connecticut expects them to do, it was another UConn win on Sunday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion.

Bria Hartley led the way for the Huskies (1-0) with 17 points as they easily took care of business in a 77-37 win over the Holy Cross Crusaders in front of a small crowd of 6,548 fans.

Hartley also added six assists but did have five turnovers. Tiffany Hayes added 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks while Stefanie Dolson chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Caroline Doty returned to action for the first time since the 2010 NCAA Championship game and had nine points and five rebounds. Heather Buck had a nice game off the bench with six points and six rebounds.

Amy Lepley, Brisje Malone and Alex Smith all had eight points to lead Holy Cross (0-2). Lepley led the Crusaders with five rebounds with four others adding four.

They were without their top freshman Emily Parker who scored 17 points in their season opening loss to Yale. Parker tore her ACL in March and was just cleared to play on Thursday before their opener. Holy Cross head coach Bill Gibbons didn’t want her to play two games in three days especially against the quickness of the Huskies.

As usually is the case for most teams who are playing against the UConn women, this one was pretty much over right at the start.

The Huskies started out the game with a 9-0 run and followed that up with a 23-6 run to open up a 26 point lead. Holy Cross would get it down to 21 points at halftime (38-17) but the Huskies made sure in the second half that there would be no come back for the Crusaders.

They weren’t perfect today but they’ll need to be sooner rather than later. After their game on Monday, they’ll have six days to prepare for the No. 5 Stanford Cardinal. They’ll need to work on limiting their mistakes within the offense and on defense.

I was impressed with the play of Buck off the bench. If Dolson ever gets in foul trouble, the Huskies aren’t as deep in the front court with Buck and freshman Moriah Jefferson. But Buck has the experience and can show at times she can play. She’ll just need to build off of this game and go foward as the season goes along.

It’s a quick turnaround for the Huskies as they’ll be back in action on Monday night when the Pacific Tigers come to Gampel. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on CPTV in Connecticut.

To continue reading the Holy Cross Crusaders @ UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

Holy Cross Crusaders @ UConn Huskies 11.13.11 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and Holy Cross head coach Bill Gibbons.

The starters for the Huskies were Bria Hartley, Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris and Stefanie Dolson.

UConn shot 45.2% (28-62) from the floor. Holy Cross shot 23.2% (17-56).

The Huskies had 19 points on their 28 made baskets.

UConn was 9-of-24 (37.5%) from three point land while the Crusaders were just 3-of-15 (20%).

The Huskies were 12-of-17 (70.6%) from the free throw line.

UConn dominated the boards outrebounding Holy Cross 49-32.

Freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had a rough shooting debut as she was just 3-of-12 from the floor. She ended up with seven points and seven rebounds.

Ten of the 11 Huskies who played scored. Sophomore Michaela Johnson was the only Husky not to put the ball in the basket.

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Photo credit: AP Photo

2011 BlogPoll Top 25 Ballot – Week 12

As many of you know, I am one of the voters in the BlogPoll Top 25. Each week, bloggers across the country representing the various FBS schools get together and put together their own top 25’s. Here at SOX & Dawgs, we are representing the UConn Huskies. The votes are then tabulated on Tuesday.

Each week we are asked to do an initial ballot. This allows you the reader to let us know in the comments whether you agree with my choices or not. The initial ballots will normally be done on Sunday.

After I check the comments for the initial ballot, I then resubmit my final ballot for the week. If there are comments, I’ll take them into consideration before submitting the final ballot by 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

You can check out the ballot I submitted earlier today by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the homepage.

SOX & Dawgs Ballot – Week 12

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	—
2	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	1
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	2
4	Oregon Ducks	2
5	Arkansas Razorbacks	2
6	Oklahoma Sooners	2
7	Clemson Tigers	3
8	Virginia Tech Hokies	1
9	Stanford Cardinal	-5
10	Houston Cougars	1
11	Boise St. Broncos	-9
12	Georgia Bulldogs	1
13	Michigan St. Spartans	1
14	South Carolina Gamecocks	1
15	Wisconsin Badgers	1
16	Nebraska Cornhuskers	1
17	Penn St. Nittany Lions	-5
18	Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	1
19	Michigan Wolverines	1
20	Kansas St. Wildcats	1
21	USC Trojans	3
22	TCU Horned Frogs	3
23	Florida St. Seminoles	—
24	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	—
25	West Virginia Mountaineers	—
Dropouts: Cincinnati Bearcats, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Texas Longhorns

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

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2011 NCAA Football Rankings – Week 12 (Nov. 13)

AP & USA Today Polls

The rankings are out this week for college football and there’s no doubt as to who the number one team in the country is.

The LSU Tigers are an unanimous pick pick as the No. 1 team in both polls as they earned all of the first place votes. They are followed by Oklahoma State, Alabama, Oregon and Oklahoma in both polls.

There are no Big East teams ranked in the AP Top 25. The West Virginia Mountaineers are No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and are among the others receving votes in the AP Poll. The Cincinnati Bearcats, who fell out of both polls after losing to West Virginia, are among the others receiving votes in both polls. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are among the others receiving votes in the Coaches’ Poll as well.

For a full look at both polls, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

AP Top 25					USA Today Coaches’ Poll
RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	PVS	RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	PVS
1	LSU (60)	10-0	1500	1	1	LSU (59)	10-0	1475	1
2	Oklahoma State	10-0	1432	2	2	Oklahoma State	10-0	1410	3
3	Alabama	9-1	1380	4	3	Alabama	9-1	1340	4
4	Oregon	9-1	1326	6	4	Oregon	9-1	1300	6
5	Oklahoma	8-1	1230	7	5	Oklahoma	8-1	1228	7
6	Arkansas	9-1	1217	8	6	Arkansas	9-1	1170	8
7	Clemson	9-1	1075	9	7	Virginia Tech	9-1	1045	9
8	Stanford	9-1	1071	3	8	Clemson	9-1	1042	10
9	Virginia Tech	9-1	1000	10	9	Stanford	9-1	1024	2
10	Boise State	8-1	880	5	10	Houston	10-0	927	11
11	Houston	10-0	867	11	11	Boise State	8-1	831	5
12	Michigan State	8-2	767	13	12	Michigan State	8-2	791	13
13	Georgia	8-2	756	14	13	Wisconsin	8-2	745	14
14	South Carolina	8-2	706	15	14	South Carolina	8-2	727	15
15	Wisconsin	8-2	676	16	15	Georgia	8-2	698	16
16	Kansas State	8-2	629	17	16	Nebraska	8-2	615	17
17	Nebraska	8-2	583	19	17	Kansas State	8-2	501	22
18	USC	8-2	564	18	18	Michigan	8-2	477	21
19	TCU	8-2	402	NR	19	TCU	8-2	392	24
20	Michigan	8-2	381	22	20	Southern Miss	9-1	386	23
21	Penn State	8-2	320	12	21	Penn State	8-2	361	12
22	Southern Miss	9-1	250	25	22	Florida State	7-3	189	NR
23	Florida State	7-3	107	NR	23	Georgia Tech	7-3	87	19
24	Notre Dame	7-3	93	NR	23	West Virginia	7-3	87	NR
25	Baylor	6-3	68	NR	25	Notre Dame	7-3	86	NR
Dropped from rankings:					Dropped from rankings:
Georgia Tech 20, Texas 21, Cincinnati 23, Auburn 24					Cincinnati 18, Texas 20, Auburn 25
Others receiving votes:					Others receiving votes:
Georgia Tech 66, West Virginia 47, Virginia 26, Cincinnati 24, Tulsa 22, Texas 11, Auburn 10, Arizona State 7, Washington 6, Georgia Southern 1					Cincinnati 84, Baylor 56, Texas 27, Virginia 24, Rutgers 15, Tulsa 10, Texas A&M 5, Missouri 5, Arkansas State 5, Brigham Young 4, Northern Illinois 2, Arizona State 2, Utah 2,

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Is Josh Beckett Responsible For Francona’s Departure From Red Sox?

Josh Beckett likes his fried chicken and beer

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett hasn’t been seen in good light so far during this offseason.

He was seen as one of the ringleaders of Fried Chicken and Beergate 2011. And now, it appears that he may be one of the reason why Terry Francona decided not to come back as the manager of the Red Sox.

Here’s what Jon Heyman of SI.com has learned:

People familiar with what went on in the Red Sox clubhouse say Francona tried to stem unrest among the players with a late team meeting but believe Francona may have erred by never confronting Josh Beckett one-on-one. Beckett was seen by other Red Sox players as among the more vocal detractors of Francona behind the scenes. Francona long was beloved in the clubhouse so this was a unusual situation for him.

Now some people may not like Heyman but he is one of the more trusted writers out there and he’s usually right. And given everything else we’ve heard coming out of the anonymous sources from the Red Sox and how they were right before, there’s a pretty good chance this is true.

Obviously if this is true, can you understand why Tito didn’t want to come back? I can.

Why would we want to be there when one of his best players is talking behind his back? If he’s lost Beckett and we’ve all seen the influence Beckett can have on others, what’s to say he wouldn’t lose more guys?

The great respect I had for Beckett before went out the door with the fried chicken and beer incident. I can honestly say there’s little chance it ever comes back, especially if this is true.

The best remedy to all of this would be to trade Beckett. Unfortunately, the Red Sox can’t do that.

Their starting pitching depth for 2012 is not deep at all. You have Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. John Lackey is out for 2012 and the earliest we’ll probably see Daisuke Matsuzaka is June. So by trading Beckett you’re losing even more depth.

Given his close relationship on the team with his binky, I mean the Captain of the Red Sox, Jason Varitek, I would have expected him to do this. But that didn’t appear to happen.

Someone really needs to have a talk with Beckett and get things sorted out. If not, we can probably expect this to happen next year under the new manager, whomever that turns out to be.

Thanks to Krystle (@pinkberryoasis) who pointed out the link on @redsox1234‘s Twitter feed.

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Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 11/13

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s opening day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they’ll host Holy Cross at 2 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion. You can catch the game locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Doty raring to go [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Rebecca Lobo a Naismith Hall of Fame candidate [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Holy Cross Won’t Play Top Scorer Sunday [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Life According To Caroline Doty [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Women preview: Huskies open with Crusaders [Lee Lewis – The Republican-American]

Huskies Set To Begin Life After Maya [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Doty, Mosqueda-Lewis Healthy and Ready For Opener [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

ND, UConn figure to be atop league [CT Post]

UConn begins season trying to answer questions after Maya’s departure [CT Post]

Doty, And Her Teammates, Can’t Wait For Her Return To The Court [Hartford Courant]