2013 NCAA Women’s Basketball Rankings – USA Today Coaches Poll Preseason

USA Today Coaches Poll

The last of the preseason polls for women's basketball came out on Tuesday and this time around it's the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll.

In it, just like the AP Poll, the Baylor Lady Bears are the No. 1 team in the land. Our UConn Huskies come in at No. 2.

Those two teams are followed by the Duke Blue Devils, Stanford Cardinal and Maryland Terrapins.

Joining the Huskies from the Big East are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6), Louisville Cardinals (9) and the St. John's Red Storm (13).

The DePaul  Blue Demons, Georgetown Hoyas, Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Syracuse Orange are among the others receiving votes.

For a full look at the 2013 NCAA Women's Basketball Rankings – USA Today Coaches Poll Preseason, please click on the continue reading button below if you're on the home page.

USA Today Coaches Poll
Rank Team 2011-12 record Pts Last year's final ranking
1 Baylor (31) 40-0 775 1
2 Connecticut 33-5 736 4
3 Duke 27-6 674 6
4 Stanford 35-2 669 3
5 Maryland 31-5 656 5
6 Notre Dame 35-4 617 2
7 Kentucky 28-7 599 8
8 Penn State 26-7 521 9
9 Louisville 23-10 460 16
10 Delaware 31-2 411 14
11 Georgia 22-9 409 20
12 Texas A&M 24-11 361 12
13 St. John's 24-10 315 15
14 Oklahoma 21-13 308 NR
15 California 25-10 294 NR
16 Tennessee 27-9 284 7
17 Vanderbilt 23-10 241 NR
18 Purdue 25-9 240 18
19 Nebraska 24-9 203 NR
20 Georgia Tech 26-9 198 10
21 Ohio State 25-7 185 22
22 West Virginia 24-10 182 NR
23 Miami (Fla.) 26-6 95 11
24 Oklahoma State 22-12 94 NR
25 Kansas 21-13 89 25
25 Wisconsin-Green Bay 31-2 89 13
Dropped from rankings:
Georgetown 17, Gonzaga 19, South Carolina 21, St. Bonaventure 23, DePaul 24
Others receiving votes:
DePaul 68, South Carolina 49, Gonzaga 43, Georgetown 38, Iowa State 33, Rutgers 33, Middle Tennessee 28, Texas 20, UCLA 11, LSU 11, Virginia 7, Michigan 7, St. Bonaventure 6, Iowa 4, Arkansas 4, San Diego State 3, Syracuse 2, Brigham Young 2, Marist 1

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Red Sox Name Brian Butterfield Third Base Coach

New Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell is going for familiarity with his coaching staff as his third base coach, Brian Butterfield, from the Toronto Blue Jays will join the local nine in the same capacity.

Here's the release from the Red Sox:

BOSTON, MA — The Boston Red Sox today named Brian Butterfield as the third base coach on the club’s Major League coaching staff.

Boston Red SoxExecutive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington and Manager John Farrell made the announcement.

The native of Bangor, ME, who attended University of Maine, comes to the Red Sox with 34 years of experience in professional baseball as a player, coach, and manager, including 16 seasons coaching on the Major League level.  He spent the last 11 years with the Blue Jays, serving as third base coach each of the last three seasons, working on Farrell’s staff for the last two.  He was also Toronto’s third base coach for parts of six seasons from 2002-07 and was the club’s bench coach from 2008-09.

Butterfield, 54, has also previously served on Major League staffs under Buck Showalter with the Yankees, holding the position of first base coach in 1994-95, and the Diamondbacks, where he was the third base and infield coach for three seasons from 1998-2000.

He managed for parts of six minor league seasons in the Yankees system and compiled a 300-293 (.506) mark at Rookie Sarasota (1988), Short-A Oneonta (1989), Single-A Greensboro (1990), High-A Fort Lauderdale (1992), High-A Tampa (2001) and Triple-A Columbus (April-May, 2002).  In his first season as a minor league manager in 1988, Butterfield earned Gulf Coast League Manager of the Year honors after guiding his club to a league championship, and he led his Tampa Yankees squad to a share of the Florida State League title in 2001.

Butterfield began his coaching career as a roving infield instructor in the Yankees organization in 1984, a position he also later held in 1991, and served four seasons as a minor league coach in the New York system from 1985-87 and 1993.  Additionally, he spent 1996-97 with Arizona working as a roving infield instructor, minor league manager and scout of Major League talent in preparation for the expansion draft.

Signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1979, Butterfield played 397 minor league games over five seasons in the New York Yankees (1979-82) and San Diego (1983) systems while appearing primarily at second base

After attending the University of Maine as a freshman in 1976 and lettering in baseball and basketball, Butterfield transferred to Valencia Community College and was named Florida Junior College Player of the Year in 1977 before a two-year stint at Florida Southern College where he was a member of the 1978 National Championship Team.  He completed his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Florida Southern in 1980 after beginning his professional playing career.  He is the son of the late Jack Butterfield who at one time served as Vice President of Player Development and Scouting for the Yankees.

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2012 BlogPoll Top 25 – Week 9

Here is the BlogPoll Top 25 for week nine in college football. If you're curious to see how I voted, you can check my 2012 BlogPoll top 25 week 9 ballot. You can also checkout the weekly analysis of the BlogPoll Top 25.


College Football Rankings 2011

Results for Week 9

# School Points/blog SD Delta
1 Alabama Crimson Tide (60) 25.04 2.79 —
2 Kansas St. Wildcats (11) 23.75 2.55 Arrow_up 2
3 Oregon Ducks (2) 23.43 2.44 —
4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3) 22.86 2.45 Arrow_up 1
5 LSU Tigers 19.71 0.59 Arrow_up 1
6 Georgia Bulldogs 18.58 0.85 Arrow_up 9
7 Florida Gators 18.54 0.82 Arrow_down -5
8 Ohio St. Buckeyes (1) 18.09 4.93 Arrow_up 1
9 Florida St. Seminoles 17.79 1.45 Arrow_up 2
10 Clemson Tigers 14.53 3.09 Arrow_up 4
11 South Carolina Gamecocks 14.11 1.71 Arrow_up 6
12 Louisville Cardinals 13.83 3.67 Arrow_up 4
13 Oregon St. Beavers 12.67 3.45 Arrow_down -6
14 Oklahoma Sooners 12.63 3.44 Arrow_down -6
15 Stanford Cardinal 10.26 3.46 Arrow_up 4
16 Texas A&M Aggies 10.12 3.31 Arrow_up 5
17 Mississippi St. Bulldogs 8.24 3.72 Arrow_down -5
18 USC Trojans 7.29 3.32 Arrow_down -8
19 Texas Tech Red Raiders 6.79 3.83 Arrow_down -6
20 Boise St. Broncos 5.75 4.17 Arrow_up 3
21 Nebraska Cornhuskers 4.87 3.17 Arrow_up 8
22 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 3.86 3.40 Arrow_up 2
23 West Virginia Mountaineers 2.37 2.58 Arrow_up 2
24 Arizona Wildcats 2.33 3.03 Arrow_up 15
25 UCLA Bruins 2.05 2.96 Arrow_up 15
Others Receiving Votes: Toledo Rockets | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | Kent St. Golden Flashes | Texas Longhorns | Northern Illinois Huskies | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | Northwestern Wildcats | Tulsa Golden Hurricane | Ohio Bobcats | Utah State Aggies | North Carolina Tar Heels | Iowa St. Cyclones | Central Florida Knights | Cincinnati Bearcats | Michigan Wolverines | ULM Warhawks | Arizona St. Sun Devils | Duke Blue Devils | Penn St. Nittany Lions | Ball St. Cardinals
Updated: Oct 30, 2012 8:37 AM EDT

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Rankings 2012

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2012 Gold Glove Finalists Announced

The 2012 Rawlings Gold Glove Finalists were announced on Monday and in it we find two members of the Boston Red Sox nominated.

Rawlings Gold GloveOne is actually a former member of the Red Sox as now Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was nominated at first base in the American League. Dustin Pedroia was nominated at second base.

The 2012 Rawlings Gold Gloves will be awarded on Tuesday night at 9:30 p.m. in a special that will be aired on ESPN2.

For a full look at the nominations, please click on the continued reading button below if you're on the home page.

American League

Pitcher: Jeremy Hellickson, Jake Peavy, C.J. Wilson

Catcher: Alex Avila, Russell Martin, A.J. Pierzynski, Matt Wieters

First base: Adrian Gonzalez, Eric Hosmer, Mark Teixeira

Second base: Dustin Ackley, Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia

Shortstop: Elvis Andrus, J.J. Hardy, Brendan Ryan

Third base: Adrian Beltre, Brandon Inge, Mike Moustakas

Left field: Alex Gordon, Desmond Jennings, David Murphy

Center field: Austin Jackson, Adam Jones, Mike Trout

Right field: Shin-Soo Choo, Jeff Francoeur, Josh Reddick

National League

Pitcher: Bronson Arroyo, Mark Buehrle, Clayton Kershaw

Catcher: Yadier Molina, Miguel Montero, Carlos Ruiz

First base: Freddie Freeman, Adam LaRoche, Joey Votto

Second base: Darwin Barney, Aaron Hill, Brandon Phillips

Shortstop: Zack Cozart, Ian Desmond, Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins

Third base: Chase Headley, Aramis Ramirez, David Wright

Left field: Ryan Braun, Carlos Gonzalez, Martin Prado

Center field: Michael Bourn, Andrew McCutchen, Drew Stubbs

Right field: Jay Bruce, Andre Ethier, Jason Heyward

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Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 10/30

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

First and foremost, I hope that everyone is safe after Hurricane Sandy came through the eastern part of the United States over the weekend and into yesterday. As for me, we came away unscathed with just a few blips in the power. I took a walk around our condos today and all the damage I noticed was some shingles that torn off the roof.

But there are parts of Connecticut that are deeply devastated so our prayers go out to them and everyone else affected by the storm.

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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. 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.

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

UConn Football links

Rennick Bryan eager to return to UConn [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn FB in storm holding pattern [john silver – sny.com]

Storm slows UConn's preparation for South Florida [ct post]

Former Hillhouse star Rennick Bryan eager to get back to UConn [new haven register]

USF Bulls notes: Sandy hampering UConn's planning [tampa tribune]

UConn Women's Basketball links

Unselfish Jefferson Ready To Provide A Lift For Huskies [rich elliott – ct post]

UConn Men's Basketball links

Long Beach forward Bell will visit this weekend [kevin duffy – ct post]

UConn Men's Basketball Associate Coach Glen Miller Feels Right At Home [hartford courant]

Detroit Pistons rookie center Andre Drummond continues to impress as he adapts to life in the NBA [mlive.com]

Other UConn related links

W. Volleyball. Anagu Named Rookie of the Week; Maving Lands on Honor Roll [uconnhuskies.com]

M. Golf. UConn In 15th Place At Kiawah Classic [uconnhuskies.com]

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Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 10/29

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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. 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.

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

UConn Football links

Big East bowl projections: Week 10 [andrea adelson – espn.com]

Big East power rankings: Week 10 [andrea adelson – espn.com]

One Man’s Opinion: Continuing The Conversation With New Canaan High Legendary Coach Lou Marinelli [desmond conner – hartford courant]

Other UConn related links

W. Soccer. UConn Falls in BIG EAST Quarterfinals to No. 16 Marquette, 4-1 [uconnhuskies.com]

W. Volleyball. Huskies Outlast Pirates in Five Sets [uconnhuskies.com]

M. Golf. Huskies 9th After 1st Round Of Kiawah Classic [uconnhuskies.com]

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UConn Depth Chart For South Florida

UConn Huskies @ South Florida Bulls

With the bye week to evaluate his team, UConn Huskies football coach Paul Pasqualoni has released his depth chart for Saturday night's road tilt against the South Florida.

After looking at last week's depth chart against Syracuse, there are some changes.

With Adam Masters out for the year, Gus Cruz takes over as the starter at right guard. Redshirt Bryan Paull moves into the two-deep as the backup for Cruz.

Martin Hyppolite goes from backing up Lyle McCombs at running back to backing up Reuben Frank at fullback. Max DeLorenzo is now listed as the backup to McCombs.

For a full look at the UConn Huskies depth chart for the South Florida Bulls click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

OFFENSE

LT: 72 Jimmy Bennett (RSr., 6-9, 309)
78 Dalton Gifford (RFr., 6-5, 297)

LG 69 Steve Greene (RJr., 6-5, 309)
60 Tyler Samra (Fr., 6-3, 250)

C: 50 Tyler Bullock (RJr., 6-4, 302)
73 Alex Mateas (RSo., 6-3, 293)

RG: 65 Gus Cruz (RSo., 6-2, 306)
68 Bryan Paull (RSo., 6-3, 298)

RT: 77 Kevin Friend (RJr., 6-6, 295)
75 Xavier Hemingway (RFr., 6-4, 262)

TE: 89 John Delahunt (RSr., 6-3, 243)
94 Ryan Griffin (RSr., 6-6, 247)

WR: 6 Michael Smith (Sr., 6-0, 201) OR
31 Nick Williams (Sr., 5-10, 184)
84 Tebucky Jones (RSo., 6-0, 185)

FB: 47 Reuben Frank (RSo., 6-3, 239)
25 Martin Hyppolite (RJr., 6-0, 214)

QB: 10 Chandler Whitmer (RSo., 6-1, 191)
18 Johnny McEntee (RSr., 6-3, 208)

TB: 43 Lyle McCombs (RSo., 5-8, 166)
44 Max DeLorenzo (RFr., 5-11, 213)

WR: 85 Geremy Davis (RSo., 6-1, 214)
8 Shakim Phillips (RSo., 6-1, 200)

DEFENSE

DE: 48 Trevardo Williams (Sr., 6-2, 233)
51 Tim Willman (RJr., 6-4, 270)

DT: 53 Ryan Wirth (RSr., 6-3, 271)
97 B.J. McBryde (RSo., 6-5, 301)

DT: 59 Shamar Stephen (RJr., 6-5, 317)
90 Julian Campenni (RFr., 5-11, 281)

DE: 56 Angelo Pruitt (RSo., 6-3, 296)
45 Elijah Norris (Fr., 6-4, 230)

OLB: 3 Sio Moore (RSr., 6-2, 229)
32 Jefferson Ashiru (RFr., 6-1, 227)

ILB: 33 Yawin Smallwood (Rso., 6-3, 235)
46 Marquise Vann (RFr., 6-0, 224)

ILB: 28 Jory Johnson (RSr., 6-1, 227)
52 Ryan Donohue (Sr., 6-0, 242)

CB: 5 Blidi Wreh-Wilson (RSr., 6-2, 190)
29 Taylor Mack (Jr., 5-9, 170)

S: 16 Byron Jones (RSo., 6-1, 192)
22 Andrew Adams (RFr., 6-0, 186)

S: 15 Ty-Meer Brown (RSo., 6-0, 193)
39 Jordan Floyd (Fr., 6-1, 205)

CB: 7 Dwayne Gratz (RSr., 6-0, 198)
12 David Stevenson (RFr., 5-8, 173)

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: 13 Chad Christen (RJr., 6-1, 202)
17 Bobby Puyol (Fr., 6-0, 170)

P: 86 Cole Wagner (RJr., 6-2, 211)
13 Chad Christen (RJr., 6-1, 202)

HL: 86 Cole Wagner (RJr., 6-2, 211)
17 Blaise Driscoll (Sr., 6-1, 189)

KR: 31 Nick Williams (Sr., 5-10, 184)
29 Taylor Mack (Jr., 5-9, 170)

PR: 31 Nick Williams (Sr., 5-10, 184)
29 Taylor Mack (Jr., 5-9, 170)

LS: 67 Adam Mueller (Jr., 6-1, 225)
66 Dominick Manco (RFr., 6-0, 239)

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2012 BCS Standings – Week 3 (Oct. 28)

For the third straight week, the Alabama Crimson Tide find themselves atop the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings.

BCS The top five teams are the same from last week but in a different order. The Crimson Tide are followed by the Kansas State Wildcats, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oregon Ducks and LSU Tigers.

Only one team remains from the Big East in the BCS Top 25. And that is the Louisville Cardinals who come in at No. 10.

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.

Rank Team USA TODAY poll Harris poll Computer rank BCS average PVS
1 Alabama 1 1.0000 1 .9976 3 .9300 .9759 1
2 Kansas State 3 .9261 3 .9238 1 .9700 .9400 3
3 Notre Dame 4 .8861 4 .8880 1 .9700 .9147 5
4 Oregon 2 .9431 2 .9478 5 .8500 .9136 4
5 LSU 5 .8305 5 .8285 6 .7900 .8163 6
6 Georgia 6 .7790 6 .7670 7 .7800 .7753 10
7 Florida 8 .6942 8 .7169 4 .8700 .7604 2
8 South Carolina 11 .5681 11 .5523 9 .6700 .5968 13
9 Florida State 7 .7600 7 .7628 21 .2000 .5743 12
10 Louisville 10 .6020 10 .5962 13 .5000 .5661 16
11 Oregon State 13 .4637 13 .5040 8 .7000 .5559 7
12 Oklahoma 12 .5139 12 .5123 10 .6100 .5454 8
13 Clemson 9 .6617 9 .6668 21 .2000 .5095 18
14 Stanford 15 .4244 14 .4546 11 .5800 .4863 17
15 Mississippi State 18 .3858 15 .4282 16 .3600 .3913 11
16 Texas A&M 16 .4014 18 .3464 18 .3300 .3593 20
17 USC 17 .3953 16 .4174 19 .2400 .3509 9
18 Texas Tech 20 .1925 19 .2101 12 .5700 .3242 14
19 Boise State 14 .4298 17 .3972 23 .1100 .3123 21
20 Nebraska 21 .1919 21 .1885 15 .3900 .2568 NR
21 West Virginia 19 .2210 20 .1927 17 .3400 .2512 19
22 Arizona NR .0095 NR .0282 14 .4700 .1692 NR
23 Texas 22 .1356 22 .1363 20 .2200 .1640 23
24 Oklahoma State 24 .1125 25 .0852 25 .0700 .0893 NR
25 Louisiana Tech 23 .1295 24 .1057 31 .0000 .0784 NR

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2012 Blogpoll Top 25 – Week 9 Ballot

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.

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


Last year, I didn't vote the USC Trojans into my poll because they were ineligible for postseason play. Despite the fact Ohio State is undefeated, I am following the same idea as I did last year.

Kent State slips in ahead of Rutgers who almost fall out of my poll. Arizona was impressive in beating USC so they make an appearance.

Oklahoma and Florida don't fall out of the top 10 since they lost two teams in my top 10 now. I had Georgia 11 last week.

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