Happy Thursday, everyone. Alabama kicks off WCWS play today, against national 8-seed UCLA.
Location: Devon Park, Oklahoma City
Thursday, May 28: 6 p.m. CT
First pitch of Alabama softball vs. UCLA is at 6 p.m. CT Thursday, May 28. If Alabama wins vs. UCLA, the Crimson Tide will face the winner of No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 5 Arkansas. If Alabama loses, it will face the loser of that game.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly posted a nice WCWS preview for you, including strengths and weaknesses for all participating teams:
Biggest strength: They’re the No. 1 seed, and they look like it. It’s hard to top a 0.21 ERA, but that’s what Bama has posted in the postseason so far. Jocelyn Briski (23-3 with a 1.03 ERA for the season) has pitched 17 scoreless innings with 23 K’s, while freshman Vic Moten (21-4, 1.66) has given up just one run and seven baserunners in 10 innings.
Their bats haven’t quite sizzled like some others’, but they’ve still gotten a combined six postseason home runs and 17 RBIs, with a 1.361 OPS, from the combo of center fielder Audrey Vandagriff, second baseman Jena Young and catcher Alexis Pupillo. First baseman Brook Wells hasn’t gotten going in the NCAAs yet — she’s 3-for-18 with eight K’s and nine left on base — but she still has a 1.364 OPS and a team-leading 23 homers for the season.
Alabama is 5-3 against the field this season, all in SEC play. The 2nd-ranked Longhorns have been the toughest opponent thus far, splitting four with the Tide including a 7-1 Texas victory to knock Alabama out of the SEC tournament.
UCLA is always tough and they will test the Tide’s pitching today. The Bruins have scored a whopping 84 runs in eight games since the start of the Big Ten tournament, including a 15-1 drubbing of a South Carolina squad that held Alabama to eight runs over a three game set to close out the regular season.
Nate Oats got some outstanding news yesterday when Amari Allen withdrew his name from the NBA Draft.
Even with Philon and Holloway on the floor, Allen had his fair share of running the point and taking the ball up the floor this past season. That will only increase in 2026-27, as Allen will very likely hold a point forward role — a style head coach Nate Oats hasn’t really used since he was hired in 2019.
Allen was labeled as 6-foot-8 on Alabama’s official roster this past season, but he measured at 6-foot-5 1/4 at the NBA Combine. He certainly fits the typical guard size, but he led the Tide and was 10th in the SEC in rebounds per game with 6.9.
While it’s unorthodox, a position switch on the official roster isn’t necessarily something to rule out. Aside from Holloway, Preston Murphy Jr., who only saw time in the final moments of blowouts, is the only other guard. The official positions for incoming freshmen Jaxon Richardson, Qayden Samuels and Tarris Bouie can go either way, as they’re all 6-foot-6 wings.
Allen will need to be a guard this season in order to further his career, and you can bet that Nate has that in his plans. Depending on the Aden Holloway situation, Allen may be the starting point guard as of this moment.
“Any conversation about whether or not Aden comes back is very premature,” Byrne told AL.com. “Aden still has legal hurdles to overcome. If he works those out, there would still be multiple steps before we would consider a plan to allow him the opportunity to officially rejoin the program. Any discussions are too early.”
When Holloway was arrested on March 16, he faced two felonies: first-degree possession of marijuana as well as failure to affix a tax stamp. Then a grand jury added two misdemeanor charges: illegal possession of prescription drugs and the use/possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records.
It’s going to be interesting to see what Alabama does with Aden. The odds that he stands trial before basketball season seem fairly slim. Is there a path to returning while charges are still pending?
We learned that Alabama’s 2nd and 3rd games of the season will kick off at 2:30pm.
Alabama football’s 2026 schedule got a bit more complete on Wednesday. The Crimson Tide’s Sept. 12 SEC opener at Kentucky and Sept. 19 matchup with Florida State got kickoff times.
The FSU game is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. CT that day, ESPN announced on Wednesday. It is scheduled to be aired on ABC.
Florida State will visit the Tide as the return trip of a home-and-home series that began last season.
Kalen DeBoer had some nice things to say about Lorcan Quinn, who I maintain will be Alabama’s starting placekicker.
Quinn went 5-for-5 on kicks 40 to 49 yards a season ago. He also made 4 of 6 from 50-plus. Quinn’s longest made field goal traveled 55 yards.
But there’s more to Quinn than the power of his leg.
“What you always want with the specialists, if it’s not perfect, how does it affect them?” DeBoer said. “Whether it’s perfect in the moment, in his case with a snap and a hold, does it get to him? How does it affect him? Also after a kick, good and bad, it can be good and that doesn’t mean anything going into the next kick. Or it can be bad, and how does it affect your psyche and all that?
“He’s just really steady. I appreciate about him, he’s a little older and a little more mature that way. I think that carries into his kicking.”
Check out this titty baby.
Last, guess which SEC school has joined the Big 12 and Big Ten participation trophy chorus?
“In concept, I like the 24,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said of the proposed 24-team bracket, according to SI.com. “More access, I think, is great. More access would be great for the Big 12.”
That is exactly what we need. More teams from a conference that has a 1-8 record in CFP games. That lone win — from TCU in the 2022 semifinal — led to the most lopsided championship game ever. That gave us the 65-7 torture chamber Georgia built to claim a second straight title.
“We have 20 sports at Tennessee, and the percentage of teams with access to postseason,” Tennessee AD Danny White said Tuesday at SEC spring meetings. “I think it’s low in football and I think we need more access for that.”
I’ll say it again: It’s always Tennessee.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
