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No. 1 Auburn saw its hopes of a first NCAA championship in program history slip away in brutal fashion on Saturday in a 79-73 loss to No. 1 Florida in the Final Four.
The Tigers held an eight-point halftime lead at the Alamodome in San Antonio, but the Gators outscored their SEC rivals 41-27 in the second period to storm back and book a spot in the national championship on Monday.
Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. caught fire with 34 points on 11-for-18 shooting, including five three-pointers, to bury Auburn.
If the second-half collapse was not hard enough for Auburn legend Charles Barkley to take, the NCAA publicly made him the face of the loss on social media after the game.
Barkley played for the Tigers for three seasons between 1981 and 1984, winning SEC Player of the Year in his final season. He led the conference in rebounding for three straight years and holds the Auburn record for career field goal percentage at 62.6%.
He only played one game in the NCAA Tournament with Auburn in 1984, and it ended the same way as the Tigers' Final Four contest against Florida this year.
"March Sadness for Chuck," the official March Madness account wrote on X, completing the post with a crying emoji and a somber video of Barkley watching his alma mater bow out of the Big Dance.
March Sadness for Chuck #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Haa0bK02hZ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025
Still, the brutal public message could not put a damper on Barkley's overall feeling about one of the best seasons in school history.
"The best team won," he conceded on the CBS Sports postgame show. "Our guys played valiantly. It was a heck of a game. I'm so proud of our team and coach Pearl and those kids."
Charles Barkley reacts to his Auburn Tigers losing to the Florida Gators in the Final Four. ️ pic.twitter.com/O3ys44fSge
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 6, 2025
Bruce Pearl led Auburn to a 32-6 final record, an SEC regular season title, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and just the second Final Four appearance in program history.
The Gators advance to face the winner of No. 1 Duke and No. 1 Houston in the national championship game on Monday.
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What could Michigan football's punishment be from NCAA for sign-stealing saga?
After a two-day hearing in June from the NCAA Committee of Infractions (COI) related to its investigation into Michigan football's alleged in-person scouting violations, it looks as if the NCAA is nearing an announcement of how the organization will punish the Wolverines. According to a report from Maize Blue Review's Josh Henschke, a decision could come as early as this week. In a prior ESPN report from Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel, they wrote in an article a final resolution from the NCAA is expected before the start of the 2025 season. In that, all signs (pun intended) point to the NCAA wrapping up this investigation and deciding on what penalties to levy against Michigan football. For many who follow college football, it will be a relief to see this saga come to an end as events related to Connor Stalions and the Wolverines have remained steady in the news cycle since the middle of the 2023 fall season during Michigan's National Championship run. That being said, many are eager for the results and what it will mean for one of college football's most storied programs moving forward and whether or not there will be any implications with past accomplishments. Let's break down the hottest questions leading up to the NCAA's decision and evaluate what the most likely punishments will be for Sherrone Moore's program,. Will Michigan have any wins vacated spanning from 2021-23? Prediction: Not happening As time has worn on, and even after the NCAA officially cited Michigan for 11 violations (six of which were deemed of the Level I variety) in August of 2024, there have been no credible reports suggesting the Wolverines' past accomplishments are in any sort of danger. That includes all wins spanning from 2021-23, Big Ten titles and the 2023 National Championship. In fact, the only people who have seemed to have suggested that those accomplishments could be in danger have seemed to come from online trolls of rival fan bases. According to words from Thamel on the College Gameday Podcast in August of 2024, he is completely confident the Wolverines will not have to vacate any wins. "So the vacating thing I can say with full throated confidence,” Thamel said. “They take away wins when it involves players who aren’t eligible. And there are no players implicated in here directly by name or anything. Looking back there will be nothing. The actual likelihood of that happening considering Tennessee, considering the political climate, considering the NCAA has basically come out and said, ‘We don’t want to punish them.’ The Tennessee case that Thamel referenced when the Volunteers received an $8 million fine, vacated wins from the 2019-20 season and a six-year show-cause penalty for former head coach Jeremy Pruitt, included a situation where the NCAA deemed 16 former Tennessee players were ineligible due to the 2019 and 2020 seasons due them receiving impermissible benefits. Therefore, due to having players on the field who were deemed ineligible, the NCAA chose the route of vacating wins from the program. As Thamel pointed out in the podcast, the wiping away of wins from the NCAA usually comes when there are ineligible players involved. In this instance for Michigan football, no players have been deemed ineligible, making it extremely unlikely the NCAA would go that route in punishing the Wolverines. Will Michigan receive a future postseason ban? Prediction: Unlikely In the aforementioned quote from Thamel, he did leave the possibility of a postseason ban a little more open than he did for the vacating of wins, but explained the usual practice of the NCAA in not wanting to punish current players for past violations that they have zero affiliation with. Additionally, if Michigan's program believed any sort of postseason ban was on the table, or if there were credible reports of that possibility surfacing, the momentum on the recruiting trail likely would have stagnated. Instead, the Wolverines had a very strong summer in landing several top prospects as Moore's program has the 11th-best recruiting class in 2026, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings. In essence, nobody seems worried about the future of the program and any punishments that could impact future Wolverines as it relates to the NCAA's investigation. Will Sherrone Moore be punished? Prediction: Yes...but to a lesser extent Moore is already set to serve a punishment related to the in-person scouting investigation for the deletion of 52 text messages with Stalions alleged to have happened in October of 2023, on the same day that media reports revealed that Stalions was leading an effort to capture the play calling signals of future opponents. However, the penalty for Moore, which , as of now, is a two-game suspension for Weeks 3 and 4 of the upcoming season when the Wolverines play Central Michigan and Nebraska, is a self-imposed one from the university. The NCAA, after reviewing all of the facts, could levy further punishment against Moore by adding additional games or other measures. What Moore has going in his favor is that the texts were recovered via "device imaging" and Moore subsequently produced them to enforcement staff, according to the prior mentioned ESPN report. He has been accused of committing a Level II violation, according to the draft of the notice of allegations obtained by ESPN. Level II violations, according to the NCAA's website, are "violations that provide or are intended to provide more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage; includes more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit; or involves conduct that may compromise the integrity of the NCAA collegiate model as set forth in the Constitution and bylaws." While the school faces several Level I charges, Moore himself is only reported to be facing a Level II violation. The two-game suspension seems likely to hold up and it wouldn't be surprising if the NCAA tacked on a couple more games. Beyond that, it would be shocking to see Moore receive a penalty as severe as a show-cause, but the Wolverines being without him for multiple games and practices this season seems very likely. Show causes for Jim Harbaugh and Connor Stalions? Prediction: Likely Some would argue that the NCAA has an axe to grind with Harbaugh. Whether that's true or not, the organization has come down harshly on the ex-Michigan coach in the past by handing him a four-year show cause order for recruiting violations that involved impermissible contact with recruits during the pandemic. In essence, that means that any college that were to hire Harbaugh over the four-year period of the order would have to justify the decision to the NCAA, while a suspension for Harbaugh would likely follow. That seemed like a harsh penalty for his program breaking recruiting contact rules during a very odd time in the world, but given the history with Harbaugh and the NCAA, it seems likely the organization would have no issue with coming down hard on him again. In the grand scheme of things, show cause orders are not going to play much of a factor for the Wolverines or Harbaugh since he is now the head coach of the LA Chargers and likely has no plans of returning to the college game anytime soon. As far as Stalions is concerned, who has been the center of attention in the investigation after it was revealed he had people he knew at games of Michigan's future opponents sending sideline signals to him, it seems unlikely he will catch any sort of break from the NCAA. Stalions claimed in April of 2024 in an interview with NCAA investigators, where segments of the interview was released in the Netflix documentary "Sign Stealer," that there were some people who attended games using tickets that he purchased and recorded parts of those games. "I've had friends send me film," Stalions said. "It's kind of like when your aunt gets you a Christmas gift that you already have. You're not going to be rude and be like, 'Oh, I already have this. I don't need that.' It's, 'Oh, thanks, appreciate it.' They feel like they're helping out when I already have the signals, I've already memorized the signals." Obtaining opposing teams' signals is not against NCAA rules in itself, but it was the way Stalions allegedly obtained some of them in what caused the NCAA to tap into the situation to see what was going on before launching an investigation. Even though Stalions maintains his innocence, it's hard to see the NCAA not ordering him a show cause based on multiple reports and all of what Stalions has been alleged to do, including being on the sidelines working for Central Michigan in a game between the Chippewas and the Spartans. Will Michigan receive a fine? Prediction: Absolutely Going back to Thamel's statements in the aforementioned podcast, a large fine for this type of situation would be the most likely outcome in terms of punishment against the university at large. "What is likely as Michigan cuts a big old check," Thamel said in the podcast. On that same podcast, Rece Davis joined Thamel in saying a hefty fine would be the most appropriate punishment for the Wolverines. "That is what the punishments should be, in my judgment,” Davis said. “I’ve said this for years. What drives this enterprise? Money. What sends the biggest message? Taking away money. So if the NCAA wants to be taken seriously consistently as an enforcement body for college sports and college football, particularly, that needs to be the direction in which they go. Fine people. They can do the show cause thing.” In addition to a fine, further recruiting restrictions—similar to what Michigan endured this summer, such as not being able to host recruits for a period of time, could be on the table as well. Final verdict The sign stealing/in-person scouting saga has been a long process that will finally wrap up in the near future. While many rival fans are hoping for Michigan's football program to receive some sort of "death penalty," after gathering information that is available and trying to get a read on the situation as a whole, it seems likely that the online trolls are going to be sorely disappointed. Michigan football is to undoubtedly get punished in some forms, but will likely be able to keep its accomplishments from 2021-23 and be in a spot as a program to move forward from this once and for all. With that being said, nobody truly knows what the NCAA is going to do until the punishment is officially handed out, so it will be interesting to follow to see what happens in the end.
Watch: Sean Riley what a catch #syracuse #syracuseorange #shorts #accfootball #football #cfb #sports
Oregon suspends former five-star WR recruit indefinitely
Oregon wide receiver Jurrion Dickey has struggled to live up to expectations in his first two seasons with the Ducks, and he is now in a terrible position heading into 2025 as well. Dickey has been suspended indefinitely by Oregon, head coach Dan Lanning announced on Tuesday. Lanning also suggested that Dickey may not play for the Ducks again. "We have two team rules; that’s respectful, be on time,” Lanning said, via James Crepea of The Oregonian. “There’s some pieces of that where I felt like he needed a break from us and we needed a break from that so we could focus on what’s in front of us right now. "Wishing him nothing but the best, as far as success and want to see him get back to where he can be a contributor somewhere; that might be here that might be somewhere else.” Dickey was a five-star recruit and rated as one of the top wide receivers in the country when he came out of Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California, in 2023. He suffered an injury in his senior year in high school and redshirted as a freshman at Oregon. Dickey has two catches for 14 years during his time with the Ducks. Oregon went 13-1 in Lanning's third season with the program last season. The Ducks lost to eventual national champion Ohio State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Commanders have major hang-up preventing them from paying Terry McLaurin what he's due
It’s been two weeks since Washington Commanders star wide receiver Terry McLaurin publicly revealed his trade request, and a resolution doesn’t appear to be in sight. Thanks to ESPN’s John Keim, we’re starting to get more insight into how the Commanders are approaching negotiations…and how they run counter to their star wide receiver’s financial desires. As we’ve assumed all along, the Commanders are wary of giving McLaurin a lucrative contract that would extend well into the player’s 30s. As Keim notes, the Commanders “rely heavily on analytics,” and those numbers aren’t particularly kind to receivers on the wrong side of 30. They may be onto something. Per ESPN Research, over the past five years, only three receivers 31 years or older have played at least 10 games and averaged 70-plus receiving yards per game (that number jumps to six players if you adjust for 60-plus receiving yards). Further, the team can simply point to the NFL landscape, as other teams are also clearly wary of paying aging wideouts. Among the 24 active wide receivers who are attached to the most guaranteed money, only Tyreek Hill was older than 30 when the deal was signed. McLaurin has continually pointed to his lack of mileage despite his age; he barely played during his first two years at Ohio State, meaning he may not have the same wear and tear as similar players his age. McLaurin is also naturally pointing to the stat sheet, as the receiver has continually produced despite uncertain QB play, uncertain ownership and a handful of different coaching staffs. Per Keim, the Commanders don’t want to pay McLaurin based on his past performance, with the front office preferring to shape any future contracts based on his projections for age-31-plus seasons. The organization also doesn’t want to set a new precedent by paying McLaurin, as it could convince future veterans to push for lucrative deals in their 30s. While McLaurin has taken the drastic measure of requesting a trade out of Washington, the organization is still convinced they have leverage in this showdown. After all, the player is still under contract for the 2025 campaign, meaning McLaurin will have to forfeit game checks if he sits out games. The team could even choose to slap him with the franchise tag next offseason (which could come in north of $30M), meaning they’re in full control of the player’s fate moving forward. The team is also skeptical that another suitor is going to willingly pay McLaurin the type of money he’s seeking. Per Keim, there’s doubts around the league about whether another team would be willing to meet the receiver’s demands. Even if a clear suitor does emerge, Keim makes it clear that Washington’s front office won’t give the star away without receiving a haul. We heard recently that McLaurin wasn’t necessarily seeking a deal that matched fellow 2019 draftee D.K. Metcalf‘s deal with the Steelers. However, Keim says Metcalf’s contract has generally served as a guide for McLaurin, but it’s uncertain whether the Commanders wideout is looking to match the AAV ($33M) or total guarantees ($60M). Ultimately, one source believes the Commanders may agree to pay McLaurin a contract that will pay $28M per year. Of course, it’s uncertain if the player would even accept that offer. If that hypothetical maximum offer doesn’t end in a signing, a divorce may be the logical next step.
Troubling news emerges on Bears QB Caleb Williams’ workout with HC Ben Johnson
It might have been a good thing the Chicago Bears didn’t play Caleb Williams on Sunday. The Bears might need to hide their second-year quarterback as he irons out his wrinkles in the pre-snap process and with accuracy issues. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft struggled with timing and accuracy during the Bears’ joint practice with the Miami Dolphins on Friday. Caleb Williams was inaccurate in the red zone against no defenders On Sunday, Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson chose not to play second-year quarterback Caleb Williams against the Dolphins in their first preseason game. Instead, Johnson led a workout with Williams and wide receivers Rome Odunze and DJ Moore before the game. Per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, the Bears ran a total of 87 plays during the workout. All of the plays were routes in the air with no defenders on the field for the scripted practice. Despite going against no defenders bringing pressure or guarding his receivers, Williams struggled to hit his targets in the red zone. "Williams would stand next to Johnson, who would give him the play," Biggs wrote. "Then, the quarterback simulated a huddle with the player (only one ran a route on each snap) and gave the play call. They’d break the huddle, go to the line of scrimmage, Williams would simulate pre-snap actions and then the play would be run… "Before ending the session with eight deep balls, there was a 25-play set of snaps in the red zone. One thing Williams struggled to connect on was out routes to Moore and Odunze near the goal line. Those throws were not close and Williams consistently led the receivers too much." A closed-door problem for the Chicago Bears The throws weren’t close during routes on air… in the red zone? Williams wasn’t ready to take the field for the preseason game. For all of the flak he’s been getting from practice reports, the quarterback would have been relentlessly mocked for having these issues shown during an NFL Network broadcast. Biggs’ report is troubling, with a month to go before the season. Williams has much to improve upon, and the Bears are very much trying to do so without cameras present for a reason.
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