On Facebook
On Flipboard
On Twitter
USA Volleyball had a tough first week of Volleyball Nations League play, losing its first three matches to Italy, Brazil and Czechia.
It wasn't due to a lack of effort from former Wisconsin Badgers star Sarah Franklin.
The outside hitter was the team's most consistent scorer of the week, leading the USA team with 41 points.
Let’s go! A double double for Frank!! pic.twitter.com/JxOCQGfXYD
— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) June 7, 2025
That 10.25 average per match so far puts her in the Top 25 among all players in the VNL. Her next closes teammate averages just seven.
Franklin's efforts helped finally put her team over the top in their fourth match against South Korea.
USA won in three sets thanks to her 13 points, four digs and one ace.
More must-reads:
- Browns' Shedeur Sanders addresses controversial Dillon Gabriel comment
- Urban Meyer pushes for Chargers or NFL to suspend Jim Harbaugh
- The 'Active 20-home run MLB seasons' quiz
Breaking News
Trending News
Customize Your Newsletter
+
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!
TODAY'S BEST
With the SEC Expanding to 9 League Games, Here Are Oklahoma's Best Options for Permanent Rivals
'Just doesn't make sense' - Georgia Bulldogs legend is not a fan of one of the Tennessee Vols' uniform combinations
New SEC schedule format should keep Florida Gators' biggest rivalries, and possibly create new ones
The SEC has made a major shift in how the schedule is going to work moving forward, as each team will end up playing nine games in conference starting in the 2026 season. This is going to be huge for the entire conference, and the Florida Gators are going to be in an interesting spot when it comes to the schedule. There is one major aspect of the schedule that is going to have a major factor on the success of Billy Napier's program long-term: they will have three teams that they have to play every single year. Under the new format, the SEC will continue to play without divisions. Each school will play three annual opponents focused on maintaining traditional rivalries, and the remaining six games will rotate among the rest of the league opponents. Each team will face every other SEC program at least once every two years and every opponent home and away over four years. Who are the most likely candidates to be on the Gators' three guaranteed games each season? We broke down the percentage odds of the most likely candidates. Florida Gators SEC schedule annual opponents 100%: Tennessee Volunteers Georgia Bulldogs These two are no-brainers. The Volunteers and Bulldogs are far and away the two biggest rivalries that the Gators have, and they are just as big for both Tennessee and Georgia. Taking away both of these yearly rivalries would do everyone a disservice. Hopefully, they can get the Florida/Tennessee game to be consistently at the end of September again, like it was for years. 80%: LSU The Tigers have developed into one of the bigger rivalries for the Gators, and they are likely the biggest rivals in the SEC outside of Tennessee and Georgia. Some of the most memorable Gator games over the last decade plus have come against the Tigers. After the Tigers add Alabama and Arkansas, the Gators feel like a logical option. 4% each: Kentucky, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Missouri The idea for the SEC is to keep the rivalries alive which will keep the prestige of the conference. That makes the other teams in the old SEC East the most likely teams to get that final spot. The Gators have had some interesting games against all four team, even though Missouri joined just over 10 years ago. 1%: Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas A M, Arkansas, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State One area where the SEC could choose to pursue is trying to make a new rivalry. Texas or Oklahoma vs. Florida each year could end up building out a big rivalry over the course of time. Is that the smart play? That's an entirely different discussion. Of this list, Alabama might be the sneaky one to pair with the Gators.
Urban Meyer pushes for Chargers or NFL to suspend Jim Harbaugh
Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer thinks the Los Angeles Chargers or the NFL should take it upon themselves to punish Jim Harbaugh. On Aug. 15, the NCAA punished Michigan for violations connected to the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal. Harbaugh received a 10-year show-cause order. During Wednesday's episode of "The Triple Option" podcast, Meyer compared Harbaugh's situation to that of Jim Tressel in 2011. Meyer argued that the league or the Chargers should suspend Harbaugh, like the Indianapolis Colts did to Tressel. "There's an elephant in the room here, boys, though, that no one's talking about," Meyer said. "When Jim Tressel was fired at Ohio State and he was given a suspension, Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, came out and said that, 'We're going to honor that suspension.' And you remember, he went to the Indianapolis Colts to work in the replay room or something. "The Colts, because of the respect they had for the NCAA and the suspension, you realize suspended Jim Tressel? So he was unable to perform his duties for the first six games of the year for the Indianapolis Colts. I think we all know the answer. Any chance that Roger Goodell and the NFL, of course not. And I don't know why." There is a belief that Harbaugh bolted to the Chargers after winning the national title in 2023 because he knew the NCAA was getting ready to punish the Wolverines. A six-game suspension is not comparable to a 10-year show-cause order, and punishing Harbaugh so lightly would be more symbolic than substantive. Frankly, it's bad business for the league to suspend Harbaugh and to connect the outspoken head coach to a trivial scandal that happened in college. Punishing Harbaugh would draw unwanted attention to the Chargers and the league, who knew what happened before he jumped to the NFL before the 2024 season.
Jerry Jones: Micah Parsons' agent told me where we could stick contract details
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants to deal with David Mulugheta insofar as to get Micah Parsons' agent to fill out the paperwork on the contract extension that was already negotiated. During an appearance with Michael Irvin on Thursday, Jones said Mulugheta told him to shove the paperwork up their heinie. "When we wanted to send the details to the agent, The agents told us to stick it up our a--," Jones said. "Just so we're clear. (Parsons) and I talked, and then we were going to send it over to the agent, and we had our agreements on term, amount, guarantees, everything. "We were going to send it over to the agent, and the agent said, 'Don't bother, because we've got all that to negotiate.' Well, I'd already negotiated. I'd already moved off my mark on several areas." Following an incoherent analogy to a child going between a mom and dad to negotiate, Jones accused Mulugheta of trying to "stick his nose" in negotiations to try to get the Cowboys to cave for a better deal for his client. Jones has no plans to back down from the agreement he had already worked out with Parsons. "In my mind, for the Dallas Cowboys, we've got it done," Jones said. "And if the agent wants to finish up the details, which he should, and do all the paperwork, he can do that, and we're ready to go. But as far as the amount of money, the years, the guarantees, all of that we negotiated." Dallas is set to conclude its preseason against the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night with no end in sight to the biggest distraction on the team this summer. Jones should have avoided the situation with Parsons by dealing with Mulugheta directly, but that might have caused the theatre to be much less dramatic before the regular season.
Giants rookie shines again completing promising preseason
Preseason football can produce some misleading results, but the New York Giants have to be ecstatic with what they have seen from first-round pick quarterback Jaxson Dart so far. He impressed again on Thursday night against the New England Patriots, before being removed from the game to be evaluated for a concussion. The Giants said he cleared the concussion protocol. Prior to that, however, Dart was showing all of his skills in leading the Giants offense. While his final stat line only shows a 6-for-12 passing performance for 81 yards, some of those incompletions were passes that could — and, perhaps, should — have been caught. He did not get a lot of help from his wide receivers. Even so, he still completed a 50-yard pass to Gunner Olszewski, and then connected with Greg Dulcich for a touchdown on a laser of a pass. Along with the passing, Dart also showed off his ability to run with a 23-yard gain. The only downside to that run, however, is that it ended his night when his head hit the ground, resulting in him leaving the game to be evaluated for the potential concussion. Dart does not figure to be in serious competition for the starting job as veteran Russell Wilson seems to have that locked down, at least for now. But Dart has done everything he can in the preseason to show that he has the ability to play at the NFL level. Including his performance on Thursday, he leaves the preseason having completed 32-of-47 passes for 372 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions and also ran six times for 52 yards and a touchdown. It is hard for a rookie to do better than that in their first look in the NFL. The Giants have been searching for a long-term quarterback solution ever since Eli Manning retired and have gone through a revolving door of bad options. They are hoping Dart can finally put an end to that for the foreseeable future. There is still a long way to go before he gets to that level, but he has certainly made a great first impression.
PRIVACY POLICY EDITORIAL POLICY CONTACT US
ABOUT YARDBARKER TERMS OF SERVICE
Use of this website (including any and all parts and
components) constitutes your acceptance of these
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
This site is for entertainment purposes only.
There is no gambling offered on this site.
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.
