One goal: Soccer National Championship

For 17 seasons A&M head coach G. Guerrieri has accomplished almost all that can be accomplished in Women’s collegiate soccer. Seven Big 12 championships, including four in a row. A program that is considered among the nation’s elite. Numerous elite players, All-Americans, All-Big 12 players, award winners, and former students playing professionally. Arguably the best collegiate soccer venue in the sport. Only one thing is missing: a national championship.

Despite some bumps in the road in 2008, and the glaring lack of an eighth Big 12 championship, the team is geared completely for a national championship in 2009. What was a young team in 2008 is now an experienced and ready team in 2009. They took rival North Carolina to the brink in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, and despite the loss in extra time have considerable momentum going into this season.

The National championship is being hosted by A&M so that crucial home field advantage will be present alongside that mixture of talent and experience. There is also a sense of immediacy to go along with this year. There is no better time than now, and a national championship would certainly cement Texas A&M as the primer soccer school in the state over UT which has made a push in recent years to counter the Aggies many years of success (it helps A&M that they get Texas a home this season). In addition, the Big 12 as a whole is on the rise. Colorado, Missouri, and Oklahoma State are all serious competitors not just for the Big 12 but in the national title hunt as well.

The team expects big things in 2009, they are right to do so.

Fiv bold Big 12 volleyball predictions

In addition to our comprehensive coverage of soccer and volleyball’s upcoming seasons, The Battalion is offering five bold predictions for volleyball.

 1. Nebraska will make the Final Four The powerhouse in Lincoln will continue to roll on. This despite the presence of only one senior in the form of Kori Cooper. This pick is based off of the fact that Nebraska almost always makes back-to-back final fours. 1995-1996, 2000-2001, 2005-2006, 2008-?. Now, whether or not they capitalize for their seventh championship appearance is up to how the young players respond.

 2. Texas A&M will make the tournament and make the Round of 32. Its to hard to believe that seniors Mary Batis and Sarah Ammerman would not make the NCAA tournament at least once during their tenure at A&M. Coach Laurie Corbelli and the A&M volleyball program has to good of a history to suddenly not make the tournament and those 13 straight appearances from 1993-2005 were not an aberration. A&M should make the tournament on the back of senior leadership and experience. Once their, the momentum of finally reaching that peak and the invaluable experience of playing in arguably the best conference in the nation should propel the Aggies out of the first round.

 3. Oklahoma will finish in the top 25 The Sooners came within a sniff of consideration for the tournament last year and that was with a very young team. All six starters return, including two All-Big 12 former freshmen. A non-conference game at No. 18 Wichita State will get the Sooners used to real competition early on. Head Coach Santiago Restrepo had two NCAA tournament teams in 2006 and 2007 that were very good, a year of young players and experience gathering should lead to another top 25 team in 2009.

 4. Kansas will make the tournament The Jayhawks bring four seniors and four juniors to the 2009 season. They also have the element of surprise. In a conference so reliant on experience and with only two teams (Texas and Nebraska) out of 12 that are guaranteed locks to make the tournament, the Jayhawks should prove themselves fast contenders. Kansas could very likely go into Big 12 play undefeated and has a favorable start to conference play. If they can survive two murder’s row of conference stretches (@A&M, @Neb., vs. Iowa St., vs. UT, @Kansas St. October 3-17 and @Iowa St., vs. Nebraska, vs. Texas Tech, @ UT Nov. 18-28 to close the season) then KU should be in the tournament.

 5. Texas will win the Big 12 Championship The No. 4 Longhorns return an experienced team with three seniors and two juniors from a team that went to the 2008 final four. In terms of talent the only school that can match them is Nebraska, and Texas holds the trump card on everyone but A&M and Kansas in terms of experience, and has more big game experience than anyone in the Big 12. As always the conference will likely come down to Texas and Nebraska but the Longhorns will take the Big 12’s automatic bid this year.

A&M recruiting

The day after coach Mike Sherman spoke at the Big 12 football media days, A&M stole a big time recruit in the form of Jake Matthews. Matthews is the son of Bruce Matthews and brother of current Aggie center Kevin Matthews. The Elkins High school star doesn’t actually sign until February but a verbal commitment is a big deal, and the fact that a four win Aggie team was and the able to steal a prospect of his caliber from the likes of Southern Cal, Texas, Oklahoma, and other elites reflects greatly on coach Sherman’s ability to recruit and the power of the Aggie family and network in its ability to work on the field for recruiting as much as it does off the field for the rest of the student body.

Matthews is the 20th verbal commitment for the high school class of 2010. In addition to Matthews, A&M has verbal commitments from players such as OT Luke Joeckel, OLB Corey Nelson, OG Shep Klinke, and TE Nehemiah Hicks. All five players are listed in ESPN’s Top 150 prospects for the class of 2010. Sherman was only able to get one prospect in the top 150 from the incoming A&M class of 2013; RB Christine Michael, the 35th highest rated prospect in the nation.

live from dallas: Oklahoma

Oklahoma: If you’re wonder whether or not Bob Stoops carries himself with an air of someone who is better than you at coaching, football, and success….he does. Its not arrogance but he feels like a man who has been to so many national championship games this decade that it is hard to keep track. Just an initial observation.

In terms of football, OU is going to be just as tough this year as they were last year. The conference is going to come down to them and Texas and quite possibly the Red River Shootout itself. I would not put it past them to make another national championship game, whether they win it or not is another question.

The one thing that surprised me about today’s main press conferences is that there were very few questions for someone as high a profile coach as Coach Stoops. Mangino and Briles had more questions than Stoops. My theory is that Oklahoma is the most stable program in the nation. They are always good, always a championship competitor, but arguably never good enough to truly cross that line into college football dynasty. Not to many questions can be raised when things are always the same.

live from dallas…

 

Haven’t posted in a while so I decided to start with a bang, from the Big 12 Media Days in Dallas, TX. Yesterday interviews were available with Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and Iowa State. Today we have Mizzou, who just wrapped up, Baylor, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Firstly some notes about each team.

Nebraska: The theme of the Nebraska press conference was the continued rebuilding project under head coach Bo Pelini. What surprised me the most was his lack of optimism. For a team expected to compete for the weak Big 12 North title, with a beast in Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh (who looks like he could crush people with his bare hands by the way), and a usually solid offense (one of the few run oriented offenses in the Big 12), I was a little surprised that the man at the helm wasn’t ready to roll and start the Huskers road to redemption.

 

Husker head coach Bo Pelini; photo by Jon Eilts

Oklahoma State: I have to admit I was hoping to see a Mike Gundy rant first hand but I suppose thatafter the whole “I’m a man, I’m 40″ thing he has toned it down. OK State is looking like a competitor for the Big 12 South title, the only road blocks in the way are Texas and Oklahoma. While Gundy wouldn’t say it, you could see a flash of fire in his eyes and I wouldn’t be surprised if Oklahoma State made a big push this year. OK State plays Texas well generally and gets them in Stillwater which is quickly becoming a tough place to play. The only road block is Oklahoma, in Norman. I should also note that OK State gets Georgia at home in arguably the game of the week for the first week of the football season. If OK State wins the games it should (which it has a very favorable schedule, the hardest road game outside of Oklahoma being A&M in College Station), and takes 1 of the 3 big games (Texas, Oklahoma, and Georgia), they could compete for a BCS bowl berth. Also their players, QB Zac Robinson, lineman Russell Okung, and line backer Andre Sexton were arguably the nicest and most personable guys on the first day. They came early, ate lunch with the reporters, and stayed very late doing radio and TV reports. To see such dedication and personability from athletes says alot about the mindset of ones program.

Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy; photo by Jon Eilts

Texas A&M:Essentially the press conference with coach Sherman was an extended session of damage control. Almost every question revolved around the Fran era, the poor record, being picked last in the Big 12 South, and talent gaps on many area such as the offensive line. Regardless I came away impressed. There were no excuses and Sherman had an understanding of what needed to be done and what he could do to fix it. What impressed me the most were the players themselves. Trent Hunter was extremely intelligent and knowing that he is leading the defense going into 2009 makes me comfortable and believe that the defensive woes of the past are finally on the mend. What also stuck out in my mind was that he spoke a mile a minute to the point where I couldn’t write fast enough to keep up. I would imagine the ability to think and articulate well faster than the speed of sound can come in quite handy when facing such fast and potent offenses as the ones he sees in the Big 12 day in and day out.

In addition we also found one excuse for the team woes last year. Simply put every agreed that some of the players left over from the Fran era never truly bought in to Coach Sherman’s plans and schemes. From what was said yesterday, everyone on this team is on the same page and chemistry is exponentially better. Also the fact that Jerrod Johnson came on his 21st birthday and was as articulate and personable as he was when many would rather be in either College Station or their hometown stuck out to me. It was never a question that Stephen McGee was a good leader, and it looks like the torch was passed well.

Its hard to say where A&M will go next year. I do know that in an era where every season seems more crucial to the program’s future than the next, this one is no different, if not the most important season A&M has had in some time. The schedule would say that A&M will struggle to make a bowl game, but there are three very winnable games right off the bat which should help. The Aggies almost had a major upset of Texas Tech last year, so to say a major upset won’t happen is to be foolish of both history and the vast improvement the team should show on the field. I believe that A&M’s performance on the field will be greatly improved, the defense should look better than it has in ages and the passing game should continue to make strides. Randy Bullock proved to be a solid kicker which was a problem in the past. If the offensive line gets better and the other positions which showed promise last year continue to improve (and stay healthy) then A&M should make a bowl game and set itself up for a good future. Don’t except miracles this season, but do expect improvement and the laying of a solid foundation.

Aggie head coach Mike Sherman; photo by Jon Eilts

Iowa State:It seems that Iowa State’s woes began earlier than the season this year. In addition to having highly touted defensive coordinator turned coach Gene Cizik defect to Auburn in exchange for Auburn coordinator Paul Rhoads, the weather in Dallas on day one didn’t even allow for their plan to land until late, forcing them to go last and 20 minutes after the fact. After spending years in futility even in the Big 12 north, it is hard not to see ISU at the bottom of the charts.

Cyclones head coach Paul Rhoads; photo by Jon Eilts

Missouri:It is looking like a harsh snap back to reality year in store for Missouri. Perennial Heisman candidate Chase Daniel is pursuing an NFL career along with many former Mizzou skill players. I don’t see Missouri competing for the Big 12 title as they have become accustomed to in recent years. They still have enough experience and talent on the team to be a factor and possibly get some upsets if things fall into place. I do have a hard time seeing them in the Big 12 title game.

Kansas:Sounds like Kansas’ defense is going to be suspect. They have a veteran QB and one of the better offenses in the Big 12 and I would be surprised if they did not win the Big 12 north. Todd Reesing should continue to establish himself as one of the top Big 12 QB’s. For lack of a better word, I simply wasn’t as impressed with Kansas as I thought I was going to be. Coach Mangino is nice and knowledgeable as is Reesing but they seemed to lack the “wow” factor one needs to truly compete with Texas and Oklahoma for big boy status in the league. Best case scenario; Kansas makes the Big 12 title game and catches the south champion sleeping similar to Kansas State against then No. 1 Oklahoma in 2004 thus making sneaking into a BCS bowl. Worst case scenario; Kansas takes some bad losses in addition to those games it should lose. The defense remains suspect and easily scored upon

The most interesting point from the Kansas interviews came when coach Mangino spoke out on the controversy of coaches delegating their polls and awards picks to Sports directors and other administrators that are not themselves. This controversy arose when the SEC preseason team did not list Tim Tebow as a unanimous 1st team All-SEC player and it turned out that South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier had delegated his picks to an administrator. While preseason All-conference picks don’t mean much, the Coaches top 25 poll week in and week out help determine the rankings and eventually the national champion. In Mangino’s own words he would rather spend that hour on a Sunday working with his players to make his team better than worry about ranking teams from conferences he doesn’t get much of an opportunity to watch. This of course led to the inevitable BCS talk in which, Mangino did and didn’t support the current system.

“When somebody comes up with something that is better,” Mangino said. ”Then I will be willing to listen. Right now I think that we have the best situation possible. For the Plus one format there are goods and bads with it, but the season is already long enough. When we are in finals at KU, our kids are focused on it. During midterms some of our practices are not as focused.We don’t practice during finals since we would be practicing in futility. People say an extra week doesn’t matter, but it does.”

 

Jayhawks head coach Mark Mangino; photo by Jon Eilts

Baylor:Art Briles always scared me as a coach in the Big 12 simply because of his ability to turn the train wreck in Houston around. In addition to being a good coach on the field, he has arguably been the best and most personable coach with the media at Media Days. Every other answer has a joke and every answer was well articulated and thought out. Unlike other coaches who can tend to give the same mindless “one sentence fits all” answers, his answers actually had some substance. The Baylor program though is most certainly one on the rise. If they failed to make a bowl game this year it would be a major shocker in my book. Can Briles ever get Baylor to be a major player in the Big 12 with the handicaps of being considered a smaller football school and playing in such a tough division? I have my doubts but then again I said above that Mike Gundy might have made OK State into a BCS contender, and in a conference as young and dynamic as the Big 12 I wouldn’t put it in the realm of impossibility.

 

 

Bears head coach Art Briles; Photo by Jon Eilts

 

Oklahoma is coming up next, but I have a lot of text and want to get it posted before my computer explodes or something bad happens.

Video link

Here is some video footage of senior Bronson Burgoon’s championship winning second shot on the 18th at Inverness Golf Club courtesy of GolfweekTV.

http://www.golfweektv.com/index.asp?ID=5495

Texas A&M Golf Wins National Championship

The Texas A&M Men’s Golf Team just won its first ever National Championship. over Arkansas 3-2 in match play.

The Aggies jumped to an early lead but Arkansas made a furious comeback, winning four of the last fives holes. In the end A&M held on to capture its first team title since 1987.

 

Final results:

Andrea Pavan, A&M, def. David Lingmerth, Arkansas, 7 and 6
John Hurley, A&M, def. Ethan Tracy, Arkansas, 6 and 4
Bronson Burgoon, A&M, def. Andrew Landry, Arkansas, 1 up
Jason Cuthbertson, Arkansas, def. Matt Van Zandt, A&M, 3 and 1
Jamie Marshall, Arkansas, def. Conrad Shindler, A&M, 3 and 2

Men’s Golf makes National Championship Match

The No. seven Aggie golf team defeated Michigan today in Toledo to make the national championship match Friday afternoon. Opposite of the Aggies tomorrow is No. four Arkansas who defeated No. eight Georgia.

A&M Golf Climbs to Third

On the second day of the NCAA Championships in Toledo, the A&M Men’s golf team shot an eight under par. It was the best score of the day by four strokes and broke the old A&M tournament record of six under from 1982.

Senior Bronson Burgoon is one stroke out of the lead with a three-under total (139) after a four under par day.

The Aggies are currently third in the championship standings. Oklahoma State leads at even par, Georgia is second at five over, A&M at six over, and Arizona State and San Diego round out the top five tied with seven over par.

Notes from May

Just because school stops in May doesn’t mean Aggie Sports does. Here are some of the highlights for the Aggies this May as seasons wrap up and summer begins.

The Aggie baseball team finished 36-22 (16-14) and was selected to the national tournament. They will play in the Ft. Worth regional this weekend, starting against the No. 25 Oregon State Beavers. Also in the bracket are TCU and Wright State which will square off after A&M-OSU Friday at 2:00.

A&M Softball qualified for the national tournament as well but bowed out in the first round to Lehigh University in the Gainesville Regional.

A&M retained the Lone Star Showdown Trophy over Texas after the two schools finished the year long competition tied in points. Because A&M won the year before the trophy defaults to them.

Soccer won the Aggie Cup which is a year long compeition within the A&M Sports teams to see who is the best on and off the field team at A&M. Women’s Swimming finished second, Equestrian third, Women’s Basketball fourth, and softball and men’s basketball tied for fifth.

At the Tennis Championships, being held at the Mitchell Outdoor Tennis Complex, No. seven ranked Senior Connor Pollock and sophomore Austin Krajicek matched their run from a year ago in doubles before bowing out in the quarterfinals to No. 17 Clay Donato and Taylor Fogleman of North Carolina. Pollock, Krajicek, and sophomore Wil Spencer were the only Aggies to qualify for the 64 person individual tournament. Pollock would be the only Aggie to escape the first round and would bow out in the quarterfinals again, this time to Arkansas’  Blake Strode.  As a whole, the Aggie men lost to No. two seed Ole Miss in the Sweet Sixteen. The Aggies swept Binghampton and Arizona before being eliminated. USC would defeat Ohio State for the team national championship. Virginia’s Dominic Inglot and Michael Shabaz took home the doubles crown while Ole Miss’ Devin Britton won the individual title.

 The Aggie women lost to No. 23 SMU in the first round at the Waco regional. None of the Aggie women qualified for the individual or doubles tournaments. Duke swept California for the team national championship, Mallory Cecil of Duke won the individual title, and Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova of Cal won the doubles title.

At the Men’s Golf Championship in Toledo, A&M is currently tied for twelfth along with Northwestern and Alabama. Individually, Bronson Burgoon is tied for sixteenth at one over par. Conrad Shindler and John Hurley are tied at 56 at four over while Matt Van Zandt and Andrea Pavan are tied at 75 and five over. Oklahoma State and Georgia are tied for the lead as teams while Northwestern’s Jonathan Bowers and Illinois’ Scott Langley are tied individually for the lead at two under par. The championships conclude May 30.

The Aggie women fell short in their bid to qualify for a second straight NCAA championship, finishing eleventh at the west regional.

For the track team, the Big 12 Outdoor championship in Lubbock was kind once more. The A&M Women won their third Big 12 Outdoor title and sixth consecutive title. The Men finished second for the second year in a row but sophomore Gerald Phiri took home his second Big 12 High Point Performer award after sweeping the 100, 200, and 4×100.