'After Cirone' era off to good start for Redbirds
Graham Hays...game against Illinois at home, Illinois State is 2-1, with only an eight-point loss at Iowa marring a start that includes wins against UCLA and South Dakota State. It turns out that neither...
Blog Entry | Conversation | November 23, 2009Xavier new No. 1 in mid-major top-10 rankings
Graham Hays1. Xavier (2-0) A brutal schedule doesn't get any easier, but should they fancy a move west, the Musketeers have already made their case as the seco...
Blog Entry | Conversation | November 23, 2009What does weekend of upsets really mean?
Graham Hays...Ill., this season (granted, the Redbirds actually won this on a neutral court at the University of Iowa). Cirone, the three-time Missouri Valley player of the year, has moved on to the professional ranks...
Blog Entry | Conversation | November 15, 2009Choosing right from wrong: to walk or not?
Graham HaysANN ARBOR -- To get from Bristol to Ann Arbor, Mich., you can make an almost immediate left turn upon leaving Connecticut and head south through New J...
Blog Entry | Conversation | May 21, 2009One last shot: Final softball bracketology
Graham Hays...12, Horizon). At-large locks: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, California, DePaul, Georgia, Florida State, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Missouri, Nebraska, Northwestern, North Carolina, Ohio State, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and...
Blog Entry | Conversation | May 10, 2009Softball bracketology debut projections
Graham Hays...BYU, California, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, DePaul, Florida, Florida State, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisville, LSU, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma...
Blog Entry | Conversation | May 03, 2009LSU's Hofer ends career on high note
Graham HaysLeave it to a person who wants to pursue a future in marketing to find the appropriate spin to put on one bright moment in a season and a career cut s...
Blog Entry | Conversation | April 29, 2009Big Ten has recipe for softball success
Graham Hays...Michigan State is of special interest, along with doubleheader sweeps Wednesday for Michigan at Penn State and Iowa at home against Illinois. This season the conference did away with the monster four-game weekend sets...
Blog Entry | Conversation | April 02, 2009Northwestern, Williams happy to be home
Graham HaysFive and a half weeks after they played their first game of the season, the Northwestern Wildcats finally got to practice outside in Evanston, Ill., o...
Blog Entry | Conversation | March 19, 2009Gators, ASU highlight packed weekend
Graham HaysChecking in on some of the weekend's most compelling plots in college softball: SEC Florida hits the road for the second consecutive weekend in conf...
Blog Entry | Conversation | March 13, 2009Weekend washouts stifle tournaments
Graham HaysRain and snow wiped out all but a handful of games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic (Columbus, Ga.), the weekend's signature event, and forced widespread c...
Blog Entry | Conversation | March 01, 2009Softball preseason No. 20: North Carolina
Graham Hays...load, although Spaulding turned in some of her best numbers against Virginia Tech, Hawaii, Florida State and Iowa. It's difficult to envision Spaulding, or any pitcher, allowing just nine extra-base hits in 129...
Blog Entry | Conversation | January 06, 2009TOP SEARCHES IN NOVEMBER
Bowl Projections tops ESPN.com searches in November. Did "iowa" make the list?