College basketball transfer portal rankings 2024: Illinois star Coleman Hawkins commits to Kansas State
How Jesse Marsch Is Taking Canada's 4 Nations Title To Fuel His Soccer Team For Concacaf Nations League
Last month, the 4 Nations Challenge took the sports world by storm, with the Canadians' dramatic 3-2 victory over the United States in the championship capturing 16.1 million viewers in North America. That made it the second-most watched hockey game of the past century, and it also continued the developing rivalry between the two nations.
Canadian fans had booed the American national anthem earlier in the tournament, and there were three fights in the opening moments of the U.S.-Canada round-robin meeting, an eventual 3-1 U.S. Win. But after Canada got revenge in the final, former prime minister Justin Trudeau posted on X, "You can't take our country — and you can't take our game," a clear shot at President Donald Trump's previous comments about making Canada the 51st state.
At his Concacaf Nations League press conference, Canada men's soccer coach Jesse Marsch said he's hoping to use the rising tensions to inspire his team, in response to a question from The Ringer's Katie Baker.
"Look, I traded texts with [Canada hockey coach] Jon Cooper. We haven't had the chance to speak yet. ... Maybe [it] caught the Canadians a little bit by surprise and the Americans having their national anthem booed and everything else might have lit a fire under them, but then the second game, our Canadian national team kind of knew what the game was going to require. And that's going to be important for us.
"We know that there's a charged atmosphere around what these international games mean now. These aren't things I need to describe to them. I will say this, I've tried to use the Canadian hockey mentality with our players to say, 'Look at the identity of the Canadian hockey players' and they are at their grittiness, when things are tough, they play their best, that they're hard, that they're strong, that they're up for challenges, that they're not they'll never back down from a fight. We need to build this more and more into who we are, into our identity, but do it in our way, in our football way. And I think they have, I think they've grown a lot in the time I've known them and again I'm excited for Thursday."
Marsch, 51, is a Wisconsin native and longtime MLS player who made two appearances for the USMNT and coached in the MLS after he retired. He then rose to global soccer prominence in 2019-20, when he led Red Bull Salzburg to league and cup titles. He later took over at RB Leipzig and eventually Leeds United. Canada hired him in May 2024, and four months later, Canada beat the USMNT in the States for the first time since 1957.
Last month, Marsch criticized President Trump's words, calling them "unsettling and frankly insulting" and "ridiculous," and he had more to say at Tuesday's press conference.
"I'm not going to get political right now. I think I've made my statements clear and known. I will say that from watching the Four Nations in hockey, you can see that the climate for sports in North America has been elevated for national teams. I'm hopeful that this tournament can be the best reflection of our societies, and that we don't have to waste time booing national anthems and getting caught up in politics. And we can just focus on the players and the teams and supporting the love of the game, the love of the sport and whatever your nationality is, that you [are able to] support your team all the way.
"And that's been our focus, right? We haven't even addressed internally, in the team, the political situation. We've just focused on the fact that we want to be at our best, specifically on Thursday because we really respect our opponent in Mexico and we want to give ourselves the best chance to move on and compete for a trophy on Sunday."
USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino, meanwhile, said, "We cannot mix political things with sports," which Marsch, of course, already has.
It all could lead to another wrinkle in another championship match: If the USMNT can beat Panama (Thursday on Paramount+ at 7 p.M. ET) and Canada can beat Suriname (Thursday on Paramount+ at 9 p.M. ET), they'd meet in Sunday's final at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
These Five Teams Are The SEC's Legitimate National Championship Contenders For The 2025 Season
As sure as schools paying players next fall, the day is coming when the SEC places five teams into an expanded College Football Playoff.
That won't happen in 2025, but it may in 2026 when the CFP potentially expands to 14 teams and the Big Ten and SEC push for four automatic qualifiers. Until then, the criteria from the first 12-team playoff remain and the SEC will have to rely on its teams impressing the selection committee. Do wins matter more than strength of schedule? That worries the SEC, which is built on beating up its teams and leaving several title contenders with three losses.
The league nearly had four teams in the fold in 2024, but the committee smartly placed SMU ahead of three-loss Alabama and South Carolina. In the end, the SEC advanced only one of its three teams into the semifinals.
Who will contend for a national championship this fall? The usual contenders remain, but we're taking a chance on another team that has proven to be fool's gold the last two seasons. We kept the list of contenders to five teams, but we could easily argue for seven.
Kalen DeBoer cannot afford to miss the playoffs in Year 2. An underwhelming 9-4 start to his Alabama career places the onus on him to lift the Tide into the 12-team CFP this season, and he must do so while replacing a quarterback and refilling several holes along the offensive and defensive lines, the primary units responsible for success or failure in the SEC. Still, the Tide ranks No. 2 in the initial SP+ ratings. The favorite to replace Jalen Milroe at quarterback is Ty Simpson, who DeBoer has praised often, but keep an eye on Austin Mack and five-star Keelon Russell in the offseason as newly-hired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb reconfigures the offense into something that may more resemble the Washington team he coordinated to an appearance in the 2023 National Championship Game.
Alabama QB battle now in focus as Ryan Grubb reunites with Kalen DeBoer on Crimson Tide coaching staff
Will Backus
Russell is undoubtedly the future after ranking No. 2 overall in the Top247 Rankings but he'll likely sit on the bench. Right tackle and left guard give us concerns, and the defensive line will need more help from the portal. The second level of the defense is elite, particularly at the safety spots led by Keon Sabb and Bray Hubbard.
We'll know early in the season whether Alabama is a contender. The Tide travel to Florida State in the season opener and close September with a trip to rival Georgia (Sept. 27). Potential risers South Carolina and Auburn are the toughest road games remaining on the schedule.
GeorgiaYou can't keep Kirby Smart down for long. By any measure, a CFP appearance is enough to keep a fan base happy, but not in Georgia. The loss to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals was downright disappointing and 15 starters from that team are gone. The receivers never did quite break out last season and the defense, although great, was not up to the elite level of previous seasons. Plus, the offensive line struggled in run blocking. Things seem dour on paper, right? Wrong.
Smart aggressively sought game-breaking receivers and delivered with transfers Zachariah Branch (USC), Micah Bell (Vanderbilt) and Noah Thomas (Texas A&M) to go along with an impressive haul of five high school recruits. Plus, the Bulldogs continue to be the marquee program for signing, keeping and developing high school talent, so refueling the defensive and offensive lines is not as difficult as it would be for other programs.
Despite losing all that talent, Georgia returns five top 10 tacklers and three of its top six receivers. How does Georgia replace All-American safety Malaki Starks? They signed three defensive backs out of the portal.
Georgia's semi-favorable schedule also helps. The two toughest opponents on paper come to Athens (Alabama and Texas), leaving trips to Tennessee (Sept. 13) and Auburn (Oct. 11) as games to circle.
Brian Kelly is not afraid; he's angry. How else can you explain the Tigers terrorizing the transfer portal, outpacing the field by a wide margin to record the No. 1 class with only 16 commitments? As my colleague John Talty opined earlier this spring, perhaps the best thing to happen to LSU was Bryce Underwood picking Michigan. LSU saved its money and spread the wealth to land bluechip after bluechip, picking up eight players from SEC rivals, and solidifying the defense with highly-rated pass rushers (Patrick Payton and Jack Pyburn), and two ready-made stars at receiver (Nic Anderson and Barion Brown).
Why LSU football is the 2025 transfer portal cycle's big winner: Tigers beef up roster with prime talent
Chris Hummer
Our biggest concern is the offensive line, which loses four starters. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is the SEC's leading returning passer (4,052 yards) but benefited from the best protection in the league (15 sacks allowed). Transfers Josh Thompson and Braelin Moore must live up to the hype along the interior.
The schedule is challenging but manageable. The Tigers do not play back-to-back road games, which is incredible, but trips to Clemson, Ole Miss, Alabama and Oklahoma are gigantic landmines. The Tigers open the season at Clemson, by the way, for Death Valley bragging rights.
Ole MissLane Kiffin had us fooled into believing Ole Miss was a playoff contender again last season. So, why are we taking the bait for a third time? That schedule is incredibly tempting, with five of the first six games at home and the most challenging road trips not coming until back-to-back jaunts to Georgia and Oklahoma. That's right: no Alabama or Texas on the schedule, either.
The nation's attention will be on quarterback after record-setting passer Jaxson Dart's career ended but that's not the spot that gives us pause. The roster must reload with a slew of transfers and prep additions. The defensive line is of particular concern, though Suntarine Perkins (10.5 sacks) returns as Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen chase their NFL dreams.
Ole Miss loses half a dozen receivers, including three future NFL players, but returns Cayden Lee (874 yards) and adds five more from the transfer portal as Kiffin continues his Moneyball approach, replicating or exceeding production in the aggregate. Oklahoma State's De'Zhaun Stribling (882 yards), Penn State's Harrison Wallace III (720 yards), West Virginia's Traylon Ray (426) and Wake Forest's Deuce Alexander (400 yards) lead the nation's No. 2 transfer class, according to 247Sports.
Expect Austin Simmons, who backed up Dart for two years, to take over at quarterback. Remember, he came into the game and led a touchdown drive in that blowout of Georgia last season.
TexasCan Arch Manning deliver Texas a national championship? Sure, but he'll need to deliver under pressure and take over games as the Longhorns break in a new offensive line and replace two of the top three receivers. Texas draws a difficult schedule, too, starting with the season opener at defending national champion Ohio State (eke!). The Longhorns return only one starter along the offensive line, meaning Manning's duality will be on full display, especially early in the season.
The defense seems poised for another top-10 finish but must replace elite defensive tackles for a second consecutive year. Vernon Broughton and Alfred Collins are gone but the staff reloaded with three transfers. Plus, edge rusher Colin Simmons returns after leading the team with nine sacks and forcing three fumbles and picking off a pass last season.
The defense will be fine, and we trust Steve Sarkisian to deliver on offense — and perhaps hunt down one more offensive gamechanger in the spring transfer portal window. We expect an explosive attack with a more dynamic quarterback replacing Quinn Ewers. Circle those trips to Florida (Oct. 4) and Georgia (Nov. 15) on the calendar as games that will separate the SEC's CFP contenders and pretenders.
Wildcards to watch: Florida, Tennessee
In Honor Of March Madness, Here's A 68-team College Football Bracket
Until Saturday Newsletter 🏈This is The Athletic's college football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday directly in your inbox.
Today, let's make everything about us. We're turning the NCAA Tournament into a football thing. (I assume the following image is too small to read on your phone, so below it, I've also screenshotted each region individually.)
Football Madness: Here is way too much footballA decade or so ago, in the time of the BCS and early CFP, using March as the occasion for putting together a comically huge college football bracket felt like a fantastical exercise. Obviously, a big bracket would never happen!
But now? With decision-makers discussing potential expansion to 16 even before the 12-teamer happened? Kinda feels like this large bracket is merely ahead of the S-curve.
To make this edition, I looked for a website with a well-designed bracket PDF. That website happened to be my employer's. (Men's and women's printable brackets.) Then I ruined that design in Paintbrush.
As for seeding:
(Also, we're not considering FCS-FBS lines for Upset Watch, because Vegas would say I overrated FCS teams. Vegas doesn't understand our alternate reality, in which FCS teams have been making the 68-team CFP for years — and thus have recruited more FBS-level talent.)
More bracket below, after this newsletter does its actual job and shares some actual football news.
Quick Snaps💰 "A nine-figure shot at relevance for a football program that has never won a conference title." Matt Baker on USF's $340 million stadium bet.💪 Early notes on the QB battles (or non-battles) at Michigan, Georgia and Ohio State.🌀 "Some universities are invoking a new threat to keep their players: Leave, and you'll owe us money." Stewart Mandel and Ralph Russo on NIL buyouts.🗻 For real, why don't you two just merge already? Late last week, the Pac-12 and Mountain West approached legal resolution.👍 Every few years, somebody floats the idea of turning spring games into scrimmages with other teams. Time might be right, and Colorado might be the team that could do it.
Football Madness: The other half of the enormous bracket
Also, here were the first four teams out of the bracket: Rutgers, Boston College, UCLA and Montana. A team from my beloved Big Sky Conference falling short proves I oversaw an ethical process.
Cram SessionBefore we go, three things to share with you before this week's tipoffs of the actual NCAA tourneys, the ones with basketball:
📫 Love Until Saturday? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters. And if you have thoughts on any of this, I will see them at untilsaturday@theathletic.Com.
(Top photo: Ronald Martinez, Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
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