| Thursday, November 8, 2018 |
| Driving autonomous cars off the beaten path | |
 | Mississippi State's Matthew Doude, Christopher Goodin and Daniel Carruth write for The Conversation: Autonomous vehicles can follow the general rules of American roads, recognizing traffic signals and lane markings, noticing crosswalks and other regular features of the streets. But they work only on well-marked roads that are carefully scanned and mapped in advance. Many paved roads, though, have faded paint, signs obscured behind trees and unusual intersections. In addition, 1.4 million miles of U.S. roads -- one-third of the country's public roadways -- are unpaved, with no on-road signals like lane markings or stop-here lines. That doesn't include miles of private roads, unpaved driveways or off-road trails. ...At Mississippi State University's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, we have taken up the challenge of training algorithms to respond to circumstances that almost never happen, are difficult to predict and are complex to create. We seek to put autonomous cars in the hardest possible scenario: driving in an area the car has no prior knowledge of, with no reliable infrastructure like road paint and traffic signs, and in an unknown environment where it's just as likely to see a cactus as a polar bear. |
| MSU-Meridian: Grant helps student mothers, garners new student support resources | |
 | Mississippi State University-Meridian is launching "Stand by You," a new program developed for mothers with young children who are earning an undergraduate or graduate degree. Support comes from a grant by the Jackson-based nonprofit group Women's Foundation of Mississippi. Dedicated to funding programs that improve the lives of girls and women statewide, the group made the $30,000 two-year grant award to MSU-Meridian recently at the organization's Women of Vision 2018 event in Jackson. "We're very grateful for the support of the Women's Foundation and excited that through this grant we can expand our student support services in Meridian to be more in line with the opportunities available to students on our main campus in Starkville," said Jeff Leffler, assistant professor and director of graduate studies and the grant's principal investigator. A portion of the funding will be used to develop of a Student Success Center on MSU-Meridian's College Park Campus. "The center will be a place where all students can go and connect to resources like the Writing Center at the Starkville Campus," Leffler said. |
| Local MSU-Meridian students receive scholarships | |
| Three local students were among the 10 Mississippi State University-Meridian students who have been selected as 2018 scholarship recipients through the Jerry and Ruth Scott Foundation. Established by the Scotts in March 2016 and managed by Citizens National Bank's Wealth Management Division in Meridian, the foundation was designed to benefit working adult students who are completing their degrees at MSU-Meridian and who have maintained high academic achievement. In only its second year, over $42,000 in scholarship assistance has been awarded. Recipients will each receive $3,500 for the 2018-19 academic year. Candidates for the scholarship must have a minimum 3.5 grade-point average from their two most recent semesters of coursework at MSU-Meridian or another institution, and must be employed. |
| Starkville aldermen approve tax to fund new park at Cornerstone | |
 | Starkville will send a resolution to state legislators requesting increases to their sales taxes to help fund a new tournament-ready park after the measure gained unanimous approval from aldermen. Aldermen voted on the resolution, which will add 1-percent each to the city's food and beverage and hotel taxes, after a presentation from Memphis architecture firm Dalhoff Thomas about the new facility. The resolution is requesting the tax for 20 years, as the city plans to tie it to bonding for the proposed park. Starkville plans for the new park, located at Cornerstone Park on Highway 25 just south of the interchange with Highway 12, to host tournaments and regular recreation activities. The park is planned to have 12 baseball and softball fields, along with a 10,000 square foot multipurpose path, in its base design. It has options to add another championship field, a handicap-accessible field, an RV park, walking trails and more. |
| Voter turnout nears, exceeds 50 percent in area counties | |
| Voter turnout in Golden Triangle area counties Tuesday either approached or topped 50 percent, according to unofficial counts from circuit clerks' offices. In both Oktibbeha and Clay counties, well more than half of registered voters cast ballots in the mid-term elections, where they decided contested chancery court judge races and also voted in two U.S. Senate races and a U.S. House race. Clay County led the way with 56.5 percent turnout, as 7,803 of 13,814 registered voters cast ballots. In Oktibbeha County, 53 percent (14,425 of 27,217) voted. "Turnout was tremendous," Rook said. "We anticipate overall turnout with absentee and affidavit ballots will be in the neighborhood of 55 percent. That's an extraordinary turnout for Oktibbeha County." |
| Election results: What will it take for Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mike Espy to win runoff? | |
 | Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy fought to a draw -- roughly 41 percent of the vote each -- in Tuesday's special Mississippi U.S. Senate race and head to a Nov. 27 runoff, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. So what will it take for either to win the seat vacated by longtime Republican Sen. Thad Cochran? For both, the short answer is turning out voters -- turning out voters over the holiday season when politics and voting are the last things on their minds and most of the rest of the nation has moved on to other topics. Whatever the outcome on Nov. 27, history will be made. Hyde-Smith would be the first woman ever elected to represent Mississippi in the Senate, and Espy would be the first African-American elected since Reconstruction. The winner will serve out the final two years of Cochran's term and, if history holds true, probably serve there for many years. Both candidates have said they and their teams are ready for the challenge of a holiday-season runoff and turning out voters. |
| Mississippi US Senate runoff: 3 more weeks of ads, speeches | |
 | Mississippi's U.S. Senate runoff will attract money from interest groups the next three weeks. But the partisan balance of the Senate is already decided, and that decreases the intensity of the fight. Voters will choose Nov. 27 between Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy, who advanced from a field of four candidates Tuesday. The winner gets the final two years of a six-year term. As of Wednesday, political action committees had spent about $1.8 million to support Hyde-Smith and roughly the same to support Espy, according to The Campaign Finance Institute, a nonprofit group that evaluates money in politics. Mississippi Victory Fund, a PAC backing Hyde-Smith, said Wednesday that it is airing ads that call Espy "the liberal choice" and say Espy "already sided with the radical left" by opposing Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. |
| Mike Espy, Cindy Hyde-Smith help generate record turnout; mustering similar interest in runoff crucial | |
| Mike Espy garnered enough votes Tuesday in the U.S. Senate special election to live to fight another day. There are multiple unknowns of how that fight will be carried out during the next three weeks between he and interim Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Espy placed a close second to Hyde-Smith with both hovering around 41 percent. The bulk of the remainder of the votes Tuesday -- 16 percent -- went to Hyde-Smith's fellow Republican Chris McDaniel. No doubt, Hyde-Smith, as she has been through the election cycle, will be the clear favorite to win the Nov. 27 runoff election against Espy, who in 1986 became the first African American from Mississippi elected to the U.S. House since the 1800s and later served as the secretary of agriculture in the Clinton administration. Tuesday's turnout of more than 850,000 voters was a record for a mid-term election. |
| Will they debate? Mike Espy calls for three, Cindy Hyde-Smith willing to put her message out there | |
| Mike Espy hit the ground running Wednesday -- the day after finishing a close second to interim U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, in Tuesday's election. He campaigned early Wednesday morning at a Jackson restaurant and wasted no time challenging Hyde-Smith to a debate. "Mississippians deserve to hear our views and understand where we differ, whether it's on health care, education, or job opportunities. The stakes are just too high.," he said in a letter to Hyde-Smith. He challenged her to three debates throughout the state. On Tuesday night at her election watch party, of the possibility of a debate, Hyde-Smith said, "We're getting our team together to decide on that to get the plans together to figure out how we're going to move forward on that. ... That would be an easy, easy forum to go into. I want the voters to hear everything we have to say, when you go against me -- a conservative vs. a Democrat. We've got a good message and we're willing to put it out there." |
| After election results, Mike Espy sends letter asking Cindy Hyde-Smith for debate | |
| U.S. Senate candidate Mike Espy is again challenging his opponent, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, to debate him in advance of their runoff contest later this month. Espy said Wednesday he has sent a letter to Republican Hyde-Smith calling on her to debate him three times between now and the Nov. 27 runoff. The Democrat also sent a letter last month asking her to debate, but she has thus far declined. A Hyde-Smith spokeswoman said the campaign was working on a response to the letter, but had not provided one as of early Wednesday evening. "Public discourse is important, now more than ever, and Mississippians deserve to hear our views and understand where we differ, whether it's on health care, education, or job opportunities," Espy wrote in the letter. |
| Cindy Hyde-Smith and GOP, needing help from 'Chris McDaniel Country,' get good news | |
| As Chris McDaniel hopped in his wife's SUV in Ellisville on Tuesday night to break the bad news to his supporters gathered at a watch party in Laurel, his campaign communications director Tanner Watson received a text message from a senior adviser to Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Gov. Phil Bryant. "Chris have any interest in talking to Phil?" the adviser texted Watson. For years, McDaniel has been a thorn in the side of establishment Republicans in Mississippi. He's built his political career on tearing down figures like Hyde-Smith. Among GOP operatives, the traumatic effects of McDaniel's near victory in 2014 and his splitting of the party still linger. As polls in recent weeks indicated McDaniel's inability to gain traction, Republican Party insiders stopped asking, "Can McDaniel beat us on November 6?" and started asking, "Can we win on November 27 without McDaniel's help?" The conversation Bryant wanted to have with McDaniel almost certainly would have focused on the latter question. |
| DeSoto County voter wearing T-shirt with Confederate flag and noose sparks outrage | |
| A T-shirt worn by a voter in the Olive Branch area Tuesday created a stir on social media and sparked inquiries Wednesday. The voter, identified by various people on social media and by BuzzFeed News as a registered nurse and former Memphis police officer, wore a white T-shirt with the words "Mississippi Justice" along with a picture of a Confederate flag and a noose. Election Commissioner Paul Beale does not oversee the polling location where the incident occurred, but he confirmed Wednesday that it happened. He identified the location as the Summershill precinct at 7600 Pleasant Hill Road in Olive Branch. "We at first thought it was Photoshopped," Beale said, "but we know the lady who was instructing him on using the voting machine." Leah Rupp Smith, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Secretary of State's office, said the office confirmed with DeSoto election officials that the individual was casting a ballot and not working at the site. "Statute does not stipulate a dress code for voters inside polling places," Smith added. |
| Attorney General Jeff Sessions Out, Constitutional Crisis Murmurs Begin | |
 | President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions one day after Democrats regained control of the House and voiced intent to ratchet up pressure on the White House. Trump used a tweet Wednesday afternoon to make the announcement and install Matthew Whitaker, Sessions' chief of staff, as the acting attorney general. "We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date," the president wrote after sidestepping a question about Sessions' future during a wild press conference. Sessions' ouster came just over an hours after Trump said he liked members of his Cabinet but repeated his line that "everyone leaves" an administration at some point. The president's frustrations with his attorney general have at times publicly boiled into what appeared to be anger over many issues related to the Justice Department's Russia election meddling probe. |
| The Clever Tech Keeping America's (Many) Disabled Farmers on the Job | |
 | A recent study published in The Journal of Agriculture Safety and Health suggests as many as one in every five US farmers suffers from a disability that impacts their physical health, senses, or cognition. Offsetting that statistic and keeping Americans fed are technologies like four-wheel-drive golf carts, auto-locking tractor hitches, and even boring old smartphones. For nearly 30 years, a federally funded program called AgrAbility has been central to connecting disabled members of the ag community with whatever help fits their need. Yet its future is uncertain. President Trump has redlined it from both budget proposals he's sent to Congress. Legislators from rural states added it back, but the program's precarious fate makes clear that mishap is always on the horizon for farmers. |
| USM professor: Trump energized both Democrats, GOP for midterms | |
 | Political analysts are still assessing the outcome of the 2018 midterm elections and what that will mean for both political parties and how it may affect future legislation. The Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives, while Republicans expanded their control of the Senate. Edward Sayre, a professor of economics and interim director of the School of Social Science and Global Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi said President Trump motivated both Democrat and Republican voters. "The thing that the Democrats probably didn't expect as far at the Trump effect if anything, was that it energized both the Democrats and the Republicans," Sayre said. "And specifically, it energized the Republicans in those states where he really fought hard for those senators." Sayre said both parties could work together for some meaningful legislation in the coming year, but don't expect much during the 2020 election year. |
| MGCCC invites public to explore natural environment at 10-year celebration | |
 | Tucked deep in the back of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College's Jackson County campus, you'll find 40 acres of nature that's begging for you to explore it. "The Estuarine Education Center is the jewel for the Jackson County campus," said Tammy Franks, Vice President of MGCCC Jackson County. MGCCC is holding a 10-year celebration of the facility that has been getting the students and community hands on with the natural environment. In fact, during this celebration, a class was on the water for a project. "They are having a race in canoes to see who can pick up the most trash out of the bayous and bring it back to campus today. So, we try to include environmental awareness on our campus and have interactive learning," Franks said. Mary Graham, president of the community college, couldn't be happier with what this site provides for the community and the school. |
| U. of Florida celebrates 60 years of desegregation | |
 | Arriving in Gainesville to desegregate the University of Florida 60 years ago is still a fresh memory to George Starke Jr. "You have to ask 'Where did the time go?'" said Starke, 87, speaking to a crowd Wednesday of about 200 current and former University of Florida Levin College of Law students and other UF students, parents, faculty and staff and local residents attending "An Event to Remember: Commemorating 60 Years of Desegregation at UF" that was held in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom at the Levin College of Law on the UF campus. "It seems like yesterday and not yesteryear," said Starke, who became the first African American admitted into UF in 1958 as part of that year's law school freshman class. The leadership of then Florida Gov. Leroy Collins and J. Wayne Reitz, president of UF at the time, is why Starke believes he was never physically harmed while at UF. Their leadership "permeated" through to all those who were responsible for his well-being, Starke said. |
| U. of Kentucky student, healthcare employee arrested after allegedly placing campus bomb threat | |
 | A University of Kentucky student who filed a police report Wednesday about a bomb threat on campus was arrested for falsely reporting an incident and terroristic threatening. The woman who was arrested, 19-year-old Haily Duvall, is a sophomore from Glasgow and also a part-time employee at UK HealthCare, according to a release from the university. The threats by Duvall triggered an increased "safety presence" around White Hall Classroom building, but events and classes will continue as normal Thursday, President Eli Capilouto said. Duvall allegedly showed police four screenshots of Snapchat messages that indicated threats to the UK campus and community, according to her arrest citation. The messages threatened to harm people inside White Hall Classroom building on Thursday. |
| U. of South Carolina takes the first step in finding a new president after Harris Pastides retires in July | |
 | The University of South Carolina has announced the 13 people who will be nominating a replacement for President Harris Pastides when he retires next summer. The group consists of board of trustees members, faculty, special advisers and one student, according to a news release from USC. The committee will first meet Thursday and will eventually recommend four presidential candidates to the full Board of Trustees for approval. The university has not yet established a timeline for when the next president will be named. Trustee member Hubert F. Mobley, who owns Mobley Drugs and has served on USC's board since 2011, will chair the search committee. He is one of six voting trustees on the search committee. |
| U.S. Rep. Bill Flores talks big issues and Tuesday's election at Texas A&M speech | |
 | Though exhausted from the final stretch of his re-election campaign, U.S. Rep. Bill Flores delivered a speech Wednesday night to a crowd gathered at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center, where he touched on trade, energy policy and Tuesday's midterm election. Invited by the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy at the Bush School at Texas A&M, Flores stressed his desire to preserve free and fair trade and commented on the future of certain fuels and energy sources in the United States. Flores serves on the House's Veterans Affairs Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees agencies controlling environmental care, foreign commerce, transportation, communications and food quality. He opened his speech Wednesday night by noting that he considers the United States economy to be the world's strongest, able to compete globally with the least interference. |
| Jeff Sessions, Ousted Attorney General, Leaves a Legacy of College Bashing | |
 | President Trump on Wednesday asked Jeff Sessions, the U.S. attorney general, to resign. The move sparked immediate speculation about the status of the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, which is overseen by the Department of Justice. (Sessions had recused himself from overseeing the investigation, for which he was publicly criticized by Trump.) But for those in higher education, the ouster had other significance: Sessions has been the Trump administration's foremost critic of higher education. One of the department's first major moves against higher education came in August 2017, when The New York Times reported the department was planning possible litigation against colleges that used race-based admissions in their admissions process. In what would become a trend, Sessions gave a highly publicized speech in September 2017 in which he criticized the culture of "political correctness" on college campuses. |
| Young and College-Educated Voters Played Key Roles in Democratic Wins on Tuesday | |
| In the wake of midterm elections on Tuesday that generated record levels of early-voter turnout, exit polls and other data have made clear the role that young people, college students, and college-educated adults played in who was elected -- and who wasn't. Democrats found broad support among younger voters, who favored Democratic House candidates over Republican ones, according to a CNN exit poll. In fact, two out of three voters age 18 to 29 cast ballots for Democrats. Also apparent: The divide between male and female college-educated voters was stark. Just over half of white college-educated men supported Republicans, compared with about 40 percent of white college-educated women. Of white college graduates, 53 percent voted for Democrats, compared with 45 percent who voted Republican. |
| A Divided Congress Is Unlikely to Compromise on Higher Ed. But What if It Did? | |
| In the wake of Tuesday's election results, there will inevitably be talk of reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, the main federal law governing student aid and other key higher-education policies, during the next two years. Democrats, who come January will hold a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, could put forward a bill based on the Aim Higher Act, a blueprint for higher education that they drafted earlier this year. Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, can serve just two more years as head of that committee and would like to cement his legacy by pushing through a reauthorization bill, a piece of legislation that he has been considering since at least 2015 and that is already five years overdue. Then the chambers could reconcile their bills through a conference committee and shoot it on over to President Trump for his signature. Right? No, probably not. |
| A Lesson From Montanans' Vote to Tax Themselves to Fund Higher Education | |
| There's a unique tradition in Montana. Once every decade since 1948, voters have taken to the polls to give the state's colleges a report card and decide whether or not they want to tax themselves to support the institutions. The tax, known as the six-mill levy, is a small charge on property that helps fund higher education. It provides about $20 million in funding for the state's public colleges each year. The tax referendum has passed every time it's been voted on since 1948, but this year the result wasn't as certain, and education advocates feared the worst. But the measure ended up passing with 62 percent of the vote, the first time there has been an increase in support for it in four decades. Montana's referendum was seen as a bellwether of whether distrust of higher education would translate directly into decreased funding -- and its passage was taken as a positive sign for colleges. But the question of why it passed is an interesting one. And one that institutions may do well to pay attention to as state funding for higher education continues to dry up. |
| After tuition hike, Minnesota sees fewer out-of-state students | |
 | A steep drop in the number of new University of Minnesota students from outside the state and its environs has prompted the university to consider cutting back on an aggressive planned tuition increase for 2019. Minnesota's travails may also prompt state systems to consider whether improving state economies -- and more intense competition for a shrinking pool of 18-year-olds -- might be taking a bite out of their ability to rely on tuition premiums from out-of-state students. Last spring, U.S. high schools produced nearly 3.5 million graduates. While that number is expected to rise slightly over the next decade, by 2030 or so it will likely drop to under 3.3 million, or more than 191,000 fewer first-time college candidates, according to data from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. Recent research shows that many state systems have relied on the higher tuition and fees generated by out-of-state students to help balance budgets in times of tight state appropriations. |
| Gunman kills 12 in 'horrific' mass shooting at Thousand Oaks bar packed with college students | |
 | A gunman threw smoke bombs and rained bullets on a crowd of hundreds inside a Thousand Oaks, California bar Wednesday night, killing a dozen people including a Ventura County Sheriff's Department sergeant who was trying to stop the carnage. Authorities have not yet identified the gunman, who died in the incident, or any of the victims inside the bar. The gunman was dressed in black when he burst into the Borderline Bar & Grill, a country-music-themed venue that is popular with college students, around 11:20 p.m., according to Sheriff Geoff Dean. Wednesday nights are college-themed nights open to students as young as 18, according to the bar's website. Witnesses said the event is popular with Moorpark college students, and the Pepperdine student newspaper tweeted that students from its campus were also inside at the time of the shooting. |
| Chris McDaniel strength wanes from 2014 showing | |
 | The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Caleb Bedillion writes: DeSoto County tells an interesting story. In 2014, it was a major base for Chris McDaniel as he nearly toppled Thad Cochran in a bitter fight between Republican factions. In the first round of GOP primary voting that year, McDaniel outdistanced Cochran by a significant margin in the Memphis-area suburbs, receiving about 9,000 votes to Cochran's 5,000. In the runoff that followed, he did even better. McDaniel received about 13,000 votes in DeSoto County, while Cochran had about 6,000. On Tuesday night, however, in a special election that offered McDaniel the chance to take the seat he believes was stolen from him, McDaniel's one-time dominance in DeSoto faded. With turnout that far exceeded 2014, Hyde-Smith got about 20,000 votes, Espy about 16,000 votes and McDaniel about 11,000. That's a microcosm of the night McDaniel had. |
SPORTS
| Bob Shoop says Mississippi State is 'built to compete' with Alabama | |
| Mississippi State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop knows his defense is up against the best offense in the country this week. He knows Alabama's scoring offense would still rank top-25 nationally if the Tide had zero second-half points this season, too. He brought that statistic up himself, unprompted. "How about this, this is amazing," said before diving into the stat. Shoop realizes just how dynamic Alabama's offense is. It averages over 50 points and nearly 600 total yards per game. But Shoop, a nominee for the Broyles Award given to the best assistant coach in the nation, still isn't backing down when No. 6 Mississippi State (6-3, 2-3 SEC) plays No. 1 Alabama (9-0, 6-0 SEC) at 2:30 p.m. in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. "We're going to play our game," Shoop said. "They're good, but we're good too. We're not going down there and playing on our heels or anything along those lines. We're going to do the things that got us to this point." |
| Nick Fitzgerald finds stride as Bulldogs hit stretch run | |
| Nick Fitzgerald's return to the starting lineup was an encouraging one, two passing touchdowns and 159 rushing yards against Kansas State. Quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator Andrew Breiner looked at the performance and saw moments where Fitzgerald was, "an inch or two off." The first four weeks of Southeastern Conference play made those inches look like miles. A few weeks later, all is right once again. Fitzgerald has thrown six touchdown passes over the last two games and gone for more than 200 passing yards in back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 29 and Nov. 5 of 2016. It shows quarterback development is not always linear. It is a process that has its ups and downs, but as long as the process is good, the results should reflect that. The recent improvement from Fitzgerald -- and the track record of both Breiner and head coach Joe Moorhead -- suggest MSU's process of quarterback development is a good one. |
| Mississippi State's Jamal Peters persevered through injuries | |
| The middle of September was a tough stretch for Jamal Peters. The Mississippi State cornerback and kick returner was injured in back-to-back games, with the second being more serious. Peters hurt his shoulder while returning a kick at Kansas State but was able to return to his secondary duties the following week against Louisiana-Lafayette. But while making a tackle in the second quarter, Peters' left knee buckled and he was unable to return to the game. Doctors estimated that the 6-foot-2, 220-pounder would be out of action for 4 to 6 weeks, not exactly the news Peters wanted to hear early on in his senior season. So Peters aggressively attacked his rehab and was back on the field against LSU, missing just three games. "I was trying to come back as quickly as possible because being out hurt," Peters said. "It was tough. I wanted to be out there with them making plays. But I've faced adversity in life and knew that God has a plan and a purpose for me." |
| Why Alabama has been talking up Mississippi State's defense | |
 | The top-ranked defense in the SEC isn't LSU. It's not Georgia. It's not Auburn, Florida or Alabama. It's the defense the Crimson Tide will face this weekend. Alabama won't be the only team on the field Saturday with several guys set to be playing on Sundays next year. Mississippi State has a good amount too, including several on that Bulldogs defense that may end up being early-round draft picks. There hasn't been a defense yet that's come anywhere close to stopping Alabama's offense. But, for what it's worth, Mississippi State is probably the best defense the Tide has faced to this point of the season. "They have one of the top defensive teams in the country," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Really good front. Really good pass efficiency defense. Hard to run against. One of the top defensive teams in the country." |
| Bulldogs look for better offense to help make NCAA tournament run | |
| The stretch that doomed Mississippi State's NCAA tournament chances last year was the first three weeks of January. The Bulldogs shot 26.1 percent from 3-point range and 40.1 percent from the field in losing five of those six games. Less than a year later, MSU is No. 18 in the nation and expected to be among the top five of a Southeastern Conference that may be the second-best conference. It's possible merely making the NCAA tournament won't be enough to satisfy expectations. The combination of those events brings a simple conclusion, one coach Ben Howland has reached on his own. "For us to be as good as we can be this year, we have to be a better shooting team," he said. He made sure the team knew it. The team responded by spending a summer responding to his call to action. MSU's regular season begins 6 p.m. Friday (SEC Network+) against Austin Peay. |
| NCAA grants Andra Espinoza-Hunter immediate eligibility at Mississippi State | |
| The No. 6 Mississippi State women's basketball team gained valuable depth Wednesday night when the NCAA approved the waiver of sophomore guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter, making her immediately eligible to play this season. Espinoza-Hunter, a 5-foot-11 standout from Ossining, New York, scored 14 points in seven games as a freshman at Connecticut before she transferred to MSU in February 2018. She will have three years of eligibility remaining. "I think the right decision was made for this situation," MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. "I think she will provide much needed depth at guard, and she provides someone who has a scoring mentality." Schaefer said Espinoza-Hunter will travel with MSU and will play at 6 p.m. Friday against Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. "She knows everything we're doing," Schaefer said. |
| Andra Espinoza-Hunter immediately eligible | |
| Mississippi State's sixth-ranked women's basketball team received another boost on Wednesday with the eligibility clearance of sophomore guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter. The Bulldogs had applied for a waiver from the NCAA for the Connecticut transfer to play immediately this season. "I think the right decision was made, and we are really appreciative to everyone involved who spent time on this," said MSU coach Vic Schaefer. "Andra has worked extremely hard and has been great since the day she stepped foot on campus. She has prepared herself for this moment and will be ready to step in right away." |
| Andra Espinoza-Hunter eligible to play for Mississippi State | |
| Vic Schaefer has said recently he didn't have a clear-cut timeframe on when the NCAA's decision concerning sophomore transfer Andra Espinoza-Hunter's eligibility waiver would come down. Wednesday night, Mississippi State's head coach got his answer, and it's one the rest of the country should be wary of. Espinoza-Hunter, a transfer from Connecticut, is eligible to play immediately. Espinoza-Hunter is a 5-foot-11 shooting guard from Ossining, New York. She played in seven games as a true freshman for Connecticut, averaging seven minutes per game. Relations with the Huskies turned sour, and Espinoza-Hunter made a decision to transfer on Jan. 12 of this year. Less than a month later, she signed with Mississippi State. "It wasn't a good fit for me (at UConn) and it had nothing to do with playing time at all, even though I know a lot of people assume that," Espinoza-Hunter said. |
| Hail State Hoops luncheon series to launch November 13 | |
 | Fans can enjoy lunch and basketball talk with the No. 6 Mississippi State women's basketball team as a new season of Hail State Hoops luncheons begins Nov. 13. This season's series opener will be held two days before the Bulldogs host Lamar in a 7 p.m. tip at Humphrey Coliseum. The luncheon series will be held in Mize Pavilion beginning at 11:30 a.m. Doors open at 11:15 a.m. Cost is $15 per lunch or $85 for the luncheon bundle. The luncheon bundle includes admission to all seven luncheons and entry into the drawings to win a door prize. Limited spots are available for the luncheons, and RSVPs will be on a first come, first served basis. Fans can RSVP for the luncheons by calling (662) 325-0198 or e-mailing dbrown@athletics.msstate.edu. |
| East Central Community College to break ground on new Warrior Hall football operations center | |
| East Central Community College will hold a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on its new Warrior Hall football operations center at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the construction site on the campus in Decatur. The estimated $2.6 million, 12,300-square-foot facility will be located just outside the north end zone of Warrior Field at Bailey Stadium. ECCC Board Chair Dr. Jimmy Hollingsworth, President Dr. Billy Stewart, Head Football Coach Ken Karcher, and Director of Athletics Paul Nixon are among those who will participate. Warrior Hall will contain locker rooms for players and for coaches, a team meeting room, position conference rooms, coaches' offices, an equipment room, a players' lounge, and a laundry room. It will also house a state-of-the-art training room to be used by student-athletes in all nine varsity sports at the college. |
| Gus Malzahn responds to AD Allen Greene's endorsement: 'The future is very bright' | |
| A day after Auburn athletics director Allen Greene said in no uncertain terms that Gus Malzahn's job is not in jeopardy this season, the Tigers' sixth-year coach responded to his boss' endorsement. Malzahn was asked about Greene's remarks on Wednesday during the SEC's weekly coaches teleconference, and his response echoed remarks he made last December after agreeing to a new seven-year, $49 million contract. "We're having a tough year this year, but we have the opportunity to finish strong," Malzahn said. "And I will say this: The future is very bright. I'm excited to be the coach here." Malzahn's job security had been a hot-button issue the last month as Auburn has endured a disappointing season on the field. The Tigers started the year ranked ninth in the AP poll but fell out of the rankings altogether following their third loss of the season. |
| UGA AD weighs in on Auburn game earlier on schedule, playing Florida on campus | |
 | Georgia and Auburn will play their annual football rivalry game Saturday for the 75th straight year in November. The teams are slated to continue that familiar spot on the schedule in 2019, but Auburn wants to avoid having to play rivals Georgia and Alabama in the final three weeks of the regular season in future seasons. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity is open to the game being slotted earlier on the schedule. "I think the one weekend we are focused on keeping is the Florida weekend due to the NFL dynamic and the plans that people have had," he said of the game in Jacksonville. "As we'll see later, they'll be movement probably to other games. Who thought we'd be opening the (2019) season with Vanderbilt? The main thing is a rivalry will stay in place. We'll continue to play Auburn on an annual basis for the near future." |
| Ed Orgeron, Chad Morris and a Waffle House: the story of a long-past interview | |
 | Perhaps there were hash browns. Maybe a coffee or two. Almost certainly, there was some form of unique people-watching as Ed Orgeron interviewed a Texas high school coach who would become one of college football's next great offensive minds. They were together at a Waffle House near Oxford, Mississippi. The most important part of the story, perhaps, is known: Orgeron, then the head coach at Ole Miss, did not hire Chad Morris away from Stephenville High School to join his staff. Orgeron said Wednesday that he instead hired Hugh Freeze, a high school coach in Tennessee, as his tight ends coach. "But I always had a good relationship with coach Morris," said Orgeron, whose LSU Tigers travel to play Morris' Arkansas Razorbacks at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. "I think he's an excellent coach." The rest you probably know: Orgeron was fired after winning just three conference games in three seasons at Ole Miss from 2005-07; Hugh Freeze eventually became the Rebels' head coach but was fired last summer amid scandal; and Morris won a few more Texas state championships before making his climb to college coaching, most notably as offensive coordinator at Clemson and head coach at SMU. |
| Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt has hands-off approach to Neyland Stadium project | |
 | Jeremy Pruitt is taking a hands-off approach to the Neyland Stadium renovation. "I trust our administration," Tennessee's first-year football coach said Wednesday when asked whether he has input on the project. "These guys, they know what we need at Tennessee to make Tennessee one of the premier programs. Our facilities are second to none. I trust our administration to do what we need to do to keep us at the top of the country when it comes to facilities." Project plans pre-date Pruitt's hiring last December. Athletic director Phillip Fulmer announced last week that the start of construction has been pushed back to allow more time to review the project's scope and to be "financially prudent." He expects construction to begin within two years. The two-phase project is set to cost $340 million. Phase I will focus on the stadium's south end zone and has a projected price tag of $180 million. UT's Board of Trustees approved the project last November. |
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