NCAAF- The Coaches Poll has been released for the preseason College Football top 25 rankings. Without much surprise, Georgia ranks atop the list with 61 first place votes with Alabama and Ohio St. each receiving votes. Despite not receiving any first-place votes, Michigan is ranked 2^nd.

The Southeast Conference (SEC) leads all conferences with six teams ranked in the top 25 followed by the Big-12 and tumultuous Pac-12 each with five teams. The Big Ten currently has four teams ranked in the top 25 with Iowa acting as a de facto #26 receiving the most outside votes.

The American Coast Conference (ACC) is headlined by Florida State at #8 with three total teams in the top 25. Tulane is the only team representing the American conference at #23. Lastly, Notre Dame ranks #13 as part of the Independents.

Preview for High School Football

Mt. Pleasant will be hosting Fairfield to begin the season on August 25th with John Bowlin leading the squad in his first season with the Panthers. 

Danville and Van Buren County will be competing in the same district in Class A with the Bears taking on Lynnville-Sully and the Warriors facing off against Central Lee.

In 8-man football, Winfield-Mt. Union begin their season against Central City. New London will travel to take on Easton Valley. Lastly, WACO’s week one matchup will be Fremont-Mills on the road. 

The entire state of Iowa will be able to officially hold practice today. WACO’s Head Coach Chad Edeker talked about how Reece Oswald is ready to run for the Warriors. 

Mt. Pleasant Cross Country

Coach Murray will be rewarding the high schoolers this week with their annual camp because of their hard work during the summer. With the hard work comes high expectations. 

College Conference Shakeup

The Pac-12 is down to just four teams when the 2024 season comes around: Stanford, Oregon State, Cal, and Washington State. The 108-year old conference’s apparent lack of stability stemmed from their upcoming TV deal with Apple TV with the University of Washington’s president stating the move was about “national visibility” for their players and long-term stability. 

Oregon and Washington agreed to jump ship Friday and also joined the Big Ten with USC and UCLA in 2024. They join the conference, despite the fact that they will be receiving only a partial share of the revenue until the end of their current media contract in 2029-30. The Big Ten will be the largest conference with 18 members. 

Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State will also be joining Colorado in the Big 12 after the conference unanimously voted to let them join on Friday. The conference will have 16 teams starting in 2024. 

Prospect League

The Burlington Bees ended their season on a win over the weekend as they took down the Quincy Gems 10-4. Cedric Dunnwald and Keanu Spenser each slapped a triple and finished with three RBIs in the win. Caleb Wulf added a double and two RBIs of his own. The Bees finished with a 15-15 second half record and a 29-30 record overall. 

The Clinton LumberKings’ late season struggles results in a three-game losing streak to put an end to the season. The LumberKings lost to the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp on Saturday 5-4 to end the regular season. Jeremy Conforti had an RBI double in the loss.

Yesterday, The LumberKings faced off against the Gems in the first round of the playoffs for the Great River Division Championship. The LumberKings had a 4 to 2 lead until the 5th inning when the Gems put up four runs and held on despite a comeback attempt in the 8th inning to win 6-5. Jeremy Figueroa clobbered a home run and finished with three RBIs in the losing effort. The LumberKings finished with a 17-15 record in the second half of the season.

This Day in Sports History

1936 – Twenty-two nations line-up as the first basketball competition in the Olympics Games starts in Berlin; Estonia beats France 34-29 in the first game.

1984 – The US collects its first Olympic gold medal in women’s basketball history with a 85-55 win over South Korea in the final at the LA Games.

1999 – Tampa Bay 3rd baseman Wade Boggs becomes the first MLB player to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit in Devil Rays’ 15-10 loss to Cleveland.

Preview for High School Football

Mt. Pleasant will be hosting Fairfield to begin the season on August 25th with John Bowlin leading the squad in his first season with the Panthers. 

Danville and Van Buren County will be competing in the same district in Class A with the Bears taking on Lynnville-Sully and the Warriors facing off against Central Lee.

In 8-man football, Winfield-Mt. Union begin their season against Central City. New London will travel to take on Easton Valley. Lastly, WACO’s week one matchup will be Fremont-Mills on the road. 

The entire state of Iowa will be able to officially hold practice this Monday. The Warriors held a camp this past week and for Head Coach Chad Edeker the excitement is still there like it’s his first day of coaching. 

Mt. Pleasant Cross Country

The high schoolers will be starting their camp next week after a long summer of training. The upperclassmen were tasked with leading the runs, a tradition that has been handed down for years. 

College Football Award Watches

The University of Iowa added three more names to the award watch lists. Logan Jones, the Hawkeye’s starting center, is up for the Rimington Trophy, which is awarded to the top center in the nation. Tyler Linderbaum was the last Hawkeye to win the award. 

Erick All and Luke Lachey are on the watchlist for the Mackey Award, the award given to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, academics, and community values of NFL Hall of Famer John Mackey. The Hawkeyes have been turning out top notch tight ends for the past 20 years as T.J. Hockenson and Dallas Clark have both won the Mackey Award.

College Conference Shakeup

A day ago the Pac-12’s future was uncertain, now the ending seems to be drawing near for the over century old conference. The beginning of the end started when USC and UCLA agreed to join the Big Ten in June of 2022. The mass exodus escalated this year when Colorado joined the Big 12. 

Oregon and Washington agreed to jump ship yesterday and also joined the Big Ten with USC and UCLA in 2024. They join the conference, despite the fact that they will be receiving only a partial share of the revenue until the end of their current media contract in 2029-30. The Big Ten will be the largest conference with 18 members. 

Utah and Arizona State will also be joining Colorado in the Big 12 after the conference unanimously voted to let them join last night. The conference will have 16 teams starting in 2024. 

Prospect League

The Clinton LumberKings attempted to stage a comeback, but the Burlington Bees fended them off to win 4-3. Keanu Spenser led the way in the winning effort with a team leading 2 RBIs. Kyle Looper picked up the win on the mound. Jeremy Conforti had a two-run homer in the losing effort. 

The Bees will end the regular season tonight against the Quincy Gems at home. The LumberKings will take on the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp tonight. 

This Day in Sports History

1921 – KDKA Pittsburgh presents first radio broadcast of MLB; Pirates beat Phillies, 8-0; Harold Arlin first play-by-play broadcaster.

1986 – Giants left-handed pitcher Steve Carlton becomes the second to reach the 4,000 strikeout milestone.

2006 – Warren Moon becomes the first African-American quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio; joined by Troy Aikman, John Madden, Rayfield Wright, Harry Carson and Reggie White.