Anchor Drop, June 24, 2019: 68 Days to Kickoff

Good morning.

We are 68 days away from Vanderbilt’s season opener against Georgia. There’s no #68 on the roster — the fourth day in a row this has happened. Apparently nobody wants these numbers...

Vanderbilt opens the College World Series Final tonight at 6:00 PM CT on ESPN, and on the other side is Michigan, coached by former Vanderbilt assistant coach Erik Bakich. Vanderbilt is in the finals for the first time since 2015; Michigan is the first Big Ten team to make the finals since the College World Series switched to a best-of-three final in 2003, and the first to play for the title since Ohio State won it in 1966. (For the record — Big Ten teams won six titles between 1953 and 1966, and haven’t since then. On the other hand, it took the SEC 42 years* to claim its first title. No, I’m not counting Missouri’s 1954 title in that.)

The Tennessean writes that this year’s Michigan team looks a lot like Vanderbilt’s 2014 team.

Meanwhile, Tim Corbin made a passionate plea for a third paid assistant in college baseball.

Off the West End

From our sister blogs: Roll Bama Roll podcasts and talks about jersey numbers for new freshmen ... Arkansas Fight writes about Mike Conley, who reps Arkansas in spite of going to Ohio State ... Florida got three commitments over the weekend, from Alligator Army ... Georgia added an athlete, writes Dawg Sports ... Kentucky got a wide receiver ... Missouri got a defensive end ... Rocky Top Talk previewed BYU and the 2020 NBA Draft.

Over at SI, Jonathan Wilson ponders Argentine football.

And now, LSU football is under NCAA investigation. And you thought it was just the basketball team?

At the Sporting News, North Carolina’s basketball recruiting is picking up.

Scoreboard

MLB: Indians 8, Tigers 3 ... Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 1 ... Marlins 6, Phillies 4 ... Braves 4, Nationals 3 ... Pirates 11, Padres 10 ... Astros 9, Yankees 4 ... Brewers 7, Reds 5 ... Royals 6, Twins 1 ... Cubs 5, Mets 3 ... Rangers 7, White Sox 4 ... Rays 8, A’s 2 ... Dodgers 6, Rockies 3 ... Diamondbacks 3, Giants 2 ... Mariners 13, Orioles 3 ... Angels 6, Cardinals 4.

PGA Tour: Chez Reavie won the Travelers, his first Tour win in over a decade.

Women’s World Cup: England 3-0 Cameroon ... France 2-1 Brazil.

Gold Cup: Canada 7-0 Cuba ... Martinique 2-3 Mexico.

Copa America: Colombia 1-0 Paraguay ... Qatar 0-2 Argentina.