Anchor Drop, June 24, 2023: 63 Days to Kickoff

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

We are now 63 days — nine weeks — away from Vanderbilt football’s season opener against Hawaii. 63 for the Commodores is defensive lineman Jacob Katona. The 6’4”, 265-pound redshirt sophomore from Birmingham spent two seasons at Stanford before transferring to Vanderbilt in the offseason — where I’m thinking he’s a walk-on considering he didn’t play at Stansbury.

News! Liam Robbins wasn’t drafted in Thursday night’s NBA Draft — surely an oversight, as his child, Anthony Black of Arkansas, was picked sixth overall — signed with the New Orleans Pelicans as an undrafted free agent. I’m not sure if this is a camp invite or a two-way contract, but he’ll have a chance to go the Luke Kornet route.

And after adding a bunch of guys to the 2024 class earlier in the week, Clark Lea took time out of his day on Friday to score a commitment from 2025 athlete Carson Lawrence of Chattanooga McCallie. Lawrence doesn’t have a rating on 247 Sports yet; he’s the second commit for 2025, joining Caden “Joe Exotic” Knighten of Wynnewood, Oklahoma.

Also from the Tennessean: how transfer portal additions will help the women’s basketball team.

Red Cup Rebellion laments the end of the annual Vandy-Ole Miss game, since the Rebels aren’t on our schedule in 2024. Look, really though...

Actually, in the pursuit of the college football media ecosystem having offseason content SEC schools making gobs of money, stuff like Vandy-Ole Miss being an annual game is going to be lost. I have been told that this is actually fine, because again, gobs of money, and we have to make sure we play Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Missouri a sufficient amount. Bring back the Big 8 and the SWC. Also, I am not a crazy person.

Enjoy the action at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup on YouTube. Or the College World Series, or the CONCACAF Gold Cup, I don’t know. Or even the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup pre-qualifiers, an actual thing that is also being broadcast on the FIBA YouTube channel. Again, I am not a crazy person.

Sports on TV

All times Central.

• 6:30 AM: European Tour: BMW International Open, Third Round (Golf Channel)
• 7:30 AM: FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup: Serbia v. Egypt (YouTube)
• 8:00 AM: FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup: Japan v. Brazil (YouTube)
• 9:45 AM: PGA Tour: Travelers Championship, Third Round (ESPN+)
• 10:00 AM: LPGA Tour: KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Third Round (Peacock)
• 10:00 AM: FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup: Argentina v. Turkey (YouTube)
• 10:30 AM: FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup: South Korea v. Hungary (YouTube)
• 12:00 PM: PGA Tour: Travelers Championship, Third Round (Golf Channel)
• 12:10 PM: MLB: Cubs at Cardinals (FOX)
• 12:30 PM: FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup: France v. China (YouTube)
• 1:00 PM: FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup: Canada v. Spain (YouTube)
• 2:00 PM: PGA Tour: Travelers Championship, Third Round (CBS)
• 2:00 PM: LPGA Tour: KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Third Round (NBC)
• 3:00 PM: MLB: A’s at Blue Jays or Royals at Rays (MLB Network)
• 3:05 PM: MLB: Mets at Phillies (FS1)
• 6:00 PM: College World Series: LSU vs. Florida (ESPN/ESPN+)
• 6:15 PM: MLB: Astros at Dodgers or Twins at Tigers (FOX)
• 8:30 PM: CONCACAF Gold Cup: United States v. Jamaica (FS1)
• 9:00 PM: MLB: Angels at Rockies or Nationals at Padres (MLB Network)
• 5:00 AM: FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup: Egypt v. Japan (YouTube)
• 5:30 AM: FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup: Brazil v. Serbia (YouTube)

Scoreboard

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