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LEAD STORY: LSU Baseball Sits on Top — and the Fall Scrimmages Are Showing Why
D1Baseball has named LSU the No. 1 program in the nation, a distinction that landed the same week the Tigers opened their second round of fall scrimmages in Baton Rouge. The timing could hardly be better for a roster that looks deep on both sides of the ball.
Thursday's intrasquad action backed up the billing. Freshman right-hander Cooper Sides delivered his second dominant outing of the fall — 3.0 innings, one hit, four strikeouts, and 25 of 35 pitches for strikes — running his fastball up to 96 mph with a mid-80s slider and mid-70s curveball. William Schmidt matched him with two hitless innings, striking out four with no walks while touching 97 and unveiling an 89-90 mph cutter/slider that could push him into the Friday-night conversation. At the plate, Lucas Nawrocki took player-of-the-night honors, going 2-for-2 with a two-run homer blasted nearly 400 feet into the Diamond Deck — the only true barrel anyone has managed off Sides in two weeks. John Pearson added a three-run shot that just missed the scoreboard, finishing with four RBIs.
LSU continues fall ball with scrimmages Friday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m., with free entry and parking at Alex Box Stadium.
QUICK HITS
- Alabama 92, Ole Miss 84 (exhibition): The Crimson Tide men's basketball team picked up its second preseason win Thursday night, downing the Rebels in the annual Ballin' in Boutwell exhibition, per Alabama's athletics site.
- LSU draft stock shifts: Per the latest LSU draft board, EDGE Princewill Umanmielen climbed from a third-round projection to the second round on the strength of his production, while quarterback Sam Leavitt slid from the fourth round to the fifth after a rough showing at Kentucky — with a return to LSU in 2027 described as increasingly possible.
- Soccer split in the SEC: Texas rolled LSU 4-1, its most goals in a league match since 2023, while Missouri blanked Ole Miss 3-0 on the road behind Emily Derucki's 28th-minute opener off a Lana Adams through ball.
- Georgia tennis advances: Sophomore Cooper Johnson recorded the highest-ranked singles win of his career to headline the Bulldogs moving into the round of 32 at the ITA Southeast Regional at Georgia Tech.
- Playoff expansion talk: ESPN's Heather Dinich broke down how a proposed 24-team College Football Playoff could reshape postseason access across the sport.
PORTAL WATCH
No transfer portal activity to report over the last 12 hours. A quiet window across the conference — we'll flag new entries and commitments as they surface.
RECRUITING BUZZ
No new commitments in the past 12 hours. With a marquee football weekend ahead and official visitors expected on multiple SEC campuses, that could change quickly.
GAMES TO WATCH
A loaded SEC football slate is on deck (kickoff times and TV designations TBD):
- Missouri at Ole Miss — The headliner. The No. 9 Rebels are 4-1 following a 52-17 road win at Vanderbilt, with Trinidad Chambliss providing elite quarterback play — but their rush defense is a vulnerability, per Rock M Nation. Missouri, sitting at No. 16 in the latest CFP projection and nursing a lengthy injury report after six straight weeks of games, has massive playoff implications riding on this one.
- Alabama at Tennessee — The Third Saturday in October rivalry always delivers.
- Florida at Texas — The Longhorns, favored by 10.5 per Rock M Nation's betting preview, look for a get-right game after a collapse against Oklahoma; the Gators are reeling after losses to Missouri and South Carolina.
- Auburn at Georgia — The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.
- Mississippi State at LSU — The Tigers look to rebound after an uneven showing at Kentucky.
- Kentucky at Oklahoma and Arkansas at Vanderbilt round out the conference slate.
On the volleyball court, Alabama (9-6, 1-5 SEC) visits No. 24 Vanderbilt (13-2, 3-2 SEC) Friday at 7 p.m. CT — its third ranked opponent this season — before heading to Missouri (10-8, 3-3 SEC) on Sunday. And top-ranked Arkansas men's golf closes its fall schedule this weekend at the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational in Saucier, Mississippi.
