Happy Monday, everyone. It was a fine weekend all around for Alabama athletics. The Gym Tide started things off with a win at Auburn, and almost touched 198.
The No. 3 Alabama gymnastics team (5-2, 3-2 SEC) rolled past its in-state rival No. 18 Auburn (2-8, 0-6 SEC), 197.950-197.250, Friday night at Neville Arena. The team total matched its threshold from a week ago and helped the Crimson Tide capture its first victory at Auburn since the 2018 season.
National bars leader Chloe LaCoursiere highlighted
the night, registering three-straight scores of 9.900-or-higher for the third time this season and second in as many weeks. Six gymnasts captured a total of six event titles – Jordyn Paradise on vault (9.950), LaCoursiere and Azaraya Ra-Akbar on bars (9.950), Jasmine Cawley and Kylee Kvamme on beam (9.925) and Gabby Gladieux on the floor exercise (9.925).
Is this not the most Auburn tweet ever?
Seems like they buried the lede there, doesn’t it?
Men’s basketball took care of business in Baton Rouge as you already know, and the women got a much needed win in Gainesville.
The No. 25/24 Alabama women’s basketball team defeated Florida, 76-71, on the road Sunday. The Crimson Tide secured its second-highest three-point percentage of the season as the team outshot the Gators 12-of-23 (52 percent) from behind the arc in the victory.
Jessica Timmons shot 11-for-17 (65 percent) from the field and 7-for-10 (70 percent) from the three-point range to pace Alabama (21-7, 7-7 SEC) with a career-high 34 points. Ta’Mia Scott followed suit with 21 points to mark a new career-best while at The Capstone.
Florida (16-13, 4-10 SEC) was led by Liv McGill who had 19 points and KN’isha Godfrey who grabbed 10 rebounds.
The ladies will now finish regular season play against two top 5 opponents.
Most encouragingly, the softball program that has been trending the wrong way in recent years suddenly looks resurgent. It’s early, but Patrick Murphy seems to have brought in some real talent this season, with a renewed focus on power hitting. Last season, Alabama hit 60 homers in 63 games, just under one per outing. So far this season, they have bombed a whopping 29 in only 13 games.
If you aren’t already acquainted, one name to learn is five-star freshman Victoria Moten. Moten hails from Daphne, grew up as a card carrying Gump, and touched 74 mph in a three-hit complete game shutout of FSU. On the season, she has struck out 41 and walked 11 while allowing only two runs in 33 innings of work.
Chase Goodbread wrote about the need for joint practices.
Of course, there’s always the hope that UA will return to a legitimate game format for A-Day 2026, but consider that hope a slim one. The reason given last year by coach Kalen DeBoer for holding an open practice on A-Day was a rash of injuries at particular positions, namely tight end. That’s not long-term rationale; it’s circumstantial rationale. But Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox has suggested there are more factors than just injuries involved in the disappearance of a true A-Day game. Meanwhile, nobody in the UA athletic department that I’ve spoken with foresees the game format returning this year.
For all the transformational changes college sports have gone through over the last decade, joint practices shouldn’t be the least bit controversial. Nor should they any longer be against NCAA rules.
Bring them on.
A-Day needs all the help it can get.
I agree with this, and also think that the practices in question should be held in summer so that the transfer portal can move back to the end of the school year where it belongs. There should not be motivation for players or coaches to opt out of the playoff.
Nick Kelly has the skinny on the kicker competition.
Alabama will need better than 69.6%, though. And maybe Talty is the one who can provide it.
This past season was his first handling field goals and extra points. Perhaps he needed more experience and can continue what he did in the last few games of 2025.
Or maybe Quinn beats him out.
The Donaghmore, Northern Ireland native made 21 of 26 field goal attempts (80.8%) in 2025 for Marshall. That included a long of 55 yards. Quinn went 4-for-6 from 50-plus yards. Quinn finished his first season 38 of 39 on extra points, too.
Talty went 0-for-1 on his lone field-goal attempt from 50-plus yards. As for extra points, Talty didn’t miss one, making all 48 attempts.
He will have to win the job in camp, but I will be surprised if Quinn isn’t kicking the field goals. Talty just doesn’t have the leg that Quinn does.
Walk-on TE Jude Cascone plans to make a mark.
Alabama and Ohio State each offered Cascone. But Alabama and Ohio State had each one scholarship tight end spot at their disposal. The Crimson Tide filled its spot in June with Sutter, an Illinois four-star prospect who was the No. 6 tight end in the country.
Cascone’s recruiting story became one of chaos, of uncertainty and fluidity as college teams navigated the new realities of the transfer portal and NCAA roster limits. But Mike Cascone saw his son do the only thing he could do.
“You can only control what you can control, right?” Mike Cascone said. “He can only control his grades. He can only control his film, his level of play on the field, his IQ, his work ethic, all those things. You can’t worry and wonder too much about what’s going to happen or not.”
Chris Kapilovic didn’t have to wander far in order to find gainful employment.
The Crimson Tide’s offensive line struggled at times during the 2025 campaign, getting dominated at the line of scrimmage against Indiana in the College Football Playoff.
Prior to his time at Alabama, Kapilovic spent four seasons at Michigan State after stints at Colorado, North Carolina, Southern Miss and Alabama State, among other jobs.
At Auburn, Kapilovic will join an offensive staff led by offensive coordinator Joel Gordon. Tyler Hudanick is Auburn’s offensive line coach, coming with Gordon and head coach Alex Golesh from USF.
Curt Cignetti and Mark Ingram reminisced about Mark’s recruitment to Alabama.
During his four years with the program, Cignetti reeled in commitments from numerous elite prospects. However, perhaps none of them went on to reach greater heights than running back Mark Ingram. During a recent appearance on The Triple Option podcast, Cignetti reflected on his visits to recruit Ingram.
“I remember two of them, I think, and it was snowing like hell,” Cignetti said. “One time you were at a track meet. The other time I think we ate pizza in your living room.”
Ingram couldn’t help but laugh. Evidently, Cignetti’s memory was spot-on. Ingram added his own perspective of the visits.
“You was the first person I saw from Alabama. I’m like, ‘OK, OK, I’m doing something now. I got Coach Cignetti and the Crimson Tide here in Flint, Michigan,” Ingram said. “… I remember that. I remember that. I was flying. Coach Burns liked me then when he saw me running that track meet.”
Last, if this isn’t a sign that something is very, very wrong in college football then nothing is.
The unlimited transfer portal has reshaped what is considered in making a hire, and it’s clearly made sitting head coaches more appealing than they used to be, especially from the Group of 6 level, after the market had moved toward Power 4 assistants with NIL experience. Now, a coach can bring a deluge of players, as we saw at several schools.
Penn State: Matt Campbell + 24 Iowa State transfers, including QB Rocco Becht
Oklahoma State: Eric Morris + 18 North Texas transfers, including QB Drew Mestemaker
Auburn: Alex Golesh + 13 USF transfers, including QB Byrum Brown
Memphis: Charles Huff + 17 Southern Miss transfers
UCLA: Bob Chesney + 10 JMU transfers
Arkansas: Ryan Silverfield + seven Memphis transfers
Virginia Tech also had 12 players follow James Franklin after he was fired by Penn State. This doesn’t even account for recruits who switch their commitment to follow the coach, and it comes on the heels of Cignetti taking many key JMU players with him to Indiana. That math is factoring into the decision-making process of who schools hire.
I don’t know what the solution would be, but half a team’s starters following the head coach is decimating for a program.
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
