Jackson Free Press

Mississippi State University star Malik Newman got some good news recently. He is one of more than 70 players to get an invite to the NBA Combine.

Nearly 120 underclassmen threw their hat into the NBA Draft ring. That is a lot of names for a draft that has just two rounds and 60 draft picks.

On top of the 120 underclassmen from college, another nearly 50 international players have also declared. The draft pool will also include every eligible senior.

The players in the NBA Draft Combine will travel to Chicago to take part in various basketball drills, have medical tests done, and meet with scouts, coaches and general managers. In other words, the basketball version of the NFL Combine.

Players will be there from May 11 to May 15. The NBA Draft Lottery is on May 17 during the NBA Playoffs.

A new NCAA rule allows players who declare but don’t hire agents to return to school after the NBA Combine. Players have 10 days after the combine to make a decision if they are going to stay in.

This week will be important for Newman’s draft hopes. If he has a poor showing at the combine, he will more than likely be back at Mississippi State this fall.

On the other hand, a standout showing from Newman could have him jump up the draft boards. NBA draft projections have him all over the place.

Some have the MSU star going late in the first round, and others have him not being drafted at all. That is a very big disparity on where a player will land.

That is why this week will be important for Newman and others who could be on the cusp of being drafted or not. NBA dreams could be squashed for a year with a bad combine.

It is still not the end of the world for players who need to return to school. They can still declare for the draft after next season without losing their eligibility. In fact, they can declare for the draft three times without losing their ability to play in college.

Players can also, at their expense, have one workout per NBA team. That gives them a chance to get another assessment of their skills and learn just how interested teams are in their services.

Players who don’t withdraw their name by May 25 will forfeit their eligibility, even if they don’t hire an agent. Players who stay in the draft and don’t hear their name called will have to catch on with the D-League or overseas.

Newman should get a good idea this week if he should return to MSU.

The U.S. Olympic Trials for Track and Field start this Friday in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field. In each event the top three finishers will make the U.S. squad for Rio. Athletes either professional or collegiate who meet qualifying standards for the U.S. trials will take part in the event.

There are six collegiate athletes from Mississippi universities who will be competing at the trails. Two athletes from Mississippi State University and four athletes from the University of Mississippi will compete.

Those who finish in the top three must meet the Olympic qualifying standards to be placed on the Olympic team. The qualifying standards for the U.S. and Olympics are slightly different.

Two Rebels are in the trials for the men’s 800-meters. Both Craig Engels and Holland Sherrer will take part in the 800-meter and will have to reach the time of 1:46.00 to earn a spot on the Olympic team. Neither has run that fast, with Engels’ best time 1:46.13 and Sherrer’s best time is 1:47.13. Both will have to run for new personal bests just to have a shot at making the final or the Olympic team.

The last Rebel on the track will be Michael Ebb in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase. An Olympic qualifying time in the steeplechase is 8:30.00. Ebb’s best time has been 8:34.13, which he ran at the NCAA Track and Field finals. He will have to break a new personal best to make the team or qualify for the finals in Oregon.

One Rebel who could end up heading to Rio is Raven Saunders in the shot put. She won the women’s NCAA title in this event and broke records with her throw of more than 19 meters. Saunders already has thrown better than the Olympic qualifying mark of 17.60 meters. She has the fifth-best throw in the world outdoors this year with a mark of 19.33 meters.

Both Bulldogs will have a good shot at making the Olympic team.

In the men’s javelin, Curtis Thompson won the men’s NCAA title with a throw of 77.69 meters. A throw of 83.00 meters is the Olympic standard. Thompson’s best throw came earlier this year at 81.03 meters.

He will need a new personal best to make the Olympics, but his best throw ranks 44th in the world this year. Only one American, Cyrus Hostetler, has a better throw at 83.83 meters.

Erica Bougard finished second in the heptathlon at the NCAA finals. She will need 6,200 points to meet the Olympic standard. Her best performance came in earlier this year when she put up 6,170 points, which places her at 18th in the world this year. Two Americans, Kendell Williams and Barbara Nwaba, have put up better numbers with 6,225 and 6,360 points, respectively. Bougard could make the team if she can raise her best point total just slightly.

The track and field trials are July 1-10 and can be seen on NBC, NBC Sports and streamed …

One way to tell that college football is just around the corner is the start of college-football media days. Nearly every conference holds media days where coaches and players answer questions about the upcoming season.

The biggest media days might be the weeklong event that the Southeastern Conference holds at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham-Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala. A massive amount of credentials will be given out as arguably the best football conference holds media days.

SEC media days kickoff Monday, July 11, with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey giving the State of the Conference address and fielding questions. Monday will also see Auburn University, Vanderbilt University and University of Florida coaches and players.

Tuesday begins with Steve Shaw, the SEC coordinator of football officials, as well as coaches and players from the University of Georgia, University of Tennessee and Texas A&M University. The second day will also see Mississippi State University head coach Dan Mullen, linebacker Richie Brown, wide receiver Fred Ross and defensive end A.J. Jefferson.

Day three features coaches and players from the University of Arkansas, University of Kentucky and University of Missouri. Wednesday will see the defending national champion, University of Alabama, take the podium.

SEC media days end on Thursday, July 14, as coaches and players from Louisiana State University and the University of South Carolina speak to the throng of sports reporters. The final day will also feature University of Mississippi head coach Hugh Freeze, quarterback Chad Kelly, tight end Evan Engram and defensive tackle D.J. Jones.

The SEC Network will televise all four days of the event Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., from Wednesday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from Thursday 9 a.m. to noon.

While the SEC stretches out their event through four days, the SWAC will hold a one-day event. The day after the SEC clears out of Alabama, the SWAC will meet at the Marriott in Birmingham.

In addition to players and coaches, SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at NRG Park Nina Jackson, Coordinator of Football Officials Harold Mitchell, Executive Director of Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl John Grant and other guests will be in attendance and available to the media.

New Jackson State University head coach Tony Hughes will be on hand with quarterback LaMontiez Ivy and defensive end Javancy Jones. Alcorn State University will bring new head coach Fred McNair along with quarterback Lenorris Footman and linebacker Michael Hurns.

Mississippi Valley State University returns coach Rick Comegy, who will be in attendance with wide receiver Booker Chambers and offensive lineman Alvin Soloman. Coaches. Players from the other SWAC teams will be in attendance, as well.

SWAC media day begins at 10 a.m. and will be streamed on the SWAC Digital Network. The conference’s official website, SWAC.org, will carry video and audio of the media day.

College-basketball fans are in for a treat tonight, Feb. 13, as the No. 1-ranked women’s team, the University of Connecticut, hosts the No. 6-ranked University of South Carolina. This game is a possible Final Four preview with March just around the corner.

The South Carolina Gamecocks enters the matchup with a 21-2 overall record and a 9-1 record on the road, and the Huskies enter with a 24-0 overall record and 11-0 record at home, with a 60- home-game winning streak.

One more thing: UConn is also on a 99-game winning streak overall. A victory against the Gamecocks would bring the Huskies to their 100th win in a row.

UConn’s 99 consecutive wins surpassed the school’s previous record of 90 wins from 2008 to 2010. The Huskies own two of the top-three winning streaks in Division I history, with the University of California, Los Angeles men’s team in third place with 88 wins from 1971 to 1974.

Winning 100 games is hard at any level, and every team that the Huskies face gives them its best shot. UConn blows out most of the teams it plays, but those teams come in looking to make history by winning. UConn hasn’t lost a game since a double-overtime to Stanford University on Nov. 17, 2014.

Even Mississippi State University is a part of the streak. UConn defeated MSU 98-38 in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The victory sparked more commentary on whether the Huskies are bad for women’s college basketball.

If UConn is able to win tonight, the 100th victory will likely result in the same kind of debate. UConn wins year in and year out, but at the very least, the Huskies bring attention to the women’s game. South Carolina beating the Huskies would be a huge story. It would make the women’s NCAA Tournament more interesting, as some would tune in to see if another team could knock off the Huskies.

If the Gamecocks win, it will make for huge ratings for a Final Four or National Championship Game, but if UConn wins, it isn’t bad for women’s college basketball. UCLA didn’t ruin the men’s game with its winning streak in the ’70s, and UConn isn’t destroying the women’s game now.

The Huskies are making every team that wants to win a title pick up its game. Teams practice harder, run drills longer, shoot more shots in practice, and work more on dribbling, free throws and every part of their game. Opposing coaches and players known they will make history by being the team that beats the Huskies.

But history is getting made one way or another tonight. Either South Carolina breaks UConn’s winning streak, or the Huskies win for the 100th time in a row. As viewers, we all win.

Tune in to ESPN2 at 8 p.m.

Mississippi has six Division I men’s basketball teams, but only one made a postseason tournament. The University of Mississippi is heading to the National Invitation Tournament as a fifth seed.

None of the men’s teams reached the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament after the field of 68 teams were revealed on Sunday, March 12. That left the NIT, which the field of which was revealed on Sunday night.

The Rebels reached the NIT after a 20-13 season and reaching the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. This is the ninth time UM has won 20 games under current head coach Andy Kennedy.

In the NIT, the higher seed normally hosts the games, but the lower seed will host if the higher seed can’t host for a number of reasons.

No. 4 Monmouth University from West Long Branch, N.J., will host the Rebels on Tuesday, March 14, at 6 p.m. ESPN3 will broadcast the game.

The Hawks are 27-7 overall and are the regular-season champions of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Monmouth lost to Siena in the semifinals of the MAAC Tournament, but it being a regular-season conference champion guaranteed the team a spot in the 81st NIT.

If the Rebels get past the Hawks, they will play the winner of the Syracuse University and University of North Carolina-Greensboro game. Syracuse is the No. 1 seed in the bracket, and UNC-Greensboro is the No. 8 seed. The teams could play the second-round game on either Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

Syracuse will host any game it plays during until the semifinals at Madison Square Garden. If Syracuse loses, the Rebels have a chance to host a game if they keep winning in the tournament.

In the other half of the bracket, No. 6 seed Georgia Institute of Technology will host number No. 3 the University of Indiana. Normally Indiana would host this game, but the school’s basketball complex began undergoing renovations after the regular season ended.

The winner of the Georgia Tech-Indiana game will face the winner of the No. 2-seed University of Georgia against No. 7-seed Belmont University game. If UM reaches the quarterfinals, one of the four teams in this half of the bracket will be waiting in the next round.

This is the Rebels’ 12th overall NIT appearance and sixth appearance under Kennedy. Overall UM is 13-11 all-time in the NIT and 7-5 in the tournament, with Kennedy leading the team. The Rebels have reached the final four of the tournament twice in 2008 and 2010, both times under Kennedy’s guidance.

Correction: An earlier version of this post had the Rebels facing the lower half of the bracket in New York the semifinals but it should have stated the lower half of the bracket will be hosted by the highest seed remaining in the quarterfinals. Sorry for this error, I read the bracket incorrectly.

Only one men’s basketball team from Mississippi reached the postseason between the NCAA Tournament and the National Invitation Tournament: the University of Mississippi with its bid to the NIT.

Three women’s basketball teams from Mississippi are heading to the postseason. Mississippi State University, which earned a No. 2 seed in the Oklahoma City Region in the Women’s NCAA Tournament, leads them.

The team is in the midst of the best record in school history at 29-4 and broke the school record for most wins for the third straight year. The Bulldogs matched the school record for best finish in the SEC, second place, as they won a school-record 13 conference games.

The best season in school history gives MSU the right to host the first- and second-round games. If the Bulldogs advance to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, teams will play those games in Oklahoma City, and the Final Four will be in Dallas.

In the first round, MSU faces No. 15 seed, 22-10-record Troy University, which won the Sun Belt Tournament to get in the field of 64. If the Bulldogs win, they will face the winner of the game between No. 7 seed DePaul University (26-7), the regular season champion out of the Big East, and No. 10 seed University of Northern Iowa (24-11).

DePaul faces Northern Iowa at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 17, with MSU battling Troy at 1:30 p.m. Both first-round games will be on ESPN2. The winners of round one will play on Sunday, March 19, with the time and viewing platform to be announced.

Both the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi accepted at-large bids to the 64-team Women’s NIT. Both the Golden Eagles and the Rebels will host their first-round games.

USM hosts the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Wednesday, March 15, with tipoff at 6 p.m. The Golden Eagles will face the winner of the University of Alabama versus Mercer University game in the second round.

This is the Golden Eagles’ seventh trip to the WNIT in program history. The last appearance for USM happened after the 2014-2015 season.

The Rebels will host Grambling State University on Thursday, March 16, with a scheduled start of 6 p.m. UM will face the winner of the Tulane University versus the University of Texas at Arlington game.

This will be the eighth time UM earned a bid to the WNIT. The last time the Rebels were in this tournament was after the 2014-2015 season.

Second-round games of the WNIT are March 18 to March 21. Third-round games are from March 22 to March 24.

A field of 10 horses will try to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, the 142nd Preakness Stakes, on Saturday, May 20. Five horses, including winner Always Dreaming, are in the field after running in the Kentucky Derby.

Always Dreaming is the morning-line favorite and will break from the No. 4 post with 4-5 odds. There is some good luck breaking from the No. 4 post, as well. Thirteen winners have come from that spot, with 2007 winner Curlin being the most recent.

Second choice Classic Empire, who is at 3-1 odds, will break in the No. 5 post. Classic Empire finished fourth in the derby two weeks ago after he got caught up in the traffic of the 20-horse race.

Lookin At Lee, who finished second two weeks ago, will be in the No. 9 post and is the third choice at 10-1 odds. In the derby, Lookin At Lee was at 33-1 odds but ran through the field at the end of the race.

Cloud Computing didn’t race in the derby and will break from the No. 2 post at 12-1 odds. Horses that didn’t run the Kentucky Derby are known as “new shooters” in the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

Gunnevera in the No. 6 post and Conquest Mo Money in the No. 10 post are both at 15-1 odds. Gunnevera finished seventh in the derby, but Conquest Mo Money is a new shooter whose owners paid $150,000 supplemental to be in the Preakness and Belmont.

Hence finished in 11th place at the derby and will break from the No. 3 post at 20-1 odds. It was a poor showing overall for Hence two weeks ago, as he never really got going in the race.

A trio of new shooters round out the field at 30-1 shots to win at the Preakness. Multiplier will break from the No. 1 post, Term of the Art will be in the No. 7 post, and Senior Investment will be in the No. 8 post.

The Preakness Stakes at one and three-16ths miles is the shortest of the three Triple Crown races. The Kentucky Derby is one and a quarter miles, and the Belmont Stakes is the longest at a mile and half.

Rain caused the derby to have a sloppy track, but it did little to slow down Always Dreaming. Weather isn’t expected to be a problem at the Preakness on Saturday, which forecasts say will be cloudy and 70 degrees.

NBC Sports Network begins coverage at 1:30 p.m., and NBC picks up the coverage at 4 p.m. The Preakness Stakes itself is scheduled to run at 5:45 p.m., but expect it to take longer with the pre-race festivities.

You know college football is right around the corner when the teams get together to face the media.

The SEC has a week of media days because they have to fill up hours on their own network, and C-USA normally does two to three days. On the other hand, the SWAC crams in the whole conference in one day.

All 10 teams will gather at the Birmingham-Marriott Hotel in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday, July 14. Each coach in the SWAC will bring two players with him to talk to the media. SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp, Coordinator of Football Officials Harold Mitchell Sr. and others will be available to the media upon request.

The 2017 Media Day will be available for fans to stream on the official SWAC website, swac.org, with streams. The order of the coaches and athletes hasn’t been released yet.

Jackson State University head coach Tony Hughes begins his second season at the helm of the Tigers, and senior defensive lineman Keontre Anderson and senior linebacker Andre Lloyd will join him. JSU finished 2016 with a 3-8 overall record in 2016.

Alcorn State University looks to win its fourth-straight SWAC East title and second under head coach Fred McNair, who looks to build on last year’s 5-6 overall record. Senior quarterback Lenorris Footman and senior defensive end Michael Brooks Jr. will join McNair.

Rick Comegy enters his third season at Mississippi Valley State and is still trying to turn around a struggling program that has won just three conference games in three years. Comegy will try to build on last year’s 1-10 record. He will bring senior defensive back Everett Nicholas and senior offensive lineman Alvin Solomon with him to media days.

One other player heading to media days with ties to our state is Grambling State University quarterback Devante Kincade, who also played football at the University of Mississippi. Last season, Kincade led GSU to a victory in the SWAC Football Championship Game and Celebration Bowl.

The 2017 SEC Football Media Days is scheduled from Monday, July 10, to Thursday, July 13. If the tentative schedule doesn’t change, Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen will meet the media on Tuesday, July 11, and UM head coach Hugh Freeze will meet them on July 13. No student-athletes have been named yet for media days.

Conference USA has yet to set its media days dates. Normally, the conference holds its media days toward the end of July. and the last few have been around July 21-23.

This is worth repeating after Tampa Bay proved me wrong on Thursday and beat the Minnesota Vikings. Parity is in full effect in the NFL this season.... There is going to be a team that started slowly and makes the NFL Playoffs. My personal pick is the New Orleans Saints and that pick looks even better if the Saints win against the Broncos on Sunday night.

Records, news, trades, playoffs and retirements have fueled the sports world for nearly the last 24 hours. It seems that if you look away for a single second, or go to bed before midnight like I did last night, you missed something happening in sports.

Things got started in the NHL as the playoffs got underway last night with three games. Tampa Bay outlasted Detroit 3-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Pittsburgh used a hat trick from Patric Hornqvist to beat the New York Rangers 5-2. Finally, the St. Louis Blues needed overtime to get past the Chicago Blackhawks in their 1-0 win.

The NHL Playoffs were nice, but the final night of the NBA regular season had a legend in his final game and a chase for a record. In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant played in his final game at home as a Laker. In Oakland, the Golden State Warriors went for win 73 to break the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins in the regular season.

In his final game, Kobe didn’t disappoint as he put on a show for the home fans. The Laker great went for 60 points in his final game.

Bryant became the oldest player to score 50 or more points in an NBA game. There is one catch to Kobe’s big night, though: It took him 50 shots to get 60 points.

He had 22 made shots out of 50 attempts, six made three-point shots off of 21 attempts and 10 of 12 free throws made on the night. Just two other Lakers attempted double-digit shots.

Sure, Kobe got 50, but he got there pretty ugly. But the only thing people will remember is that Bryant got 60 in his final game—not the way he got the points.

On a side note, the Staples Center, where the Lakers play their home games, along with the Clippers, sold $1.2 million worth of merchandise in one day. That breaks the record for most merchandise sold in a single day in any arena in the world. The previous record belonged to O2 Arena in London when Led Zeppelin sold $1 million worth of merchandise in their first full-length concert in 30 years.

While Kobe remembered that there wasn’t a shot he didn’t like in his NBA career, the Warriors were trying get their 73 wins. Golden State cruised to a 20-point lead at halftime over the Memphis Grizzlies, and Stephen Curry had hit 399 three-point shots at that point in the season.

Curry wasted no time getting his 400th three-point shot of the season shortly after halftime. He finished the regular season with an NBA record 402 three-point shots.

The Warriors' star also became the third player in NBA history to shoot more than 90 percent from the free throw line, 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from the three-point range. The only other …

Three teams from our state made regionals in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Two of those teams, Mississippi State University and University of Mississippi, hosted regionals, and the University of Southern Mississippi traveled to the Tallahassee Regional.

By early Sunday afternoon, just one team was left standing. MSU lives to play this weekend while USM and UM saw their seasons end. In case you missed it, here is a quick recap of Mississippi’s regional action.

The Rebels might have had the two toughest losses in regional play last weekend. In its first game against the University of Utah, UM held a 5-2 lead after five innings.

At the top of the sixth inning, Utah scored three runs to tie the game at 5-5 after six full innings played. The score stayed tied as the game headed into extra innings.

Utah added a run at the top of the 10th inning to take a 6-5 lead. The Rebels got a base runner in their half of the 10th but failed to bring the runner home, giving Utah the 6-5 win.

That defeat sent UM to the losers’ bracket of the Oxford Regional. The Rebels would have needed a win against Tulane University to stay alive.

Things looked good for the Rebels against the Green Wave as they were up 5-4 heading into the top of ninth inning. All UM had to do was get three outs to keep its season going.

The Rebels got the first batter in the ninth to grounded out for the first out of the inning. Tulane earned a walk with its next batter to put the tying run on base.

The next Green Wave batter hit a two-run home run to left field, giving Tulane a 6-5 lead after the Rebels got two more outs. UM came to bat in the bottom of the ninth but could only manage one base runner before a fielder’s choice ended the game.

The loss ended the season for the Rebels. Boston College ended up winning the regional and will meet the University of Miami from Florida in the Super Regional.

Things started off well for Southern Miss in the Tallahassee Regional. The Golden Eagles began play against the University of South Alabama.

USM jumped to a 3-0 lead before exploding for 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 14-0 lead over the Jaguars. South Alabama scored two runs in the top of ninth, but the Golden Eagles won 14-2.

That set up a match against Florida State University in the winner's bracket. USM scored a 2-0 lead in the top of first inning, but FSU struck back with three runs in the bottom of the second inning.

The Seminoles tacked on four more runs to beat the Golden Eagles 7-2 and sent them to the loser’s bracket. USM would have needed to defeat South Alabama again to earn the right …

Normally at 1-3 heading into their bye week, you would think the New Orleans Saints’ season would be over. Since the playoff format changed in 1990, only 14 percent of 1-3 teams have made the playoffs. That number works out to 183 teams. Last season, the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs made the playoffs after a 1-3 start.

Remember, I said normally. This season, 13 teams in the league currently have a 1-3 record. That is nearly half the league, and if you add teams that are 2-2, that number balloons to 18 teams.

Currently only 14 have a winning record, and only three are still undefeated. Except for the 3-1 Atlanta Falcons, every team in the NFC South has a 1-3 record like the Saints.

New Orleans still has seven 1-3 teams left on the schedule, including the both, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice. The Saints also play the .500 Kansas City Chiefs for eight games against teams .500 or under at this point in the season.

That leaves four teams with a winning record on the schedule. Those teams are the undefeated Denver Broncos and three teams at 3-1 in the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons.

If the Saints beat all the teams at .500 or below left on their schedule, they would finish 9-7 on the season. Right now in the NFC, nine teams that have a .500 record are worse.

Unless the 3-1 Falcons run away with the NFC South, chances are, the Saints are still alive in their division. The Carolina Panthers, last year’s Super Bowl loser who are also at 1-3, could come back, as well, to take the NFC South.

I know what you're thinking: How can the Saints still have any playoff chance with their defense? It’s true that New Orleans has the 32nd ranked defense with 32.5 points per game.

But the rest of the NFC South isn’t much better. Tampa Bay is 31st with 32 points per game, Atlanta is 29th with 31 points per game, and Carolina is 28th with 29.5 points per game.

The Saints have the fourth-ranked offense with 28.5 points per game. Atlanta has the best offense in the league at 38 points per game, Carolina is sixth with 27.3 points per game, and Tampa Bay is 25th with 19.3 points per game.

Let’s look at this as a glass-half-full situation. New Orleans has been this bad on defense with an extreme number of injuries. The Saints, in theory, should get better on defense as the season goes along, and they begin to see defensive player return.

There is hope for the defense if it can get players back and play like it did in the second half against the Chargers. New Orleans outscored San Diego 21-10 in the second half and forced timely turnovers.

Right now, New Orleans …

A list of the full 330 participants for the underwear olympics, also known as the 2017 NFL Combine, is official. The Southeastern Conference is sending the most players of any FBS conference with 66 players receiving an invite.

The ACC is second with 60 players receiving an invite. Third is the Big Ten with 51, and the Pac 12 is fourth with 46. Power Five conference the Big 12 will send just 19 players, and Group of Five conference the American Athletic Conference will send 18.

Right now, the Big 12, which didn’t want to expand, is the weakest Power Five conference and in danger of becoming the next Big East in the power group. Conference USA, Mountain West and Mid-American Conference will send 11 players each. The Sun Belt and FBS independent schools are sending five players each.

The University of Michigan leads all schools with 14 players heading to the combine. Louisiana State University and the University of Alabama are tied for second with 10 players each. LSU and Alabama are sending more players than the Big 12 conference as a whole

Texas A&M University, Clemson University and the University of Miami, Florida are third, with nine players heading to the event. The University of Mississippi is sending four players, and Mississippi State University is sending two.

The Rebels who are heading to the combine are wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo, defensive end Fadol Brown, tight end Evan Engram and defensive tackle D.J. Jones. MSU players are wide receiver Fred Ross and offensive tackle Justin Senior.

Receiving an invite to the combine is extremely helpful for players who hope to be drafted. Still, it doesn’t mean a player will be drafted. One hundred and seventeen players who participated in last year’s combine went undrafted.

While six players from two Mississippi universities are heading to the combine, several players didn’t get an invite. Some big names got left off the list.

Two quarterbacks ended up getting snubbed for the combine: Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly and the University of Southern Mississippi quarterback Nick Mullens.

Kelly injured his ACL and wouldn’t be able to workout, but teams could have interviewed him. He has some legal baggage from his past that might have been a factor him not going to the event.

Mullens didn’t have the same success his senior season that he did as a junior. A new coach and injuries kept him from being his best this season, but he didn’t have a terrible year.

Wide receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow won’t be joining his UM teammates at the Combine. He plead guilty to an assault charge in 2014 while he was a member of the University of Washington, which will keep him from going this year.

USM offensive lineman Cameron Tom ended his career as one of the best lineman in Conference USA but got snubbed. In fact, no draft-eligible players from the Golden …

Defensive backs were on display for the final day of on-the-field workouts at the 2017 NFL Combine. The secondary group is the largest at this combine, as the passing game has become a bigger part of the NFL.

When discussing defensive backs, it is good to know terms like tight hips, good feet, or good movement. Tight hips means a player struggles in turns and quickly changing directions, good feet are quick, up and down with no wasted steps, and good movement is the opposite of tight hips as a player is good or great at making change of directions or quick turns.

The defensive backs were split into two groups, with safeties and cornerbacks working out together in both. The two are vastly different positions, so when evaluating a player, it helps to know if they will be a corner or a safety.

Out of the group-one cornerbacks, Shaquill Griffin from the University of Central Florida, is going to move up draft boards with his 4.38-second run in the 40-yard dash. He did well during the on-the-field drills, showing good movement and speed.

Adoree’ Jackson out of the University of Southern California is a converted wide receiver, and it showed with his 4.42-second 40-yard dash and his ball-catching skills. He will be an instant help in one team’s return game.

Another converted wide receiver is Brian Allen from the University of Utah. He ran the 40-yard dash in a solid 4.48 seconds and showed good feet and ball skills. He will also help in the return game for whichever team drafts him.

Chidobe Awuzie out of the University of Colorado ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash, and Sidney Jones from the University of Washington ran it in 4.47 seconds, but both showed some tight hips, when making turns or changing directions. Awuzie and Jones showed some good ball skills and moved well overall.

Marlon Humphrey out of the University of Alabama ran a 4.41-second 40-yard dash. He moved well and has good DNA since his father, Bobby Humphrey, played in the NFL at running back.

A group-one safety that stood out right from the get-go was Josh Jones from North Carolina State University who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds. That is an outstanding time for a safety, and he showed good movement and ball skills.

Budda Baker out of Washington and Delano Hill out of the University of Michigan are the top safeties in this draft class, with 4.46-second and 4.48-second runs, respectively. Both moved well and showed good footwork, but they struggled with catching the ball at times.

Jamal Adams out of Louisiana State University ran a slower 40-yard dash than other top safeties at 4.56 seconds, but he has a good family tree, with his father, George Adams, being a former NFL running back. He could still run better on his Pro Day. Adams looked faster than his 40-yard time during the on-the-field drills.

A group-two …

When working on this week's Super Bowl preview and prediction, I came across more information than I could fit in a single article for the paper. So, I figured with the big game just a couple of days away, why not share some of the rest of the information I found that I couldn't use in print.

Between the print article and the paper, you should be able to have plenty of stats and information to spread around at any Super Bowl Party you are attending. If you missed the print article here is the link.

Also, if you missed my rant this week, here is a link to it as well.

If anyone is hoping for the weather to warm up on Super Bowl Sunday, it is Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. In the playoffs when the temperature is under 40 degrees, Manning is 0-3 (to be fair as well all three of those games were on the road).

The coldest non-domed Super Bowl was at Super Bowl VI when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins 24-3. The game was played in New Orleans at Tulane Stadium and the high was 43 and the low was 24.

Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks quarterback, has only played in one game under 40 degrees. That was week 15 of this season against the New York Giants, in what will be stadium the game will be played in this Sunday. The Seahawks won that game 23-0.

Manning and Wilson will set a Super Bowl record when the game kicks off. The two quarterbacks will set the record for biggest age difference between two quarterbacks. There is a 12 year and 250 days difference in age between the two starting single callers.

At 25, Wilson would join both Joe Montana and Joe Namath also won the big game at the age of 25. The Seahawks quarterback also has the most wins at 27 (including playoffs) for a second year quarterback starting the Super Bowl.

Manning has the Super Bowl experience, which is good but Wilson has some recent Super Bowl numbers on his side. Quarterbacks with previous Super Bowl experience have been in 19 Super Bowls and those quarterbacks have a 10-9 record.

Wilson has the recent history on his side. The quarterbacks with experience haven't fared so well as the quarterbacks without experience have won the last three straight (Eli Manning over Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers over Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees over Manning).

Both these teams meet in the preseason this year. That is important if anyone tells you the preseason meeting doesn't matter.

This will be the seventh time, since 1994, teams who faced off in the preseason play in the Super Bowl. The team that won the meaningless game went on to win five of the six previous Super Bowls.

In the preseason Seattle beat Denver 40-10.

These two teams have meet 52 times in regular …

News this weekend was like reliving 1996 again. That summer Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf caught the eye of the nation and media when people found out that he would stay in the locker room or stretch on the sideline during the national anthem.

Abdul-Rauf, whose birth name is Chris Jackson, converted to Islam in 1991. He changed his name in 1993. He was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 1990 and could light up the scoreboard in the NBA on any given night.

Born in Gulfport, Miss., Abdul-Rauf became one of the most highly recruited basketball players in the history of the state. When he was known as Chris Jackson, Abdul-Rauf was a standout player at Gulfport High School and Louisiana State University.

Abdul-Rauf was a smooth guard in high school and college and could score with the best in the country. He was a two-time Mr. Basketball in Mississippi and played in the McDonald’s All-American game.

He was also one of the best free-throw shooters in NBA history. Maybe, if not for the national-anthem firestorm, he could have earned the best free-throw percentage in league history.

Abdul-Rauf called the American flag “a symbol of oppression, of tyranny” when asked why he didn’t join his teammates during the national anthem. Fans, media, fellow players and more were divided on how to respond to him.

In June 1996, Abdul-Rauf was traded to Sacramento Kings, where he spent the next two years as mainly a reserve. He played overseas before resurfacing from 2000 to 2001 to play with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Abdul-Rauf didn’t play another minute in the NBA after his single season with the Grizzlies. He finished his career playing overseas in several countries.

Injuries played a part in Abdul-Rauf’s fall from the NBA, but the national anthem controversy without a doubt played a part in his exit from the league.

Fast-forward 20 years, and we are nearly at the same moment once again.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the focus of a ton of media and social media attention this weekend for not standing for the national anthem.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. "To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

The quarterback is entering his sixth year in the league, and there is a chance that his decision could cause him to not make the final roster. There are a few reasons he could make the team, but this would be his final year.

Just a couple of seasons ago, Kaepernick looked like he was going to be one of the