Golfweek

The horn has sounded and college golf’s halftime is over. Let us examine the ABCs of the fall season.

A – Alabama: Jay Seawell has built the Crimson Tide into one of the country’s premiere programs and a threat to win the men’s championship.

B – Bubble: With district allocations gone from the men’s and women’s selection process we will now truly have teams on the bubble as the spring season progresses.

C – Charlotte: The 49ers men’s team went 58-0 in the fall, and might be the best team in the country at spots 1-5 in the lineup.

D – Denver: Sammie Chergo’s Pioneers might petition to move the NCAA Divison I Women’s Championship to the fall season. Fall golf has been good to Denver the last two seasons and they enter the spring as the No. 5 team in the country.

E – East Carolina: Head coach Kevin Williams returned to lead the Pirate women and has guided them to a No. 22 ranking.

F – Florida: How will the Gators respond to Sandra Gal’s midseason departure to the LPGA, and how will 15-year-old Hannah Yun fit into the lineup?

G – Georgia: Nobody would have picked the Bulldogs to be the top-ranked team in college golf after losing Chris Kirk and Brendon Todd to graduation a year ago.

H – Harris English: The Georgia freshman has won his past two starts, including the Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational, and has a lot to do with the Bulldogs being on top.

I – Indiana: Mike Mayer has his Hoosiers ranked No. 22 and knocking on the door of a spot in the top 20, something that’s never happened this late in the year for the Hoosiers.

J – James Allenby: The Oregon States senior is ranked No. 14 entering the spring season. Don’t be surprised to see this name on the PGA Tour someday.

K – Kelly, Beans: Kelly returns to coaching after an eight-year absence. She was named the women’s head coach at Coastal Carolina over the holidays. She spent 15 years coaching at Georgia and was named the Golfweek Coach of the Year in 1998.

L – Laura Kueny: The Michigan State sophomore is ranked No. 15 heading into the spring season and might be the best player nobody talks about in women’s college golf.

M – “Magic Number”: The ranking that will get your team into the postseason. On the women’s side 53 or better should get you into regional play and on the men’s side somewhere in the mid 60s – lets go with 65.

N – NCAA: Any predictions on what the next change to college golf might be?

O – Off Campus: Yours truly will make his return to GolfweekTV.com on 3.three.08.

P – Par 5: College golf’s weekly show on GolfweekTV.com.

Q – Quinnipiac: Did you know Quinnipiac is a Division I team and the only team that begins with the letter Q? The Bobcats are No. 276 in the men's Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

R – Rickie Fowler: The Oklahoma State freshman lived up to the hype and quickly became the top player in college golf. He finished in the top four in all three starts and won the Olympia Fields Illini Invitational.

S – Sam Puryear: In his first year as a head coach, he has guided a talented Michigan State team to a No. 12 ranking. The Spartans are the favorite to win the Big Ten – again.

T – Tom: There are 20 “Toms” or “Tommys” or “Tommies” playing college golf and USC’s “Tom” Glissmeyer tops them all with a ranking of 49. You may remember Glissmeyer’s name from when he qualified for the 2003 U.S. Open as a 16-year-old.

U – U-C-L-A: Yours truly has selected the Bruins – men and women – at this point in time to win it all.

V – Vincent, O.D.: In his first year in Durham, Vincent has Duke Blue Devils in the top 10 entering the spring.

W – Wildmania I: Asher Wildman passed out a few awards from the fall season.

X – Xyra Suyetsugu: The Hawaii senior is the Rainbows’ top golfer and is ranked 98th heading into the fall season.

Y – Yang, Glory: She is one of the top freshmen in the country – ranked No. 16 - and will be a big factor if the Bruins are to win it all this year.

Z – Zach Bixler: The Washington senior has been part of that Husky magic we have seen in past postseasons (tossing out last year). Bixler, who tied the NCAA record with his 60 this fall, is ranked 63rd. Can he help Matt Thurmond’s squad turn heads again this May/June?

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