Jalen Buckley’s two long touchdown runs lead Western Michigan to MAC Championship
DETROIT — Jalen Buckley had touchdown runs of 67 and 64 yards, and Western Michigan won the MAC Championship, defeating Miami of Ohio, 23-13, on Saturday. Buckley’s 67-yard touchdown burst on the third play of the game gave the Broncos the early lead. Palmer Domschke added three field goals in...
Texas Tech wins Big 12 title with 34-7 win over BYU
ARLINGTON, Texas — Cameron Dickey scored right after the first of linebacker Ben Roberts’ two interceptions in the second half as No. 5 Texas Tech won the Big 12 championship game and almost certainly locked up a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff with a 34-7 victory over 11th-ranked...
Greensburg Salem alum Brennan Marion named offensive coordinator at Colorado
Brennan Marion grew up watching Deion Sanders play. “Prime Time” always seemed to make the SportsCenter highlights as an NFL cornerback or MLB outfielder. The dual-sport playmaker played for five teams in each league. All of the sudden, Sanders is going to be Marion’s boss. Marion, a Greensburg Salem alum,...
Virtual playoff lock Texas Tech plays CFP hopeful BYU in ‘manifested’ matchup for Big 12 title
ARLINGTON, Texas — BYU coach Kalani Sitake and Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire have shared a few meals together, and they’ve talked about their teams making the Big 12 championship game. “If you want me at my best, Joey understands this, it’s usually when we’re eating,” said Sitake, the former Cougars...
Ohio State, Indiana clash for Big Ten crown in rare title game featuring nation’s top-ranked teams
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has been here before. Twice. His second-ranked Hoosiers, just like first-ranked Ohio State, have not. For the first time in more than a decade and just the third time since conference championship games were standardized, the nation’s top-ranked teams will play for a title....
Surprising Duke meets Virginia in ACC title game amid CFP uncertainty
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s the ACC championship game that was hard to imagine back in September and one that could muddle the College Football Playoff scenario. Duke, by virtue of winning a complicated five-team tiebreaker, will face No. 16 Virginia on Saturday night in Charlotte after both teams overcame steep...
Georgia looks to end Alabama’s rivalry dominance in SEC final
ATLANTA — After No. 3 Georgia closed an 11-1 regular season with its eighth straight win over Georgia Tech last week, coach Kirby Smart was asked about his senior class dominating its top rivals through four seasons. Smart replied with a reminder that Georgia Tech, Florida, Auburn and Tennessee do...
Blue-chip prospects make surprising choices on signing day
The changing landscape of college football means the nation’s premier recruits are no longer signing with the same handful of programs. That became particularly apparent this week when the nation’s top-ranked prospect landed in Vanderbilt of all places. Vanderbilt parlayed the first 10-win season in school history into a recruiting...
ACC emphatically pushes for No. 12 Miami, league champ to get CFP bids
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips is pushing for No. 12 Miami to earn a bid to the College Football Playoff along with the winner of the league championship game between No. 16 Virginia and Duke. That comes with the ACC facing at least the chance of being squeezed out of the...
Moon grad Amalia Simmons’ ‘homecoming’ highlights WPIAL players competing in NCAA volleyball tournament
Amalia Simmons already has her name in the transfer portal. She is winding down her fourth year with the Michigan women’s volleyball team and is looking forward to what her final year of athletic eligibility might bring. But before she doffs the famed maize and blue, the Moon graduate will...
Ole Miss loses coach, but moves up a spot in College Football Playoff rankings; Ohio St. still No. 1
Ole Miss lost a coach but gained in the College Football Rankings released Tuesday, moving up a spot to No. 6 despite the sudden departure of Lane Kiffin to LSU. Undefeated Ohio State and Indiana remained at 1 and 2 in the rankings, while Georgia moved to third and Texas...
Michigan State hires ex-Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald after firing Jonathan Smith
Michigan State has hired former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald to lead its football program. The announcement on Monday comes a day after the Spartans fired Jonathan Smith two seasons into his seven-year contract. “Pat Fitzgerald is widely recognized as an exceptional football coach, whose teams play with extreme toughness and...
The ACC is trying to spark men’s basketball; a better showing in the ACC/SEC Challenge would help
The ACC and SEC are southern-footprint neighbors best known for different long-running strengths: the ACC with rich men’s basketball tradition, the SEC in football. These days, the SEC has veered into the ACC’s lane. As the third ACC/SEC Challenge begins Tuesday, the SEC is coming off a year with a...
Michigan up to No. 3 in AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll
Michigan jumped to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll Monday as rival Michigan State and Iowa State both climbed into the top 10. No. 1 Purdue and No. 2 Arizona remained atop the rankings. The Boilermakers received 40 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel,...
Kentucky fires SEC’s longest-tenured coach in Mark Stoops in his 13th season
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky has fired the Southeastern Conference’s longest-tenured coach, ending Mark Stoops’ tenure in his 13th season with the Wildcats after back-to-back losing records. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart said in a statement Monday morning that he informed Stoops they decided to go in a new direction and started...
LSU lures Lane Kiffin away from virtual playoff lock Ole Miss
Lane Kiffin left his one-loss Ole Miss team to become the coach at LSU on Sunday, taking over a program that has won national titles under three of its previous four coaches while saying he would have stayed to coach the Rebels in the postseason had he been allowed. The...
Michigan State fires Jonathan Smith after less than 2 years
Michigan State has fired football coach Jonathan Smith less than two years after he was hired. The move was made Sunday by athletic director J Batt, who has been on campus since June, according to a person familiar with the situation speaking only on condition of anonymity because the move...
Ohio State earns spot in Big Ten title game, Georgia and Alabama meet again in SEC championship
The final regular season week of college football has set the stage for conference championships. All eyes were on the ACC on Saturday, as a crowded race to the conference title game began to take shape. Virginia and SMU had simple paths and could have clinched a championship game appearance...
Springdale grad Sean Dugan finds positives in up-and-down 1st season as FBS assistant at Eastern Michigan
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Sean Dugan is barely into his 30s, but the Springdale grad is starting to feel old already. While hosting a football recruit at Eastern Michigan recently, Dugan, the Eagles’ alpha linebackers coach, was pointing out a wall in Incarnati Athletic Center that honored former EMU players who...
No. 17 Virginia tops Virginia Tech 27-7 to clinch a spot in ACC title game
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — J’Mari Taylor became the first ACC running back since 2021 to run for a touchdown and throw for a score in the same game as No. 17 Virginia beat Virginia Tech, 27-7, on Saturday night to clinch a spot in the conference championship game. Taylor ran for...
No. 1 Ohio State beats No. 15 Michigan 27-9, sets up game with No. 2 Indiana for B10 title
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Julian Sayin threw three touchdown passes, including a 35-yarder to Jeremiah Smith on a fourth down in the second quarter, and No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 15 Michigan, 27-9, in a dominant performance Saturday. The defending national champion Buckeyes (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten, No. 1...
LSU confirms Kelly was fired ‘without cause’ and is owed his full $54 million buyout
Former LSU coach Brian Kelly received a letter from LSU on Wednesday confirming that he was fired without cause and is owed “liquidated damages as required” under his contract of about $54 million. The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, clears the way for Kelly to withdraw a Nov. 10...
Pitt checks in at No. 22 in latest College Football Playoff rankings; top 5 unchangedVideo
After an impressive ranked upset on the road of Georgia Tech, Pitt checked in at No. 22 in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings. The Panthers (8-3, 6-1 ACC) are ranked No. 24 in the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll. Georgia Tech, after falling 42-28 on Saturday to the then-unranked...
Cincinnati AD apologizes for fans’ derogatory chants aimed at Mormons during BYU’s win over Bearcats
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham issued an apology to BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Monday for derogatory chants by fans at Nippert Stadium during the Bearcats’ game against the Cougars. “The use of offensive or religiously derogatory language by a group of...
UAB player charged with attempted murder in stabbing of 2 teammates, court records show
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A University of Alabama at Birmingham football player is facing charges of attempted murder and assault, accused of stabbing two teammates hours before a UAB home game last weekend, court documents showed Monday. Daniel Mincey, a 20-year-old offensive lineman, is charged with attempted murder and assault, according...
