College category, Page 42
Tennessee, Ohio State tied at No. 2 in college football poll
Tennessee moved into a tie with Ohio State for No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday to set up a 1 vs. 2 matchup next week with top-ranked Georgia. Georgia-Tennessee will be the 25th regular-season game matching the top two teams in the AP poll, and the...
Friday Football Footnotes: Tom Brady passes Ben Roethlisberger for dubious record; the drop in NFL scoringVideo
In this week’s “Friday Football Footnotes,” Tom Brady passes former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for a dubious record. We discuss the fallout from Ja’Marr Chase’s injury, and we examine the lack of scoring in the league this year. Plus, we preview a tough weekend for local college teams. Brady ‘beats’...
Pitt’s Abanikanda, UNC’s Maye headline group of versatile ACC playmakers
Being listed at one skill position hasn’t stopped many Atlantic Coast Conference players from contributing elsewhere on offense. In fact, several are thriving because of their versatility. Pittsburgh running back Israel Abanikanda leads the nation in all-purpose yardage thanks to a string of eye-popping performances. North Carolina freshman quarterback Drake...
ACC preview: UNC, Duke stand out even with coaching turnover
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey was out recruiting during the Peach Jam summer tournament when someone cornered him with a question. “They said, ‘Hey Coach, do you think the two new guys at Duke and Carolina are going to do well?’” Brey recalled. “I said, ‘I hope not.’ But I...
Hoosiers picked as team to beat in Big Ten season of change
It’s a season of change in the Big Ten. Indiana is the preseason choice to win the championship after finishing ninth last season. Wisconsin is picked ninth after sharing the title with Illinois. Purdue will enter the season outside the Associated Press Top 25 after appearing in six of the...
South Carolina women unanimous No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25
Dawn Staley and South Carolina picked up right where they left off: No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll. The defending national champion Gamecocks were the unanimous choice of the 30-member national media panel in the preseason poll released Tuesday. It’s the third consecutive season South...
AP Top 25: UGA back at No. 1, Alabama slips to 3 behind OSU
Georgia took back the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press college football poll from Alabama on Sunday after being bumped out last week by the Crimson Tide, who slid to No. 3. The Bulldogs received 32 first-place votes and 1,535 points in the Top 25, presented by Regions Bank,...
After surge in first-half firings, can seasons be salvaged?
The move was shocking for its timing and memorable for its location. Lane Kiffin was fired by Southern California on Sept. 29, 2013, just five games into the season, on the airport tarmac after the team plane returned home from Arizona State. While not unprecedented, such an early coaching change...
SEC could boast best QB crop in conference history
For four quarters, Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker and Florida counterpart Anthony Richardson went back and forth before more than 100,000 fans packed inside Neyland Stadium in one of the most entertaining games of the season. It was a game of one-upmanship: Hooker threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns without...
How App State became story of college football — again, after another improbable win
Three games into the 2016 season, Appalachian State’s third after transitioning into the FBS, the Mountaineers hosted what was then considered to be the most significant football game in their history. Anticipation built for weeks. A capacity crowd of nearly 35,000, then a school record, filled Kidd Brewer Stadium in...
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney gets raise, extended through 2031
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has a reworked contract that will pay him $115 million over 10 seasons through 2031. Swinney’s enhanced contract follows megadeals given to Alabama’s Nick Saban, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Ohio State’s Ryan Day earlier this season. Swinney’s average yearly salary of $11.5 million...
College Football Playoff to expand to 12 teams by 2026 season
After 14 1/2 months of haggling over details and questioning motivations, a plan to expand the College Football Playoff from four teams to 12 finally was approved Friday to set the stage for a multibillion-dollar tournament as soon as the 2024 season. What still needs to be determined is just...
Veteran QBs have ACC set for season of big offensive totals
Devin Leary hasn’t forgotten lessons that came as a first-year starting quarterback struggling just to consistently complete passes, much less avoid turnovers and move North Carolina State’s offense. “I think one of the biggest things is pretty obvious,” the fifth-year QB said. “It’s hard to win games.” Things look much...
O’Connell’s steady rise keeps Purdue in Big Ten title hunt
Aidan O’Connell arrived at Purdue in 2017 as a hopeful, exuberant teenager. He set out to prove a walk-on could win the starting job at the “Cradle of Quarterbacks” and lead the Boilermakers to postseason success. O’Connell routinely stayed after practice for extra snaps, gladly fine-tuned his skills with the...
NIL deals put just a few bucks in most athletes’ pockets
Texas offensive lineman Christian Jones remembers walking up to Bijan Robinson not long ago and asking for a lift, figuring it was least the All-American running back could do for one of the big guys doing all the blocking. “He said there’s a height limit,” Jones said with a smile....
New, improved quarterbacks give some Big Ten teams new look
Northwestern quarterback Ryan Hilinski looked like a different player in the season opener. Illinois quarterback Tommy DeVito and Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson actually did become the new faces of their programs. Connor Bazelak could join the club Friday in Indiana’s opener. In a conference where upperclassmen and experienced starters are...
Big Ten clash as college football resumes international play
College football has been around the world since Ireland first hosted a game more than 30 years ago, with locales as disparate as Tokyo and Toronto staging games. Australians loved the touchdowns and halftime theatrics, not to mention the hot dogs and beer, the latter of which ran out during...
AP sources: ESPN out of Big Ten TV rights negotiations
As the Big Ten prepares to become a 16-team, coast-to-coast superconference with the additions of USC and UCLA in 2024, it is ending a 40-year relationship with ESPN and moving toward partnerships with two new networks. Two people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the...
Ex-Pitt receiver Jordan Addison says move to USC was only about football
LOS ANGELES — Former Pitt star Jordan Addison said he didn’t know Southern Cal was the school for him until the moment he set foot on campus for his recruiting visit shortly after entering the transfer portal in May. And the Biletnikoff Award-winning receiver said anybody who thinks his decision...
As ACC looks to address revenue gap, competing worldviews emerge on future of college sports
In the span of about a week, in cities separated by about 600 miles, two of the most powerful leaders in college athletics offered contrasting worldviews in this summer of massive change and uncertainty. One of them espoused the supposed values of the traditional collegiate sports model; the other embraced...
Pac-12’s Kliavkoff jabs Big 12, touts future after USC, UCLA departures
LOS ANGELES — Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff said his conference is far from finished, despite the defections of Southern California and UCLA. Kliavkoff confirmed the Pac-12 is actively exploring expansion and lobbed several feisty jabs at the Big 12 during an eventful opening speech at his conference’s football media day...
Pittsburgh street named after W.Va., Brashear football standout Major HarrisVideo
The irony of having a Pittsburgh street named after a West Virginia Mountaineer football star was not lost on those who showed up for a special ceremony Friday in the Hill District. But everyone seemed to be in agreement that the honor bestowed on former Brashear High School quarterback Major...
Big 12 changes coming after 1 last season with 10 schoolsVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — On the surface at Big 12 football media days, nothing really appeared much different. The 10 mannequins lining the main stage donned the uniforms of the same schools that have made up the conference for a decade. As the annual two-day kickoff event wound up Thursday, workers...
Big 12 ponders conference realignment from position of strength with new commissioner
WICHITA, Kan. — At about this time last year, the Pac-12 and its new commissioner made a decision that transformed the Big 12 from prey to hunter in the world of conference realignment. When George Kliavkoff announced that his league had no plans to add schools looking for a life...
ACC helped kickstart the conference expansion race which now threatens its survival
On the other end of the phone, Mike Tranghese sighed quietly. It was a sound that conveyed a sense of empathy, if not resignation. The emotions returned, almost 20 years later. Back then, as the commissioner of the original Big East Conference, Tranghese watched with a sense of helplessness while...
