College category, Page 25
No. 18 Clemson kicks last second FG to beat No. 6 SMU for ACC title, berth in the CFP
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cade Klubnik threw for 262 yards and four touchdowns, Nolan Hauser kicked a 56-yard field goal as time expired and No. 18 Clemson knocked off No. 6 SMU, 34-31, on Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff...
No. 5 Georgia pulls off another overtime stunner, beating No. 2 Texas 22-19 for SEC titleVideo
ATLANTA — The Georgia Bulldogs were struggling to get anything going against Texas, and there was little reason to be hopeful of a turnaround with their quarterback crumpled on the turf. Enter a guy who had barely played in his college career. Little-used backup Gunner Stockton came off the bench...
Ohio dominates Miami (Ohio) to win its first MAC Championship game 38-3Video
DETROIT — Parker Navarro ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more, and Ohio beat Miami (Ohio), 38-3, in the Mid-American Conference championship game played at Ford Field on Saturday. Anthony Tyus rushed for 151 yards and a score on 27 carries to help the Bobcats (10-3) win their...
No. 16 Iowa State falls short in Big 12 title game again, this time with CFP at stakeVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — Cam Skattebo ran for 170 yards and two scores while adding a touchdown catch as 12th-ranked Big 12 newcomer Arizona State beat No. 16 Iowa State, 45-19, in the conference championship game Saturday for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Sun Devils (11-2, No....
Heisman hopeful RB Ashton Jeanty confirms he’s leaving Boise State after this seasonVideo
BOISE, Idaho — Boise State running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Ashton Jeanty confirmed Thursday that this will be his last season at the university. The nation’s leading rusher with 2,288 yards on 312 carries along with 28 total touchdowns, has long been expected to enter the NFL Draft after...
Bill Belichick interviews for UNC job, AP sources say
North Carolina interviewed former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick for its head coaching position, two people with knowledge of the situation said Thursday. Both people spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school isn’t commenting publicly on its search. Belichick’s...
No. 8 SMU looks to complete unbeaten run through ACC in conference title game vs. No. 18 ClemsonVideo
SMU had no problems handling the jump to the ACC. Now the No. 8 Mustangs (11-1, 8-0, No. 8 CFP) look to complete an unbeaten run through the ACC in their inaugural season when they face perennial conference power Clemson on Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte....
Tino Sunseri tabbed to replace Eric Bieniemy at UCLA
LOS ANGELES — Eric Bieniemy’s return to UCLA lasted only one season. The Bruins let go of Bieniemy on Thursday after fielding one of the nation’s worst offenses this season. It didn’t take head coach DeShaun Foster long to find a replacement. Indiana quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri...
Arizona State coach once studied program at Iowa State, the team he now faces in Big 12 title gameVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — There was just something about coach Matt Campbell and his program at Iowa State that intrigued Kenny Dillingham. “His culture and his realness, I think he’s one of the most real people in the sport. You see the passion and emotion on the sideline,” said Dillingham, the...
No. 2 Texas goes for a title in its first SEC season, but must get by No. 5 GeorgiaVideo
ATLANTA — Texas wasted no time making its presence felt in the mighty SEC. In their debut as a member of the powerhouse league, the No. 2 Longhorns posted the best regular-season record and earned a spot in the SEC championship game Saturday. “Not a lot of teams can go...
Bahamas Bowl to feature pair of 8-win teams as Liberty, Buffalo square off Jan. 4
Liberty will face Buffalo in the Bahamas Bowl on Jan. 4, bowl officials announced Thursday. The Flames (8-3), of Conference USA, will be making their sixth consecutive bowl appearance. Buffalo (8-4), of the Mid-American Conference, will be playing in its fifth bowl game in the last seven years. The Bulls...
Big 12 commissioner insists his league’s champion should have playoff bye over any G5 champVideo
FORT WORTH, Tex — Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark clearly expressed his displeasure about the College Football Playoff rankings while insisting Wednesday that his conference’s champion should get a first-round bye over any Group of Five champion. Arizona State and Iowa State, the 10-2 teams that will play in the...
SEC, Big Ten powers lead way on signing day
The arrival of the early signing period Wednesday offered a stark reminder for college football fans. If recruiting rankings offer any accurate gauge in the era of the transfer portal, those teams competing for College Football Playoff berths now should keep contending for years to come. Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon...
Miami in trouble, Alabama rises in College Football Playoff rankings
Miami’s playoff hopes took an all-but-final nosedive while Alabama’s got a boost Tuesday night in the last rankings before the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket is set next weekend. The Hurricanes (10-2) moved down six spots to No. 12 — the first team out of the projected bracket — after...
Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, set to face Penn State, reminiscent of another Hawaiian-born QBVideo
Dillon Gabriel was faced with a quandary when he arrived at Oregon this year. Gabriel had worn No. 8 at Oklahoma before transferring for his sixth season of eligibility. But in Eugene, that number had special significance because it had been worn by Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. There were...
San Jose State will play South Florida in the Hawaii Bowl
HONOLULU — San Jose State is headed back to the Hawaii Bowl for a second straight season to face South Florida. Bowl officials on Tuesday announced the matchup for the game set to be played on Dec. 24 on the campus of the University of Hawaii. The Spartans went 7-5...
High school recruiting isn’t the only way to build a winner in the era of the transfer portal
Texas A&M signed the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class three years ago believing it had built a potential national title contender. Plenty of players from that heralded 2022 class could indeed be participating in the first 12-team College Football Playoff this month. They just won’t be doing it for the Aggies,...
ACC fines N.C. State, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech for rivalry week scufflesVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference fined four of its schools on Monday for scuffles that broke out during rivalry week in college football, which had a rash of fights between players who attempted to plant flags and other team symbols on their rivals’ fields. North Carolina and N.C....
Big Ten fines Michigan, Ohio State $100,000 each for postgame meleeVideo
ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten Conference announced it fined Michigan and Ohio State $100,000 each for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy for the on-field melee at the end of the Wolverines’ win in Columbus on Saturday. “Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship...
Oregon reaches Big Ten title game by refusing to focus on the ‘fiction’ of the future
EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon hasn’t gotten this far by wish-casting about outcomes in its first Big Ten season. As quarterback Dillon Gabriel says, the Ducks have no use for tomorrow’s fiction. That mentality has served the Ducks well. They finished the regular season 12-0 (9-0 Big Ten) and atop the...
Purdue fires coach Ryan Walters after going 5-19 in his 2 seasons
Purdue hired Ryan Walters to keep a promising program near the top of the Big Ten Conference. Two years later, the Boilermakers have sunk to unprecedented depths — and Walters is out of a job. Athletic director Mike Bobinski fired the first-time head coach on Sunday, following a brutal 1-11...
What are the matchups in college football’s conference championship games?
After a chaotic end to the regular season in college football, the matchups are set for championship week. Here’s a look at the showdowns coming up in the Power Four and Group of Five, with AP Top 25 rankings. All championship games are Saturday, Dec. 7, except in the American...
Lou Carnesecca, Hall of Fame coach who led St. John’s for 24 seasons, dies at 99
NEW YORK — In the long and storied history of New York City basketball, nobody wore it quite like Lou Carnesecca. The excitable St. John’s coach whose outlandish sweaters became an emblem of his team’s rousing Final Four run in 1985, died at 99 on Saturday, just a few weeks...
Oregon keeps top spot in AP football poll; Penn State is No. 3
Ohio State, Miami and Clemson plunged in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll Sunday following their losses during a wild weekend, eight of the top 10 teams moved up one spot and Oregon was No. 1 for the seventh straight week. The shakeup creates two top-five matchups in...
Syracuse knocks No. 6 Miami out of ACC title game and possibly the playoff with 42-38 winVideo
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Kyle McCord and Syracuse knocked No. 6 Miami out of ACC title contention — and possibly ended the Hurricanes’ College Football Playoff hopes — by rallying from a 21-0 deficit for a 42-38 win Saturday. McCord threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns for the Orange (9-3,...
