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...
UConn’s narrow victory keeps Huskies No. 1 in women’s AP Top 25, South Carolina, UCLA and Texas next
UConn passed its first test of the season to remain No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll on Monday. The Huskies received 30 of the 32 first-place votes from a national media panel after beating No. 6 Michigan, 72-69, last Friday in the Naismith Hall of...
Arizona jumps to No. 2 behind Purdue in AP Top 25, Alabama into top 10; Kansas falls out of rankings
Purdue remained at No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while Arizona jumped to No. 2 to continue its opening-month rise after another impressive win against a ranked opponent. The Boilermakers (6-0) earned 46 of 61 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to remain at the top after...
Defending champion North Dakota State is No. 1 seed and among record-tying 6 MVFC teams in FCS playoffs
INDIANAPOLIS — Defending national champion North Dakota State will lead a record-tying six teams from the Missouri Valley Football Conference into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The MVFC champion Bison (12-0) on Sunday were named the No. 1 seed in the 24-team playoffs and will be making their 16th consecutive...
Ohio State, Michigan brace for The Game with playoff implications and historic stakes
COLUMBUS, Ohio — It didn’t take long for Ryan Day and Sherrone Moore to turn their focus to The Game. With top-ranked Ohio State and No. 15 Michigan well ahead in their games during the fourth quarter, both coaches and their teams were already locked on preparations for Saturday’s matchup...
Northwestern defends NCAA field hockey title on Tromp goal early in 2nd OT, edging PrincetonVideo
DURHAM, N.C. — Ilse Tromp deflected a Maddie Zimmer shot off a corner over the goalie in the opening seconds of the second overtime and Northwestern defended its NCAA Field Hockey championships with a 2-1 win over Princeton on Sunday. The Wildcats earned the corner off a well-designed play to...
Quaker Valley grad thrives in freshman season with Middlebury College volleyball
Quaker Valley extended its proficiency in sports all the way to New England this season to the small town of Middlebury, Vt., site of Middlebury College. Quaker Valley graduate Molly MacDonald finished her freshman season on the Middlebury women’s volleyball team ranked among the team leaders in kills (third) and...
UAB football player accused of stabbing 2 teammates before game
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A University of Alabama at Birmingham football player stabbed two teammates Saturday morning hours before the team’s game against the University of South Florida, the university said in a statement. The two wounded players were in stable condition, interim head coach Alex Mortensen said at the postgame...
UAB football player accused of stabbing 2 teammates before gameVideo
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A University of Alabama at Birmingham football player stabbed two teammates Saturday morning hours before the team’s game against the University of South Florida, the university said in a statement. The two wounded players were in stable condition, interim head coach Alex Mortensen said at the postgame...
No ‘psychological warfare’ necessary in Duquesne-Robert Morris regular season finale
Robert Morris football coach Bernard Clark has no idea if the gameday staff plans to post or announce out-of-town NEC scores at Joe Walton Stadium during his team’s game versus cross-town rival Duquesne on Saturday. “We have a jumbotron. We have the ability to do it,” Clark said. “I’ve never...
Virginia Tech preaches alignment as former Penn State coach James Franklin is introducedVideo
James Franklin got his first taste of Virginia Tech’s “Enter Sandman” tradition Wednesday as he walked into Cassell Coliseum for his introductory news conference. It’s something the 53-year-old Franklin is eager to experience as the Hokies football coach. “I can’t wait. … I’ve been watching that intro to college football...
Georgia jumps to coveted No. 4 in CFP rankings; Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M stay 1-2-3
Georgia nabbed the fourth and final projected first-round bye in the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, while undefeated Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M held onto the top three positions. The Bulldogs rose one spot thanks to Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma over the weekend — a result that dropped...
