College category, Page 45

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Andre Curbelo scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half, and No. 4 Illinois dismantled No. 2 Michigan with a smothering defensive performance, routing the Wolverines 76-53 on Tuesday night. Playing again without injured star Ayo Dosunmu, the Illini (19-6, 15-4) kept Michigan from...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Playing college sports during the pandemic potentially has become more problematic as more contagious variants of the coronavirus start to show up across the U.S., including one that prompted Michigan to shut down its athletics department for two weeks. It was not clear this week how...

Tom Herman started the 2021 Texas recruiting class. Steve Sarkisian is finishing it up, and the new Longhorns coach still can sign a few more players. Sarkisian inherited a group of 19 signees recruited by Herman before the coaching change in January, then Wednesday added a group of four more...

Alabama continues recruiting at a level that should strengthen the reigning national champion’s status as college football’s premier program. If anything, coach Nick Saban’s ability to land the nation’s top prospects grows stronger with each passing year. The recruiting class Alabama finalized Wednesday has the highest rating in the history...

Clemson’s most recent berth in the College Football Playoff arguably was its least successful, but a 49-28 semifinal loss to Ohio State didn’t appear to damage the Tigers’ appeal to recruits. Six consecutive appearances in the game’s final four, with national championships in 2016 and ‘18, are difficult to overlook....

The Maryland athletic department slogan is “Fear The Turtle.” In seven seasons in the Big Ten, its football team has scared no one. That might be about to change judging by the recruiting work done by coach Mike Locksley and his staff. Locksley signed four four-star prospects in December and...

MOBILE, Ala. — Former Wake Forest quarterback Jamie Newman hasn’t played in a game in about 400 days since first switching schools and then opting out of the 2020 season. Newman hardly is alone among the players trying to shake off the rust after long layoffs leading up to Saturday’s...

CHICAGO — Rob Howard scored 18 points as Illinois-Chicago narrowly beat Robert Morris, 66-62, in overtime Saturday. Maurice Commander and Teyvion Kirk added 15 points each for the Flames. Commander also had eight rebounds, and Kirk posted eight rebounds. Illinois-Chicago (7-4, 4-2 Horizon League) scored 25 points in the second...

INDIANAPOLIS — There will be a bit less mystery to the March Madness bracket now that the NCAA selection committee no longer has to adjust matchups for travel concerns. With the entire tournament taking place in the Indianapolis area this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Division I Men’s...

NCAA President Mark Emmert expressed frustration Tuesday with the delay in moving ahead with proposals surrounding athletes’ ability to make money and to freely transfer to another school and said he remains committed to getting those things done in 2021. Emmert’s remarks came during his state of college athletics address...

NEW YORK — On an Alabama team stacked with stars, DeVonta Smith emerged as the best player in college football. Smith became the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy in 29 seasons Tuesday night, breaking the monopoly quarterbacks have had on college football’s most prestigious award by beating...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Dan Mullen could be on the verge of opting out. A week after insisting he hadn’t even thought about the NFL, there are reports Mullen might walk away from the Gators, telling NFL teams he’s interested in making the jump to the pros. It was...

Alabama breezed through the regular season and college football’s semifinals, surviving a solitary scare in the SEC championship game to reach its expected destination. Ohio State wasn’t exactly a shoo-in with its abbreviated schedule but resoundingly proved it belonged in the College Football Playoffs with a semifinal thrashing of Clemson....

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Breece Hall ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns, Brock Purdy accounted for two scores and No. 12 Iowa State grinded out a 34-17 victory over No. 25 Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday. The Cyclones (9-3, CFP No. 10) used their ball-control offense to dominate...

Floyd Little, the great running back who starred at Syracuse and for the Denver Broncos, died. He was 78. The Pro Football Hall of Fame said he died Friday night at his home in Nevada. No cause was given. “Floyd Little was not only a Hall of Fame running back,...

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas was tired of waiting for Tom Herman to deliver a Big 12 title and turn the Longhorns back into national championship contenders. Next up: Steve Sarkisian, the architect of the Alabama Crimson Tide’s offense and its tsunami of points this season. Texas fired Herman on Saturday...

TUCSON, Ariz. — Antonio Phillips returned an early interception 53 yards for a touchdown, Drew Plitt accounted for two scores and Ball State beat short-handed No. 19 San Jose State, 34-13, in the Arizona Bowl on Thursday. San Jose State (7-1, No. 22 CFP) had to play without its two...

FORT WORTH, Texas — True freshman Will Rogers scored his first rushing touchdown of the season and had a 13-yard TD pass to lead Mississippi State past No. 22 Tulsa 28-26 on Thursday in the Armed Forces Bowl, which ended in a massive brawl. Minutes after the game ended following...

Coastal Carolina’s Jamey Chadwell is the Associated Press college football coach of the year after leading the Chanticleers to a surprising, near-perfect season. Chadwell received 16 first-place votes and 88 points from the AP Top 25 panel to finish ahead of Indiana’s Tom Allen, who was second with 14 first-place...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Graham Mertz accounted for three touchdowns, and Wisconsin turned four second-half interceptions into 21 points to beat Wake Forest, 42-28, in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Wednesday. Mertz, a redshirt freshman, threw for 130 yards and ran for two short touchdowns as Wisconsin (4-3) finished a rocky...

The Music City Bowl between Missouri and Iowa was canceled Sunday because covid-19 issues left the Tigers unable to play. The game scheduled for Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn., is the second bowl called off since the postseason lineup was set Dec. 20, joining the Gasparilla Bowl. Overall, 18 bowl games...