Louisville, Alabama and Ohio State flexed their muscles. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and USC all kissed their playoff hopes goodbye. And Iowa, well — they aren’t likely to schedule North Dakota State any time in the near future. It was the first time that the AP Poll’s top three teams played ranked opponents on the road. As we’ve seen from the first two years of the playoff committee, the non-conference slate shapes critical December decisions when it comes to who is in....

The four-team format has been heavy on uncontested games in the semifinals but has featured much tighter games in the championship. Even though uncertainty is aplenty at the start of each year, there has not been a ton of parity in the Playoff. Alabama has made it to four of five Playoffs thus far, winning it all twice. Clemson has made it each of the past five years, Oklahoma has been in four times and Ohio State has qualified thrice....

With three weeks left until the College Football Playoff becomes final, there are just four remaining undefeated FBS teams in Alabama, Miami, Wisconsin and Central Florida. Fifteen Power 5 teams with two losses or fewer could say they’re in the hunt. MORE: Mark Richt brings back ‘The U’ we’re looking for We’re going to have some more chaos down the stretch. With that in mind, Sporting News will break down the College Football Playoff picture each week, with the four teams we think are in and the field behind them....

The College Football Playoff will release its first set of rankings on Nov. 24. The CFP committee has not altered its schedule despite an increasing number of postponed games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CFP will release four sets of rankings in the regular season before the CFP Selection Show on Sunday Dec. 20. Here are the important dates and locations to know for 2020-21: MORE: College Football Playoff picture...

The first two of those games will take place on the traditional New Year’s Day date, albeit with a twist. Due to issues of COVID-19 pandemic in the state of California, the Rose Bowl matchup between No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Notre Dame has been moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it is only the second Rose Bowl Game in history to take place outside of Pasadena, Calif....

The regular season has provided plenty of drama, culminating with 10 conference championship games before Sunday’s bowl selection show. The matchups that everyone will be talking about, of course, are the College Football Playoff games. This year’s Playoff games are the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl in the semifinals and the championship game, which will be hosted at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. MORE: Who should be No. 1: LSU or Ohio State?...

MORE: College football 2018 season lookahead Sporting News ranked the top 16 college football programs this decade based on our statistical formula. Here are the eight categories we used to determine those programs: National championships: 10 points eachNational title game appearances: 5 points each College Football Playoff appearances: 5 points eachNew Year’s Day Six/BCS bowl appearances: 3 points eachHeisman Trophy winners: 2 points each That’s not all: Overall winning percentage, conference winning percentage, NFL Draft picks and NFL first-round picks were awarded with a poll style 16-1 score....

Here’s all you need to know ahead Notre Dame’s season debut. Kickoff time—The Fighting Irish host Duke at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p. m. ET on Saturday, September 12. TV channel—NBCLive stream—NBC’s digital platforms, NBC Sports website, fuboTV and Sling TV (selected markets only). Odds—DraftKings has Notre Dame as a 20-point favorite and the Fighting Irish are 9/10 to cover the spread....

The first matchup will come in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl with AAC runner-up Houston taking on Auburn in a noon clash. Louisville and its dynamic offense will play next against the top-five defense of Air Force in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl right after that game. It will be all Power Five teams the remainder of the evening on Tuesday. Mississippi State and Texas Tech kick off in the AutoZone Liberty bowl before UCLA and NC State play in the San Diego County Union Holiday Bowl....

Conference championship weekend is here, and the committee is likely praying for chalk to hold up to make its job as easy as possible. Should that be the case, then only one decision needs to be made, for the fourth overall spot — i.e., the last team in — of the final rankings. MORE: Watch NCAA conference championship games live with fuboTV (7-day trial) To that end, the committee will watch the SEC championship game between No....

Along with the rest of the SEC, both the Crimson Tide and the Aggies made their debut last week, with Alabama defeating Missouri 38-19, while Texas A&M was far from convincing in a narrow 17-12 win over Vanderbilt. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the all-SEC affair on Saturday. Kickoff time—Alabama hosts Texas A&M at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p. m. ET on Saturday, October 3....

Both teams arrive into the game with a 1-0 record and both will be looking to cement their place in the AP Top 25 Rankings. Here’s all you need to know ahead of Saturday. Kickoff time—Louisville hosts Miami at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p. m. ET on Saturday, September 19. TV channel—ABCLive stream—ABC’s digital platforms, SlingTV and fuboTV. Odds—Louisville is a 2. 5-point favorite with DraftKings and 9/10 to cover the spread, while the over/under line in terms of total points scored is set at 59....

Though there were a litany of upsets with Tennessee being taken down by Georgia State, Nevada kicking off Purdue, Memphis shutting down Ole Miss and Wyoming outscoring Mizzou — sorry, SEC, it was not a great week for the non-powerhouses — most of the rest of weekend slate just about went chalk. The only ranked team that lost was No. 11 Oregon, which fell in a Saturday night thriller to No....

No. 12 Texas A&M visits No. 1 Clemson at Memorial Stadium (3:30 p.m., ABC) and No. 6 LSU visits No. 9 Texas (7 p.m., ABC). It’s a huge doubleheader, and it won’t be easy to pick against the spread. Here is a look at our record after Week 1: Straight up: 23-1, .958 Against the spread: 14-10, .583 Upsets: 0-1, .000 With that in mind, here is a look at the dates, times, TV and odds (courtesy of SportsbookReview....

Trust in capitalism has especially diminished among young people, to the point where capitalism and socialism are equally popular. While the reasons for such skepticism are varied, Harvard Economist Edward Glaeser has hypothesized that the young are reacting negatively to policies that favor entrenched interests (crony capitalism) and that they favor “hyper-redistribution” rather than true socialism. Others have argued that students are being influenced by left-wing professors who dominate American college campuses....

After settling Wojcik’s lawsuit, the school has reportedly agreed to pay out $400,000, the equivalent of a year’s worth of the former coach’s salary. The school will assume $150,000 of the settlement with the rest coming from the state’s Insurance Reserve Fund. As part of the agreement, Wojcik agreed not to sue the College of Charleston. Wojcik, who was the subject of two investigations during his two seasons as head coach, was fired for cause amid allegations that he verbally and physically abused his players, though the school failed to find evidence to substantiate the claims from more than a dozen of his current and former student-athletes....

On Monday, North Carolina State University (NCSU) Police announced the arrest of Benjamin Grayton Bollinger, 40, of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, on several charges, local station CBS 17 reported. Rachel Nye, a Ph.D. student in chemical engineering, had her credit card stolen, but was able to use the company’s online services to track its use. Using that information, Nye went to the area where her card appeared to be and kept tabs on Bollinger from a safe distance....

Talented operatic soprano vocalist Kutyn was enrolled in UVic’s bachelor of music program, and living at home in British Columbia, Canada, when she felt coronavirus symptoms in mid-March. The student immediately quarantined herself in her bedroom to keep her fellow students and family safe. Kutyn’s symptoms proceeded to worsen over the next few days. “It felt like when you get your blood pressure taken and they put that band around your arm and it puffs up, that immense sense of pressure....