Apart from the Big 12 shootout, Alabama plays a vastly overachieving Vanderbilt team, while UCLA and Stanford try to get back on track after crushing losses. Oh, and there’s that undefeated battle between Georgia and Mississippi State as well. MORE: Week 4 picks against the spread Sporting News is 17-7 on the season and 4-4 during Week 3 after a string of upsets. Here’s what we’ve got for Week 4 (point spreads provided courtesy of VegasInsider....

There should be movement after Week 11. Michigan State, which opened at No. 3 in the initial CFP rankings, is bound to fall after losing 40-29 at Purdue. What will the CFP do with No. 6 Cincinnati now? The Bearcats escaped with a 28-20 victory against Tulsa that featured two goal-line fumbles in the final minutes. No. 9 Wake Forest lost 58-55 to North Carolina. No. 5 Ohio State had a scare at Nebraska....

The College Football Playoff matches the No. 1 ranked team vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among six bowl games—the Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl Game. This season’s Playoff Semifinals will take place Friday, January 1, 2021, at the Rose Bowl Game and the Sugar Bowl. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be Monday, January 11, 2021, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida....

The top of the polls look very much the same, but teams like Michigan, Miami (Fla.) and Washington all took nosedives in the rankings thanks to their high-profile losses to Notre Dame, LSU and Auburn, respectively. MORE: SN’s updated Power Rankings Of course, several other changes were made, even from teams who barely escaped disastrous upsets in Week 1. Here are college football rankings from the AP and Coaches polls ahead of Week 2:...

Previous ranking: 1 No player impacts the game more. The only way he has been slowed down the last two seasons is injury: his (in 2013) and numerous on his offensive line (2014). 2. RB Todd Gurley, Georgia Previous ranking: 3 When he’s playing — and we still don’t know how many games he’ll miss while the NCAA investigates a possible rules violation — he’s a throwback to offenses of days gone by....

The haters would say college football has a parity problem in 2018. It’s a five-pointed problem that features Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma. The other 124 teams? They’re just trying to catch up. The haters will use it as an excuse to talk College Football Playoff expansion, the growing gap between the Power 5 and Group of 5 and to say that the regular season just isn’t as exciting as it used to be....

That said, the two big headliners heading into Saturday are No. 7 Stanford at No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 4 Ohio State at No. 9 Penn State in a “White Out.” Both games will have huge implications on the outcome of the College Football Playoff. MORE: Week 5 bowl projections It’s a good week to be a college football fan to say the least, and Sporting News has you covered on how to watch all the action....

The first game of the week kicks off on Thursday when UAB travels to Miami, which boasts the status of being the first Power 5 team to play this season. From there, fans can enjoy six ranked matchups, including three all-ACC games, on Saturday. The first of those kicks off at noon when Syracuse travels to No. 18 North Carolina; the Tar Heels are carrying a ton of momentum into the 2020 season, and expectations are high for Mack Brown in his first game out of retirement....

Clemson, the No.1 ranked team, extended its winning streak to a record 19 games after beating Charlotte 52-10 at home, moving to 4-0. Trevor Lawrence attempted just nine passes before being withdrawn, completing seven of them for two touchdowns and 94 passing yards. The defending champions don’t have another Top 25-ranked opponent on the schedule and it appears unlikely North Carolina will be the team snapping the longest winning run in college football this Saturday....

Pitchers have a tendency to take things a bit personally on the diamond, especially when opposing batters go yard off them. Case in point: A matchup Wednesday between Weatherford College (Texas) and North Central Texas College briefly turned into an AEW-style Texas Death Match on the diamond. A video shows Weatherford pitcher Owen Woodward demolishing North Central batter Josh Phillips as Phillips rounds third base after hitting a go-ahead home run against Woodward....

Police have detained 18-year-old Timur Bekmansurov, who is accused of killing at least six people and injuring dozens more in Monday’s mass shooting at Perm State National Research University, located about 800 miles east of Moscow. Russia’s Investigative Committee said police shot and injured Bekmansurov and has opened a criminal murder case following the attack during which the suspect is said to have walked onto the campus in black tactical gear, entered a building and opened fire on other students....

The Horned Frogs (48-16) fell behind in the top of the eighth after starting pitcher Preston Morrison left the game, but they came back in the bottom half against Tech closer Jonny Drozd. MORE: Schedule | CWS field | Kenny Lofton talks CWS | Photos TCU, the No. 7 national seed, moves to a Tuesday game against Virginia, which beat Mississippi 2-1 on Sunday night. Texas Tech (45-20), in the CWS for the first time, will play Ole Miss in the afternoon....

Kevin Abel put in a historic performance in the College World Series finals, pitching a complete-game shutout, only the third in CWS history. It’s also the first time Arkansas has been shut out all year. CWS HISTORY: Closer look at Abel’s shutout Meanwhile, Arkansas is still in search of its first national championship. While the Diamond Hogs have nothing to feel down about, they certainly will look back on a missed popup in Game 2, which would have clinched the CWS....

Diane Everett, 51, from Milliken, lost control of the 2012 Honda CBR motorcycle she was riding during the memorial ride southwest of Loveland on Saturday, according to The Coloradoan. The outlet reported Diane had been riding westbound on Larimer County Road 12 when she lost control of the motorcycle while she tried to negotiate a curve. When the motorcycle struck a culvert as it went into a ditch Everett was launched from the vehicle and was seriously injured, even though she was wearing a helmet....

On Sunday, locals shared videos and images to social media showing C&C Coffee and Kitchen packed with customers. Most of the customers inside the location were not wearing a mask or face covering and failed to adhere to the federal government’s guidelines on social distancing. According to a local reporter, April Arellano, the restaurant’s owner, said the number of customers almost doubled a normal Mother’s Day. As customers packed inside the restaurant, one video also showed a line of people outside, waiting to enter....

The fan, who hasn’t been identified, had reportedly aimed a racial slur at Brinson during an at-bat on Sunday at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. Brinson, who is Black, stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth innings of the Rockies’ 13-8 win against the Marlins. After he faced the second pitch, the microphones of the Bally Sports Florida broadcast picked up what sounded like a fan using the N-word....

Following a Washington State touchdown in the first quarter of the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, Cougars quarterback Connor Halliday got into a verbal altercation with Colorado State defensive line coach Greg Lupfer. MORE: Bowl matchups | Road to the Bowls | Numbers to know You don't need to be a professional lip reader to have a good idea what was said. UPDATE (8:57 p.m.): Lupfer issued a public apology through the Colorado State Athletics Twitter account....

The Colts ended up hiring the winning offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl in the Eagles’ Frank Reich, not the loser in McDaniels. With every other head-coaching vacancy in the NFL already filled, Indianapolis had the luxury of tapping into a Philadelphia staff that won it all without restrictions or waiting. Indy took advantage and plucked from the suddenly hot Doug Pederson tree while it had the chance. DeCOURCY: McDaniels’ decision was childish...

Colts (5-2) running back Jonathan Taylor fumbled on a run late in the first quarter against Baltimore (5-2). Chuck Clark picked up the football and raced up the left sideline. Indianapolis’ last line of defense would be the 38-year old Rivers. As Clark approached the Colts’ 35-yard line, Rivers began turning around to run toward Clark. But a small shimmy from Clark caused Rivers to stumble and fall, appearing to trip over the turf’s 35-yard line....