There’s still a long way until that final set of College Football Playoff rankings on Dec. 3, but that won’t stop the arguments after Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and Clemson took the top four spots heading into Week 10. Things will play out on the field, but the playoff committee dropped some not-so-subtle clues about how it might play out the next month. Here are five overreactions from the first set of rankings: 1....

Instead, Ohio State (8-0) took the No. 1 spot in the initial rankings, one spot ahead of No. 2 LSU (8-0) and No. 3 Alabama (8-0). The Tigers and Crimson Tide play Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in a “Game of the Century.” MORE: What first set of rankings say about which teams will make Playoff The other mild surprise was No. 4 Penn State (8-0) ahead of No. 5 Clemson (8-0)....

One of those losses was expected, though not perhaps in the manner it happened. No. 4 Ohio State absolutely demolished No. 7 Michigan State, upending the Spartans 56-7 after jumping out to an absurd 49-0 halftime lead. The other top-10 team to lose was Oregon, which was similarly dismantled in a 38-7 defeat to No. 23 Utah. (The Utes jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead by way of a last-second punt return for touchdown)....

There were other fan bases, however, that will see a quarterback who put off professional aspirations for a year to play another season of college football. None of these players projected as first-round picks, but they would have been evaluated and some possibly drafted. The opportunity to put another year of play on video, in addition to the chance to earn significant money through Name, Image and Likeness resulted in a strong group of QBs who passed on the draft and will play on Saturdays next fall....

How do you construct Sporting News’ Top 25 rankings? It’s not just about which players are back. It’s about which players are going through the transfer portal, which had a significant impact on this offseason. It’s about which coaches changed jobs. How do NIL and recruiting figure into picking the best teams for the College Football Playoff? That’s the challenge, but we came up with the same-old answers. Alabama leads SN’s Preseason Top 25 rankings, and the Crimson Tide is followed by familiar favorites in Ohio State at No....

Here’s a rundown of the best from another entertaining weekend. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville This wasn’t even close as Jackson played out of this world Friday in a 62-28 win over Syracuse. He finished with an ACC-record 610 total yards (411 passing, 199 rushing), five total touchdowns and arguably the most impressive rushing score of the season. Trevor Knight, QB, Texas A&M Knight looks right at home at his new school....

The Crimson Tide, ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 Poll, begins its season on the road against Missouri, while No. 6 LSU welcomes Mississippi State and No. 4 Georgia takes on Arkansas on the road. Meanwhile, No. 1 Clemson has a bye after thrashing The Citadel 49-0 to improve to 2-0 and No. 7 Notre Dame travels to take on Wake Forest. Trevor Lawrence completed eight of nine attempts for 168 yards and three touchdowns, while Travis Etienne rushed for 68 yards over eight carries as the Tigers put the game against The Citadel to bed by scoring all their 49 points in the first half....

The day begins with the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, highlighted by the postgame mayonnaise bath for the winning coach, and it ends with the first New Year’s Six Bowl of the weekend as Tennessee faces Clemson in an all-orange Orange Bowl. The sneaky matchup of the day might be Notre Dame and South Carolina in the Gator Bowl as a historic program faces a surging Gamecocks team that managed wins over both Tennessee and Clemson at the end of the regular season....

If so, it will likely come in the form of an upset, as there are only three games between top-25 teams: No. 8 Tennessee at No. 25 LSU, No. 11 Utah at No. 18 UCLA and No. 17 TCU at No. 19 Kansas, the “College GameDay” game of the week. Elsewhere, Nick Saban — potentially without starting quarterback Bryce Young — will take on Texas A&M after his and Jimbo Fisher’s public feud over the offseason....

Florida and Georgia collide on neutral ground in the only all top-10 affair of the weekend, while Memphis hosts Southern Methodist in a showdown to take control of the American Athletic Conference. The potential implications of the matchup and Week 10’s unusually light schedule—four of the top five programs are not in action this weekend—have seen the game selected by ESPN for its College GameDay show. On Monday, the broadcaster announced the pregame show will make its first appearance in Memphis this weekend, while SMU will return on the show for the first time since it played on the road at then-No....

Several teams faced potentially fatal setbacks to their College Football Playoff hopes over Thanksgiving weekend, including in the Pac-12 and Big Ten. The biggest loser was Northwestern, which followed up an impressive win over previously unbeaten Wisconsin with a dud of a game against Michigan State, dropping the Wildcats to 5-1 on the season. They were hardly the only loser out of the Big Ten, however: Ohio State was forced to cancel its game against Illinois due to a COVID-19 outbreak....

The conference on Saturday unveiled (for the third time) its 2020 football schedule, adding to the pool of teams voters can rank in the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll. That’s certainly good news for teams such as Ohio State (No. 10 in the Coaches Poll), Penn State (No. 13) and Wisconsin (No. 17), but less so for teams such as Kentucky, Baylor and Army, who all dropped from the Coaches Poll despite not suffering a loss....

It was a result inside Notre Dame Stadium that snapped over 12 months of futility for the Cardinal against FBS competition. And it produced this remarkable stat, courtesy of ESPN’s Chris Fallica. So the Irish have given us two of the biggest point-getters here in our contest this year, but our panel did not see either in advance. The Underdog Challenge scoring system is as follows – your underdog must win outright....

title: “College Football Week 6 Picks Against The Spread” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-26” author: “Betty Butts”

This weekend, we’ve got a few more big games on tap, including the Red River Rivalry. Texas and Oklahoma kick off Week 6 with their classic game and we’ll get big games between Tennessee-Texas A&M and Alabama-Arkansas later in the day. MORE: Week 6 bowl projections Here’s all the info — dates, times, TV channels — for how to watch the Top 25 teams in Week 6. All times ET....

The school released a statement Wednesday saying it was from the members of the Cougars men’s basketball team this season. Wojcik was fired by school President Glenn McConnell on Tuesday for cause. Wojcik, 50, has apologized to those he hurt emotionally or offended. A 50-page report done by the school contained summaries of interviews with Wojcik and 26 others — including 10 anonymous players and five anonymous employees — who are current and former players and assistant coaches, college staffers and athletic director Joe Hull....

There is no certainty about what solutions those populating the NCAA’s “constitutional convention” in November will pursue, but there have been suggestions from many in college sports. Mike Brey, head men’s basketball coach at Notre Dame, resides in that community and has an idea for the 22 men and women who will gather. “When they meet to rewrite the NCAA rulebook and everything, OK, let’s start with this: Don’t fool around with the Tournament,” Brey told Sporting News....

Out of the eight-team bracket that unfolded from the Super Regional, two teams remain. Arizona (48-22) and Coastal Carolina (53-17) will compete in the ultimate best-of-three series to determine this year’s NCAA Baseball Tournament champion. MORE: The worst No. 1 MLB Draft picks of all time As they have throughout the tournament, the two teams will play at the TD Ameritrade Park, and Monday marks the 15th game of the tournament overall....

There was just one problem with this allegation – it was a wholly uncorroborated rumor whose sole source was apparently David Brock. Despite its shaky reporting – and vehement objections from the White House – the book catapulted Aldrich onto network television and provided new grist for Clinton-bashing tabloids and talk radio. ““Trash for right-wing cash,’’ growled White House press spokesman Mike McCurry. Aldrich writes that he was told the Marriott story by ““a well-trained, experienced investigator’’; in an interview, Aldrich conceded that the source was actually a journalist....