Reeling from a crushing defeat at the hands of Alabama, the Florida State football community looks to a true freshman from Belle Glade to save the season.
He’s not a five-star recruit, nor has he thrown a pass at the collegiate level and he certainly doesn’t look like Cam Newton with his helmet on. His name is James Blackman and this Saturday he will become the first true freshman to lineup behind center for the Seminoles in three decades. More
INDIANAPOLIS — Combine Friday is the equivalent of real-life Tuesday. The end is nowhere in sight, but things are starting to get busy enough that you forget how far you have to go until the next break. More
All appeared to be quiet on the home front during a Thursday night during the college football offseason. But then, right on cue, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh decided to air his grievances against the one and only Pete Finebaum. Yes, we said Pete. More
College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock has been given a three-year contract extension by the CFP’s board of managers, taking him through June 2020. More
Some college football fans gladly would fast forward to New Year’s Eve, anxious to see either Alabama-Clemson II, Alabama-Ohio State in a matchup of the first two College Football Playoff Era champions, or Washington pull off a semifinals stunner. More
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Throughout the course of the past three weeks College Football Playoff committee chair Kirby Hocutt maintained that Ohio State had a significant lead over Penn State in the rankings.
That’s the reason it became impossible to imagine Penn State could hop Ohio State in the final playoff rankings that actually determine the four teams who play in it.
And ultimately, Penn State, who finished No. 5, didn’t make the jump.
But how close did Penn State actually get to pushing Ohio State? Were they ever directly compared?
“We talked about it,” Hocutt said on Sunday after the reveal. “I would tell you that Penn State significantly elevated themselves in our conversation after their performance last night. Having a chance to watch, with the other members of the Selection Committee, that second half performance, incredibly impressed and significantly elevated them into our conversations.
“Again, a lot of discussion and detail on who was deserving of that No. 4 spot. I had said I think a number of weeks earlier that in the eyes of this Selection Committee, Ohio State was a better football…
Here’s a look at what NFL.com analysts learned about prospects in Week 14 of the college football season. More
| OKST | 1st Qtr | 5:16 | Ben Grogan 19 yd FG |
| OKLA | 2nd Qtr | 14:46 | Dede Westbrook 69 yd pass from Baker Mayfield (Austin Seibert kick) |
| OKLA | 2nd Qtr | 11:36 | Austin Seibert 34 yd FG |
| OKST | 2nd Qtr | 5:05 | Chris Carson 6 yd run (Ben Grogan kick) |
| OKST | 2nd Qtr | 1:28 | Mason Rudolph 6 yd run (Ben Grogan kick) |
| OKLA | 2nd Qtr | 0:27 | Geno Lewis 10 yd pass from Baker Mayfield (Austin Seibert kick) |
| OKLA | 3rd Qtr | 11:56 | Samaje Perine 1 yd run (Austin Seibert kick) |
| OKLA | 3rd Qtr | 4:21 | Joe Mixon 12 yd pass from Baker Mayfield (Austin Seibert kick) |
| OKST | 3rd Qtr | 1:00 | Ben Grogan 30 yd FG |
| OKLA | 4th Qtr | 9:35 | Joe Mixon 79 yd run (Austin Seibert kick) |
Saturday, the Oklahoma State Cowboys led by Mike Gundy travel to Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma to take on the Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma Sooners.
For the second straight year, No. 11 Oklahoma State heads into its regular-season finale against its in-state rival, No. 7 Oklahoma, with a chance to claim the Big 12 title.
Check the scoreboard above for the score and click on the stats link for game stats.
App users: For the best mobile experience, use the mobile web version.
Last year, Oklahoma State was missing several key starters because of injuries, with quarterback Mason Rudolph hardly playing, and wound up losing 58-23 on its home field. Oklahoma claimed the Big 12 championship and advanced to the College Football Playoff.
This time, coming off their most complete performance of the season, a 31-6 win over TCU on Nov. 19, followed by a bye week, the Cowboys (9-2, 7-1 Big 12, No. 10 CFP) are well-rested and determined to finish the job Saturday at Oklahoma (9-2,…
(Ted S. Warren | AP))
| WASH | 1st Qtr | 11:53 | Lavon Coleman 1 yd run (Cameron Van Winkle kick) |
| COLO | 1st Qtr | 0:49 | Phillip Lindsay 3 yd run (Davis Price kick) |
| WASH | 2nd Qtr | 6:38 | Darrell Daniels 15 yd pass from Jake Browning (Cameron Van Winkle kick) |
| WASH | 3rd Qtr | 14:44 | Taylor Rapp 35 yd interception return (Cameron Van Winkle kick) |
| WASH | 3rd Qtr | 11:27 | Cameron Van Winkle 24 yd FG |
| WASH | 3rd Qtr | 5:21 | John Ross 19 yd pass from Jake Browning (Cameron Van Winkle kick) |
| COLO | 3rd Qtr | 3:43 | Chris Graham 24 yd FG |
| WASH | 4th Qtr | 14:07 | Cameron Van Winkle 20 yd FG |
| WASH | 4th Qtr | 4:23 | Chico McClatcher 8 yd run (Cameron Van Winkle kick) |
Twelve weeks into the 2015 season, both Colorado and Washington owned losing records.
Thirteen months later, No. 9 Colorado and No. 4 Washington are a combined 21-3 and about to meet at 9 p.m. EST tonight in the Pac-12 Championship Game in Santa Clara, Calif.
We’ll have up-to-the-minute scoring and stats here throughout the game. Check the scoreboard above and click on the stats link.
App users: For the best mobile experience, use the mobile web version.
The turnaround began late last season for Washington, which won its final three games to finish 7-6 with a New Mexico Bowl title and emerge as one of the popular breakthrough picks during the preseason.
The turnaround started this season for Colorado, which has authored a reversal from a 4-9 record that few experts saw coming.
As Championship Weekend arrives, here are bowl projections for all 40 games—including how the College Football Playoff will look. Which team will Alabama take on? Does Michigan have a chance to sneak in? Can Washington hold down a spot? How much chaos will Penn State cause? Can Clemson avoid falling out?
…
USA TODAY Sports
The standings are in Western Michigan’s favor. Friday night’s 29-23 win against Ohio moved the Broncos to a Football Bowl Subdivision-best 13-0, as one of just two unbeaten teams in college football, joining Alabama.
Perfection is so infrequently attained in college football that it demands some historical perspective: Western Michigan is just the seventh team in the past six seasons to complete an undefeated regular season, and the first to do so from the Group of Five. Just seven teams in the past decade have concluded an entire season unbeaten.
Yet the rankings are not in the Broncos’ favor. Western Michigan was 17th in the most recent College Football Playoff standings, two spots ahead of Navy, the top-ranked team from the American Athletic Conference — in other words, the best team from what is without question the strongest non-Power Five league.
The Broncos did all they could do. Thirteen games, all wins. Two victories against Big Ten foes in Northwestern and Illinois. Just two wins by fewer than two touchdowns. Western Michigan was given a schedule, rolled through its schedule and stood as perhaps the best team in the history of the Mid-American Conference.
And it may not be enough. That the Midshipmen sit just two spots behind the Broncos in the penultimate Playoff rankings is telling: Navy stands within very close striking distance with two games left to…