UNDATED (AP) — Alabama breezed through the regular season and college football’s semifinals and survived its lone scare in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Ohio State resoundingly proved it belonged in the CFP with a semifinal thrashing of Clemson. Both traveled interesting roads while navigating various obstacles during the pandemic-altered season to get to Monday’s title game in South Florida. As Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban says, “I know this has been a little bit of a trying year for a lot of folks.”
UNDATED (AP) — Ohio State coach Ryan Day says he expects Justin Fields to play in the College Football Playoff national championship game against Alabama after the quarterback was banged up during the semifinals. Day declined to give specifics of Fields’ injury. The junior took a hard hit to his right side from Clemson linebacker James Skalski in the Sugar Bowl on Saturday. Fields missed only one play and finished with six touchdown passes in Ohio State’s 49-28 victory. Fields later said he was aching the whole game after the hit and he had received a shot to from medical staff to deal with the pain.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Former Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan says he’s transferring to Notre Dame. Coan posted a tweet Monday night that included the Notre Dame logo along with the message, “Extremely thankful for the opportunity. Let’s get to work!” Wisconsin disclosed two weeks ago that Coan had entered the transfer portal. Notre Dame and Wisconsin are scheduled to face each other on Sept. 25 at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Coan made 18 starts for Wisconsin from 2018-19 but injured his right foot in preseason practice this year and underwent surgery. Notre Dame’s 2021 roster was lacking a proven quarterback to replace Ian Book.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Trayce Jackson-Davis took over the game midway through the second half, finishing with 22 points and 15 rebounds, leading Indiana to a 63-55 win over Maryland. Aaron Wiggins scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Maryland. Maryland led 27-21 at the half and a Wiggins 3-pointer less than five minutes into the second half had the Terps up 10. The last lead for Maryland was 43-42. Jerome Hunter hit a 3 to put the Hoosiers up for good at 10:04 and then Jackson-Davis had a steal and breakaway dunk, starting a string where he scored 12 straight Indiana points for a 57-47 lead with less than two minutes to go.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA says this year’s men’s college basketball tournament will be played entirely in Indiana. Games will be played on two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, home to the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena at Purdue and Assembly Hall in Bloomington also will host games. Early round dates have not been set, but the Final Four is still scheduled for April 3. A similar announcement is expected for the women’s tournament, with San Antonio considered the likely host site. Last March, the pandemic forced both tournaments to be called off.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Ashley Owusu scored 20 points, including the clinching free throw with 4.3 seconds left, and No. 12 Maryland held off No. 19 Indiana 84-80 after letting a 16-point fourth-quarter lead dwindle to three. Diamond Miller also had 20 points for the Terrapins, who led 23-9 after one quarter and up by double figures midway through the fourth quarter. Grace Berger had a career-high 26 points for the Hoosiers, who are now 0-11 against Maryland. Mackenzie Holmes added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Madison Greene had 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Jacy Sheldon scored 21 points and No. 16 Ohio State beat Penn State 82-69 in its first game since Dec. 10. Ohio State went 24 days between games after pausing due to COVID-19 protocols, last beating Miami (Ohio). Braxtin Miller added 10 points for the Buckeyes, who were missing three players — including leading scorer (17.8) and rebounder (10.5) Dorka Juhasz. Makenna Marisa had 21 points and nine rebounds for Penn State.
