BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion Sanders is taking over as head coach at Colorado, bringing his charisma and larger-than-life persona to a beleaguered Pac-12 program that’s plunged to the bottom of college football. The deal was announced Saturday by CU athletic director Rick George. The Pro Football Hall of Famer has been at Jackson State, a historically Black college that plays in the NCAA’s second tier of Division I, since 2020. Sanders has guided the Tigers to consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference titles. The Tigers beat Southern in the SWAC championship game Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi. A few hours later, Colorado announced he was coming to Boulder. The Tigers went 27-5 in the Sanders era. Colorado is coming off a 1-11 season.
Elsewhere in college football:
— Alabama is going to get one last look from the College Football Playoff selection committee. Whether the Crimson Tide deserves it is debatable, at best, but after both TCU and Southern California lost on championship weekend the committee has to at least talk about making Alabama the first team with two losses to make the playoff. The field of four will be set Sunday. TCU coach Sonny Dykes said he was concerned about the Frogs’ playoff status, but that he also had faith in the committee.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ty Zentner kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime as 13th-ranked Kansas State beat No. 3 and previously undefeated TCU 31-28 in the Big 12 championship game. That leaves the 12-1 Horned Frogs to wait until Sunday to find out if they had already done enough to get into the four-team College Football Playoff. TCU could still get in the playoff. Its case was helped when fourth-ranked Southern California lost to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game. Deuce Vaughn ran for 130 yards and a touchdown and Will Howard threw two TDs for the 10-3 Wildcats.
ATLANTA (AP) — With all sorts of turmoil behind them, No. 1 Georgia left no doubt about the top team heading into the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs dismantled No. 11 LSU 50-30 in the Southeastern Conference championship game, earning a return trip to Atlanta on New Year’s Eve for the Peach Bowl. Stetson Bennett’s threw a season-high four touchdown passes. Christopher Smith gave Georgia an early spark with a heads-up play that turned a seemingly harmless blocked field goal into a 96-yard TD. Georgia also turned a deflected pass off an LSU receiver’s helmet into an interception that set up a TD.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Donovan Edwards ran for 185 yards and a score, J.J. McCarthy threw three touchdown passes and No. 2 Michigan beat Purdue 43-22 on Saturday night for its second straight Big Ten title and a likely No. 2 playoff seed. College football’s winningest program has the first 13-win season in school history. Two more victories would give the Wolverines (13-0, No. 2 CFP) their first national championship since 1997. And with injured star Blake Corum sidelined by a season-ending left knee injury, Edwards stole the show for the second straight week. Purdue dropped to 8-5.
