ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore will be suspended for this week’s season-opening game as part of the school’s self-imposed penalties for violating NCAA rules that also led to coach Jim Harbaugh’s punishment. Harbaugh said Monday an analyst will be elevated to fill Moore’s spot on the staff Saturday against East Carolina. The school announced last week it decided Harbaugh would serve a three-game suspension to start the season due to NCAA recruiting infractions. Michigan handed down Harbaugh’s punishment in an attempt to get out in front of potential NCAA sanctions related to an investigation of impermissible contact with recruits.
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Interim coach David Braun says he’s “up to the challenge” of leading Northwestern with the season opener this week. It’s certainly not what he envisioned when Pat Fitzgerald hired him as defensive coordinator last winter. Braun is navigating an unusual and difficult path. It takes another turn when the season opens with a rare Sunday game at Rutgers. Northwestern is facing more than a dozen lawsuits across multiple sports with allegations including sexual abuse of players by teammates, as well as racist comments by coaches and race-based assaults. Fitzgerald was fired July 10 after an investigation concluded the coaching staff should have known about ongoing hazing. Braun spent the past four years at FCS powerhouse North Dakota State.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — New Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell often says that he doesn’t want to build a program by relying on the transfer portal. Yet the Badgers’ success this year ould depend largely on how well Fickell can integrate the 17 transfers he has brought in since coming over from Cincinnati. The 19th-ranked Badgers open Fickell’s debut season Saturday by hosting Buffalo. Former SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai is one of six projected Wisconsin starters who played at a different school last season.
UNDATED (AP) — The Big Ten’s final season with a 14-team, two-division setup should play out the way it has since the conference last expanded in 2014. That means an East team will win the championship and it probably will be Michigan or Ohio State. The preseason No. 2 Wolverines and No. 3 Buckeyes have flip-flopped as the team to beat now that Michigan has beaten its hated rival two straight years. No. 7 Penn State also expects to be a factor. No. 19 Wisconsin is the choice to win the West over No. 25 Iowa.
UNDATED (AP) — The dearth of Black coaches leading major college football programs routinely draws scrutiny. This season 14 of 133 major college programs and seven of 69 Power Five conference teams will have Black head coaches. Just as notable is how drastically under-represented African-Americans are among offensive coordinators, the job mostly likely to lead to a head-coaching gig. Only seven Black coaches will be offensive coordinators at Power Five schools this season, and only nine across all of the top tier of Division I.
UNDATED (AP) — During the final season of the College Football Playoff’s four-team format, the empires will strike back. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma dominated CFP appearances and their conferences for seven years, but combined to earn two playoff bids the past two seasons while Georgia and Michigan have been on the rise. To predict a national title for anyone other than the two-time defending champion Bulldogs feels like just trying to be different. Then again, no team has ever won three straight. And Alabama has never gone more than three seasons without a title under Nick Saban.
UNDATED (AP) — Just like last year, college football has a returning Heisman Trophy winner. This time USC quarterback Caleb Williams is trying to join the sport’s most exclusive club. Ohio State running back Archie Griffin stands alone, winning the Heisman in 1974 and ’75. Williams will have to be even better this year to join Griffin. He faces stiff competition from an Ohio State receiver and a couple of other West Coast quarterbacks.
UNDATED (AP) — A digital platform where college athletes can alert their administrations anonymously to improper or illegal conduct by coaches, teammates or others is expanding to allow them to report suspected gambling activity. RealResponse’s partnership with U.S. Integrity will come at no additional cost to some 150 athletic departments that are clients. The service builds on a tip hotline U.S. Integrity and RealResponse unveiled in May and will give college athletic administrators a direct line to investigators.
