UNDATED (AP) — Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan and Florida State sat atop the season’s first College Football Playoff rankings, with unbeaten Washington and Oregon next. The NCAA is investigating a sign-stealing scheme that allegedly involved impermissible in-person scouting by Michigan. Selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan said the allegations against Michigan were not part of the debate about where the Wolverines should be ranked. He called it an NCAA issue, not a CFP issue.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) — Central Michigan is investigating whether Michigan football staffer Connor Stalions was on its sideline scoping out Michigan State during the Chippewas’ season opener in September. Photos circulating on the internet suggest that Stalions was on the sideline during the game. Stalions has since been suspended by Michigan amid an NCAA investigation into whether the Wolverines broke scouting rules. CMU athletic director Amy Folan says the school is checking into the photos.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State Coach Ryan Day says an injury requiring surgery has ended the season for running back Miyan Williams. He unavailable for last Saturday’s win at Wisconsin. The previous week Williams rushed for a season-high 62 yards and a touchdown in the win over Penn State. Williams and No. 1 back TreVeyon Henderson have battled injuries in their Ohio State careers and have rarely been healthy together this season. Henderson returned after missing three games and ran for 162 yards and a touchdown against Wisconsin. Receiver Emeka Egbuka (ankle) is practicing this week after missing three games.
UNDATED (AP) — Night football historically has been a rarity in the Big Ten after the first Saturday in November. The conference’s billion-dollar-a-year television package will make it a regular thing beginning next week when Michigan State visits Ohio State for a 7:30 p.m. Eastern kickoff. The rationale for the general prohibition was that the conference’s traditional footprint in the upper Midwest made November night games a hardship for teams and fans because of potentially inclement weather. Dollar signs have trumped any pushback that might have come from schools’ athletic administrations about ending the longstanding tradition.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Kirk Ferentz would have preferred any evaluation of his Iowa football program to have been done after the season. Interim athletic director Beth Goetz took matters into her own hands and did her own midseason assessment of one of his staff members, announcing offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz would be out in 2024. Kirk Ferentz deflected questions Tuesday about his son’s looming removal but indicated he was not on board with the timing of the announcement. He said the end of the season is a better time for making decisions because less emotion is involved. Goetz said Kirk Ferentz would be the one to hire the new offensive coordinator.
UNDATED (AP) — Over 1,200 women’s basketball players entered the transfer portal last year. Just over 1,000 found new schools to play for. With so many talented players available, it’s changed how quickly coaches can turn bad teams into good and great ones. LSU coach Kim Mulkey has been one of the most active using the portal, building the Tigers into a super team. The school won its first national championship last season. In the last few years she’s added Angel Reese, Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow. All three earned All-America honors last year. All three will play for LSU this season.
UNDATED (AP) — Weber State’s Dillon Jones and UNC Asheville’s Drew Pember had every reason to decide they’d done enough at this level. Yet both returned to school in part because they wanted their college careers to have a better finish. Jones’ team suffered a double-overtime loss in a Big Sky Conference semifinal. Pember’s squad reached the NCAA Tournament but got blown out in the opening round. Now they’re back for one more season as two of the most decorated players from traditional one-bid conferences.
UNDATED (AP) — The transfer portal has become the go-to place for college basketball coaches to immediately upgrade their rosters. Transfers can step in and have an immediate impact and many of the top programs have taken advantage. UConn and San Diego State, the 2023 national finalists, both had transfers in key roles. So did Kansas and Baylor, the previous two national champions. Tighter guidelines by the NCAA on two-time transfers have made navigating the portal a bit trickier. With many of the waivers for second-time transfers being denied, coaches now have to decide if pursuing a player who has played at multiple schools is worth it.
