UNDATED (AP) — Purdue is No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time. The Boilermakers were a unanimous No. 1 in the poll to move up from No. 2 last week. Reigning national champion Baylor moved up to No. 2, with Duke, UCLA and Gonzaga rounding out the top five. Purdue reached No. 2 in consecutive seasons under Gene Keady from 1986-88 and matched its previous high last week. A win over then-No. 1 Duke sent the Boilermakers to the top spot this week.
UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA’s first NET rankings are out and the top spot mirrors the AP Top 25 with Purdue at No. 1. The NCAA’s college basketball primary sorting tool takes a bit of a deviation at No. 2. LSU, which entered the AP poll at No. 25 this week, is No. 2 in the NET rankings. LSU has yet to play a road game, opening with six wins at home and two on neutral courts. The Tigers’ list of wins includes Wake Forest and Penn State, and a 15-point win over Ohio in their last game. LSU returns from a 10-day break to play at Georgia Tech on Saturday, time off coach Will Wade says the Tigers needed despite their undefeated start.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Nicole Cardaño-Hillary’s 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals lead No. 10 Indiana to a victory over Penn State in its opening Big Ten game. Forward Mackenzie Holmes led Indiana with 16 points and guard Ali Patberg added 15. The Hoosiers shot over 50% from the field and were 6-14 from 3-point range, while the Lady Lions shot 33.9% from the field and 2-16 from beyond the arc
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota has re-hired Kirk Ciarrocca as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The team’s production sagged during the two seasons he was elsewhere. Ciarrocca replaces Mike Sanford. Ciarrocca was coach P.J. Fleck’s offensive coordinator at Western Michigan from 2013-16 and at Minnesota from 2017-19. He took the same position at Penn State in 2020. He was fired after one season. He spent 2021 with West Virginia as an offensive analyst. Minnesota and West Virginia play in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl this month. Ciarrocca agreed to take the job before bowl matchups were revealed. He will not coach in the bowl game.
UNDATED (AP) — Tennessee is back in the top 10 of the women’s AP Top 25 for the first time in nearly three years. The Lady Vols are No. 9. South Carolina remained a unanimous No. 1, with N.C. State, UConn, Stanford and Baylor rounding out the top five. Duke, LSU and Colorado all returned to the rankings this week for the first time in a few years. Oregon dropped out this week, ending a streak of 80 consecutive weeks in the poll.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska football star and 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers was in an Omaha hospital intensive care unit with COVID-19 and other complications. Business partner Denny Drake told The Omaha World-Herald that Rodgers was hospitalized Thanksgiving morning. Drake says the 70-year-old Rodgers seemed to improve after a few days, but took a turn for the worse last week and was placed in the ICU. Drake says Rodgers has since improved and is feeling much better.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Talks continue on whether and how to expand the four-team College Football Playoff. One of the proposals would expand the playoff to 12 teams. AP College Football Writer Ralph Russo says it is interesting to ponder what a 12-team format would have looked like this year with first-round games on campus and the four top seeds getting a bye until the second round. Those early games would have put Pittsburgh at Georgia; Michigan State at Notre Dame; Utah at Ohio State; and Oklahoma State at Ole Miss. The winners would advance to play Alabama, Michigan, Georgia and Cincinnati.
