ncaa Page 18 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Those seeking College Football Playoff clarity this weekend should think again
This year more than others in recent memory seems to have a lot of standout teams. It feels like the top 10 squads have evaded missteps that they might normally fall prey to. We saw the Tide escape against Texas A&M, Georgia overcome a brain fart against Mizzou, USC barely get by Oregon State, the V...

College Football Marty McFly Rankings Week 6: Tennessee, L.A. football, and Texas are all back
Like a poorly thought-through movie-to-TV series, it appears the Marty McFly rankings are on life support. The actor I hired to play Michael J. Fox’s character is no Michael J. Fox, the de-aging for Christopher Lloyd is too expensive, and the DeLoreans keep breaking down. Never mind that these are t...

The NFL could easily make its unnecessary roughness penalties more tolerable for the masses
Penalties that turned all of social media into Atlanta Falcons fans and made the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium even angrier than when they booed Unity in 2020 are not new. It only feels like the illegal contact to/with-the-head penalties are a result of the NFL being forced to admit the long-term effec...

Ranking the 12 NFL head coaches hired straight from the Power 5 college ranks since 2000
Dear NFL GMs and owners, you may want to think twice about hiring a head coach straight outta the college ranks. While there have been success stories — Jimmy Johnson going from the U to Big D being the best example — that really hasn’t been the case in this millennium. Matt Rhule is the latest flop...

The 10 most proficient cheaters in the history of sports
There are many forms of cheaters in sports, and often the dumbest of them get the press because they’re as close to dumb criminals as one gets — and everybody loves a dumb criminal. The 2000 Spanish Paralympic basketball team that won gold despite only two of the 12 players actually having a mental ...

In what multiverse could Shedeur Sanders win the Heisman?
Deion Sanders is a master of self-promotion. Whether it was his Primetime or Neon Deion personas, he is a bonified gridiron influencer. Those personas have blended these days into Coach Prime and his dad duties. The Jackson State coach’s new passion project has been building an HBCU powerhouse spear...

We should be trying to find ways to extend, not shorten, college football games
Since when did we start caring so much about the length of sporting events? MLB’s rush to shorten games seems like a direct response to society’s inability to be bored for any length of time. My favorite thing to do on the train in the morning is tally the people who aren’t looking at their phones a...

Portland Trail Blazers hired Chauncey Billups over Dawn Staley and Becky Hammon, who both won championships this year
Becky Hammon and Dawn Staley were literally right there. ...

It’s about time college football stopped leaning so hard on neutral-site games
In recent years, the NCAA has saved its best Week 1 college football matchups for neutral sites — mainly NFL stadiums....

Don’t celebrate just yet, SEC fans, there’s another independent who could claim a CFP bid
For the segment of college football fans who blackout with anger every time Notre Dame makes the College Football Playoff, this season could not have started better. Marcus Freeman’s team came up short against Ohio State and then stumbled trying to get back up against Marshall, and there’s really no...

Beware the YouTube footage of the transfer quarterback
A change of scenery doesn’t change a player’s DNA. Coaching staffs can alter the way a quarterback is used and improve his production, but the flaws will surface under intense stress. It’s like Tim Tebow’s throwing motion. The guy could have the footwork of Peyton Manning and the accuracy of Drew Br...

The D-List Week 1: The good, the bad, and the Uiagalelei
Welcome to the D-List. It’s the Deadspin Dean’s list for the absolute worst of the weekend in college football. The beauty of college football is that we witness raw football talent being molded every week before our very eyes. This is a list for the sloppy sculptures of talent out there, the gridir...

College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams in 2026
The College Football Playoff is expanding, finally. After a decade of a four-team tournament to determine the FBS national champion, the field is tripling starting by the 2026 season. Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the CFP Board of Managers approved the addition of eight teams to the annual postseason clas...

Florida A&M fiasco reminds us that college sports are professional sports
NIL is sensible. It was ridiculous that “amateur” athletes were not allowed to accept anything of financial value for their athletic talents, except for the fees to attend the institution so that they can play on the team and be properly housed and nourished so they can play well....

LeBron is manipulating the media for his sons' sake
LeBron is promoting the hell out of his newest passion project. It’s not a Spring Hill-Warner Bros. production, but it is the most personal aspect of his investment portfolio. For Sports Illustrated’s Daily Cover story on Tuesday, LeBron, flanked by his sons Bronny and Bryce, spoke to Chris Ballard,...

We’re on the precipice of the NCAA's death
Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But one day — and one day we’re all likely to still be alive for, depending on your cholesterol and financial status, because as we know, the rich die old and comfortable here. And it won’t be the complete end of the NCAA, as long as it holds the keys to the bask...

EA Sports College Football sounds like a logistical nightmare, but who cares
Congratulations are in order for Sam Keller, whom I specifically blame for costing college football fans years worth of entertainment from the video game by the same name. Now, he’ll just be remembered (forgotten?) as the shitty quarterback he was. The popular video game — EA Sports College Football...

We asked Leigh Steinberg if Myles Brennan will get to keep his NIL deals
After five years, a championship ring, two major injuries, three starts, an entry into the transfer portal, a coaching change, and an exit from the transfer portal, sixth-year LSU quarterback Myles Brennan announced on Monday that he would be stepping away from football permanently. ...

Decoldest Crawford’s first NIL commercial is wonderful
I know these days there are many people who start watching games a half hour late so they can fast forward past all the commercials, or spend their football Sundays watching seven hours of commercial-free football with Scott Hanson....

Hey Coach Cal, Kentucky isn’t just a basketball school anymore
Standing up for your program and athletes is commonplace for a college head coach, especially one with the pedigree of John Calipari. Coaching one of the royal bluebloods of college athletics in Lexington, with a lifetime contract no less, certainly skews his view of things from the mountaintop. A l...