Posts

The NCAA announced Friday it “could not conclude that the University of North Carolina violated NCAA academic rules” when it allowed its pupils, a group that included myriad student-athletes, to take Afro and African-American Studies “paper classes” that were deemed, for a lack of a better term, extremely easy. As the NCAA reasoned, players did reap the benefits of cupcake courses, but so did the general student body. So, the student-athletes, who may have taken the classes to remain eligible, didn’t receive special benefits due to their status, and thus ended a more than three-year investigation into academic fraud, the findings of which set college basketball Twitter on fire....

No. 1 Arizona beat Washington 71-62. The Wildcats are now 15-0 for the first time since 1932, the year Johnny Cash was born. Arizona now will enter a burning ring of fire next Thursday at UCLA, then Sunday at USC. MORE: Handicapping college basketball’s conference races No. 2 Syracuse beat Miami (Fla.) 49-44. The Orange (14-0) won their first ever ACC game, but it was far from easy. Trevor Cooney came in averaging 50 percent from 3-point land (43-for-86), but was just 2-for-12 on this day....

“Glory, glory, to old Georgia/Glory, glory, to old Georgia …” When the music stopped, Fromm took the rapid-fire questions at the College Football Playoff Media Day in rhythm, spinning one into the next one as reporters asked about the Bulldogs’ championship matchup with Alabama on Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. MORE: Georgia could join list of teams that win title in home state Fromm, like Alabama’s Jalen Hurts last season, is in position to become the first freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national championship since Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway in 1985....

The headliners this week include top-25 matchups between No. 25 Michigan State at No. 5 Ohio State, No. 14 Iowa and No. 19 Michigan and No. 7 Auburn and No. 10 Florida. Other games to key in on include an AAC matchup between one-loss UCF and Cincinnati and Utah State at LSU (seriously). MORE: SN’s Week 6 college football rankings Sporting News is 25-7 through four weeks of picks this season, including a cool 7-1 mark in Week 5....

Thank you, Sun Belt. Appalachian State beat No. 6 Texas A&M 17-14, and Marshall beat No. 8 Notre Dame 26-21. What does that mean for Sporting News’ College Football Playoff picture? The Irish are out. No two-loss team has made the CFP, and that’s a reality new coach Marcus Freeman will have to face in his first season. MORE: Five numbers from ND’s history-making loss to Marshall The Aggies are in huge trouble....

And Oklahoma and Iowa soldified their College Football Playoff status in two very different ways in a wild Week 6. We’re not counting out Alabama yet, of course, but if the field were filled this week, the Crimson Tide would be on the outside looking in. A narrow win over Florida, a narrow loss to Texas A&M and Alabama loses the benefit of the doubt with undefeated teams for now....

The CFB Playoff National Championship betting column on FanDuel Sportsbook showed a number of differences in many teams’ positionings and odds over the course of just a few hours. Most notably was perhaps the University of Cincinnati. At 4 p.m. ET, the 8-0 Cincinnati Bearcats were listed at +4000, the fifth-best odds in the country to win the national championship. By later in the evening, though, Cincinnati had dropped to the next spot at +5000 for what appeared to be no significant reason....

With that said, Sporting News has created a list of the best media outlets, personalities and coaches accounts that every college football fan should follow. MORE: College football rankings: SN’s preseason Top 25 for 2018 Here are the Twitter accounts you should follow for the best experience in 2018 — apart from Sporting News, college football writer Bill Bender and college football editor Zac Al-Khateeb, that is. Twitter accounts every CFB fan should follow in 2018: Writers/Reporters...

Jackson posted another gaudy stat line despite throwing the ball just 17 times in Louisville’s 52-7 win at Boston College on Saturday. MORE: Top 25 scores, stats His numbers on the day: 12 for 17 passing for 231 yards and four touchdowns, and 15 carries for 185 yards and three TDs. Jackson did turn the ball over twice — one interception and a fumble — but when your team scores seven touchdowns and you account for all of them, these things tend to be forgiven....

Let me share with you another trio of NCAAF picks that I believe will be easy against the spread winners to target in Week 5. MORE: Get the latest college football odds at Sportsbook Review Indiana vs. No. 25 Michigan State Opener: Michigan State -15.5 The Spartans bounced back after tough 10-7 loss to Arizona State with a dominant road win over Northwestern. Spartan quarterback Brian Lewerke threw three touchdowns, but the biggest touchdown was from running back Elijah Collins with just 0:24 seconds left in the first half to take a commanding 14-3 lead....

Titles are all on the line in each of the 10 FBS conferences and teams have one last chance to convince the College Football Playoff selection committee they deserve to be among the four programs competing for the national title later this month. The four teams heading to the CFP will be announced on the selection show on Sunday, which is broadcast on ESPN from 12 p.m. ET. The top four in the CFP rankings remained unchanged on Tuesday, with Ohio State topping the table for the second consecutive week ahead of LSU, and Clemson and Georgia at No....

While it’s true the polls no longer matter at this point of the season, it’s worth remembering that it’s still technically possible to win the AP national championship without having won the College Football Playoff (regardless of how slim those chances may be). MORE: SN bowl season college football rankings So what does that penultimate top 25 look like? LSU remains the top team in the Coaches Poll after downing Georgia 37-10 in the SEC championship game, while OSU remains No....

The school has a federal lawsuit pending against the administration over a Department of Housing and Urban Development requirement that prevents colleges from discriminating on the basis of gender identity. The school has reiterated that the gender directive goes against their Christian beliefs as well as their constitutional religious freedom protections. Activists in support of transgender rights praised President Joe Biden’s move. However, the College of the Ozarks says it forces the school to violate their religious beliefs by opening up female dorms to biological males, and vice versa....

“We are aware of an incident of alleged anti-Semitism and potential abuse of authority in the discharge of academic responsibilities on our campus,” university officials said in a letter to Hopkins Hillel, an on-campus Jewish organization, acquired by the College Fix. “While we are constrained in what we can share with you and others about matters such as these, we wish to assure you that we take seriously any and all allegations of discrimination, harassment, or other misconduct—including anti-Semitism,” the letter continued....

Arizona (49-23) and Coastal Carolina (54-18) are tied 1-1 in the best-of-three series and can take home the NCAA Baseball Tournament title with a win. MORE: The worst No. 1 MLB Draft picks of all time As they have throughout the tournament, the two teams will play at TD Ameritrade Park: When is the College World Series finals? Monday, June 27 Game 1: Arizona 3, Coastal Carolina 0 Tuesday, June 28...

In the span of 1:31, Sexton scored 11 points on his own, including three 3-pointers in the face of Brooklyn defenders. He finished the game with a career-high 42 points, five rebounds, five assists and just one turnover in 38 minutes as his Cavaliers beat the Nets 147-135. The performance came as the Nets played their first game with Irving, Durant and newly acquired James Harden on the floor together, spoiling a night in which Irving scored 37 points of his own....

“Although there are issues where I strong disagree with Mr. Becerra, I strong believe he merits confirmation as HHS secretary,” Collins said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the Department to achieve bipartisan results on behalf of American people.” Becerra’s confirmation process has been lengthy, causing Democrats and advocates to feel increasingly urgent about assigning a leader to address pressing issues such as school reopenings and the worsening immigration situation at the nation’s southwest border....