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That is par for the course for what has been an unprecedented college football season played through the COVID-19 pandemic. Several teams have accepted bowl bids, and SMU will play UTSA in the Tropical Care Smoothie Bowl on Saturday. MORE: Eight College Football Playoff scenarios That is the start of what promises to be a bowl season that will include teams opting out and bowl ties being tested from now until the College Football Playoff championship game....

But it’s all about quality, not quantity: No. 23 Tennessee heads to No. 24 Florida, while No. 3 Clemson and No. 14 Louisville battle it out in another potential ACC-deciding game. Of course, there’s also that little rematch of the 2006 Rose Bowl between No. 4 USC and Texas. MORE: Week 3 picks against the spread Sporting News offers its picks for those games and more this week: We’re 13-3 on the season after going 6-2 in Week 2....

This year, the College Football Playoff semifinals will be played on Dec. 29 at the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl Classic. The College Football Playoff championship game will be played on Monday, Jan. 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. MORE: SN’s preseason top 25 rankings Who will challenge for the national championship? Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Ohio State lead the gang of usual suspects, but it’s anyone’s game....

There’s still a long way until that final set of College Football Playoff rankings on Dec. 3, but that won’t stop the arguments after Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and Clemson took the top four spots heading into Week 10. Things will play out on the field, but the playoff committee dropped some not-so-subtle clues about how it might play out the next month. Here are five overreactions from the first set of rankings: 1....

There were other fan bases, however, that will see a quarterback who put off professional aspirations for a year to play another season of college football. None of these players projected as first-round picks, but they would have been evaluated and some possibly drafted. The opportunity to put another year of play on video, in addition to the chance to earn significant money through Name, Image and Likeness resulted in a strong group of QBs who passed on the draft and will play on Saturdays next fall....

How do you construct Sporting News’ Top 25 rankings? It’s not just about which players are back. It’s about which players are going through the transfer portal, which had a significant impact on this offseason. It’s about which coaches changed jobs. How do NIL and recruiting figure into picking the best teams for the College Football Playoff? That’s the challenge, but we came up with the same-old answers. Alabama leads SN’s Preseason Top 25 rankings, and the Crimson Tide is followed by familiar favorites in Ohio State at No....

The Crimson Tide, ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 Poll, begins its season on the road against Missouri, while No. 6 LSU welcomes Mississippi State and No. 4 Georgia takes on Arkansas on the road. Meanwhile, No. 1 Clemson has a bye after thrashing The Citadel 49-0 to improve to 2-0 and No. 7 Notre Dame travels to take on Wake Forest. Trevor Lawrence completed eight of nine attempts for 168 yards and three touchdowns, while Travis Etienne rushed for 68 yards over eight carries as the Tigers put the game against The Citadel to bed by scoring all their 49 points in the first half....

If so, it will likely come in the form of an upset, as there are only three games between top-25 teams: No. 8 Tennessee at No. 25 LSU, No. 11 Utah at No. 18 UCLA and No. 17 TCU at No. 19 Kansas, the “College GameDay” game of the week. Elsewhere, Nick Saban — potentially without starting quarterback Bryce Young — will take on Texas A&M after his and Jimbo Fisher’s public feud over the offseason....

Several teams faced potentially fatal setbacks to their College Football Playoff hopes over Thanksgiving weekend, including in the Pac-12 and Big Ten. The biggest loser was Northwestern, which followed up an impressive win over previously unbeaten Wisconsin with a dud of a game against Michigan State, dropping the Wildcats to 5-1 on the season. They were hardly the only loser out of the Big Ten, however: Ohio State was forced to cancel its game against Illinois due to a COVID-19 outbreak....

The conference on Saturday unveiled (for the third time) its 2020 football schedule, adding to the pool of teams voters can rank in the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll. That’s certainly good news for teams such as Ohio State (No. 10 in the Coaches Poll), Penn State (No. 13) and Wisconsin (No. 17), but less so for teams such as Kentucky, Baylor and Army, who all dropped from the Coaches Poll despite not suffering a loss....

It was a result inside Notre Dame Stadium that snapped over 12 months of futility for the Cardinal against FBS competition. And it produced this remarkable stat, courtesy of ESPN’s Chris Fallica. So the Irish have given us two of the biggest point-getters here in our contest this year, but our panel did not see either in advance. The Underdog Challenge scoring system is as follows – your underdog must win outright....

The school released a statement Wednesday saying it was from the members of the Cougars men’s basketball team this season. Wojcik was fired by school President Glenn McConnell on Tuesday for cause. Wojcik, 50, has apologized to those he hurt emotionally or offended. A 50-page report done by the school contained summaries of interviews with Wojcik and 26 others — including 10 anonymous players and five anonymous employees — who are current and former players and assistant coaches, college staffers and athletic director Joe Hull....

There is no certainty about what solutions those populating the NCAA’s “constitutional convention” in November will pursue, but there have been suggestions from many in college sports. Mike Brey, head men’s basketball coach at Notre Dame, resides in that community and has an idea for the 22 men and women who will gather. “When they meet to rewrite the NCAA rulebook and everything, OK, let’s start with this: Don’t fool around with the Tournament,” Brey told Sporting News....

Out of the eight-team bracket that unfolded from the Super Regional, two teams remain. Arizona (48-22) and Coastal Carolina (53-17) will compete in the ultimate best-of-three series to determine this year’s NCAA Baseball Tournament champion. MORE: The worst No. 1 MLB Draft picks of all time As they have throughout the tournament, the two teams will play at the TD Ameritrade Park, and Monday marks the 15th game of the tournament overall....

Ochoa and his girlfriend were driving a rental car to a friend’s wedding rehearsal when the Apple Maps led them to Favret’s driveway in an area named the Elk Ridge Estates. Not seeing any other cars around, Ochoa backed his vehicle out of the driveway and then contacted their friends to help navigate them to the rehearsal. Unbeknownst to the driving couple, however, pulling into the driveway triggered an alarm that alerted Favret to the car in front of his home....

Polis said during a news conference his mask order will go into effect at midnight. He previously resisted calls from the state’s Democratic lawmakers to require residents to wear face coverings and said during a news conference last week that he doubted residents were waiting for an executive order to don a mask. The Democratic governor said recent coronavirus data reflecting the pandemic’s progress in the swing state necessitated a policy change....

“I have zilch,” said Pagano when asked about an update on Luck. Pagano added that if Luck is cleared for game action and can get some practices in, he will play in the regular-season finale against the Titans. MORE: Best photos from NFL Week 15 | Broncos’ Bruton played with a broken fibula The Colts (6-8) have gone 2-3 since Luck suffered a lacerated kidney on Nov. 8, but are still in the running for the AFC South title and an automatic playoff berth....

While Andrew Luck has had a sub-par game, he recorded the biggest touchdown of the game, recovering a Donald Brown fumble at the goal line. He got lucky. There, I said it. MORE: Wild Card to Super Bowl | Wild Card live blog | Jamaal Charles injury While the Colts' furious rally might not be on the same page as the Buffalo Bills' legendary playoff comeback against the Houston Oilers, it's still something....

Indianapolis is signing the 33-year-old QB to a three-year, $12 million deal, according to NFL Network, which cites unidentified league sources. The Colts were thrown for a loop when Andrew Luck unexpectedly retired late last month, making Jacoby Brissett the team’s starter. While Brissett did throw for 3,098 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Colts when Luck sat out the 2017 season, Hoyer will be a nice insurance policy behind him....