NCAAF

Sep 1, 2022 Doug KezirianESPN Close ESPN Sports Betting Analyst Host of Daily Wager Behind The Bets podcast host The college football season began in earnest this weekend and what an opening night to greet gamblers. Thursday’s two main games (Penn State over Purdue and No. 17 Pitt over West Virginia) came down to the

6:30 PM ET ESPN staff Tired of waiting for the commissioners to make a decision about expanding the College Football Playoff, the 11 presidents and chancellors who comprise the CFP’s board of managers took control on Friday with a unanimous vote to expand the field to 12 teams in 2026. The presidents have strongly urged

3:08 PM ET Heather Dinich Close ESPN Senior Writer College football reporter Joined ESPN.com in 2007 Graduate of Indiana University Pete Thamel The College Football Playoff’s board of managers unanimously voted Friday to expand the CFP to 12 teams in 2026 but is encouraging the sport’s commissioners to try to implement it as soon as

7:57 AM ET Top-ranked Alabama kicks off its campaign Saturday as one of the biggest preseason national title favorites of the past 20 years. The Crimson Tide are around +180 to win the College Football Playoff at sportsbooks around the nation. Since 2001, only USC (+160) in 2005 and Alabama (+175) in 2018 had better

1:30 AM ET PITTSBURGH — Finally, blessedly, the Backyard Brawl returned to college football on Thursday night. Fans saw a game to tell their grandkids about, but were also reminded of the emotion, hatred and yes — profanity-laced chants — that go hand-in-hand with this lost rivalry. Eleven years separated the most recent matchup between

4:58 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN Kansas has extended the contract of football coach Lance Leipold by a year, sources told ESPN. Leipold’s first season was highlighted by a win at Texas, as the Jayhawks went 2-10 and showed tangible signs of progress. Leipold was hired in late April 2021, taking over one of the most

7:00 AM ET DAVE WANNSTEDT NEEDED his team to do some studying. The Pitt football coach was leading the 4-7 Panthers into the 2007 edition of the Backyard Brawl against No. 2 West Virginia in Morgantown as a 28.5-point underdog. But he wasn’t concerned with showing his players blitzes or screen passes. Instead, he showed

7:30 AM ET Week Zero and the Bottom 10 are a marriage made in confusing, loser heaven. Just where did Nebraska land after their Big Ten opening loss to Northwestern? And where do the annual Bottom 10 powerhouses rank in the preseason standings? Inspirational thought of the week: I can’t say that I’m sorryFor the

7:00 AM ET RALEIGH, N.C. — Ruffin McNeill steels himself before walking through the door to see his father. He has no idea whether it’s a good day or a bad day for “Pops,” but he will know soon enough. McNeill enters the nursing care facility in Lumberton, North Carolina, about an hour and a

7:00 AM ET College football is back, and talkin’ season is over. But boy, what a season of discontent it was. USC and UCLA set off another round of cataclysmic realignment discussions, announcing the plan to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten a year after Texas and Oklahoma declared their intentions to leave the

6:02 PM ET ESPN News Services Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders on Tuesday said in an Instagram video that his program and players are now “in crisis mode” when it comes to grappling with the multiple water problems that have afflicted Mississippi’s capital city in the past week. Parts of Jackson were without running

Aug 29, 2022 Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh referenced the Bible and Solomon when explaining his decision to use different starting quarterbacks in the team’s first two games. The eighth-ranked Wolverines will begin with Cade McNamara, who started at quarterback throughout last season, for this week’s opener against Colorado State. Sophomore J.J. McCarthy will make his

10:35 PM ET In their first public comments since a civil lawsuit was filed last week accusing former San Diego State punter Matt Araiza and two of his then-teammates of gang raping a 17-year-old girl last year, athletic director John David Wicker and football coach Brady Hoke reemphasized the university’s position that its response followed

7:30 AM ET Paolo UggettiESPN LIKE MANY STORIED FOOTBALL programs, USC attempts to overwhelm you with its history once you step on campus. Plaques filled with names of previous great players line the walkway toward the practice field named after former head coach Howard Jones alongside donor Brian Kennedy. Before every practice, players walk up

7:30 AM ET Matt Leinart is no longer the baby-faced quarterback leading USC to national championships. During a phone interview this summer, the 39-year-old who now works as a college football analyst for Fox was driving between appointments while trying to keep his kids quiet in the car. He could have said it wasn’t a

8:15 AM ET The NFL draft will take place in late April, and any player who has been at least three years removed from high school is eligible. But what if we had a draft featuring all college football players? We polled four writers — Andrea Adelson, David Hale, Adam Rittenberg and Alex Scarborough —

6:20 PM ET Associated Press RICHMOND, Ky. — Eastern Kentucky athletic director Matt Roan said football coach Walt Wells is hospitalized in stable condition after having a cardiac episode at work Sunday morning. Roan said in a statement Sunday night that Wells was in intensive care at UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital in Lexington. The

12:38 PM ET T.J. Finley has won Auburn‘s starting quarterback job. The Tigers open the 2022 season on Saturday against Mercer. The 6-foot-7, 250-pound Finley had been competing this preseason with Oregon transfer Robby Ashford and Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada for the starting job after Bo Nix transferred to Oregon this offseason. Finley started