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Published

2 years ago

on

1:57 PM ET

  • Associated Press

Michigan moved up to No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, with TCU at No. 3 and USC at No. 4 behind top-ranked Georgia after four top-10 teams lost on the final day of regular-season games.

The Bulldogs (12-0) are No. 1 for the eighth straight week and 11th time this season. Georgia received 58 first-place votes, and Michigan received the other five.

The Wolverines (12-0) reached a season-high No. 2 after beating Ohio State, which dropped the Buckeyes three spots to No. 5.

TCU (12-0) has its highest ranking since reaching No. 2 in the 2015 season, and USC has its best ranking this late in the season since finishing the 2016 season at No. 3.

Other top-10 teams to fall were LSU, Clemson and Oregon. LSU’s loss to Texas A&M dropped the Tigers five spots to No. 11. Clemson’s loss to South Carolina sent it falling three spots to No. 10. The Ducks’ fourth-quarter collapse against Oregon State cost Oregon a spot in the Pac-12 title game and five spots in the poll, where it fell to No. 15.

Alabama was No. 6, just ahead of Tennessee, which beat the Crimson Tide on a last-second field goal at home earlier this season.

No. 8 Penn State and No. 9 Washington both have their best rankings of the season. The Huskies haven’t been in the top 10 since the 2018 season, when they peaked at No. 6.

POLL POINTS

This was the eighth regular-season week since 2017 in which four top-10 teams lost, including the second this season. Three of those weeks occurred in 2017.

The last time five or more top-10 teams lost in the same regular-season week was Nov. 12, 2016, when all five lost to unranked opponents.

IN

• No. 23 UTSA (10-2) made its season debut in the AP Top 25. The Roadrunners reached the rankings last year for the first time in the short history of the program.

Texas-San Antonio became an FBS school in 2012. The defending Conference USA champions peaked at No. 15 last season and will head into a second straight C-USA title game ranked.

• No. 20 South Carolina (8-4) is back in the rankings after its second straight upset of a top-10 team. The Gamecocks beat Clemson on Saturday after taking down Tennessee last week. South Carolina was ranked for one week in October but then immediately lost to Missouri.

• No. 25 Mississippi State (8-4) returned to the rankings for the second time this season.

OUT

• Ole Miss (8-4) fell out of the rankings for the first time this season. The Rebels reached No. 7 after starting 7-0 but finished the season losing four of five.

• Cincinnati (9-3) is out again. The Bearcats have bounced in and out for most of the season. Losing to Tulane on Friday dropped them out again.

• Coastal Carolina dropped out after being routed by James Madison but still has a spot in the Sun Belt championship game next week.

CONFERENCE CALL

Pac-12: 6 (Nos. 4, 9, 12, 15, 16, 17)
SEC: 6 (Nos. 1, 6, 7, 11, 20, 25)
ACC: 3 (Nos. 10, 14, 24)
Big Ten: 3 (Nos. 2, 5, 8)
Big 12: 3 (Nos. 3, 13, 21)
American: 2 (Nos. 18, 22)
Conference USA: 1 (No. 23)
Independent: 1 (No. 19)

RANKED vs. RANKED

Championship week features five matchups of ranked teams:

• No. 11 LSU vs. No. 1 Georgia, SEC championship

• No. 3 TCU vs. No. 13 Kansas State, Big 12 championship

• No. 4 USC vs. No. 12 Utah, Pac-12 championship

• No. 10 Clemson vs. No. 24 North Carolina, ACC championship

• No. 18 Tulane vs. No. 22 UCF, American Athletic Conference championship

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Ohtani opens spring with solo HR in first at-bat

Published

6 hours ago

on

March 1, 2025

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Ohtani opens spring with solo HR in first at-bat

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Shohei Ohtani put any concerns about his surgically repaired left shoulder to rest with just one at-bat.

Ohtani crushed a full-count fastball from Yusei Kikuchi over the left-field fence in his first plate appearance this spring Friday night, staking the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0 advantage against the Los Angeles Angels.

Ohtani batted twice more, popping out to short in the second inning and striking out swinging in the fifth. He left the game after the fifth inning, as planned.

Friday’s home run comes after Ohtani underwent arthroscopic surgery in November to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder suffered when diving into second base during the World Series. The 30-year-old, who won his third Most Valuable Player award to cap a dream first season in which the Dodgers captured their eighth World Series title, had been cautious in his return, hoping to ensure he’s healthy for Los Angeles’ season-opening series against the Chicago Cubs in Japan on March 18.

When Ohtani ascended the dugout steps at 6:08 p.m. local time, fans greeted him with a cheer and watched him take three practice swings before stepping into the batter’s box accompanied by a louder ovation. He started the at-bat from Kikuchi, his countryman who joined the Angels this winter, by staring at a 95 mph fastball for a strike. Ohtani took a curveball for a ball, swung through another for a strike, stared at one more low and didn’t bite on an outside fastball before taking a 94 mph fastball into the Dodgers’ bullpen in left field.

Ohtani, in his second season with the Dodgers, continues to rehabilitate his right arm after a second Tommy John surgery, which caused him to not pitch in 2024. He is targeting a return to the mound in May.

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Tigers’ Vierling (shoulder) to miss Opening Day

Published

8 hours ago

on

February 28, 2025

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Tigers' Vierling (shoulder) to miss Opening Day

  • Field Level Media

Feb 28, 2025, 12:49 PM ET

Detroit Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling is nursing a strained right rotator cuff and will not be ready by Opening Day, manager A.J. Hinch said Friday.

The team announced that Vierling, 28, will complete a period of rest before being reevaluated for baseball activities.

Vierling batted .257 with career highs in homers (16), doubles (28), RBIs (57) and runs (80) in 144 games with the Tigers in 2024.

He is a career .259 hitter with 34 homers and 139 RBIs in 429 games with the Philadelphia Phillies (2021-22) and Tigers.

Detroit opens the season with a three-game road series against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers from March 27 to March 29.

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Phillies’ Harper back in lineup 2 days after HBP

Published

8 hours ago

on

February 28, 2025

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Phillies' Harper back in lineup 2 days after HBP

  • ESPN News Services

Feb 28, 2025, 10:59 AM ET

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Bryce Harper returned to the Philadelphia Phillies‘ lineup Friday, two days after getting hit on the arm by a pitch.

Harper hit second and went 2-for-3 with a strikeout while playing in his usual spot at first base against the Boston Red Sox in a 7-5 victory.

Harper had a bruise on his right arm after getting hit by a 92 mph pitch from Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Richard Lovelady. Manager Rob Thomson said that Harper had a scheduled day off Thursday and that the team was “not really overconcerned at all.”

Thomson told reporters the team’s initial diagnosis was a bruised right triceps.

The two-time National League MVP had entered play Friday still looking for his first hit of the spring. Harper was 0-for-2 with a walk in his three plate appearances in Grapefruit League play before Friday.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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