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There were no promises made to the Rose Bowl this week during negotiations that ultimately led to the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but the CFP said it recognizes the importance of the historic bowl’s traditional New Year’s Day time slot, and the Rose Bowl will continue to push for it in the next contract.

“There was no intention of keeping early entry into the expanded playoff from happening,” said Laura Farber, chair of the Rose Bowl Management Committee. “In our negotiations, we had initially asked for an exclusive window around the Rose Bowl Game’s historic time slot at 2 p.m. PT on January 1. While we relinquished that ask, the Tournament of Roses is going to continue to work with the CFP Board of Managers on how we will fit into that CFP playoff rotation. It’s our intent to keep the Rose Bowl Game on January 1, but we’ll remain flexible on scheduling as needed.”

The current 12-year contract runs through the 2025 season, and the Rose Bowl was the last organization to agree to what needed to be a unanimous decision to expand the field before the deal expired. Farber said there was typical “back and forth” in the negotiations this week and that “it wasn’t the smoothest process,” but they were “extremely pleased to have come to an agreement” with the CFP’s board of managers.

“We look forward to working with them as the new system is put together and developed, because that is still in process,” she said. “There’s several steps that still need to be taken as the structure of the expanded playoff is still finalized — not for 2025 and 2026 — but obviously going forward, and we look forward to being part of that process. It’s really premature to say what the schedule of the expanded playoff is going to look like. Nobody knows.”

The Rose Bowl will host the quarterfinals in 2024 and 2025 in its same historical time window and its existing television contract. CFP executive director Bill Hancock said there hasn’t been much discussion about the next contract, which will begin in 2026, and they will “address all the bowls on the same basis,” but there is an appreciation for the Rose Bowl’s traditional window, which is one of the most lucrative in all of sports.

“I would say that it would be in everyone’s best interest for any CFP that happens in the Rose Bowl to kick off around 2 p.m. PT,” he said. “We do know that the ’24 and ’25 quarterfinals will kick at 2ish Pacific. I have to emphasize that nothing is in place, nothing’s locked in, nothing is guaranteed for 2026 and beyond.”

That leaves the door open for future changes, including multiple broadcast partners in the next contract. ESPN is currently the sole rights holder for the CFP and has first rights to broadcast the additional games in the expanded format. Hancock said ESPN hasn’t yet informed the playoff if that’s its intention. In 2024 and 2025, the higher-seeded team will host the first round on campus. The New Year’s Six bowl games will host the quarterfinals, semifinals and national championship. Hancock didn’t eliminate the possibility of quarterfinal home games but declined to speculate.

“We’ll learn a lot in ’24 and ’25, there’s no doubt about that,” Hancock said. “I don’t want to speculate about what might change and what might not change. It’s way premature to address that, but I know we’re going to learn a lot about our event in the first couple of years.”

The 12-team format, though, doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.

Less than two hours after the CFP announced it will expand, a reporter asked the CFP executive director when it’s going to 16 teams.

Hancock didn’t flinch, saying the 12-team format is “solid, solid, solid in the minds of the presidents and the commissioners,” he said. “Solid. Did I say solid?”

“There hasn’t been any conversation about changing that,” he said. “I would be stunned if that were to change.”

Hancock said it’s too soon to speculate when the commissioners will need to determine the contract for 2026 and beyond.

“A lot of time and conversation went into the format that we have that you’re so familiar with, and everybody’s happy with,” he said. “We’re really not talking about 2026 yet.”

For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the four quarterfinal games and two semifinal games will be played in bowls on a rotating basis. The 2024 quarterfinals will take place in the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the semifinals. The 2025 quarterfinals will take place in the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl will host the semifinals.

The first round of the playoff in 2024 will take place the week ending Saturday, Dec. 21, at either the home field of the higher-seeded team or at another site designated by the higher-seeded school. (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7, and No. 9 at No. 8.)

Hancock said there’s no timetable for making a decision on specific dates for the games to be played, but they are cognizant the CFP is likely going to compete with the NFL for viewers.

“We’ll make it in conjunction with the television rights holder,” he said. “That’s our plan, is to the play the weekend [of Dec. 21], but I can’t really speculate about when we’ll get to that. These games are what, two years and one month away? On one hand, that’s not a lot of time to get ready for a new event. In the other sense, it’s plenty of time to decide things like game dates.”

Hancock said he believes the 12-team format will make the regular season more important, particularly in November, because there will be more teams in the conversation for the playoff.

“The game of college football is certainly very healthy,” Hancock said. “Look at the viewership. Look at the number of people in the stands. I think this 12-team tournament will only enhance that. When people ask me about 12, what is it about 12? For me, it’s one word — participation: More student-athletes will have a chance to compete for the national championship.”

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Buckeyes seize No. 1; LSU, Canes rise as Tide fall

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Buckeyes seize No. 1; LSU, Canes rise as Tide fall

Ohio State climbed to No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll on Tuesday, LSU and Miami moved into the top five, and Florida State jumped back into the rankings at the expense of Alabama, which plummeted to its lowest spot in 17 seasons.

The defending national champion Buckeyes received 55 of 66 first-place votes to move up two spots after their win over preseason No. 1 Texas. Ohio State is at the top of a regular-season poll for the first time since November 2015.

The Longhorns dropped to No. 7 as the media voters shuffled the rankings following a topsy-turvy Labor Day weekend. It was only the second time — and first since 1972 — that two top-five teams lost in Week 1 and the first time that four top-10 teams lost.

Only three teams in the Top 25 are in the same spot they were in the preseason poll.

Penn State got seven first-place votes and remained No. 2. LSU, which received three first first-place votes, was followed by Georgia and Miami to round out the top five.

Oregon got the other first-place vote and was followed by Texas, the Clemson Tigers, Notre Dame and South Carolina.

LSU jumped six spots after winning at Clemson and Miami got a five-rung promotion for its victory over Notre Dame.

The biggest movers in the poll were Florida State and Alabama after the Seminoles’ 31-17 victory in their head-to-head matchup.

The Seminoles, who were 15 spots outside the Top 25 in the preseason, are now No. 14. The Crimson Tide fell all the way from No. 8 to No. 21 — their lowest ranking since Bama was No. 24 in the 2008 preseason poll. That was the second of Nick Saban’s 17 teams in Tuscaloosa.

It’s been quite a turnabout for Florida State. The Seminoles were No. 10 in the 2024 preseason, lost their first two games, finished 2-10 and weren’t ranked again until now.

Utah, at No. 25, joins Florida State as the only newcomers to this week’s poll. The Utes are ranked for the first time since last October, when they were at the front end of a seven-game losing streak.

Utah had received the second-most points, behind BYU, among teams outside the preseason Top 25, but the Utes got more credit for beating UCLA on the road than the Cougars received for hammering FCS foe Portland State.

Boise State, which had been No. 25, received no votes following its 34-7 loss at South Florida. The Broncos had appeared in 14 straight polls.

The other team to drop out of the poll was No. 17 Kansas State, which followed up its season-opening loss to Iowa State with a last-minute home win over FCS team North Dakota.

Ohio State is the first team to take over the top spot in the first regular-season poll since Alabama in 2012. It was the biggest jump to No. 1 in the first regular-season poll since USC was promoted from No. 3 in 2008.

Texas’ fall was the biggest for a preseason No. 1 since Auburn dropped to No. 8 in the first regular-season poll of 1984.

LSU has its highest ranking after Week 1 since it was No. 3 in 2012, and Miami has its highest ranking after Week 1 since it was No. 5 in 2004.

South Carolina is in the top 10 in the regular season for the first time since it was No. 8 in December 2013.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC: 10 (Nos. 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)

Big Ten: 6 (Nos. 1, 2, 6, 11, 15, 23)

ACC: 4 (Nos. 5, 8, 14, 17)

Big 12: 4 (Nos. 12, 16, 24, 25)

Independent: 1 (No. 9)

RANKED VS. RANKED

No. 15 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma: This weekend’s game will be the first meeting since Oklahoma beat the Wolverines in the Orange Bowl to win the 1975 national championship. Wolverines freshman QB Bryce Underwood gets put to the test in his second start.

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Hold that, Tiger: Kelly asks if Dabo saw 2nd half

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Hold that, Tiger: Kelly asks if Dabo saw 2nd half

While Dabo Swinney isn’t inflating LSU‘s grade for beating his team in Saturday’s season opener, Brian Kelly is ready to give the Clemson coach an incomplete for his evaluation.

Both coaches weighed in Tuesday on how LSU’s 17-10 win at Clemson should be viewed. After trailing 10-3 at halftime, LSU outscored Clemson 14-0 in the second half and finished with significant edges in both total yards (354-261) and first downs (25-13).

LSU rose six spots to No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll Tuesday, while Clemson dropped four spots to No. 8.

“It was a helluva game, down to the last play,” Swinney said in his weekly news conference. “Right out of the gate. It’s like getting the final exam [on] Day 1 of class. They made a 65; we made a 58. Neither one of us were great.”

Kelly had not won a season opener at LSU before Saturday, and the victory was his first with the Tigers against an AP top-5 opponent.

“I thought we dominated them in the second half, so he’s really a really good grader for giving himself a 58, or he’s a really hard grader on us,” Kelly said in his news conference when told about Swinney’s comment.

“Or he didn’t see the second half, which, that might be the case. He might not have wanted to see the second half.”

Kelly added that LSU is moving on to this week’s game against Louisiana Tech.

“Clemson is a darn good football team,” Kelly said. “That’s a top-notch team, and they’re going to be a team in the hunt for [the] playoff picture. We hope we are, too. But it was only one game. So I don’t know if he’s a hard grader or an easy grader, but I like the way that we played in the second half.”

Clemson visits LSU to open the 2026 season.

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Venables: Michigan’s Underwood ‘a little different’

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Venables: Michigan's Underwood 'a little different'

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said Bryce Underwood “looks to be wise beyond his years” and compared Michigan‘s freshman quarterback to former Clemson national championship QB Trevor Lawrence on Tuesday ahead of the No. 18 Sooners’ Week 2 visit from the No. 15 Wolverines.

Underwood, ESPN’s No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class, will make his second career start at Oklahoma on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

The coveted freshman earned Michigan’s starting job at the end of fall camp, beating out a collection of experienced passers on the depth chart including offseason portal additions Mikey Keene (Fresno State) and Jake Garcia (East Carolina). Underwood delivered a smooth college debut against New Mexico in Week 1, completing 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown in Michigan’s 34-17 win.

At Oklahoma, Underwood is set to face a much stiffer challenge against Venables, who resumed control of the Sooners’ defensive playcalling ahead of the 2024 season, and an experienced defense that held Illinois State to 151 yards of total offense in Week 1.

The former Clemson defensive coordinator compared Underwood to Lawrence, the five-star quarterback prospect who started as a freshman in 2018 and led the Tigers to a national championship win over Alabama.

“He’s a little different,” Venables said of Underwood. “It reminds me a lot of a Trevor Lawrence. Quick. Decisive. Accurate. Poised. Tough. Consistent. There’s a reason he was the No. 1 player in America. And he’s got a maturity and a work ethic and leadership agility to go along with that.”

As Oklahoma seeks to rebound from a 6-7 finish last fall, a new-look Sooners offense will get a test of its own Saturday.

Behind transfer QB John Mateer and first-year offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, Oklahoma gained 495 yards of offense in its 35-3, season-opening win over Illinois State. Mateer, who arrived in the offseason from Washington State alongside Arbuckle, passed Baker Mayfield for the most passing yards by an Oklahoma QB in a debut with 392 yards.

On Tuesday, Venables highlighted the Wolverines’ experience on defense, particularly in the front seven, as a defining challenge for the Sooners in an intriguing Week 2 matchup between two of college football’s most storied brands.

“[It’s] a defense that for the last several years has been one of the gold standards of college football when it comes to playing good defense,” Venables said. “It’s going to be a great physical matchup, and for us, a great litmus test to where we’re at.”

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