
Leaving Arizona: Everything you need to know about the Coyotes moving to Salt Lake City
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11 months agoon
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Apr 15, 2024, 07:35 AM ET
The Arizona Coyotes are on the verge of relocating to Salt Lake City.
The NHL board of governors has to approve the transaction, but all signs point to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith acquiring the beleaguered franchise, which began its run in the desert back in 1996 following relocation from Winnipeg.
News about the Coyotes’ move hit hyperspeed in the past week after multiple reports of the NHL preparing two different schedules, one with the team in Arizona and another with the team in Utah. The news came just days after the Coyotes had released images of the new arena they hoped to build outside of Phoenix.
What happened? Why is the team moving now, after several other instances in which it should have but didn’t relocate? Here’s the full picture, as we understand it, regarding the past, present and future of the Arizona Coyotes, courtesy of ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski.
Why Utah?
While the Salt Lake City market has intrigued the NHL, the league’s decision to bring a team to that market is tied to having a deep-pocketed owner that wants one, and an arena ready to house one.
Ryan and Ashley Smith, owners of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, have been seeking an NHL team for a few years. In January, Smith Entertainment Group formally requested that the NHL initiate an expansion process and bring a team to Salt Lake City.
“The Utah expression of interest has been the most aggressive and has carried a lot of energy with it,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said at the NHL All-Star Game in February.
Ryan Smith had spent several years building a level of trust with Bettman. He had an arena in Delta Center, home of the Jazz, that had hosted NHL exhibition games. Smith told the NHL there would be renovations to make Delta Center more hockey-friendly if he was ever awarded a franchise.
Smith said in January he didn’t care how he acquired the team, saying: “Our goal is NHL in Utah. And I’ll leave the rest up to Gary.” But an NHL source told ESPN that Smith’s preference was to have an expansion team in Utah — and along with it, the chance to build one through an expansion draft.
His willingness to forgo that and accept a relocation was a key factor in the Coyotes moving to Salt Lake City.
Beyond the building and the owner, the NHL believes it’s a market with a ton of potential for hockey. It’s a winter sports town, and one that’s expected to host the 2034 Winter Olympics — a bid that could produce a new arena for the Jazz and the new NHL team. Salt Lake City has also been experiencing an economic boom: a 2024 report by the Milken Institute ranked Salt Lake City fourth among 403 U.S. cities in growth of jobs, wages and high-tech industry.
Like Arizona, having a team in Utah also fits nicely with the location of several other U.S.-based franchises in the Western Conference. — Wyshynski
How is the transaction going to work?
If approved, multiple sources told ESPN that Smith will pay between $1.2 and $1.3 billion for the team. Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo will receive $1 billion. The rest of the NHL’s owners will split between $200-$300 million as a relocation fee paid by Smith.
Sources have indicated that the total transaction is a complicated one, as it’s not a typical relocation. It’s expected the NHL will buy the Coyotes from Meruelo and sell what’s essentially a clean slate new team to Smith, who will retain the Coyotes’ players and hockey operations staff in the transaction.
This will allow Meruelo the chance to “restart” the Coyotes down the line.
Sources told ESPN that satisfying Meruelo was a key to the transaction. There was concern within the league as far back as NHL All-Star Weekend that Meruelo could wage a prolonged legal battle over relocation if the NHL decided it wanted the franchise moved, due to uncertainty about the Coyotes’ arena plans.
One way to satisfy Meruelo was to give him around $1 billion in the transaction. But Meruelo still wanted to own an NHL team in Arizona and still planned on building an arena for one. So the NHL had to find a creative way to keep the door open for Meruelo in Arizona while moving the current incarnation of the Coyotes.
Meruelo is still seeking to win an auction for a 95-acre parcel of land in north Phoenix, where he intends to build an arena, a practice facility, a theater, housing units and retail. The auction for that land is set for June 27.
It’s the latest arena plan for the team, which has been seeking a permanent home since the city of Glendale terminated its lease with the Coyotes at Gila River Arena following the 2021-22 season. The Coyotes moved to Mullett Arena while seeking an arena solution in Tempe. The Coyotes believed they had one with a 16,000-seat arena in a proposed $2.1 billion entertainment district, but voters rejected that plan in May 2023.
It was after the Tempe vote failed that the NHL began considering its options with Arizona. The league supported Meruelo’s attempt at winning the land auction and building his arena, but questions surrounding its eventual completion were numerous. That included cost, infrastructure and timeline — the Coyotes said shovels wouldn’t be in the ground until 2025, which meant the team would play in Mullett Arena until 2027, if not longer.
Thus, Bettman and the NHL came up with an ingenious way to satisfy their concerns and Meruelo’s needs. It’s expected that the final transaction will include a clause that allows Meruelo to “reactivate” the franchise as an expansion team — paying what’s expected to be a $1 billion expansion fee if that happens — between now and 2029 if his arena project is completed.
All of the team’s intellectual property — including those iconic Kachina jerseys — would remain with Meruelo. It’s an agreement that evokes the deal made with the city of Cleveland when the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1995.
If the project is completed, the NHL can return to a market where it clearly wants to have a team — witness the constant fights to “save” the Coyotes since their bankruptcy in 2009 — and have a state-of-the-art arena ready for an expansion team. If the project doesn’t come to pass, Meruelo walks away with $1 billion for having let the Coyotes move to Utah. — Wyshynski
Are all of the players, coaches and staff going to join the new franchise?
Every NHL team has personnel decisions they must consider in the offseason, and that would have been the case for the Coyotes whether they stayed in Arizona or relocated to Salt Lake City.
Per Cap Friendly, the team has 13 players who are under contract for next season. It’s a group that includes forwards such as Nick Bjugstad, Logan Cooley, Lawson Crouse, Clayton Keller, Matias Maccelli and Nick Schmaltz. Cooley was the third pick of the 2022 draft and is part of a core of homegrown players that includes Josh Doan, Dylan Guenther, Keller and Maccelli, among others.
They have three pending unrestricted free agents, including defenseman Travis Dermott, who could re-sign with the team or head elsewhere. They also have seven restricted free agents who are in need of a new contract. Five of those RFAs are defensemen, such as Sean Durzi, J.J. Moser and Juuso Valimaki.
All those players under contract could either remain with the franchise or get traded elsewhere, which is a scenario that every NHL franchise faces in the offseason.
Still, relocated teams go through changes, which was the case when the Atlanta Thrashers became the Winnipeg Jets after the 2010-11 season.
Of the 38 players that played at least one game for the Thrashers, there were 23 that remained with the club during their inaugural campaign in Winnipeg. It’s a group that included Nik Antropov, Dustin Byfuglien, Evander Kane, Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler.
Atlanta’s transition to Winnipeg also saw changes with the coaching staff and the front office. The Thrashers hired Craig Ramsay at the start of their last season in Atlanta only to have the team’s new ownership group move on from Ramsay and hire Claude Noel, who was the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks‘ AHL affiliate that was already in Winnipeg (the Manitoba Moose).
The Thrashers also hired Rick Dudley as their general manager in April 2010, but he was gone by June 2011. He was replaced with Kevin Cheveldayoff, who has been the only general manager the franchise has known since its time in Winnipeg.
So what’s the situation with the current coaching staff and front office that’s in place?
Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny is about to finish his third season with the club. Back in August, he signed a three-year extension, with general manager Bill Armstrong saying at the time, “He is an excellent coach, leader and communicator who has helped us establish a tremendous culture in our dressing room. Our players like him, respect him and compete hard for him.”
The club also signed assistant coach Mario Duhamel and goaltending coach Corey Schwab to multiyear extensions just days after announcing Tourigny’s new deal.
Less than a month later, the club announced it had signed Armstrong to a multiyear extension. Armstrong has been with the club for four seasons and has overseen an organization that has worked to develop one of the stronger farm systems in the NHL. Back in February, the team also gave contract extensions to director of amateur scouting Darryl Plandowski and associate director of amateur scouting Ryan Jankowski. — Clark
What are Coyotes players saying? What are other teams’ players saying?
The team’s players have been guarded publicly with their comments so far, waiting to learn more about how official the situation would become before opening up. They had, after all, answered questions when rumors of the franchising relocating cropped up in years past.
“We’ve just tried to focus on hockey and since I’ve played in Arizona, there’s always been a lot of rumors, so we try to do as best we can to try and focus on hockey,” Keller said. “It was definitely in our heads. You can say it’s not a distraction, but buddies, family, people are always texting and keep putting it in your head. [Tourigny] said we had another opportunity to deal with the same thing and learn from our past mistakes.”
Auston Matthews never suited up for the Coyotes. But if it weren’t for that Arizona-based team, the Scottsdale-raised Matthews may never have believed in pursuing the sport as a kid — a decision that’s led to Matthews becoming a first-overall pick, Hart Trophy winner and Rocket Richard winner as one of the league’s most prolific scorers.
He weighed in on a potential move by the Coyotes prior to the news this weekend that a change was imminent.
“Obviously, selfishly, growing up there with them was a big part of me getting into hockey,” Matthews said Thursday. “I’d love for them to figure it out, but you kind of understand the position the NHL’s in as well.”
Maple Leafs rookie Matthew Knies is another one of the few Arizona-bred players in the NHL, and expressed his disappointment last week about the Coyotes potentially moving elsewhere.
“Not too happy with the situation,” Knies said. “It’s pretty unfortunate. The Coyotes did a lot for me growing up, and I loved going to the games. It was a big reason as to why I got into hockey. But that kind of situation is out of my control. I’m hopeful that they can stay there, because it meant a lot to me, but I guess we’re going to have to see what happens.”
If it weren’t for the Coyotes, Knies said he might not have pursued playing hockey. Naturally he was concerned losing an NHL team in that area will impact how other kids view their opportunity in the sport, and was hopeful the Coyotes would stick.
“When I was growing up, [Arizona] wasn’t the hockey hotbed Colorado or Chicago or Detroit was,” he said. “But it was definitely growing, and you could see the potential there. The Coyotes were a big part of that, and so it’s definitely gotten a lot better. I know a lot of kids are starting to pick up a hockey stick now, and it’s just really good to see. So, again, hope they can stay there.” — Shilton
Will it be the Utah Coyotes, or a new team identity?
Even if there are actual coyotes in the state of Utah, it appears as if there is going to be a new name for the franchise.
Smith, who is also a co-owner of Real Salt Lake in MLS and the Utah Royals in the NWSL, took to social media on April 8 asking, “If an NHL team were to come to Utah, what should we name it?” The question was then followed by a link to a survey.
As of Saturday, the survey was no longer active.
Smith’s post on X generated more than 3 million views and over 1,000 responses. Some of the proposed team names were serious suggestions, while others were a bit more sardonic.
There were some who suggested the new team be called the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, an homage to the professional team that was there from 1969 through 1994 before they left town to become the Detroit Vipers.
Others suggested some winter-themed names such as the Utah Blizzard or the Utah Yeti. But there were some who wondered if that would work given that the Colorado Avalanche are in a neighboring state and have similar elements in their name and uniform design.
A few people chimed in with ideas such as the Utah Buzz, the Utah Hive, the Utah Stingers, the Utah Swarm and the Salt Lake City Swarm. Those are all nods to the state’s extensive relationship with bees. One of Utah’s nicknames is “The Beehive State.” The Western honey bee is the official insect of Utah, while a beehive is featured on the state flag, the state seal and Utah State Route road signs.
And yes, there were some who suggested that they keep Coyotes given there are coyotes in the state. But as noted above, the deal between Meruelo and the NHL is that Meruelo will be able to retain the team name and intellectual property in the hopes of “reactivating” the Coyotes franchise in the future.
There’s also the recent historical precedent that’s been set with relocated NHL teams and changing names. Five of the past six relocated teams have changed their names to something that was more regional in nature.
For example, the Colorado Rockies became the New Jersey Devils while the Quebec Nordiques turned into the Colorado Avalanche. It was the same for when the original Winnipeg Jets became the Coyotes, the Hartford Whalers were changed to the Carolina Hurricanes and the Atlanta Thrashers became the Winnipeg Jets once the NHL came back to Manitoba.
The only team of those six to relocate and keep part of its original name was when the Minnesota North Stars relocated to become the Dallas Stars. The franchise kept “Stars” due to Texas being known as “The Lone Star State.” — Clark
Where will the team play? Will it get a new arena in the future?
The plan right now is for the Utah team to play out of the Delta Center, a facility owned by Smith that is home to the NBA’s Jazz.
However, as ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported, sources have said the NHL told the Smiths there are hockey-specific upgrades needed at Delta Center if it were to become the team’s permanent home.
The venue has hosted preseason NHL games in each of the past four seasons — primarily between L.A. and Vegas — but the current layout would limit sightlines for NHL games and prohibit the Smiths from selling the arena to 18,206-seat capacity (only 10,420 seats were sold for those NHL preseason games).
Given the limited amount of time before puck drop of the 2024-25 season, it’s not as if the Smiths would be expected to completely overhaul their facility overnight. But some alterations will be possible over the summer and more changes could be carried out in the next offseason.
Smith has government support on that front thanks to a bill passed in the Utah State Senate to help fund a renovated entertainment district downtown. That was in anticipation of an NHL franchise potentially relocating there, something to which Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has expressed — and had already given — his approval prior to the weekend’s news. — Shilton
What’s the future of the NHL in Arizona?
The NHL has never wavered about how it values the Arizona market. The league likes the population size, its television audience and its geography in relation to other U.S. teams in the Western Conference. There’s also been a significant youth hockey boom in that market during the franchise’s time in Arizona. NHL players like the Maple Leafs’ Matthews and Knies grew up rooting for the Coyotes.
Bettman has called the Coyotes “a victim of circumstance” when it comes to their struggles in the market, through ownership issues and their arena plights.
“We believe Arizona and particularly the greater Phoenix area is a good NHL market and a place we want to be,” he said in May 2023.
While leaving the door open for Meruelo to own an expansion franchise in a new arena was clearly a way to satisfy him in the relocation gambit, the fact remains that the NHL appears committed to bringing an expansion team back to Arizona. Bettman has been steadfast in saying that the NHL is not currently in an expansion mode, but cities like Houston and Atlanta are also showing significant interest. — Wyshynski
Timeline of the NHL’s Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes (1995-2024)
1995: The Winnipeg Jets are sold to Minnesota businessmen Steven Gluckstern and Richard Burke, who intended to move them to Minneapolis-St. Paul for the 1996-97 season. After being unable to work out a lease agreement in the Twin Cities, they instead opted to move the team to Phoenix.
1996: The now-Phoenix Coyotes play in America West Arena, home of the NBA’s Suns, in a facility that was suboptimal for hockey. Players on that inaugural team included Keith Tkachuk, Jeremy Roenick, Hall of Famer Mike Gartner, goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and Shane Doan, who played his rookie season with the Jets and then 20 seasons with the Coyotes.
2001: Burke, now the primary owner, sells the Coyotes to an ownership group that includes Phoenix-area developer Steve Ellman and NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, who was a part-owner and the team’s new president of hockey operations.
2003: After attempts to further retrofit America West Arena and build a new building in Scottsdale failed, Ellman turned his attention to West Valley. In 2001, he signed a lease agreement with the city of Glendale to build a new arena. On Dec. 27, 2003, the Coyotes played their first game at Glendale Arena, beginning a run of 18 seasons there. As attendance for the team fell from a high of 15,582 tickets distributed per game in 2005-06 to just 11,989 in 2009-10, the arena’s location away from where many Coyotes fans lived became a point of criticism.
2005: Jerry Moyes, a trucking magnate who was also a part-owner of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks, buys the Coyotes from Ellman. Gretzky becomes head coach of the team, a position he held for four seasons without a playoff berth.
2006: The Coyotes were set to host the 2006 NHL All-Star Game, which never happened due to the NHL players’ involvement in the 2006 Winter Olympics. The Coyotes would never host an All-Star Game or draft in their time in Arizona.
2009: Media reports revealed that the Coyotes were hemorrhaging money and being propped by up by the NHL. In May, Moyes put the team into bankruptcy with the intention of having Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, former CEO of BlackBerry creator Research In Motion, relocate the team to Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. The NHL stripped Moyes of his ownership authority. In bankruptcy hearing, the NHL put in a bid against that of Balsillie and argued that this bid, if accepted by the court, would have circumvented NHL rules. The court sided with the NHL, which took over the team and sought a new owner that would keep the franchise in Arizona.
2012: Under coach Dave Tippett, the Coyotes win their only division title and make their only conference final. After qualifying for the playoffs in their first four seasons in Phoenix, the Coyotes would make the playoff tournament only four times before relocating.
2013: After close calls with potential owners like Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Chicago investor Matt Hulsizer, former San Jose Sharks owner Greg Jamison and “Ice Edge Holdings,” the NHL finally unloaded the Coyotes to an ownership collective called IceArizona and Renaissance Sports and Entertainment for a reported $225 million. That came with a 15-year lease with the city of Glendale that ended speculation that the team would relocate to Seattle.
2014: The team rebrands as the Arizona Coyotes. IceArizona sells a controlling interest in the Coyotes to hedge fund manager Andrew Barroway.
2015: The Glendale City Council votes 5-2 to end its 15-year agreement for the Coyotes to manage and play at Gila River Arena, opting for short-term leases at a reduced rate for the city.
2016: The Coyotes announce plans for an arena in Tempe for the 2019-20 season that would have created facilities for the Arizona State University hockey team. ASU pulls out of the deal in 2017.
2019: Barroway sells the majority of the Coyotes to billionaire Alex Meruelo, the first Latino owner in the NHL. Meruelo takes full control of the team in 2023.
2021: The city of Glendale and the Gila River Arena choose not to renew their operating agreement with the Coyotes beyond the 2021-22 season.
2022: The Coyotes move to Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat facility on the campus of ASU and home to the school’s men’s hockey team, signing a three-year lease with options that carried through 2027. The team and the NHL called it a temporary move while the Coyotes attempted to secure a new arena site.
2023: Meruelo’s proposal to turn a Tempe landfill into a $2.1 billion arena and entertainment complex is defeated in a public vote, a result that was shocking for the franchise and the NHL. Bettman called it “terribly disappointing” and said “we are going to review with the Coyotes what the options might be going forward.”
2024: While Coyotes fans and players prepared for the team to bid on a parcel of land near Phoenix for a potential new arena in the summer, the possibility arose of Meruelo selling the franchise, with the NHL and the Smith Entertainment Group relocating it to Salt Lake City. — Wyshynski
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Sports
Crowning a champion in our 64-team college football bracket
Published
1 hour agoon
March 18, 2025By
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Chris LowMar 18, 2025, 07:12 AM ET
Close- College football reporter
- Joined ESPN.com in 2007
- Graduate of the University of Tennessee
By this time in any postseason, talent and depth typically rise to the top.
Now that we’re down to the Sweet 16 in our 2025 mock NCAA football tournament, that’s apparent with 11 of the 16 teams coming from either the Big Ten or SEC.
All four No. 1 seeds are still alive, and No. 12 seed Memphis has engineered two upsets to get this far. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik, LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker all played starring roles in the first two rounds, and Ryan Silverfield has Memphis riding an eight-game winning streak.
To recap, the original seeds were based to a large degree on ESPN’s latest SP+ projections entering the 2025 season, although seeds are a moot point as we tee it back up.
Time to finish the tournament. And the best news? There’s no blaming anything on a committee.
Midwest Regional
Semifinals
(1) Ohio State 28, (5) BYU 23: How do you cover Buckeyes receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate? It’s a question teams asked all season. The Cougars do their best to keep Smith from torching them, but Tate does most of the damage with eight catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
(3) Tennessee 34, (2) Oregon 32: The Vols get back to their explosive ways on offense in 2025 with quarterback Nico Iamaleava making a big jump in his third year on campus. Oregon matches that explosiveness with Evan Stewart pulling in two acrobatic catches, leading to a late touchdown. The Ducks get the ball back, but an Arion Carter sack seals the game for Tennessee.
Regional final
(1) Ohio State 31, (3) Tennessee 21: The Vols get another shot at the Buckeyes after getting blown out in Columbus last season in the first round of the playoff. This game is much closer, and Tim Banks’ Tennessee defense holds up most of the way. But the same guy who wreaked havoc on the Vols a year ago does it again. Smith has two of his three touchdown catches in the second half to lead Ohio State to its 10th straight win.
How we got here
First round
(1) Ohio State over (16) Boston College
(2) Oregon over (15) UCF
(3) Tennessee over (14) Pittsburgh
(4) South Carolina over (13) North Carolina
(5) BYU over (12) Colorado
(11) Kentucky over (6) Louisville
(7) TCU over Georgia Tech
(9) Arkansas over (8) Boise State
Second round
(1) Ohio State over (9) Arkansas
(2) Oregon over (7) TCU
(3) Tennessee over (11) Kentucky
(5) BYU over (4) South Carolina
South Regional
Semifinals
(5) Illinois 27, (1) Texas 24: The shocker of the tournament so far, but don’t tell that to Illinois coach Bret Bielema. In his fifth season at Illinois, he had a good feeling about this team all along. The Illini returned 18 starters from their bowl team a year ago, and the two stars on defense, outside linebacker Gabe Jacas and cornerback Xavier Scott, play like stars against a Texas offense that never finds any rhythm.
(2) Notre Dame 31, (3) Miami 20: The infamous “Catholics vs. Convicts” T-shirts are reintroduced to the college football world, and that’s what everybody is talking about in the buildup to this game. Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore steals the show with interceptions in each half, the final one leading to the clinching touchdown for the Irish.
Regional final
(2) Notre Dame 28, (5) Illinois 21: Jeremiyah Love’s development and toughness epitomized Notre Dame’s run to the semifinals last year. He’s even more of a factor this year, and his ability to make big plays and earn the tough yards against a stout Illinois defense is the difference in this Elite Eight matchup. Love’s tackle-breaking 8-yard touchdown run gives the Irish the lead for good and caps a 138-yard rushing night.
How we got here
First round
(1) Texas over (16) Maryland
(2) Notre Dame over (15) California
(3) Miami over (14) Kansas
(4) Florida over (13) James Madison
(5) Illinois over (12) N.C. State
(11) Virginia Tech over (6) Iowa
(7) USC over (10) Minnesota
(8) Texas Tech over (9) Utah
Second round
(1) Texas over (8) Texas Tech
(2) Notre Dame over (7) USC
(3) Miami over (6) Virginia Tech
(5) Illinois over (4) Florida
East Regional
Semifinals
(1) Penn State 35, (12) Memphis 17: Memphis’ improbable run to the Sweet 16 comes to a crushing end as Penn State builds a 21-3 lead, then tees off defensively on a Memphis offense that has to resort to throwing the ball on just about every down. Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen each rush for more than 100 yards for the Nittany Lions, who finish with 290 yards on the ground as a team.
(2) Alabama 27, (3) Michigan 23: In a rematch of the Rose Bowl two years ago (Nick Saban’s final game), Alabama gets a little revenge for its old coach. The Crimson Tide are held to a single touchdown in the first half, but the defense keeps them in it. Trailing 20-17 entering the fourth quarter, Alabama finds its running game. Jam Miller erupts for 72 rushing yards in the final quarter, and the Tide bullies their way into the Elite Eight.
Regional final
(2) Alabama 22, (1) Penn State 19: Ty Simpson has waited his turn at quarterback for the Crimson Tide, and even though they don’t light up the scoreboard in this defense-dominated matchup of blue bloods, he doesn’t commit a single turnover and keeps everybody on offense focused. But on Alabama’s final two drives, Simpson throws a 28-yard touchdown pass to put the Tide ahead and later converts a fourth-and-short to put the game away.
How we got here
First round
(1) Penn State over (16) West Virginia
(2) Alabama over (15) Syracuse
(3) Michigan over (14) Army
(4) SMU over (13) Tulane
(12) Memphis over (5) Texas A&M
(11) Wisconsin over (6) Oklahoma
(7) Indiana over (10) Washington
(9) Nebraska over (8) Arizona State
Second round
(1) Penn State over (9) Nebraska
(2) Alabama over (7) Indiana
(3) Michigan over (11) Wisconsin
(12) Memphis over (4) SMU
West Regional
Semifinals
(1) Georgia 35, (4) LSU 31: Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton got a taste of postseason football last year when he filled in for Carson Beck. That experience proves valuable in this back-and-forth game, with Nussmeier throwing three touchdown passes for LSU. But Stockton is able to spread the ball around with Noah Thomas and Zachariah Branch, both transfer receivers, and tight end Oscar Delp all catching touchdown passes.
(2) Clemson 33, (3) Ole Miss 24: Dabo Swinney and Lane Kiffin have been on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to using the transfer portal. Swinney has barely dipped into it at all, and Kiffin has lived in it. Swinney did bring in three transfers this season, and one of them, former Purdue defensive end Will Heldt, makes life miserable for the Ole Miss offensive line. Heldt finishes with two sacks and a forced fumble, and the Tigers march onward.
Regional final
(2) Clemson 31, (1) Georgia 30: Once upon a time, these teams played every year in one of the South’s best nonconference rivalries. The Tigers, who had lost eight of their past nine games against the Bulldogs, fall behind early in this one. But Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell, flagged for pass interference on the previous possession, intercepts a Stockton pass deep in Clemson territory, leading to a quick touchdown. That’s where the game swings, and the Tigers move a step closer to their third national title in 10 years.
How we got here
First round
(1) Georgia over (16) Oklahoma State
(2) Clemson over (15) Mississippi State
(3) Ole Miss over (14) Cincinnati
(4) LSU over (13) Florida State
(5) Missouri over (12) Rutgers
(11) Vanderbilt over (6) Kansas State
(7) Auburn over (10) Duke
(8) Iowa State over (9) Baylor
Second round
(1) Georgia over (8) Iowa State
(2) Clemson over Auburn (7)
(3) Ole Miss over (11) Vanderbilt
(4) LSU over (5) Missouri
Final Four
(2) Clemson 35, (1) Ohio State 28: The first time these teams played was back in 1978, with Clemson winning 17-15 in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a blah game until legendary coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson’s Charlie Bauman on the sideline late in the fourth quarter after Bauman intercepted a pass. Hayes was fired the next day. This national semifinal game doesn’t include any extracurricular fireworks that rise to that level, but Klubnik and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin provide plenty of fireworks on the field. They both pass for more than 300 yards, but freshman running back Gideon Davidson delivers the winning 24-yard touchdown run for the Tigers.
(2) Alabama 33, (2) Notre Dame 27: Here the Irish are knocking on the door of a national championship for the second straight season under Marcus Freeman, who’s the subject of countless reports that NFL teams are lining up to hire him. Freeman never gives any credence to those reports, and his Notre Dame team fights its way back from a two-touchdown deficit. Driving inside the Alabama 45 with just under four minutes remaining, Notre Dame tries to run right at 326-pound defensive tackle Tim Keenan III. Big mistake. Keenan blows up the play, forcing a 5-yard loss. Notre Dame has to punt and never gets the ball back, as Alabama’s offensive line takes control of the game.
National Championship
(2) Alabama 30, (2) Clemson 24: It’s not the first time Swinney has gone up against his alma mater in the national championship game. It happened in 2015 with Alabama winning, again in 2016 with Clemson winning and then in 2018 with the Tigers claiming their second national title under Swinney. So, now, welcome to Part 4. All the gnashing of teeth in Tuscaloosa over Kalen DeBoer’s first season as coach when he lost (gasp) four games has quieted. Alabama is playing its best football of the season with some of its younger players and veterans stepping up in key roles. But it’s the most electrifying player on Alabama’s roster, receiver Ryan Williams, who wins it for the Tide, their 19th “claimed” national championship. After Antonio Williams gives Clemson the lead with a 46-yard touchdown catch down the right sideline, Ryan Williams caps a 77-yard drive for Alabama with a 2-yard touchdown catch on a pick/rub play. Sound familiar? With Clemson fans cursing the play the same way Alabama did back in 2016, DeBoer breaks through in his second season. His statue on the Walk of Champions is up by the start of the 2026 season.
Sports
Deion wants foe for CU spring game; Cuse willing
Published
1 hour agoon
March 18, 2025By
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ESPN News Services
Mar 17, 2025, 04:25 PM ET
Colorado coach Deion Sanders wants the NCAA to consider borrowing from the NFL model and allow programs to practice and scrimmage against another team during the spring.
“I would actually like to play the spring game against another team, in the spring. That’s what I’m trying to do right now,” Sanders said Monday after announcing that the Buffaloes’ spring game at Folsom Field on April 19 will be televised (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m. ET).
“I would like to style it like the pros. I’d like to go against someone [in practice] for a few days, and then you have the spring game. I think the public would be satisfied with that tremendously. I think it’s a tremendous idea. I’ve told those personnel, who should understand that, that it’s a tremendous idea.”
It didn’t take long for Sanders to find an interested party. Syracuse head coach Fran Brown on Monday posted to social media platform X, offering for the Orange to “come to Boulder for 3 days.”
Under current NCAA bylaws, football teams cannot play against another school in the spring, an NCAA spokesperson told ESPN on Monday.
During the summer, NFL teams often conduct joint practices with another team for a week leading up to an exhibition game between the two sides. In college, teams practice against themselves leading up to an intrasquad scrimmage. For larger programs, those exhibition games would be played in front of large crowds.
Of late, however, many of these spring games are being adjusted into something completely different — such as a skills competition format — or canceled altogether.
Nebraska, Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC are among programs ending traditions this spring.
“The way the trend is going, is you never know if this is going to be the last spring game,” said the 57-year-old Sanders, who is entering his third season at Colorado. “Now, I don’t believe in that, and I don’t really want to condone that. … To have it competitive, and to play against your own guys, it can get kind of monotonous, and you really can’t tell the level of your guys.”
The Cornhuskers recently announced that they were replacing their spring football game with skills competitions and 7-on-7 games at Memorial Stadium on April 26. This comes on the heels of coach Matt Rhule expressing concerns about other teams scouting players in the scrimmage and possibly poaching them through the transfer portal.
Sanders said the threat of other programs possibly luring players away via the transfer portal after showcasing their talents during spring games isn’t a factor, at least for him. The spring portal window runs April 16-25.
“Everybody’s moving to stop spring games, I don’t know why,” Sanders said. “You’re not going to stop nobody from leaving your program by not having a spring game. If you want to save money, just say that. The kid’s already gone. They already reached out and contacted somebody else. They’re already gone.”
Sanders on Monday also downplayed talk about his contract extension, saying “there may be” discussions.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Let’s get everybody else [on the coaching staff] straight first, then I’m good.”
Sanders signed a five-year, $29.5 million deal before the 2023 season. The Buffaloes went 4-8 that year and 9-4 last season.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sports
Belichick flips 4-star Ruffin from A&M to UNC
Published
1 hour agoon
March 18, 2025By
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Eli LedermanMar 17, 2025, 07:10 PM ET
Close- Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.
Four-star defensive tackle Trashawn Ruffin, No. 238 in the ESPN Junior 300, flipped his commitment from Texas A&M to North Carolina on Monday, marking the Tar Heels’ highest-rated new pledge since coach Bill Belichick took over the program in December.
Ruffin, the 12th-ranked prospect from the state of North Carolina in the 2026 cycle, announced his decision via social media. The 6-foot-3, 305-pound defender had been committed to Texas A&M since October 2024 and was the fourth-ranked member of the Aggies’ latest class prior to his flip. Ruffin is now the No. 1 prospect pledged to the Tar Heels’ incoming class in 2026, Belichick’s first full recruiting cycle in college football.
Ruffin, ESPN’s No. 17 defensive tackle prospect, initially committed to Texas A&M last fall over offers from schools including Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, Michigan and Florida State. Yet Belichick and his staff — which has placed an emphasis on in-state recruiting since the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach arrived at North Carolina — made Ruffin a priority target in 2025.
The flip comes weeks after Ruffin took an unofficial visit with the Tar Heels, during which he attended a North Carolina-Duke basketball game and met former North Carolina All-American defenders Lawrence Taylor and Julius Peppers.
Ruffin, who plays at North Duplin High School in Mt. Olive, North Carolina, is the ninth prospect committed to the Tar Heels’ 2026 class. He joins Charlotte, North Carolina, quarterback Zaid Lott as the second in-state prospect pledged to the program in the cycle.
Belichick and the Tar Heels signed the nation’s 45th-ranked recruiting class at the close of the 2025 cycle last month. That group of high school signees included four-star quarterback Bryce Baker (No. 200 in the ESPN 300), who initially committed to North Carolina coach Mack Brown before affirming his pledge to the program shortly after Belichick’s hiring.
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