Connect with us

Published

on

Texas is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the first time in 16 years, replacing Georgia on Sunday after the Bulldogs struggled to remain unbeaten.

The Longhorns moved up a spot from No. 2 and received 35 first-place votes and 1,540 points. The Bulldogs, who have been No. 1 since the preseason poll, received 23 first-place votes and 1,518 points.

Ohio State received five first-place votes and stayed at No. 3 during an off week. No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Ole Miss held their places, and Tennessee moved up a spot to No. 6, flip-flopping with SEC rival Missouri.

The last time the Longhorns were No. 1 was the middle of the 2008 season, when they spent three weeks at the top of the polls before losing a memorable game at Texas Tech in early November. The Longhorns are likely to settle into the top spot for at least another week with a home game against UL Monroe up next, possibly with Arch Manning as the starting quarterback.

Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, stepped in Saturday night against UTSA when Quinn Ewers went out with an abdomen injury that coach Steve Sarkisian said was not serious.

“There’s nothing like being in the game. Playing in front of 105,000 people is not the easiest thing to do. I’m really proud of Arch,” Sarkisian said.

A week after the SEC became the first conference to hold six of the first seven spots, the league repeated the feat.

There was some shuffling at the back of the top 10, with No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 Miami each moving up a spot and Penn State slipping back to No. 10.

POLL POINTS

Winning and dropping from No. 1 is not unusual. This is the 94th time it has happened since the poll started in 1936 and first time since Georgia and Alabama swapped No. 1 back and forth for a few weeks in 2022.

The Bulldogs, who remained No. 1 in the coaches poll this week, needed a second-half rally to squeak by 13-12 at Kentucky — the same Kentucky team that was buried at home a week earlier by South Carolina. That was the fewest points scored by a No. 1 team in a victory since Alabama beat LSU 10-0 in 2016.

“I don’t know much about this team, but I found out more tonight than I’ve known to this point,” coach Kirby Smart told reporters after the game.

Georgia has dominated the top spot in the AP poll since 2021, with 39 appearances.

In its first season as a member of the SEC, Texas keeps No. 1 in the conference where it has resided for 50 of the past 52 polls, dating back to the start of the 2021 season. Only Michigan of the Big Ten in the final two polls of last season has interrupted the streak of No. 1 rankings by the SEC, which includes 10 appearances by Alabama.

Looking ahead, both the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs are off next week to prepare for a likely top-five matchup in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 28 that should have voters thinking about who’s No. 1 again.

IN AND OUT

Boston College joined fellow ACC member Georgia Tech in the brief-stay-after-a-long-drought club. The Eagles lost at Missouri and fell out of the rankings after moving in last week for the first time since 2018.

Arizona is also out for the first time this season after getting thumped by Kansas State.

Moving in for the first time this season was Illinois at No. 24. Texas A&M jumped back into the rankings at No. 25.

CONFERENCE CALL

The 18-team Big Ten matched a conference record (reached 11 times previously) with seven ranked teams.

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

RANKED VS. RANKED

No. 24 Illinois at No. 22 Nebraska (Friday): The last time the Cornhuskers hosted a game with both teams ranked was 2013, when No. 16 UCLA beat No. 23 Nebraska 41-21.

No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma (Saturday): The Volunteers welcome the Sooners to the SEC, with ESPN’s “College GameDay” rolling out the welcome mat in Norman.

No. 11 USC at No. 18 Michigan (Saturday): The Wolverines welcome the Trojans to the Big Ten.

No. 12 Utah at No. 14 Oklahoma State (Saturday): The first big game between Big 12 teams that actually counts in the conference standings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Wake swaps Ole Miss with Oregon State series

Published

on

By

Wake swaps Ole Miss with Oregon State series

Wake Forest and Oregon State announced a home-and-home series Wednesday that will see the Demon Deacons head to Corvallis in 2025 and the Beavers make the return trip to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 2029.

For Wake Forest, the 2025 game will replace a scheduled road trip to Ole Miss, which has been canceled by the Demon Deacons, a move that generated criticism from Rebels coach Lane Kiffin.

Ole Miss beat Wake Forest 40-6 in Winston-Salem on Saturday. After the game, Kiffin criticized Wake Forest athletic director John Currie for canceling the return trip, saying that violated “an unwritten rule.”

A source told ESPN that Wake Forest had been working with Ole Miss for the past several years to move the return trip but was unable to reach an agreement.

The home-and-home with Oregon State will be more financially lucrative for Wake Forest and helps fill a need on the Beavers’ schedule created when the Pac-12 fell apart with 10 schools departing this summer.

“We are committed to making decisions that best serve our program and our student-athletes, and that includes bringing national games to Winston-Salem,” Currie said in a statement released by the school. “We have a high degree of respect for Ole Miss and their fans, and we congratulate them on their victory last weekend in sold-out Allegacy Stadium. But given the ongoing financial pressures of the new era of college athletics and our priority on continuing to grow resources to benefit our student-athletes, it was the right business decision to secure this two-game home-and-home series with Oregon State, and cancel the planned game in Oxford next year.”

Ole Miss suggested Wake Forest would pay a $1 million buyout to cancel the 2025 trip to Oxford, although sources at Wake Forest said that number was inflated. Wake Forest said in its statement that it honored the terms of the original contract with the Rebels, which dates back to 2014.

Continue Reading

Sports

USC adds to recruiting roll with 4-star WR Myles

Published

on

By

USC adds to recruiting roll with 4-star WR Myles

USC landed a key commitment Wednesday when four-star wide receiver Jerome Myles, the No. 26 prospect in the 2025 ESPN 300, committed to the Trojans, continuing a hot late-summer recruiting run for Lincoln Riley & Co.

Myles, who decommitted from Ole Miss in June, is ESPN’s fifth-ranked wide receiver in 2025 and stood as the nation’s top uncommitted pass catcher prior to his commitment. The No. 1 prospect in the state of Utah this cycle, Myles picked the Trojans over Texas A&M and Utah, and he now lands as the second-ranked member of USC’s 2025 class, trailing only five-star quarterback Julian Lewis (No. 2 in the 2025 ESPN 300).

Myles, who felt home ties to Utah and visited Texas A&M in Week 1, told ESPN his recruitment swung on the plan Riley and his staff presented during Myles’ Week 2 visit to USC.

“USC just blew everybody out of the water,” Myles said. “They produce the most NFL draft picks. And the wide receiver development is crazy. And if I don’t make it in football out there, I’ll make it some way in life. They’re not all about just the football part. I like that.”

Myles initially committed to Ole Miss in the spring before pulling his pledge from the Rebels and reopening his commitment. His senior campaign at Utah’s Corner Canyon High School ended on Aug. 30 when Myles suffered a season-ending ACL injury, prompting the 6-foot-3, 220-pound prospect to push up his originally scheduled Oct. 30 commitment ceremony. With Myles off the board, four-star pass catcher Jaden Nickens (No. 162 in the ESPN 300) remains as the last uncommitted player among ESPN’s top-30 wide receivers in 2025.

Myles’ pledge comes 10 days after USC secured top inside linebacker prospect Ty Jackson (No. 44 in the ESPN 300), who visited the Trojans on the same weekend as Myles. USC has now added four top-100 pledges since July 30 with Myles and Jackson following Georgia outside linebacker flip Jadon Perlotte (No. 84 in the ESPN 300) and UCF safety flip Kendarius Reddick (No. 89)

USC currently holds the No. 16 recruiting spot in 2025, per ESPN’s latest team rankings for the cycle.

Myles took official visits to Utah and Texas A&M prior to pulling his commitment from Ole Miss in June. Last month, he told ESPN that USC, Texas, A&M, Utah, Georgia and Ohio State had made the cut among the finalists in his recruitment entering his senior season.

Myles’ connection with Texas A&M dipped after he visited College Station with Corner Canyon teammate and 2026 quarterback prospect Helaman Casuga during the Aggies’ 23-13 loss to Notre Dame on the opening weekend of the regular season. At USC a week later, Myles heard everything he needed from a coaching staff that made Myles a priority after offering him in July.

“I just wanted to learn more about their history and what they have in store for me,” Myles said. “When I went out there, they definitely impressed me.”

In Myles, USC has a speedy, deep-threat receiver to pair with Lewis in the 2025 class. Myles is a state champion sprinter in the 100- and 200-meter events. Across his sophomore and junior seasons at Corner Canyon, Myles totaled 53 catches for 1,185 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Myles is now the ninth ESPN 300 commit in USC’s 2025 class. The 11th-ranked Trojans visit No. 18 Michigan at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Week 4.

Continue Reading

Sports

O’s DFA Kimbrel as ex-closer can’t fix struggles

Published

on

By

O's DFA Kimbrel as ex-closer can't fix struggles

BALTIMORE — Craig Kimbrel‘s time with the Orioles could be coming to an end after the struggling team designated its former closer for assignment Wednesday following the latest in a series of rough outings.

Kimbrel gave up six runs on three hits in ⅔ of an inning of relief in Baltimore’s 10-0 home loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. Kimbrel has a 13.94 ERA in his past 11 appearances.

This season, his first with Baltimore, Kimbrel has a 5.33 ERA with six blown saves. Signed for $13 million, Kimbrel lost his job as closer in May.

The Orioles have lost eight of 11 games to fall four games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East.

“The mojo that we’ve had has just drifted away from us the last few months,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said Tuesday. “There are reasons for it that are obvious, but a lot of it is we’ve got people here that are experiencing a downturn — whether it’s themselves or the team.”

In a corresponding roster move, they recalled right-hander Bryan Baker from Triple-A Norfolk.

Continue Reading

Trending