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The top four stayed the same for the third week in a row in the fourth installment of the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night, but a chaotic Saturday brought plenty more changes to the playoff picture.

No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Penn State remain atop the selection committee’s rankings entering the final week of the regular season. Indiana (10-1) dropped five spots to No. 10 following its 38-15 loss at Ohio State but remains in position to earn a CFP bid with a win over Purdue (1-10).

“We viewed Indiana, they played well at times against Ohio State,” Warde Manuel, chair of the CFP committee, said on ESPN’s rankings release show Tuesday night.

“We were impressed with some of the things that Indiana did. And they dropped five, but we still felt that their body of work was strong enough to remain in the top 10.”

Notre Dame replaced the Hoosiers at No. 5 following its 49-14 rout of undefeated Army, which dropped out of the committee’s top 25 this week. Miami (No. 6), Georgia (No. 7), Tennessee (No. 8) and SMU (No. 9) join Indiana in rounding out the top 10.

Using the current CFP rankings, Oregon (Big Ten), Texas (SEC), Miami (ACC) and No. 11 Boise State (Mountain West) would be the four highest-rated conference champions and would earn first-round byes in the 12-team bracket. No. 16 Arizona State (Big 12) would earn a playoff bid as the fifth-highest-rated conference champion but would be the No. 12 seed and would play a first-round game.

The seedings for the first-round matchups would look like this: No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Ohio State; No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State; No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Notre Dame; and No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Georgia.

When asked Saturday whether the Hoosiers still belong in the 12-team field based on their body of work, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti replied, “Is that a serious question? I’m not even going to answer that one. The answer’s so obvious.” The first-year coach then smiled and nodded yes with a wink.

No. 12 Clemson would be the first team left out of the playoff, with the Tigers ranked ahead of three-loss SEC bubble teams Alabama (No. 13), Ole Miss (No. 14) and South Carolina (No. 15). But the ACC landing three teams in the top 12 this week could be an encouraging sign that the conference has an opportunity to earn two bids in the final bracket.

A trio of road upsets Saturday shook up the SEC’s playoff picture. Alabama slid six spots after a stunning 24-3 loss at Oklahoma. Ole Miss dropped five spots after falling 24-17 at Florida. And Texas A&M dropped five spots after losing 43-41 at Auburn in four overtimes. Georgia and Tennessee benefited by moving up three spots each this week.

Arizona State climbed five spots to No. 16, thanks to its 28-23 win over BYU, while Iowa State moved up four spots to No. 18 after a 31-28 victory at Utah. But the committee continues to rank No. 11 Boise State ahead of the Big 12 front-runners, raising the possibility that the Big 12’s eventual champion could miss out on earning a top-four seed and a first-round bye.

The Big 12 currently has a four-way tie atop its standings with the Sun Devils, Cyclones, BYU (No. 19) and Colorado (No. 25) all hoping to play their way into next week’s conference championship game in Arlington, Texas.

Tulane continues to rise into contention for the fifth conference champion bid if Boise State loses again or the Big 12 ends up with a three-loss champ. The Green Wave climbed to No. 17 this week and have won eight in a row since losing to Power 4 foes Kansas State and Oklahoma in nonconference play. They’ll face Memphis on Thursday before playing Army in the AAC championship game Dec. 5.

“It is a balance,” Manuel said. “We have to look at what teams do throughout the season. And obviously as we watch film and take a look at what teams are doing against the opponents they have to face, we see a Tulane team that is really playing great football right now. … They’re really one of the teams that has surged up in our mind as it relates to how they’re playing at this time.”

No. 20 Texas A&M hosts No. 3 Texas on Saturday night, renewing their rivalry game for the first time since 2011, with the winner advancing to the SEC championship game in Atlanta. Missouri (No. 21), UNLV (No. 22), Illinois (No. 23), Kansas State (No. 24) and Colorado round out the top 25.

Eight SEC teams are ranked in the top 25 again this week, along with five Big Ten teams, five Big 12 teams, three ACC teams, two Mountain West teams and one AAC team.

The four first-round games will be played at the home campus of the higher-seeded teams on Dec. 20 and 21. The four quarterfinal games will be staged at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

The two semifinal games will take place at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl on Jan. 9 and 10.

The CFP National Championship presented by AT&T is scheduled for Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

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Wyshynski’s NHL trade deadline Big Board: From superstar shocks to pending free agents to glue guys

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Wyshynski's NHL trade deadline Big Board: From superstar shocks to pending free agents to glue guys

The rise of the salary cap changes everything in the NHL.

On Jan. 31, the league and the NHLPA announced an agreement to create “increased predictability” about the salary cap over the next three seasons, provided there’s a new collective bargaining agreement beyond the 2025-26 season. The upper limits for the cap are projected as:

  • 2025-26: $95.5 million

  • 2026-27: $104 million

  • 2027-28: $113.5 million

It’s a shrewd negotiating tactic, giving the players a sense of the league’s prosperity and their own future earning potential under a skyrocketing cap. But it also materially changed how teams could approach the March 7 NHL trade deadline.

“I think this is going to be an interesting deadline. Everybody’s like, ‘We’re going to have money next year.’ So I wonder if you might see some actual contracts move,” one NHL team executive said. “I think teams might be looking at free agency this summer and wondering what they’re actually going to get out of it. So maybe they’re willing to trade for Seth Jones or something at the deadline.”

With that salary cap bump on the horizon, here’s a look at the players who could move before the NHL trade deadline on March 7 at 3 p.m. ET, from the shocking possibilities to the pending free agents to the players with low-cost contracts who could be the difference in winning the Stanley Cup.

This list was compiled through conversations with league executives and other sources, as well as media reports. ESPN insiders Kevin Weekes and Emily Kaplan added their input in its creation. Salary figures are from Cap Wages and PuckPedia.

Let’s begin with the biggest names.

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Sources: Pac-12, MWC agree to mediate lawsuits

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Sources: Pac-12, MWC agree to mediate lawsuits

The Mountain West and Pac-12, along with Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State, have agreed to enter mediation related to the ongoing lawsuits related to school exit fees and a poaching penalty the Mountain West included in a scheduling agreement with the Pac-12, sources told ESPN.

It is a common step that could lead to settlements before the sides take their chances in court, however, a source told ESPN that, as of Wednesday evening, it was an informal agreement. The Mountain West initiated the talks, a source said.

In September, the Pac-12 filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the legality of a “poaching penalty” included in a football scheduling agreement it signed with the Mountain West in December 2023. As part of the agreement, the Mountain West included language that calls for the Pac-12 to pay a fee of $10 million if a school left the Mountain West for the Pac-12, with escalators of $500,000 for each additional school.

Five schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State — announced they were leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12 in 2026, which the Mountain West believes should require a $55 million payout from the Pac-12.

In December, Colorado State and Utah State filed a separate lawsuit against the Mountain West, seeking to avoid having to pay exit fees that could range from $19 million to $38 million, with Boise State later joining the lawsuit. Neither Fresno State, nor San Diego State has challenged the Mountain West exit fees in court.

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Sources: Patriots exec Stewart to be Huskers’ GM

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Sources: Patriots exec Stewart to be Huskers' GM

Nebraska is hiring New England Patriots director of pro personnel Patrick Stewart as the football program’s new general manager, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Wednesday.

Current Nebraska general manager Sean Padden — who oversaw top recruiting classes in this cycle in high school recruiting and in the NCAA transfer portal — will move to a new role of assistant AD for strategic intelligence, sources told Thamel. Padden’s role will include ties to the salary cap, contract negotiations and analytics, while Stewart will run the personnel department.

Under second-year coach Matt Rhule, Nebraska finished 7-6 last season, capping its year with a 20-15 win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Cornhuskers were 3-6 in the Big Ten.

In New England, Stewart’s departure comes at a time in which the Patriots are in transition under first-year coach Mike Vrabel. The hiring of Vrabel has had a ripple effect on the front office with the addition of vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden, who had worked with Vrabel with the Tennessee Titans for five seasons (2018 to 2022).

The Patriots’ personnel department is still led by executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf, who had tapped Stewart as director of pro personnel last year. Sam Fioroni had served as the Patriots’ assistant director of pro personnel in 2024. Others on staff could also be eyed for a promotion or new role.

Stewart, who graduated from Ohio State, began his professional career in the college ranks with the Buckeyes (2000 to 2004), Western Carolina (2005) and Temple (2006) before breaking into the NFL with the Patriots in 2007 as a scouting assistant. He then split time between college and pro scouting with the organization over the next 10 seasons.

Stewart was a national scout for the Philadelphia Eagles (2018-19) before working for the Carolina Panthers as director of player personnel (2020) and then vice president of player personnel (2021-22). He returned to the Patriots in 2023 as a senior personnel adviser.

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