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FORT WORTH, Texas — Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark clearly expressed his displeasure about the College Football Playoff rankings while insisting Wednesday that his conference’s champion should get a first-round bye over any Group of 5 champion.

Arizona State and Iowa State, the 10-2 teams that will play in the Big 12 championship game Saturday, are outside the top 12 in the latest CFP rankings and behind three SEC teams with three losses: No. 11 Alabama, No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 14 South Carolina. The Sun Devils are 15th and the Cyclones 16th.

“The [selection] committee continues to show time and time again that they are paying attention to logos versus résumés,” Yormark said to open a nearly four-minute statement during a Zoom call to preview the Big 12 title game.

The Big 12 is below No. 10 Boise State (11-1) from the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos, who play No. 20 UNLV on Friday night in the MWC title game, have a 10-game winning streak since a 37-34 loss on a last-second field goal at top-ranked Oregon, their only Power 4 opponent.

The five highest-ranked conference champs in the selection committee’s final top 25 ranking Sunday are guaranteed playoff spots, and the top four getting first-round byes. There are now four potential conference champions ahead of the Big 12, which in current projected pairings will be the No. 12 seed and must play a first-round game on the road.

“Strength of schedule should matter and wins against Power 4 opponents should matter — 74% of the Big 12 wins were against Power 4 opponents this season,” Yormark said. “Meanwhile, the Group of 5 is 11-80. … In no way should a Group of 5 champion be ranked above our champion.”

Yormark repeated that last line for emphasis and said strength of schedule was reiterated multiple times before the season as a key metric for the CFP rankings. But he says he hasn’t seen that considered as much as it should, then pointed out that Arizona State and Iowa State both were 7-2 in Big 12 play and won the nonconference games they played against Power 4 opponents.

Right below Arizona State and Iowa State in the CFP rankings is No. 17 Clemson (9-3), which plays eighth-ranked SMU in the ACC championship game Saturday night. The Tigers would get in the playoff as the ACC champion with a win. No. 5 Georgia (10-2) plays No. 2 Texas (11-1) in the SEC title game.

“The committee clearly focuses on the wins and loss column. Going by that principle, no three-loss team from a Power 4 conference should get a bye over a two-loss champion from the Big 12,” Yormark said, again forcefully repeating his thought.

Yormark had advocated for the 12-team playoff and believes it has generated the expected excitement and fan engagement that made November “truly magical.”

There was a four-way tie for first place in the 16-team Big 12 at the end of the regular season. Arizona State and Iowa State advanced in a series of tiebreakers that knocked No. 18 BYU and No. 23 Colorado out of title game contention.

The Big 12 commissioner said that while he disagrees with what has transpired, he is hopeful that there will be some adjustments in the final CFP rankings.

“Obviously I challenge what I’ve seen to date, and again I’m going to lean on strength of schedule. I don’t think it’s played out the way it should,” Yormark said. “But I do have trust in the committee that ultimately we’ll land where we’re supposed to land. And, you know, that ultimately will mean we’ll get a bye. … It will come down to the selection committee making that decision, but I’m hopeful it will be the right one.”

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Reds’ Miley denies wrongdoing in Skaggs case

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Reds' Miley denies wrongdoing in Skaggs case

Cincinnati Reds left-hander Wade Miley said Friday that he has not been accused of any wrongdoing, one day after reports stated a deposition from a lawsuit alleged he supplied Tyler Skaggs with drugs when both players were with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The deposition is part of a motion for summary judgment filed by the Los Angeles Angels, requesting a lawsuit from the Skaggs family be dismissed.

The deposition from Ryan Hamill, Skaggs’ agent, contains testimony that he was concerned in 2013 about Skaggs’ drug use. Hamill said he and Skaggs’ family confronted Skaggs about his drug use. Skaggs was then in his second season as a teammate of Miley with the Diamondbacks.

“He came clean,” Hamill testified. “He said he had been using — I believe it was Percocets — and he said he got them through Wade Miley.”

Skaggs died on July 1, 2019, at age 27 in a Dallas-area hotel. The autopsy found fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system.

Miley briefly addressed the issue before Friday’s road game against the Detroit Tigers.

“I hate what happened to Tyler, it sucks. My thoughts are with his family and his friends,” Miley said. “But I’m not going to sit here and talk about things that someone might have said about me or whatnot. I was never a witness for any of this. I was never accused of any wrongdoing.”

Former Angels communications director Eric Kay is serving a 22-year prison sentence in Texas after being found guilty on two charges of providing drugs related on Skaggs’ overdose.

The Athletic reported that the criminal proceedings against Kay included a recorded phone conversation in which Kay told his mother that Miley was a drug source to Skaggs.

Asked if Major League Baseball has contacted him regarding the allegations, Miley said, “I’d rather just focus on the Cincinnati Reds right now and baseball and what I have to do moving forward. I’ve got to get ready for a game on Sunday.”

Miley was mentioned in Kay’s criminal case, but he was never charged with a crime.

Skaggs was traded to the Angels after the 2013 season. He went 28-38 with a 4.41 ERA in 96 career starts.

Miley, 38, is with his eighth big league team and attempting to revive his career after Tommy John surgery in 2024.

Miley has a career 109-99 mark with a 4.09 ERA in 319 games (311 starts) since making his major league debut in 2011. This is his second go-round with the Reds. He was with the team in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, going 12-10 with a 3.55 ERA in 177⅓ innings over 34 starts (32 innings).

The Skaggs family is suing the Angels, contending that high-level team officials, as well as other employees, knew Kay was a drug user and should have known he was Skaggs’ source.

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Belmont Stakes to remain at Saratoga in 2026

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Belmont Stakes to remain at Saratoga in 2026

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The Belmont Stakes is set to be run at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York for a third consecutive year in 2026.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York Racing Association announced Friday that it will be the third and last time the Triple Crown finale is held there before returning to Belmont Park on Long Island in 2027.

“Saratoga has served our fans and stakeholders extremely well as the temporary home of the Belmont Stakes during the construction of a new Belmont Park on Long Island,” NYRA president and CEO David O’Rourke said. “Belmont Park will always be the home of the Belmont Stakes and we look forward to its return to the newly reimagined Belmont in 2027.”

It was confirmation of an expected extension of the race’s stay at Saratoga while Belmont Park undergoes nearly a half-billion dollar renovation project. It is on track to reopen in September 2026, with the Breeders’ Cup returning to New York at Belmont Park in the fall of 2027.

The Belmont will again be run at 1 1/4 miles instead of its traditional 1-1/2 mile distance that has been known as the “test of the champion.” That has been the case the past two years, as well, because of the configuration of the main dirt track.

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Rays get former top prospect Whitley from Astros

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Rays get former top prospect Whitley from Astros

The Tampa Bay Rays acquired right-hander Forrest Whitley from the Houston Astros in exchange for cash considerations Friday.

Whitley, once a top-10 prospect in baseball, was designated for assignment by the Astros on Sunday.

Houston selected him with the No. 17 pick of the 2016 MLB draft out of high school in San Antonio and gave him a $3.148 million signing bonus, but he failed to reach expectations.

Now 27, he didn’t debut in Houston until the 2024 season and made three relief appearances, giving up no earned runs in 3⅓ innings.

This season, Whitley appeared in five games for Houston, with opponents scoring 10 earned runs on nine hits and six walks in 7⅓ innings. He has no decisions with a 12.27 ERA.

In 117 minor league appearances (65 starts) he had a 17-20 record with a 4.75 ERA over 306⅔ innings. He struck out 421 batters and walked 160.

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