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The New York Rangers have decided to send the 12th pick in Friday’s NHL draft to the Pittsburgh Penguins to complete the conditions from their acquisition of forward J.T. Miller last season, sources told ESPN.

The Rangers sent a conditional first-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks in a package that included forward Filip Chytil and defenseman Victor Mancini for Miller and defensemen Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington. Miller, 32, had 35 points in 32 games with the Rangers last season.

The Canucks then shipped that pick to the Penguins in a trade package for defenseman Marcus Pettersson.

The condition on the pick: If the Rangers’ 2025 first-rounder was in the top 13, they had the option to keep that pick and send their 2026 first-round pick to the Penguins. New York finished with a 39-36-7 record (85 points) and outside the playoff picture, earning the 12th overall pick in the process.

Keeping the 2026 pick benefits the Rangers in multiple ways. If the team returns to contention under new head coach Mike Sullivan, it could use the 2026 pick to bolster its roster before the NHL trade deadline. But if things continue to trend in the opposite direction, the Rangers will have a potential lottery pick in what experts believe is a very strong draft class, with phenom forward Gavin McKenna as the expected first overall pick.

The Penguins now have back-to-back picks in the first round, owning the 11th and 12th picks.

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Sources: Nebraska QB Raiola has broken fibula

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Sources: Nebraska QB Raiola has broken fibula

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola has a broken right fibula, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Sunday, and will sit out the remainder of the season.

Raiola suffered the injury while being sacked and losing a fumble early in the third quarter of Saturday’s 21-17 loss to USC.

After the game, Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule told reporters that Raiola wanted to return to the game, but the sophomore couldn’t run so Rhule decided it was unsafe to send him back in.

Raiola completed 10 of 15 passes against the Trojans for 91 yards and a touchdown before the injury. He was replaced by true freshman TJ Lateef, who went 5-of-7 for 7 yards and rushed for 18 yards on six carries.

Raiola had completed 72.4% of his passes for 2,000 yards and 18 touchdowns through nine games this season. He has been intercepted six times.

The Huskers (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) lost their 29th consecutive game to an AP Top 25 opponent, a streak that dates to 2016. They will go on the road to face UCLA next Saturday.

ESPN’s Max Olson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Texas Tech, Irish in top 10 before 1st CFP ranking

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Texas Tech, Irish in top 10 before 1st CFP ranking

The Big 12 had two teams — BYU and Texas Tech — in the top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the first time in two years Sunday, while Notre Dame was back in the top 10 after a two-month absence.

Oklahoma and Texas made the biggest upward moves in this week’s poll, rising seven spots to No. 11 and No. 13, respectively.

The top seven teams were unchanged in the final poll before the College Football Playoff committee releases its first rankings Tuesday night to kick off the run-up to the CFP bracket release Dec. 7.

No. 1 Ohio State, which pulled away in the second half to beat Penn State on Saturday, is at the top of the AP poll for a 10th straight week. Indiana, which scored 50-plus points against a Big Ten opponent for the third time while hammering Maryland, is No. 2 for a third straight week.

The Buckeyes and Hoosiers again were followed by Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon and Ole Miss.

Losses by Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and Miami shuffled the Nos. 8, 9 and 10 spots, now held by BYU, Texas Tech and Notre Dame.

Miami’s losses to two then-unranked opponents in three weeks have caused a 16-spot plummet, from No. 2 to No. 18.

The distribution of first-place votes was the same as last week. Ohio State received 54, Indiana got 11 and Texas A&M one.

The Buckeyes are in the Top 25 for a 90th straight poll, third most on the active list. Notre Dame is in a 50th straight time, fifth on the active list. Texas, meanwhile, made its 800th appearance in the poll, seventh all time.

No. 8 BYU and No. 9 Texas Tech gave the Big 12 two teams in the top 10 for the first time since Oct. 29, 2023. The Cougars, who were idle, have their highest ranking of the season. The Red Raiders won at Kansas State and reentered the top 10 for the first time in three weeks. The two teams face each other this weekend.

BYU has risen in the poll six straight weeks since making its debut Sept. 21. The Cougars have gone from No. 25 to No. 8 over that span.

Notre Dame, a winner of six straight, was pushed by one-win Boston College on the road before winning 25-10, helping the Irish move up two spots to No. 10. The Irish were last in the top 10 in Week 3, at No. 8, before a home loss to Texas A&M dropped them to 0-2 and No. 24.

No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 13 Texas received seven-spot promotions for their wins Saturday. The Sooners beat Tennessee on the road, and the Longhorns knocked off Vanderbilt at home. Tennessee took the biggest fall, dropping nine spots to No. 23.

No. 24 Washington, which was idle, is in the poll for the first time since it finished the 2023 season at No. 2 following its loss to Michigan in the national championship game. The Huskies’ only losses are to No. 1 Ohio State at home and to a then-unranked Michigan on the road.

Houston, whose No. 22 ranking last week was its first Top 25 appearance since 2022, dropped out after losing at home to West Virginia.

CONFERENCE CALL

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

RANKED VS. RANKED

No. 8 BYU (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) at No. 9 Texas Tech (8-1, 5-1): The game of the year in the Big 12. The Red Raiders have lost 16 straight against top-10 teams.

No. 3 Texas A&M (8-0, 5-0 SEC) at No. 19 Missouri (6-2, 2-2): The Aggies embarrassed Missouri in College Station last year, jumping out to a 34-0 lead and winning 41-7.

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Auburn fires Freeze following 6-16 mark in SEC

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Auburn fires Freeze following 6-16 mark in SEC

Football coach Hugh Freeze, whose 15-19 record in his two-plus seasons at Auburn was capped by a listless home loss to Kentucky on Saturday, has been fired, athletic director John Cohen announced Sunday.

Freeze, 56, will be owed $15.8 million in buyout money, with no mitigation, after he signed a six-year, $49 million deal to replace Bryan Harsin in 2022. He is the eighth Power Four coach to be fired this season.

“I have informed Coach Freeze of my decision to make a change in leadership with the Auburn football program,” Cohen said in a statement. “Coach Freeze is a man of integrity, and we are appreciative of his investment in Auburn and his relentless work over the last three years in bolstering our roster. Our expectations for Auburn football are to annually compete for championships and the search for the next leader of Auburn football begins immediately.”

Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin has been named interim head coach of the Tigers.

Much of the SEC offseason spotlight focused on Freeze, only heightening the need for a strong start for the Tigers. In his time at Auburn, he had a 6-16 mark in the SEC, and his tenure was marked by excruciating home losses to New Mexico State, Cal, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Oklahoma.

The program’s offensive issues continued under Freeze, with the Tigers scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 SEC games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.

Freeze, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year, improved the roster heading into this season, landing consecutive top-10 recruiting classes. He also added key transfers such as quarterback Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma) and wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. (Georgia Tech). Combined with a manageable 2025 schedule and a contract that ran through the 2028 season, it seemed the pieces were in place for Freeze to author a breakthrough.

“I think it’s as settled as we’ve been as a program, the continuity of our staff, the pieces of our staff that we’ve added and what we’ve been able to do in building our roster in high school recruiting and in the portal,” Freeze told ESPN in April. “Now, we’ve got to go compete and win some more games, but I don’t feel any sense of panic. We’re on our way to getting where we want to be and where we should be.”

The Tigers never got there. A 3-0 start in the nonconference portion of the schedule, including an impressive 38-24 win over Baylor on opening night, quickly fizzled in league play. The Tigers were competitive in their first four SEC games but were on the losing side of all four, including a deflating 23-17 loss at home to Missouri on Oct. 18, a game Auburn led 17-10 in the fourth quarter in front of a prime-time audience.

A comeback win on the road at Arkansas soon followed, but the Tigers were unable to maintain momentum. Saturday night’s 10-3 loss at home to Kentucky, which came complete with “Fire Hugh!” chants in the second half, ultimately proved to be the end as the Tigers fell to 4-5 (1-5 SEC).

“At the end of the day, I’m frustrated too,” Freeze said after the loss. “We all know that when we sign up for this. We accept it. I love what we’re doing here, but we haven’t gotten the results.”

Freeze ends his run without recording a winning season at Auburn in three tries. In fact, the Tigers last had a winning season in 2020, when they were 6-5. And they have won more than eight games only twice (2017, 2019) since playing for the national championship in 2013.

Freeze also went 1-12 against ranked teams.

“I wish I could ask for patience, but that’s not something that people want to give in this day and time, and I understand that,” Freeze said Saturday night. “I just think we’re so dang close.”

Auburn will be looking for its fourth football coach in seven seasons. The Tigers fired Gus Malzahn in 2020, Harsin in 2022 and now Freeze. Combined, the school will end up paying $52.5 million in buyout fees.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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