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Few sports are capable of delivering upsets the way college football can. On Saturday, the Michigan Wolverines may have delivered the most shocking one yet this season. Michigan downed their archrivals, the Ohio State Buckeyes 13-10 in Columbus, marking the Wolverines’ fourth consecutive victory in “The Game.”

Ohio State entered the contest with the No. 2 ranking in the country and the second-best odds to end the season as national champion, per ESPN BET. Michigan, on the other hand, entered with a 6-5 record and losses in two of its past three outings.

But when it’s rivalry week, records go out the window. Kalel Mullings set the tone with 116 yards as well as a score on 32 carries, while Dominic Zvada‘s field goal with 45 seconds remaining proved the difference as the Wolverines registered the improbable victory.

Revisit some of the most memorable upsets from the 2024 college football season.

Nov. 23: Oklahoma 24, Alabama 3

Just a few hours after the Rebels fell victim to an upset defeat on the road in Gainesville, Florida, fellow two-loss SEC foe the Alabama Crimson Tide were dispatched by the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma.

Jalen Milroe was picked off three times in the 24-3 defeat, which marked No. 7 Alabama’s largest loss to an unranked opponent when ranked in the top 10 themselves. The 21-point deficit was the largest the team had faced since the 2019 national championship game against the Clemson Tigers, according to ESPN Research.

With the Crimson Tide’s defeat, three teams in the current College Football Playoff top 10 — the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers and No. 9 Ole Miss, among them — suffered losses Saturday. Adding to the upsets, the No. 16 Colorado Buffaloes joined Alabama and Ole Miss as ranked teams that fell to unranked opponents.


Nov. 23: Florida 24, Ole Miss 17

Getting a win over the Florida Gators was crucial for the No. 9-ranked Ole Miss Rebels. However, Florida, riding high on momentum from their Week 12 victory over then-No. 22 LSU, seized control of the game and defeated Ole Miss 24-17.

The game came down to the wire, and Ole Miss’ path to victory seemed to widen when an interception by Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart was overturned to an incomplete pass. However, Dart had another chance to lead a comeback but ultimately threw a game-sealing pick, solidifying Florida’s upset victory and effectively knocking the Rebels’ out of the College Football Playoff contention.

This is the first time Florida has beaten a ranked opponent in consecutive weeks as an unranked team since 2003, according to ESPN Research.


Nov. 16: Kansas 17, BYU 13

The No. 6 BYU Cougars had been playing with fire for weeks now, with four of their nine wins in 2024 coming by one-score margins. On Saturday, one week after escaping a rivalry trap game against Utah Utes via a walk-off field goal, they got burned.

The Kansas Jayhawks entered Provo, Utah, with an unassuming 3-6 record, but their own record in one score games (five losses came by margins of six points or fewer) indicated they’d offer a tougher test than most. And a tougher test they were, as the Jayhawks capitalized on a muffed pooch punt in the fourth quarter to eke out a 17-13 victory on the road.

Kansas’ triumph wasn’t the biggest upset of the season. But it took place during the final month, which often has a heightened propensity for chaos. We’re tracking all of the major upsets of the 2024 college football season throughout the fall.


Nov. 9: Georgia Tech 28, Miami 23

The No. 4 Miami Hurricanes had dominated throughout the season, earning a top-four seed in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. However, they were still weeks away from the postseason and a matchup against the unranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets awaited. On Saturday, the Hurricanes were stung.

Georgia Tech jumped to a 7-0 lead. The Yellow Jackets trailed only once — 10-7 with 7:47 remaining in the first quarter. But they bounced back in the next quarter to regain the lead for good.

Down 28-23 with 1:52 left, Miami had a final chance to win, but Cam Ward was strip-sacked on the second play of the drive. Georgia Tech jumped on the ball to clinch its second win over a team 9-0 or better in the AP poll era (since 1936), according to ESPN Research.


Nov. 2: Iowa State 23, Texas Tech 22

Iowa State entered the matchup on the brink of the program’s first 8-0 start to a season. With the first College Football Playoff rankings in the 12-team era to be revealed Tuesday, the Cyclones seemed to be in position to boast a top-12 ranking heading down the stretch of the season. All they had to do was handle business at home against Texas Tech.

Unfortunately, things are rarely as easy as they seem in college football.

The Red Raiders led for most of the fourth quarter, but a 44-yard touchdown pass from Rocco Becht to Carson Brown with just over two minutes left inched Iowa State back ahead. But Texas Tech wasn’t done. A 12-play, 71-yard winning drive ended with Tahj Brooks finding the end zone for the Red Raiders with 20 seconds left to clinch a 23-22 upset for the visitors.


Nov. 2: South Carolina 44, Texas A&M 20

No. 10 Texas A&M was tied with 4-3 South Carolina at halftime, and it looked as if this would just be one of those games where the better team, after letting the lesser one hang around for a bit, would find a second gear in the third quarter and return to form.

The reverse happened in this game. South Carolina roared out of the gate after the break, with Raheim Sanders storming down the field for a 52-yard touchdown with 9:19 left in the third. LaNorris Sellers hit Joshua Simon for a 57-yard pass TD late in the fourth, and the Gamecocks turned their upset into a rout.


Oct. 5: Vanderbilt 40, Alabama 35

Alabama was riding high after an incredible Week 4 victory over Georgia — a victory that propelled it into the No. 1 ranking in the nation.

But then came 2-2 Vanderbilt.

The Commodores roared to a 23-14 lead at halftime and never let up, answering the Crimson Tide with a score every time Alabama came close. Diego Pavia threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns as the Commodores pulled off the biggest upset of the season to date.


Oct. 5: Arkansas 19, Tennessee 14

The second upset of a top-five team on Oct. 5, the game between Arkansas and Tennessee, was a lower-scoring affair than the Alabama-Vanderbilt barn burner — but no less exciting.

The score was 3-0 at halftime, but No. 4 Tennessee went ahead after two touchdowns in the third quarter by running back Dylan Sampson. But Arkansas kept pace and went ahead for good on a Malachi Singleton rushing touchdown with 1:17 remaining. Tennessee knocked on the door in the final seconds but was unable to score as Arkansas pulled off the upset.


Sept. 28: Kentucky 20, Ole Miss 17

Two weeks after Kentucky saw its upset bid against top-ranked Georgia fall heartbreakingly short, it got a second chance at a statement win … and took it.

Facing off against No. 6 Ole Miss on the road in Oxford, the Wildcats went up 20-17 with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter thanks to a touchdown run by Josh Kattus. The Wildcats’ defense would bend — allowing the Rebels into field goal range with a chance to send the game to overtime — but didn’t break. Caden Davis‘ 48-yard attempt at an equalizing field goal drifted wide as time expired.


Sept. 7: Northern Illinois 16, Notre Dame 14

The Huskies’ defense won the day at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame was held to just 286 yards of total offense as Northern Illinois eventually put through the decisive field goal late in the fourth quarter.

The win was the Huskies’ first in program history against a top-10 opponent. NIU had been 0-14 in previous attempts, according to ESPN Research.


Aug. 24: George Tech 24, Florida State 21

College football returned with a bang, as Georgia Tech pulled off an immediate stunner in Ireland. Florida State entered the 2024 season ranked No. 10 in the AP poll but couldn’t find traction after an unbeaten regular season in 2023.

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NHL Bubble Watch: Which eight teams will emerge from the chaos in the East?

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NHL Bubble Watch: Which eight teams will emerge from the chaos in the East?

NHL teams don’t necessarily need a goaltender that can drag them to the Stanley Cup, mostly because those types of netminders are unicorns. What they need is a goalie that can make a save at a critical time; and, perhaps most of all, not lose a game for the team in front of them.

As the NHL playoff picture comes into focus, so does the quality of every team’s most important position. Will their goaltending be the foundation for a playoff berth and postseason run? Or is it the fatal flaw in their designs on the Stanley Cup?

The NHL Bubble Watch is our monthly check-in on the Stanley Cup playoff races using playoff probabilities and points projections from Stathletes for all 32 teams. This month, we’re also giving each contending team a playoff quality goaltending rating based on the classic Consumer Reports review standards: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

We also reveal which teams shouldn’t worry about any of this because they’re lottery-bound already.

But first, a look at the projected playoff bracket:

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CFP title game viewership down from last year

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CFP title game viewership down from last year

Ohio State‘s 34-23 victory over Notre Dame in Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship game was the most-watched game of the season. However, it was a double-digit drop in viewers from last year.

ESPN announced Wednesday that the Buckeyes’ second national championship in the CFP era averaged 22.1 million viewers. It was the most-watched, non-NFL sporting event over the past year, but a 12% drop from the 25 million who tuned in for Michigan’s 34-13 victory over Washington in 2024.

It was the third-lowest audience of the 11 CFP title games, with all three occurring in the past five years. The audience peaked at 26.1 million viewers during the second quarter (8:30 to 8:45 p.m. ET) when the score was tied at 7.

Since Alabama’s 26-23 overtime victory over Georgia in 2018, the past seven title games have had an average margin of victory of 25.4 points. Ohio State had a 31-7 lead midway through the third quarter before Notre Dame rallied to get within one possession with five minutes remaining in the fourth.

Georgia’s 65-7 rout of TCU in 2023 was the least-viewed title game (17.2 million) followed by Alabama’s 52-24 win over Ohio State in 2021 (18.7 million). The first title game in 2015 — the Buckeyes’ 42-20 victory over Oregon — remains the most-watched college football game by viewers in the CFP era, according to Nielsen at 33.9 million.

This was the first year of the 12-team field. The first round averaged 10.6 million viewers with the quarterfinals at 16.9 million. The semifinals averaged 19.2 million, a 17% decline from last year. Both semifinal games in 2024 though were played on Jan. 1. Michigan’s OT victory over Alabama in the Rose Bowl drew a bigger audience (27.7 million) than the Wolverines’ win in the title game.

CFP games ended up being nine of the 10 most-viewed this season. Georgia’s OT win over Texas in the SEC championship on ABC/ESPN was sixth at 16.6 million.

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Sources: Irish’s Golden back to Bengals as DC

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Sources: Irish's Golden back to Bengals as DC

CINCINNATI — A familiar face is headed back to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden is expected to join the Bengals in the same role, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Wednesday. The news comes two days after the Fighting Irish lost to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.

Golden, 55, spent the past three seasons as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator. He replaces Lou Anarumo, who held the post for the past six seasons before he was fired after the Bengals missed the postseason.

This will be Golden’s second stint on Zac Taylor’s coaching staff. Before taking the job at Notre Dame, he was Cincinnati’s linebackers coach during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. During those years, Golden played an integral role in leading a defense that helped the Bengals reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years.

The Fighting Irish’s defense was a major reason why Notre Dame was a win away from its first national championship since 1988. Entering the CFP final against the Buckeyes, Notre Dame’s defense ranked fourth among Power 4 teams in points allowed per drive (1.21), according to ESPN Research.

He will be tasked with leading a Bengals defense that looks vastly different from just a couple of years ago. Staples from that Super Bowl team, including safety Jessie Bates III and defensive tackle DJ Reader, departed in free agency in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Last season, Anarumo was tasked with balancing a group that featured aging veterans, injuries at key positions and inexperience at others.

Eventually, the defense figured things out during the Bengals’ five-game winning streak to close the regular season. But with Cincinnati missing the postseason for a second straight year, Taylor opted for a staff shake-up. Along with Anarumo, offensive line coach Frank Pollack and defensive line coach Marion Hobby were among those who were not retained.

On Monday, Cincinnati announced Scott Peters as Pollack’s replacement and Michael McCarthy as the assistant offensive line coach. Later in the day, Anarumo was hired as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator.

The Bengals will need to improve a unit that finished near the bottom of the league in several key categories. Last season, Cincinnati was 26th in points allowed per drive, 30th in defensive red zone efficiency and 30th in first downs allowed per game, according to ESPN Research.

Cincinnati is trying to build around star quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase as the team looks to end a two-year playoff drought. Burrow was named to his second Pro Bowl following a career year. Chase made his fourth Pro Bowl in as many NFL seasons and joined defensive end Trey Hendrickson as the team’s first All-Pro selections since 2015.

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