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NEW YORK (AP) — Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts and Ohio State teammates quarterback Justin Fields and defensive end Chase Young will join LSU quarterback Joe Burrow as Heisman Trophy finalists. Burrow is the clear front-runner to win the Heisman on Saturday night in New York City after a record-breaking season. The senior has led the Tigers to the top seed in the College Football Playoff. Burrow would be LSU's second Heisman winner and first since running back Billy Cannon in 1959. All three quarterbacks who are finalists this season started their careers at different schools and transferred.
UNDATED (AP) — Louisville and Kansas remained atop the Top 25 this week. Ohio State jumped three spots to No. 3 after routing then-No. 7 North Carolina and blowing out Penn State. Maryland dropped one spot to fourth despite continuing to pile up wins. Michigan slid one spot to round out the top five after its first loss of the season. Xavier joined the rankings at No. 22 and San Diego State entered at No. 25.
UNDATED (AP) — College football always needs an argument when it comes to the postseason. This year, it was whether LSU or Ohio State should be the top seed in the four-team playoff. Four was enough this season to accommodate the teams worthy of a crack at the national championship. Maybe more than enough. Expansion still seems inevitable, even though it has become apparent over the first six seasons of the playoff that it is just not needed to crown a deserving champion.
UNDATED (AP) — UConn has jumped to No. 2 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll behind Stanford. The Cardinal have 27 of the 30 first-place votes from the national media panel. UConn was seven points in front of third place Oregon. Oregon State and South Carolina round out the top five. Louisville fell five spots to seventh after losing at Ohio State. Mississippi State fell out of the top 10 for the first time in three years.
UNDATED (AP) — Old Dominion has hired Penn State offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne as its head coach. Rahne has been offensive coordinator at Penn State the last two seasons and on coach James Franklin's staffs with the Nittany Lions and Vanderbilt since 2011. The 39-year-old former Cornell quarterback has never been a head coach. ODU is replacing the only head coach its football program has ever had in Bobby Wilder, who resigned after 11 seasons with a 77-56 record. The Monarchs went 1-11 this season.
UNDATED (AP) — LSU will play Oklahoma and Ohio State will face defending national champion Clemson in the College Football Playoff. The pairings for the national semifinals were released Sunday. SEC champion LSU is the top seed. The Tigers will head to Atlanta to face the Big 12 champion Sooners in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 28. That same day, Big Ten champion Ohio State will play ACC and defending national champion Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl in suburban Phoenix. The national championship is set for Jan. 13 in New Orleans.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Reigning national champion Clemson will face Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl in one of two College Football Playoff semifinals. The Buckeyes dropped a spot to No. 2 behind LSU in the latest playoff rankings after struggling in the first half against No. 10 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. The Tigers were No. 3 in the playoff rankings after blowing out Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. The Fiesta Bowl is Dec. 28 in Glendale, Arizona.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — No. 7 Oregon will face No. 11 Wisconsin in the 106th edition of the Rose Bowl. The Ducks are in the Granddaddy of Them All for the fourth time in 11 seasons. The Badgers are making the trip to Pasadena for the fourth time in 10 seasons. Oregon won the Pac-12 title by beating Utah in the championship game. Wisconsin edged out Penn State for the Rose Bowl trip thanks to its solid performance in its Big Ten title game loss to playoff-bound Ohio State.
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