College football

USATSI It's conference championship week, and while there will be plenty of talk about the lack of College Football Playoff drama in these games, ignore it. The CFP doesn't matter this weekend. It drives me insane how the coverage of this sport en masse suddenly reached the faulty conclusion that teams don't care about winning their conference. They do. A lot. While it may not be the ultimate goal for some teams, it's still a significant accomplishment for everybody. Georgia wants to win the SEC as much as it does the national title. The same is true of Michigan , TCU , USC and every other school playing this weekend. If you're around a friend this weekend who suggests that these games are meaningless, kindly smack them upside the back of the head, or watch the game somewhere you won't be surrounded by such ignorance. All odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook. Games of the Week Featured Game | USC Trojans vs. Utah Utes Moneyline Spread Total … [Read more...] about The Six Pack: Georgia vs. LSU, USC vs. Utah among best Week 14 college football picks

USATSI Lincoln Riley led the Oklahoma Sooners to the College Football Playoff three times during his tenure in Norman, but none of those teams finished with fewer than two losses during the season. In his first season at USC , the Trojans (11-1) are the fourth-ranked team in the CFP rankings and can likely secure their place in this year's playoff with a win against No. 11 Utah (9-3) on Friday in the Pac-12 Championship. USC is a narrow 2.5-point favorite in the latest Championship Week college football odds listed on Caesars Sportsbook, but the Trojans only beat the Utes by one point when they met earlier this season, 43-42. On Saturday, another conference championship game between ranked teams goes off when No. 22 UCF takes on No. 18 Tulane in the AAC title. The Green Wave haven't finished a regular season inside the national Top 25 rankings since 1998, and are 4-point favorites in the Championship Week college football lines despite losing to the Knights by a … [Read more...] about Championship Week 2022 college football picks, odds, bets from proven expert: This 3-leg parlay returns 6-1

The College Football Playoff will officially triple in size from its current four teams beginning in the 2024-25 season. The CFP's Board of Mangers has formally approved a 12-team field that will increase access to the playoff, along with revenue for the CFP and its associated parties. "We're delighted to be moving forward," said CFP executive director Bill Hancock. "When the board expanded the playoff beginning in 2026 and asked the CFP Management Committee to examine the feasibility of starting the new format earlier, the Management Committee went right to work. More teams and more access mean more excitement for fans, alumni, students and student-athletes. We appreciate the leaders of the six bowl games and the two future national championship game host cities for their cooperation. Everyone realized that this change is in the best interest of college football and pulled together to make it happen." The first round of the 2024-25 playoff will take place throughout the week … [Read more...] about College Football Playoff makes official 12-team expansion beginning in 2024-25 season

The College Football Playoff is expanding from a four-team format to a 12 teams beginning with the 2024 season, playoff officials announced Thursday . The playoff announced earlier in the year it would move to a 12-team format, though the timeline was in question. Efforts were ongoing to make expansion happen prior to the expiration of the playoff's current contract, which runs through the 2025 college football season. "We're delighted to be moving forward," Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff, said in a statement. "When the board expanded the playoff beginning in 2026 and asked the CFP Management Committee to examine the feasibility of starting the new format earlier, the Management Committee went right to work. More teams and more access mean more excitement for fans, alumni, students and student-athletes. We appreciate the leaders of the six bowl games and the two future national championship game host cities for their cooperation. Everyone … [Read more...] about College Football Playoff expanding to 12-team format beginning in 2024

Rose Bowl organizers were given until the end of the week at the latest to surrender the bowl game's demand that maintain its traditional time slot on New Year's Day — or Jan. 2, in the event New Year's Day falls on a Sunday — as the College Football Playoff explores early expansion during the 2024 season, according to CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd . The playoff is currently slated to expand in 2026 after its current contract expires. A refusal by the Rose Bowl would kill any hopes of early expansion and may result in the game being left out of the selection process, according to Dodd. The Rose Bowl is currently part of the New Year's Six bowl game lineup and rotates with other New Year's Six games as a playoff semifinal every three years. The Rose Bowl hosted semifinal matchups during the 2014, 2017 and 2020 regular seasons, and tracks to do so again next year. The 2020 game was moved to Arlington, Texas, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rose Bowl management committee chair … [Read more...] about College Football Playoff expansion: Rose Bowl given ultimatum to relinquish time-slot demands

USATSI FAU has hired Tom Herman, 47, as its next football coach, the university confirmed on Thursday. Herman, who last led the Longhorns in 2020, becomes the Owls' second coach in the last four seasons after the program fired Willie Taggart on Nov. 26. Taggart amassed a 15-18 record in three seasons with FAU finishing 2022 at 5-7. Herman joins the Owls with six years of collegiate head coaching experience. He most notably went 13-1 in his first season at Houston in 2015, improving the Cougars from 8-5 the year prior while capturing an AAC championship and Peach Bowl victory. Herman went 22-4 overall at Houston before leaving for Texas in 2017. With the Longhorns, he won 10 games in his second season with Texas appearing in the Big 12 Championship Game and ultimately winning the Sugar Bowl. However, the Longhorns went 15-8 from there with Herman being fired after a 7-3 effort in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign. Since his firing, Herman has spent his time working as … [Read more...] about FAU hires Tom Herman: Ex-Texas coach makes soft landing with Owls in return to college football

USATSI Four teams attempt to solidify their spot in the 2022 College Football Playoff on championship weekend. Georgia , Michigan , TCU and USC are the runaway favorites to clinch a spot in the four, while every other contender is sitting at home -- looking at you, Ohio State . But the calculus is about to change completely. The 12-team College Football Playoff, commencing in 2024-25 , will bring new stakes for every single team on championship Saturday and ensure that no team can back its way into one of the coveted four first-round byes. Instead, the results of highly competitive conference championship weekend makes winning conference championships more valuable than ever. We decided to give ourselves an early taste of the mayhem. In a 12-team playoff world, all 10 teams involved in Power Five conference championship games would have stakes. So would the AAC, with its champion all but guaranteed a spot. Don't count out contenders from the Sun Belt or … [Read more...] about How expanded 12-team College Football Playoff would drastically change 2022’s conference championship games

CBS Sports graphic One of the bigger news stories coming out of the sport over the last couple of days -- aside from the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams beginning in 2024-25 -- involves this year's lineup of bowl games. Specifically, it involves the Rose Bowl potentially selecting No. 8 Penn State instead of No. 5 Ohio State to fill its Big Ten vacancy should No. 2 Michigan win the Big Ten Championship Game as it is favored to do. The Buckeyes have appeared in two of the last four Rose Bowl games, including last season's epic 48-45 victory over Utah. There is also a chance that Utah will be the Pac-12 representative even if it loses to USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game, creating a potential repeat matchup. (My current projection lists the Rose Bowl choosing Washington over what would be a four-loss Utah team.) Ohio State notably did not sell its allotment of tickets to last year's Rose Bowl, so the game's organizers are concerned that the Buckeyes fan base, … [Read more...] about College football bowl projections: Penn State over Ohio State in Rose Bowl leads to New Year’s Six shakeup

The College Football Playoff has reached an agreement with the Rose Bowl that could push CFP expansion up to the 2024 season, according to a report from The Athletic's Pete Thamel. If true, the agreement would clear a major hurdle for the CFP's plan to expand to 12 teams. Rose Bowl organizers were previously given until the end of the week at the latest to surrender the bowl game's demand that maintains its traditional time slot on New Year's Day — or Jan. 2, in the event New Year's Day falls on a Sunday — as the College Football Playoff explores early expansion during the 2024 season, according to CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd . The playoff is currently slated to expand in 2026 after its current contract expires. A refusal by the Rose Bowl would have killed any hopes of early expansion and may result in the game being left out of the selection process, according to Dodd. The Rose Bowl is currently part of the New Year's Six bowl game lineup and rotates with other New Year's … [Read more...] about College Football Playoff officials reach deal with Rose Bowl for expansion in 2024, per report

The College Football Playoff expands no later the 2026 season, and the Rose Bowl Game remains a key piece of the equation. The long-running bowl game looks to preserve its traditions amid a changing landscape in college football. ESPN's Heather Dinich reported Wednesday that Rose Bowl officials and the College Football Playoff are still in negotiations about the future role of the game once the playoff expands, with playoff expansion potentially coming as soon as 2024. The Rose Bowl reportedly seeks to maintain its exclusive 2 p.m. PT kickoff on New Year's Day in years it hosts a playoff semifinal game — the game moves to Jan. 2 when New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, including this season — but is currently waiting for a response from playoff officials. The game has to rotate with other New Year's Six games as a playoff semifinal every three years since the four-team College Football Playoff was introduced in 2014. "The possibility of early entry to an expanded College Football … [Read more...] about Rose Bowl Game insistent on New Year’s Day event as College Football Playoff expansion looms, per report