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☆ College Basketball’s Winter of Chaos
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jared Diamond | Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

With March Madness two months away, college basketball is officially a complete and utter mess. The reason: None of the teams that are purportedly the good ones appear to have much interest in actually winning basketball games. In an unprecedented stretch of chaos, four top-five teams lost to unranked opponents in the span of 48 hours last week, including No. 2 Houston, No. The carnage continued into the holiday weekend, with Houston falling for a second consecutive time, alongside No.

Organizations: Purdue, Houston Locations: Houston, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arizona

☆ College Football Playoff Features Four Heavyweights—and One Giant Snub
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For most of its more than 150 years of existence, college football has been defined as much by controversy and contention as what happened when a bunch of students squared off on the field. This is a sport where 34 national titles have been disputed or vacated—and sometimes both. Then, 10 years ago, the sport’s leaders decided to change all that. College football went from the murky selection process of the Bowl Championship Series era to a playoff format, allowing four teams to duke it out for the national title. The days of controversy were supposedly over.

Organizations: . College football

☆ Alabama Plunges College Football Into Chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jalen Milroe and the Alabama Crimson Tide won the SEC Championship. Photo: Todd Kirkland/Getty ImagesATLANTA—Heading into this week’s conference championship matchups, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee looked like it could take the weekend off. The top four teams in the nation—Georgia, Michigan, Washington and Florida State—were all Power 5 schools with perfect records. Win one more game, and the final four would pick itself. Then Nick Saban’s Alabama marched into Atlanta and plunged the entire sport into chaos.

Persons: Jalen Milroe, Todd Kirkland, Nick Saban’s Alabama Organizations: Alabama Crimson Tide, SEC, Getty, College, Florida State Locations: ATLANTA, Georgia, Michigan, Washington, Florida, Atlanta

☆ Wait, Is Alabama About to Crash the College Football Playoff?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This is the college football season when some very un-Alabama things happened to Alabama. It started when the Crimson Tide lost a game in September. Things got worse when they rotated through three quarterbacks before finally naming a starter. They needed a second-half comeback to squeak past South Florida and then a miracle to win the Iron Bowl. The whole thing was deeply weird and unsettling, like Nick Saban cracking a smile.

Persons: Nick Saban Organizations: Crimson Tide Locations: Alabama, Florida

☆ Ohio State Can Still Reach the College Football Playoff—With a Lot of Help
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Asked to describe how it felt to lose to Michigan by throwing an interception in the final seconds, Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord only needed one word. That’s the only word for it,” he said. What comes next for the Buckeyes will be no less nerve-racking: waiting for everyone else to determine whether they still stand a chance of making the 2023 College Football Playoff.

Persons: Kyle McCord, ” Organizations: Ohio, Buckeyes Locations: Michigan

☆ Florida State Won, but Lost Its Star QB—and Maybe Its Potential Championship Season
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis is taken off the field after being injured. Photo: Colin Hackley/Associated PressFlorida State on Saturday night won its 11th game in what has been something of a dream season in Tallahassee. Yet that dream turned nightmarish because of what they lost: starting quarterback Jordan Travis. Travis suffered a gruesome leg injury at the end of the opening quarter against North Alabama and was immediately carted off the field and rushed to a hospital. The Seminoles, trailing 13-3 when the redshirt senior went down, scored 55 unanswered points to win the game 58-13.

Persons: Jordan Travis, Colin Hackley, Travis Organizations: Florida State, Associated Press, Associated Press Florida State, North Alabama, Seminoles Locations: Associated Press Florida, Tallahassee

Michigan’s football sign-stealing scandal expanded in a troubling new direction on Friday, as the university fired an assistant coach who had been connected to the staff member at the center of the controversy involving an impermissible off-campus scouting scheme. The dismissal of Chris Partridge, a recruiting guru who served as the team’s linebackers coach, came less than a day after Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh made a shocking pivot by agreeing to accept his three-game suspension from the Big Ten.

Persons: Chris Partridge, Jim Harbaugh Organizations: Michigan, Big

☆ What the Big Ten’s Tony Petitti Learned From the Houston Astros
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Jared Diamond | Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tony Petitti had a front-row seat to what had been the biggest sign-stealing scandal in American sports history. He was Major League Baseball’s deputy commissioner in late 2019, when his boss, Rob Manfred, began investigating the Houston Astros’ now infamous trash-can banging scheme. From his spot within the game’s inner circle, Petitti saw up close how Manfred’s probe unfolded, how he decided to impose discipline and how the public ultimately reacted afterward.

Persons: Tony Petitti, Rob Manfred, Houston Astros ’, Petitti Organizations: League Baseball’s, Houston Astros

☆ Big Ten Suspends Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh in Sign-Stealing Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Laine Higgins | Rachel Bachman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Big Ten Conference on Friday barred Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh from coaching the remainder of the team’s regular season games, an unprecedented sanction that follows allegations against the Wolverines football program of illegally attending future opponents’ games to steal play-signals. The conference announced the penalty as Michigan’s team was flying to State College, Pa., to play a top-10 matchup against Penn State on Saturday. The stakes could scarcely be higher: Harbaugh is coach of one of the nation’s top teams as it enters the season’s critical final stretch.

Persons: Jim Harbaugh, Harbaugh Organizations: Big Ten, Wolverines, State College ,, Penn State Locations: Michigan, State College , Pa

☆ The Michigan Superfan Who Became a Michigan Coach—and the Center of a Michigan Scandal
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

As a 16-year old high-school student, Connor Stalions set an audacious goal: To become the head football coach at Michigan. A dozen years later, his dream had advanced much farther than he had any right to imagine. Stalions, a lifelong Michigan superfan, was deeply embedded in the Wolverines football program. Naval Academy and served a stint in the Marines, he landed a job as an analyst on the Michigan coaching staff. During the past two seasons, he was frequently seen on the sidelines in close proximity to the team’s offensive and defensive coordinators, and even head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Persons: Connor Stalions, Jim Harbaugh Organizations: Michigan, Wolverines, U.S . Naval Academy, Marines Locations: Michigan

☆ Michigan Warns Big Ten Against Disciplining Team Over Sign-Stealing Allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Rachel Bachman | Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The University of Michigan moved to ward off possible discipline by the Big Ten Conference against the Wolverines’ football program and head coach Jim Harbaugh in the wake of allegations that the team engaged in illegal sign-stealing. In an email to the Big Ten late last week, Michigan president Santa Ono warned that taking action before conducting an investigation would violate conference rules. The move escalates the battle between Michigan, a national-title contender ranked No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings, and its opponents, who are clamoring for a quick punishment of alleged activities they say have given the Wolverines a competitive advantage.

Persons: Jim Harbaugh, Santa Ono Organizations: University of Michigan, Big Ten Conference, Wolverines, Big, College Football Locations: Michigan

☆ The Final Push for a Sub-Two Hour Marathon Is Here
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Kelvin Kiptum lowered the men’s marathon world record by a whopping 34 seconds at the Chicago Marathon in early October. It’s the next 36 seconds, however, that loom larger in the sport as it chases a historic milestone: a sub-two hour marathon. The two-hour mark is to the marathon what a four-minute mile was before Roger Bannister broke the barrier in 1954. Both milestones are arbitrary—they possess the allure of a nice round number—yet the pursuit of them has propelled athletes to change their approach to running.

Persons: Kelvin Kiptum, It’s, Roger Bannister Organizations: Chicago Marathon

☆ Football Coaching Analyst at Center of Michigan Sign-Stealing Scandal Resigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Connor Stalions, left, resigned from his job as a Michigan football analyst amid an NCAA probe of alleged sign-stealing by the Wolverines football program. Photo: Paul Sancya/Associated PressConnor Stalions, an analyst on the Michigan football coaching staff who is at the center of a sign-stealing scandal, resigned on Friday, according to an athletic department spokesperson. Michigan came under scrutiny from the National Collegiate Athletic Association in October for allegedly breaking rules by sending scouts to future opponents’ games to record signals the teams use from the sidelines to communicate with players on the field.

Persons: Connor Stalions, Paul Sancya Organizations: NCAA, Wolverines, Michigan, National Collegiate Athletic Association Locations: Michigan

☆ It’s Legal in the NFL. It’s Banned in College Football. It Might Be Trouble for Michigan.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

On Thursday, Michigan disclosed that its No. 2-ranked football team is under investigation by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for allegedly stealing the play-signal signs of their opponents. The details of what Michigan allegedly did haven’t been disclosed by the university or the NCAA. On Friday afternoon, Michigan suspended with pay one of its football analysts, Connor Stalions, pending the result of the outcome of the NCAA probe. Stalions is a United States Naval Academy graduate hired by Michigan full-time in May 2022 after serving as a volunteer coach there since 2015.

Persons: haven’t, Connor Stalions Organizations: National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA, United States Naval Academy, Michigan Locations: Michigan

☆ It’s Legal In the NFL. It’s Banned in College Football. It Might Be Trouble for Michigan.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Persons: haven’t, Connor Stalions Organizations: National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA, United States Naval Academy, Michigan Locations: Michigan

☆ Washington’s Electric Offense Wins Out in a Thriller Against Oregon
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

With both the ball and the lead late in Oregon’s Top 10 showdown against Washington on Saturday, the Ducks gambled on the trendiest call in football these days: They went for it on fourth down with the ball near midfield and just over two minutes to play.

Organizations: Oregon’s, Washington, Ducks

☆ Kelvin Kiptum Breaks Men’s Marathon World Record in Chicago
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/sports/kelvin-kiptum-marathon-world-record-eliud-kipchoge-f12622ed

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ Oklahoma Gets a Signature Win Over No. 3 Texas—With Its Defense
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The moment it became clear that things had changed at Oklahoma came at the top of the fourth quarter of the Sooners’ annual Red River Showdown against Texas on Saturday. With the Longhorns trailing 27-20, quarterback Quinn Ewers threaded a 28-yard pass to Jordan Whittington, who was tackled at the one yard line.

Persons: Quinn Ewers, Jordan Whittington Organizations: Oklahoma, Sooners, Texas, Longhorns

☆ USC’s Shaky Defense Could Mean the Fall of Troy’s Title Hopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

It has been 12 years since the so-called “Game of the Century,” when No. 1 Louisiana State beat No. 2 Alabama in a defensive slugfest that ended 9-6. It might as well have been 12 decades based on how differently the game is played these days.

Organizations: Louisiana State Locations: Alabama

☆ The Sixth Year Is the Charm for a Heisman Frontrunner
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For the first four years of his college football career, Michael Penix Jr.’s best moment on the field was a dive into the pylon on a 2-point conversion in overtime that sealed Indiana’s upset of a top-10 ranked Penn State. It was a great win for the Hoosiers, but eminently forgettable in the grander scheme of college football.

Persons: Michael Penix Jr, ’ Organizations: Penn State, Hoosiers

☆ New-Look Notre Dame Falls Prey to an Old Habit: Losing the Big One
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/notre-dame-ohio-state-marcus-freeman-bc01b88f

Persons: Dow Jones Locations: ohio

☆ Coach Prime Can Recruit. He Can Motivate. Can He Coach?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Rachel Bachman | Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/coach-prime-colorado-deion-sanders-96b7862a

Persons: Dow Jones, sanders, 96b7862a Locations: colorado

☆ Michigan State Moves to Fire Mel Tucker Amid Harassment Probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/mel-tucker-michigan-state-firing-sexual-harassment-9183c9af

Persons: Dow Jones, mel, tucker Locations: michigan

☆ The Hottest Conference in College Football Might Not Exist Next Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

At this time last year, the Pac12 conference was down in the football dumps, with the worst team in major Division I football and seven years separating it from its last trip to the College Football Playoff. By this time next year the Pac-12 may not even exist.

Organizations: College Football

☆ How Texas Beat Alabama With Nick Saban’s Own Playbook
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Laine Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/texas-alabama-nick-saban-steve-sarkisian-1a08fcda

Persons: Dow Jones, saban Locations: texas, alabama

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