11:30 AM ET It’s already time to start thinking about ACC football in 2021. While the 2020 season ended just recently, next season’s schedules have been unveiled, so it’s time to start breaking down your team’s slate and projecting wins and losses. With Notre Dame no longer in the mix and no more Trevor Lawrence,
NCAAF
9:52 AM ET The ACC plans to return to its normal eight-conference-game, divisional format — with Notre Dame as an independent — when the 2021 football season kicks off in September, the league announced Thursday. In its release, the league noted that return to play and the schedule as released are contingent on COVID-19 guidelines.
6:19 AM ET There’s no more ubiquitous measure of “good” in college sports than the top-25 college football poll, and yet, it’s entirely arbitrary. Entering the College Football Playoff, Ohio State was ranked one spot ahead of Notre Dame, which was one spot ahead of Texas A&M. But the margin between the Buckeyes and the
7:54 PM ET Former Tennessee running back Eric Gray is transferring to Oklahoma, he announced Wednesday. Gray, who led Tennessee with 772 rushing yards and finished second on the team with 30 receptions in 2020, entered the NCAA’s transfer portal last week after the Vols fired head coach Jeremy Pruitt. The 5-foot-10, 205-pound Gray reportedly
4:18 PM ET More than two years after Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair died from heatstroke he suffered during a football workout, Maryland state government officials swiftly and unanimously approved a $3.5 million settlement Wednesday from the University of Maryland to McNair’s parents, Marty McNair and Tonya Wilson. The 19-year-old from Randallstown, Maryland, collapsed during
2:00 PM ET Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald has agreed to a new 10-year contract with the school that stretches through the 2030 season. Fitzgerald, a former star linebacker at Northwestern who twice won national Defensive Player of the Year honors, is the winningest coach in team history, with a 106-81 record in 15 seasons.
3:17 PM ET The SEC football schedule release on Wednesday featured the return of nonconference games and an opening-day slate on Sept. 4 that includes Power 5 matchups LSU at UCLA, Georgia vs. Clemson (Charlotte, North Carolina) and Miami vs. Alabama (Atlanta). Louisville and Ole Miss will play one another on Sept. 6, Labor Day,
1:02 PM ET It’s already time to start thinking about SEC football in 2021. While the 2020 season ended just recently, next season’s schedules have been unveiled, so it’s time to start breaking down your team’s slate and projecting wins and losses. Can anyone challenge Alabama at the top? Will Ed Orgeron prove that last
9:49 AM ET SMU football is hiring Florida Atlantic defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt for the same role, sources confirmed to ESPN. Leavitt, the head coach at South Florida from 1997 to 2009, will replace Kevin Kane, who left to coach linebackers at Illinois under new coach Bret Bielema. Leavitt, who is 64, spent last season
7:49 AM ET New Tennessee athletic director Danny White didn’t have to look far to land his head football coach. Sources told ESPN that White is hiring UCF’s Josh Heupel as the Vols’ next head coach. White also hired Heupel when White was the UCF athletic director. Tennessee called a team meeting for 8:30 a.m.
7:00 AM ET ESPN staff The College Football Playoff or a New Year’s Six bowl game: Which is more likely for college football teams in 2021? We break down the best-case scenario for each of the Way-Too-Early top 25 teams. The road back to the playoff isn’t particularly complicated for the Tigers. They remain the
5:34 PM ET Former Texas starting running back Keaontay Ingram will transfer to USC, he announced Tuesday. Ingram, who rushed for 1,811 yards over the past three seasons, entered the transfer portal earlier this month. He started 13 games in 2019 and three of Texas’ first four games in 2020 before losing the starting job
2:14 PM ET Nebraska quarterback Luke McCaffrey and two other offensive players are transferring, continuing the offseason exodus from the program. McCaffrey, who started two games in 2020 and appeared in seven contests, entered the NCAA’s transfer portal Tuesday along with reserve offensive lineman Will Farniok and wide receiver Kade Warner, the son of Pro
12:01 PM ET Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman and Pro Football Hall of Famer Will Shields, who also won the Outland Trophy while at Nebraska, and Virginia Union athletic director Joe Taylor, one of the winningest coaches in HBCU history, headline five new College Football Playoff selection committee members announced Tuesday. Kentucky athletic director
6:36 PM ET LSU is expected to hire Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones as defensive coordinator, sources told ESPN. Jones, who completed his first season with the Vikings after two seasons with both the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins, replaces Bo Pelini, who was fired after just one year at LSU. As ESPN
4:39 PM ET Alabama coach Nick Saban announced the addition of another former NFL head coach to his staff on Monday. Doug Marrone, who led the Jacksonville Jaguars for the last four seasons before being fired earlier this month, will coach the offensive line. 1 Related “We are extremely fortunate to be able to add
3:50 PM ET Cal is hiring Oregon co-defensive coordinator Keith Heyward for the same role, sources told ESPN on Monday. Heyward, who announced his departure from Oregon on Twitter but didn’t specify his new destination, just completed his fourth season with the Ducks. He will replace Tim DeRuyter, whom Oregon is hiring as its primary
1:34 PM ET Clemson linebacker Mike Jones Jr. entered his name in the transfer portal on Monday. The redshirt sophomore was a starter for the Tigers this past season and is listed as a grad transfer in the portal. He was an ESPN 300 prospect in the 2018 class, originally from Lebanon, Tennessee, before transferring