8:00 AM ET ESPN staff College football has the knack of propelling the “out of nowhere” story. The tale of the near impossible, the astonishing underdog and the stars that burn the brightest for a moment and never return. Our writers dove head first into the players, teams and even seasons that captured the nation
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5:51 PM ET ESPN 300 athlete Julien Simon announced Sunday that he has committed to USC on Sunday. Simon made the announcement on Instagram Live with ESPN’s Jordan Schultz. The four-star recruit is ranked No. 141 in the ESPN 300. Besides USC, he had received offers from Arizona, Auburn, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Penn
12:11 PM ET Associated Press The president of the University of Virginia says he hopes college football can be played this fall, though he cautioned that he does not expect it to seem like “normal football seasons.” James Ryan told CBS’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday that athletic director Carla Williams and football coach Bronco
5:55 PM ET Tennessee has had a ton of momentum on the recruiting trail over the past two weeks and received a commitment Saturday from its sixth ESPN 300 commitment since April 26. KaTron Evans, the No. 15-ranked defensive tackle recruit and 231st overall prospect, announced his commitment to the Vols to continue the recruiting
3:13 PM ET Offensive lineman Issiah Walker announced he is transferring to Miami on Saturday. Walker had signed with Florida in the 2020 recruiting cycle and enrolled in January with the Gators, but had entered his name in the transfer portal on May 4. Walker was ranked No. 121 overall in this most recent recruiting
12:10 PM ET ESPN News Services MINNEAPOLIS — With the end of this virus-disrupted school year drawing nearer, a predictably bleak financial outlook for major college sports has emerged from the budgeting process. There’s a $4 million deficit in the Minnesota athletic department’s forecast for the fiscal year ending June 30, and athletic director Mark
11:27 PM ET NCAA president Mark Emmert said he does not envision schools being ready to begin competing in college football or other fall sports unless students return to campuses around the country. In an interview shown on the NCAA’s official Twitter account Friday night, Emmert said he’s spoken to hundreds of presidents and commissioners
4:30 PM ET Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said Friday that the league won’t have sports in the fall if students aren’t allowed back on campus. During a conference call with reporters, Ackerman stressed that the geographic footprint of the league — the 11 schools cover 10 states and the District of Columbia — increases
9:45 AM ET Despite a dead period created due to the restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic, college football recruiting has not stopped. There are currently 137 ESPN 300 prospects who have made their commitment, and 56 of those 137 have committed since March. We will likely see more of those commitments as we move toward
8:00 AM ET We gathered ESPN’s college football writers to break down Mel Kiper’s initial 2021 NFL draft rankings. Who’s ranked too high and whose stock will rise by the time the draft rolls around? Which under-the-radar players should you keep an eye on? And how will the battle between Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields
3:04 PM ET Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh wants college football players to have the ability to enter the NFL draft whenever they want to. He also wants players who go unselected in the draft to be allowed to return to school. Harbaugh wrote an open letter Thursday addressed to the “College Football Community,” laying out
6:54 PM ET The Big 12 is canceling its preseason football media days, set for July 20-21 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and instead will hold the event virtually, the league confirmed to ESPN. The league proposed the change Wednesday to its football coaches and athletic directors, who agreed during a virtual meeting to
10:58 PM ET University of Minnesota board of regents chair Ken Powell said despite comments made by regent Michael Hsu on the Paul Finebaum show, the regents and university have made no decisions on the future of fall sports or in-person classes. While on the Finebaum show Tuesday, Hsu was asked where he was in
6:45 AM ET LSU’s adoption of, and success with, spread offense principles in 2019 signaled the end of the spread offense’s revolutionary life cycle. To commemorate the moment, let’s look back at the 25 most important and definitive games from the spread revolution. Dec. 19, 1980: BYU 46, SMU 45 In 1980, Hal Mumme was
7:45 AM ET We just saw six wide receivers picked in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft. Could the 2021 NFL draft offer a similar number? In my way-too-early evaluations of next year’s class, it’s not out of the question. Let’s get into my initial rankings of another interesting draft class, with my
5:53 PM ET LSU added ESPN 300 quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to its 2021 recruiting class Monday when the 6-foot-2, 185-pound signal-caller announced his decision to pick the Tigers over offers from the likes of Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and others. Nussmeier is the No. 62-ranked prospect overall out of Marcus High School in Flower Mound,
8:58 PM ET Defensive end Najee Story, No. 250 in the ESPN’s Junior 300 rankings, committed to Northwestern, he announced on social media Sunday. Calling his recruiting process “a long journey full of twists and turns” in a tweet, Story, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound lineman from Solon High School (Ohio) chose the Wildcats over Ohio State,
2:07 PM ET Shaquill Griffin and Shaquem Griffin were used to hearing cheers from students while playing for the UCF Knights prior to their NFL careers. On Saturday, they returned the favor. The identical twins, who both play for the Seattle Seahawks, delivered an unscripted 8-minute commencement speech for the university’s virtual graduation ceremony that