NCAAF

7:00 AM ET “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” — — Ernest Hemingway, “The Sun Also Rises” In the present tense, it can seem impossible for a new team to join college football’s ruling class. You fall short again and again, and it starts to feel like

1:26 AM ET A USC Trojans football player was suspended last month by the school in connection to a possible federal investigation into fraud related to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. Sophomore receiver Munir McClain has been suspended since mid-September, his mother, Shan McClain told the

7:00 AM ET David M. Hale Close ESPN Staff Writer ACC reporter. Joined ESPN in 2012. Graduate of the University of Delaware. Harry Lyles Jr. The biggest college football game on Saturday? It’s happening in Dallas between No. 9 Cincinnati and No. 16 SMU — two of the nine unbeaten teams left in the FBS.

7:30 AM ET For going on 14 years, Alabama has beaten Tennessee every October, and every year coaches and players have enjoyed a traditional postgame cigar. You’ve probably seen the photos that pop up on social media around this time each year. The one of Derrick Henry puffing a stogie with his arm around Nick

10:12 AM ET The first half of the college football season was defined by a lack of challengers at the top. Clemson and Alabama have more than looked the part. Georgia is close, Notre Dame is hovering around the conversation, and BYU should get a look. But the Big 12 has all but eliminated itself

7:00 AM ET “For the record, I tested positive first, OK? You make sure Nick Saban knows that.” Colby Carthel is laughing over the phone. So is his father, Don. A week ago, they weren’t laughing so hard. They weren’t laughing at all. But today, the Carthel family is all smiles. That’s what a win

7:00 AM ET After what easily was the most drama-filled decision-making process of any major conference in college football, the Big Ten will kick off its long-awaited season at 8 p.m. ET on Friday night when No. 14 Wisconsin hosts Illinois. No, really. On Aug. 5, the league announced its revamped schedule (the first time)

4:05 PM ET Associated Press An unexpected open week would be the perfect opportunity to consider changes following No. 4 Georgia’s ugly loss to Alabama. There was no indication from coach Kirby Smart on Tuesday that a change is coming at quarterback. Asked if Stetson Bennett is still Georgia’s starter, Smart said “Like I have

7:00 AM ET The calendar says it’s late October. The colors of leaves and the emergence of sweaters say the same. But here on Planet College Football, the concept of time is hard to grasp. The game’s internal clock needs a reboot. The coronavirus pandemic has taken our mileposts and shuffled them like a deck

7:00 AM ET A FEW DAYS after the most infamous mascot fight in college football history, Sean Stazen (aka Brutus Buckeye) sat down in his Columbus, Ohio, apartment and opened his laptop, hoping to get some homework done. The first thing that popped onto his screen, however, were news stories from China and Australia. The

10:05 PM ET Associated Press The attorney representing eight Black former Iowa football players who allege racial discrimination during their time with the Iowa Hawkeyes said Monday night the university’s rejection of their demands, which included a payment of $20 million, is not the end of the matter. Civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons of Tulsa,

2:50 PM ET Nebraska junior quarterback Adrian Martinez will start this week’s opener against No. 5 Ohio State, coach Scott Frost said Monday. Martinez, who had a record-setting freshman season in 2018 for Nebraska but struggled at times in 2019, will take the first snaps after competing with redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey in the preseason.

7:00 AM ET The word “midseason” is almost useless this year in college football. Of the 127 teams endeavoring to play FBS football this fall, only 12 have played half of their intended schedule (13 if you include UMass having played its only scheduled game to this point), while another 50 have yet to get

2:21 PM ET Associated Press Clemson easily held off Alabama on Sunday to retain the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press college football poll, extending its longest run atop the poll to seven weeks. The Crimson Tide ran away from Georgia on Saturday night to make the case to be No. 1, but it

11:59 PM ET You come at the king, you best not miss. That’s a quote from “The Wire,” but there is a good chance the writers of that show stole it from Nick Saban. Saturday was supposed to feature a wounded Alabama. It was a week of turmoil amid Saban’s COVID-19 test that, apparently, was

5:56 PM ET Florida coach Dan Mullen announced Saturday he has tested positive for COVID-19, the latest hit to a football program that has been severely affected by the coronavirus spread. Mullen said on Twitter that his positive test has been confirmed and he is self-isolating from his family members, who are healthy. Sources told

11:50 PM ET With Georgia and Alabama meeting Saturday, our writers’ picks for the College Football Playoff were bound to get shuffled a bit, but following Alabama’s 41-24 victory, the lists aren’t that different from last week. How will Saturday’s top games affect the College Football Playoff chase? What are the current odds for the

9:00 AM ET Welcome to Week 7 of the always unpredictable 2020 college football season. We know there are big games happening! We just don’t always know who will be playing — or even coaching — in them. Speaking of, the biggest game of the young season is upon us as No. 3 Georgia visits