Cincinnati moved into position to make the College Football Playoff on Tuesday night, climbing a spot to fourth behind Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama.
A team from outside the Power Five conferences has never been selected for the semifinals in the previous seven years of the College Football Playoff.
Heading into the final full weekend of games, one loaded with playoff and conference championship implications, Cincinnati (11-0) seems to have a realistic path to a playoff spot no matter what happens around the Bearcats.
Cincinnati plays at East Carolina on Friday and then meets Houston (10-1), ranked 24th by the committee, in the American Athletic Conference championship game on Dec. 4.
Before this season, no team from a so-called Group of Five conference had ever been ranked better than seventh by the CFP selection committee.
Michigan is fifth heading into its game against Ohio State that should produce the Big Ten’s best shot to make the playoff.
Notre Dame (10-1) is sixth. The Fighting Irish’s only loss is to Cincinnati.
Oklahoma State (10-1) at seventh is the highest ranked Big 12 team.
Big 12 rivals Baylor (eighth) and Oklahoma (10th) round out the top 10 with Mississippi in between.
The Sooners play at Oklahoma State on Saturday in a game that will help determine who plays in the Big 12 title game.
The final CFP rankings will be revealed Dec. 5 and the top four teams will play in the semifinals on Dec. 31 in the Orange and Cotton bowls. The national championship game is scheduled for Jan. 10 in Indianapolis.
PENN STATE: Coach James Franklin has agreed to a new 10-year contract that will run through the 2031 season, the university announced.
The contract, which runs from Jan. 1, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2031, gives Franklin a total guaranteed annual compensation of $7 million for each of the 10 years. At the end of each of those years, he gets a $500,000 retention bonus if he’s still in the position.
In nearly eight full seasons with the Nittany Lions, Franklin has gone 67-32.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
ST. JOSEPH’S 80, MAINE-FARMINGTON 41: Cassandra Stepelfeld scored 18 points to lead four players in double figures as the Monks (3-1) closed out the first half with a 25-8 run and beat the Beavers (4-2) at Standish.
Hannah Talon had 14 points for St. Joseph’s, and Grace Philippon and Jayne Howe scored 12 apiece.
Jaycie Steven led Maine-Farmington with 10 points.
BOWDOIN 62, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 51: Tori Beck had nine of her 12 points, courtesy of three 3-pointers, to spark the No. 13 Polar Bears (6-0) over the Nor’easters (2-5) at Biddeford.
Annie Boasberg added 12 points for Bowdoin and Sela Kay had 10.
Allie Goodman fueled the offense for UNE with 16 points off the bench, and Abby Cavallaro chipped in with 11.
BATES 72, SOUTHERN MAINE 62: The Bobcats (3-1) outscored the Huskies (1-4) 23-13 in the final quarter to pull away with the win in Lewiston.
Meghan Graff paced Bates with 18 points and four assists. Brianna Gadaleta followed with 17 and eight rebounds, and Mia Roy put up 13 and five assists.
USM was led by Amy Fleming with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals. Victoria Harris had 11.
SOUTHERN MAINE CC 57, MAINE-AUGUSTA 54: Kyla Greenleaf gave the Seawolves (5-1, 2-0 Yankee Small College Conference) the lead for good with 2:19 to play in overtime as they edged the Moose (3-2, 3-1) at the Augusta Civic Center.
Greenleaf came off the bench and powered the SMCC offense with 17 points, and Hannah Richards and Bailey Whitney added 11 points each.
Tazneji Valencia led UMaine-Augusta with 21 points, and Madeline Suhr had 11 points and grabbed 22 rebounds.
(21) OHIO STATE 110, BELLARMINE 58: Jacy Sheldon scored 25 of her career-high 31 points in the first half and Taylor Mikesell added 18 points to help host Ohio State (4-0) beat Bellarmine (0-4).
AP POLL: South Carolina was the unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll after a dominant win over then-No. 2 UConn.
The Gamecocks won the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis women’s championship on Monday in the 61st meeting between the top two teams in the AP poll. The AP decided to hold the poll one day so it would reflect the outcome of the game – only the second time since the poll began in 1976 that it has been delayed.
Buoyed by the victory, South Carolina garnered all 30 first-place votes from a national media panel after beating then-No. 9 Oregon and UConn on consecutive days.
Maryland jumped one spot to No. 2 while the Huskies fell to third. The No. 2 ranking is the Terrapins’ best since Feb. 20, 2017. Indiana and North Carolina State were fourth and fifth again this week.
Baylor remained sixth after a tough three-point loss to Maryland. The Bears were followed by Stanford, Iowa, Arizona and Louisville to round out the top 10.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
UM-FARMINGTON 92, ST. JOSEPH’S 82: Terion Moss scored 46 points to carry the Beavers (3-1) to a victory over the Monks (1-5) in Standish.
Moss went 7 of 13 on 3-pointers and made all 11 free throws, also adding seven rebounds. Jack Kane chipped in with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Nicholas Curtis posted 27 points for St. Joseph’s, which also got 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists from Ashtyn Abbott. Griffin Foley had 13 and 10 rebounds.
BATES 92, SOUTHERN MAINE 74: The Bobcats (2-2) scored 50 points in the second half to beat the Huskies (3-4) in Lewiston.
Stephon Baxter led Bates with 25 points and six rebounds. Jahmir Primer had 14 points and five assists and Omar Sarr had 12 points, 16 rebounds, an assist and four blocks.
Jacobe Thomas led USM with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists. Cody Hawes finished with 17 and eight rebounds and Chance Dixon scored 15 points.
BOWDOIN 77, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 50: Michael Simonds had 14 of his 21 points in the first half as the Polar Bears (4-1) closed on a 13-2 run to build a 42-22 halftime advantage and handle the host Nor’easters (1-6) at Biddeford.
Cole Hanin had 14 points for Bowdoin, with Taiga Kagitomi adding 13 points and James Mcgowan scoring 11.
Ray Evans led UNE with 11 points.
COLBY 78, BABSON 74: Matt Hannah had 20 points, including eight straight in overtime, as the Mules (4-1) beat the Beavers (4-3) in a nonconference game at Waterville.
Colby trailed by 13 points in the second half before rallying to tie the contest at 59 with the help of four 3-pointers from Noah Tyson, who finished with 21 points. Jack Lawson came off the bench and tossed in 20.
Mitchell Kirsch had 20 points to lead four Babson players in double figures, Colin Bradanese had 16 points and Spencer Cline chipped in with 15 points and David Cross added 13.
CENTRAL CONN. 64, MAINE 56: Tre Mitchell went 9 of 10 from the free-throw line, scoring 12 points to lead the Blue Devils (1-5) over the Black Bears (2-3) at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Davontae Sweatman had 11 points and Jayden Brown and Nigel Scantlebury each had 10.
Stephane Ingo’s 14 points and six rebounds were highs for Maine. LeChaun DuHart and Vukasin Masic put up eight points a piece, with Masic adding six boards and four assists.
WISCONSIN 65, (12) HOUSTON 63: Johnny Davis scored a career-high 30 points and Wisconsin (4-1) beat Houston (4-1) in the Maui Invitational semifinals at Las Vegas.
The Cougars erased a 20-point halftime deficit and cut Wisconsin’s lead to two on Kyler Edwards’ 3-pointer with 40 seconds left. With the final possession, Jamal Shead drove baseline and passed to Edwards, who wasn’t expecting the feed, costing the Cougars a chance at a final attempt.
(14) ILLINOIS 72, KANSAS STATE 64: Kofi Cockburn had 23 points and 13 rebounds, Alfonso Plummer hit seven 3-pointers and added 21 points, and Illinois (3-2) held off pesky Kansas State (2-2) in the consolation game of the Hall of Fame Classic at Kansas City, Missouri.
THE CITADEL: Coach Duggar Baucom collapsed on the court barely a minute into Monday’s game against Duke and was taken to a hospital.
Baucom fell along the sideline and was taken to Duke University Hospital. The 61-year-old Baucom was conscious as he was helped out of the gym by medical personnel.
“All things considered, he’s as good as he can be,” associate head coach Jake Castleberry said. “He was coherent the entire time. … He just said he was in pain.”
Team spokesman John Brush said later that Baucom was in good spirits and would remain in the hospital overnight. He’ll return with the team Tuesday morning to Charleston, South Carolina.
MEN’S HOCKEY
UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 6, BOWDOIN 1: The Nor’easters (5-1) scored three first-period goals to beat the Polar Bears (0-2) at Biddeford.
Jared Christy had a goal and a pair of assists to lead six scorers for UNE. Jimmy Elser, Jeff Eppright and Daniel Winslow each had a goal and assist, and Ryan Kuzmich and Alexander Vukota also scored.
Cam Berube scored for Bowdoin.
SALEM STATE 4, SOUTHERN MAINE 3: Joe Smith finished off a pass from Billy Falter for the winner with 4:20 to go in regulation as the Vikings (2-4-0) topped the Huskies (2-4-1) at Gorham.
Connor Woolley and Erik Larsson each had first-period goals for Salem State.
Southern Maine got goals from Mathieu Sabourin, Adam Whithers and Tyler Gardiner to grab a 3-2 lead midway through the third period, but Richard Coyle scored the tying goal for the Vikings with 7:16 to play.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
COLBY 4, SOUTHERN MAINE 1: Lexi Cafiero scored twice to lift the Mules (3-0-0) over the Huskies (5-4-0) at Waterville.
Meg Rittenhouse found Cafiero to open the scoring in the first period and then finished on a power play in the third. Rittenhouse and Elizabeth Brashich each had a goal for Colby, and Paige Bolyard turned away 17 shots.
Georgie Snow scored for USM on a second-period power-play goal. Haley McKim made 31 saves.
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