Sports
College Football Rankings: B/R’s Top 25 After Week 1
0 of 4
Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud led the Buckeyes to victory over Notre Dame (AP Photo/David Dermer)
It’s only Week 1 of the 2022 college football season, but the Pac-12 is unfortunately already in midseason form, quickly playing its way out of the College Football Playoff conversation.
Well, not entirely. AP No. 14 USC did put a 66-14 hurting on Rice with help from not one, not two, but three pick sixes. But No. 11 Oregon got destroyed by No. 3 Georgia, and No. 7 Utah went into the Gainesville swamp and came away with an L against an unranked Florida.
Temporarily unranked, that is.
After knocking off Utah in Billy Napier’s debut as head coach, the Gators are going to skyrocket into the AP poll, possibly all the way into the Top 10. Anthony Richardson was every bit as electric as we remembered from when he was healthy early last season, and they are at least a top 10 team now as far as Bleacher Report’s college football experts—David Kenyon, Adam Kramer, Kerry Miller, Morgan Moriarty and Brad Shepard—are concerned.
While that upset was going down on Saturday night, AP No. 2 Ohio State gradually asserted its will for a 21-10 victory over No. 5 Notre Dame in the opening weekend’s main event.
It was touch and go there for a while with the Fighting Irish gaining 54 yards (69 if you count the 15 yard roughing the passer penalty) on the very first snap of the game, followed by the Buckeyes losing Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a leg injury (fingers crossed that it’s not anything serious) midway through the first quarter. But Ohio State just had too much talent, too much toughness and too much Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson to be denied a marquee victory.
We will update these rankings on Monday night if Clemson struggles or even loses to Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A kickoff, but while we wait for that final game of Week 1, here is what our consensus Top 25 looks like heading into Week 2:
1. Alabama (Previous Rank: 1)
2. Georgia (3)
3. Ohio State (2)
4. Clemson (4)
5. Michigan (8)
6. Texas A&M (7)
7. Florida (NR)
8. Oklahoma (15)
9. USC (11)
10. Notre Dame (5)
11. Arkansas (16)
12. Michigan State (12)
13. Miami (17)
14 (tie). Baylor (14)
14 (tie). BYU (23)
14 (tie). Wisconsin (18)
17. Oklahoma State (9)
18. Utah (6)
19. Tennessee (NR)
20. Pittsburgh (25)
21. Penn State (19t)
22. Kentucky (24)
23. Houston (19t)
24. Texas (22)
25. NC State (10)
Also Receiving Votes: Ole Miss, Wake Forest, Mississippi State
1 of 4
Georgia’s Stetson Bennett (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
After breaking through and winning the 2019 national championship, LSU had 14 players taken in the NFL draft… and subsequently crashed and burned.
But if you were worried that reigning national champion Georgia might endure a similar fate after having 15 players (including five first-rounders) taken in the 2022 NFL draft, Saturday’s 49-3 annihilation of No. 11 Oregon should have quelled those irrational fears.
The passing attack was darn near flawless. Stetson Bennett did most of the work, but Carson Beck also contributed to the 439 yards and three touchdowns through the air. The Bulldogs averaged nearly 12 yards per pass attempt against what was supposed to be a very good Oregon defense under new head coach (and former UGA DC) Dan Lanning.
Simultaneously, it was Georgia’s defense that ruled the day, picking off Bo Nix twice within the game’s first 20 minutes and limiting the Ducks to just one field goal. Prior to a meaningless lengthy drive in the final 10 minutes, Oregon had a modest 221 yards of total offense.
The Dawgs didn’t get any sacks in this one, so it wasn’t quite the same “Holy cow, how is anyone going to score against this defense?!” type of statement that they made in last year’s season opener against Clemson. Still, it was a dominant performance, at least on par with what they used to do to Nix when he was the quarterback at Auburn for the past three years.
If even Oregon couldn’t remotely challenge this Georgia team, it legitimately might not face a stiff test until the projected SEC championship showdown with Alabama. The Bulldogs only have one other game on the schedule against a ranked opponent, and that game at AP No. 20 Kentucky is two-and-a-half months away.
Get used to seeing these guys at or near the top of the rankings.
2 of 4
NC State’s Devin Leary (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
The good news is NC State didn’t actually lose its season opener at East Carolina.
The bad news is the No. 10 team in our preseason rankings could not have possibly inspired less confidence in its 21-20 victory over the Pirates.
With help from a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown, the Wolfpack carried a 21-7 lead into the intermission. But what we thought would be one of the most potent offensive attacks in the nation this season was held without a point from that point forward.
It wasn’t for lack of opportunity. On one drive, the Wolfpack marched 74 yards down the field before fumbling at the ECU 1. And on their subsequent possession, they had 1st and Goal on the ECU 1 before Demie Sumo-Karngbaye got stuffed at the goal line on four consecutive carries.
That was the beginning of a stretch of more than 12 minutes in which the Wolfpack offense ran 10 plays for minus-4 yards with an interception and a turnover on downs.
Meanwhile, ECU got what looked like the game-tying touchdown until Owen Daffer missed the extra point. He got a chance at redemption when an NC State three-and-out left the Pirates with plenty of time to get into field-goal range. Unfortunately, Daffer pushed the would-be game-winning 42-yard attempt wide right, allowing the Wolfpack to escape by the hair on its chinny chin chin.
All due respect to ECU—which did win seven games last season and which has one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the country in Holten Ahlers—but this game should not have come down to the wire. Because it did, we’re left to seriously question if NC State is actually a top candidate to dethrone Clemson in the ACC.
The Wolfpack plummet in our rankings from No. 10 to No. 25.
3 of 4
Cincinnati’s Ben Bryant (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Well, the dream of No. 23 Cincinnati going to back-to-back College Football Playoffs is already dead.
Had the Bearcats won their season opener at No. 19 Arkansas, the “Undefeated Season Watch” would have been officially underway. Road games against SMU and UCF in late October won’t be easy, but they really should win each of their remaining 11 games if they’re even 85 percent as good as they have been over the past few years.
Alas, Cincinnati got out to a painfully slow start in the first half in Fayetteville and couldn’t fully recover, falling to the Hogs by a final score of 31-24.
On Cincinnati’s opening drive of the season, Ben Bryant led the Bearcats down to just outside the red zone before Arkansas DB Dwight McGlothern jumped an out route for an interception and returned 51 yards to flip the field.
Cincinnati had two other long first-half drives that resulted in missed field goals.
But despite digging themselves an early 14-0 hole on the road, they did almost claw all the way back.
On three consecutive possessions in the second half, they got the ball into Arkansas territory, needing a touchdown to tie the game. Instead, they came away with a field goal from a drive that started on the Arkansas 3, a punt on a drive that got as deep as the Arkansas 21 and a back-breaking strip-sack after an impressive Tre Tucker punt return.
Cincinnati didn’t look bad, racking up 438 total yards against an SEC defense. This may well still be the Group of Five’s representative in the New Year’s Six for a third consecutive year. It simply shot itself in the foot a few too many times on this afternoon and suffered its first loss outside of bowl season since the 2019 AAC championship against Memphis.
4 of 4
Texas’ Steve Sarkisian and Bijan Robinson (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
First and foremost on the Week 2 slate is the Noon ET showdown between AP No. 1 Alabama and unranked Texas. It’s the first time in over a decade that the Crimson Tide have played a true road game against a Power Five nonconference opponent, and it comes against Nick Saban’s former assistant, Steve Sarkisian.
Should be a healthy diet of rat poison over the next seven days.
The lone matchup between teams from the preseason AP poll is the nightcap (10:15 p.m. ET) of No. 25 BYU hosting No. 10 Baylor. The Cougars have beaten at least one ranked opponent in each of the past four seasons, but they lost to the Bears in Waco in last year’s meeting. A little revenge in Provo would get BYU into the way-too-early College Football Playoff conversation.
Tennessee at No. 17 Pittsburgh (3:30 p.m. ET) should also be a battle between ranked teams when the new AP poll comes out in a few days. The Panthers look to build on a chaotic Week 1 win over West Virginia in the reanimated Backyard Brawl while the should-be-ranked Volunteers get ready for a big test after making quick work of Ball State on Thursday.
And then there’s a trio of major conference showdowns, with No. 19 Arkansas hosting South Carolina (Noon ET), No. 20 Kentucky at Florida (7 p.m. ET) and No. 14 USC at Stanford (7:30 p.m. ET).
While there’s nothing quite on the level of Oregon-Georgia or Notre Dame-Ohio State, Week 2 should be every bit as entertaining as Week 1 has been—albeit contained almost entirely to one day rather than spaced out over a 100-hour window.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.
The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class. Since damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could end up being liable for $14.39 billion.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.
The NFL said it would appeal the verdict. That appeal would go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then possibly the Supreme Court.
Should the NFL end up paying damages, it could cost each of the 32 teams approximately $449.6 million.
“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.
“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”
The trial lasted three weeks and featured testimony from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“Justice was done. The verdict upholds protection for the consumers in our class. It was a great day for consumers,” plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said.
During his closing remarks, Carmody showed an April, 2017, NFL memo that showed the league was exploring a world without “Sunday Ticket” in 2017, where cable channels would air Sunday afternoon out-of-market games not shown on Fox or CBS.
The jury of five men and three women deliberated for nearly five hours before reaching its decision.
Judge Philip S. Gutierrez is scheduled to hear post-trial motions on July 31, including the NFL’s request to have him rule in favor of the league because the judge determined the plaintiffs did not prove their case.
Payment of damages, any changes to the “Sunday Ticket” package and/or the ways the NFL carries its Sunday afternoon games would be stayed until all appeals have been concluded.
The league maintained it had the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs said that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.
Other professional sports leagues were also keeping an eye on this case since they also offer out-of-market packages. A major difference though is that MLB, the NBA and the NHL market their packages on multiple distributors and share in the revenue per subscriber instead of receiving an outright rights fee.
DirecTV had “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 through 2022. The league signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV that began with the 2023 season.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case. Gutierrez ruled last year the case could proceed as a class action.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic team is one of a handful that will supply air conditioners for their athletes at the Paris Games in a move that undercuts organizers’ plans to cut carbon emissions.
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland said Friday that while the U.S. team appreciates efforts aimed at sustainability, the federation would be supplying AC units for what is typically the largest contingent of athletes at the Summer Games.
“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and Britain were among the other countries with plans to bring air conditioners to France.
Olympic organizers have touted plans to cool rooms in the Athletes Village, which will house more than 15,000 Olympians and sports officials over the course of the games, using a system of cooling pipes underneath the floors.
The average high in Paris on Aug. 1 is 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). The objective is to keep the rooms between 23-26 degrees (73-79 degrees Fahrenheit). The rooms will also be equipped with fans.
“I want the Paris Games to be exemplary from an environmental point of view,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has said about the plans for the Olympics.
According to the International Energy Agency, fewer than 1 in 10 households in Europe has air conditioning, and the numbers in Paris are lower than that. The study said that of the 1.6 billion AC units in use across the globe in 2016, more than half were in China (570 million) and the United States (375 million). The entire European Union had around 100 million.
The Olympics mark the most important stop on the athletic careers of the 10,500-plus athletes who will descend on Paris, which has led some high-profile countries to undercut environmental efforts for the sake of comfort.
“It’s a high-performance environment,” Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Strath Gordon explained to The Post.
___
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers seemed determined to keep playing. And playing. And playing.
The teams opened their Eastern Conference final playoff series with Florida’s 3-2 victory in four overtimes early Friday, with the game ranking as the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
Matthew Tkachuk’s goal came at the 19:47 mark of the fourth OT to end this one, which marked the 15th four-overtime game in NHL history and the longest game in franchise history for each team.
The longest game in NHL history came on March 24, 1936, when the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Maroons 1-0 in the sixth overtime on Mud Bruneteau’s goal at 116 minutes, 30 seconds of extra play.
Florida’s previous record for longest game was 104:31 in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup final against Colorado. Carolina’s previous record was 114:47 for Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup final.
The only good news for the teams is they had an extended break before this series began. Carolina closed out New Jersey exactly a week earlier, while Florida eliminated Toronto a day later.
But this game ended roughly six hours after Thursday night’s puck drop, and the teams have a Game 2 in less than 48 hours.
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
