NCAAF

9:30 AM ET BATON ROUGE, La. — Give Brian Kelly this: He operates from a position of strength. The man played club football at Assumption College — not FBS or FCS but club football — and one of his first jobs was coaching softball at the school. Eight years later, he climbed all the way

12:45 AM ET To endure an offseason as a college football fan is to live within an ecosystem of daily panic, nearly constant tumult and, on the plus side, the occasional heated debate over what to name a chicken. These are fraught times for the sport, when each day brings the possibility of a star

4:29 PM ET ATLANTA — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isn’t confident a 12-team College Football Playoff will make its debut before the 2026 season. Sankey, speaking to reporters Saturday before No. 3 Georgia‘s contest against No. 11 Oregon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, said there is too much to do before the expanded playoff can take place

9:00 AM ET Pete ThamelESPN No. 23 Cincinnati is starting redshirt senior Ben Bryant at quarterback against No. 19 Arkansas, it was announced Saturday. Bryant began his career at Cincinnati, where he backed up Desmond Ridder for three seasons. He then transferred to Eastern Michigan, where he starred last year, and then transferred back to

6:30 PM ET ESPN staff Tired of waiting for the commissioners to make a decision about expanding the College Football Playoff, the 11 presidents and chancellors who comprise the CFP’s board of managers took control on Friday with a unanimous vote to expand the field to 12 teams in 2026. The presidents have strongly urged

3:08 PM ET Heather Dinich Close ESPN Senior Writer College football reporter Joined ESPN.com in 2007 Graduate of Indiana University Pete Thamel The College Football Playoff’s board of managers unanimously voted Friday to expand the CFP to 12 teams in 2026 but is encouraging the sport’s commissioners to try to implement it as soon as

8:00 AM ET Anthony OlivieriESPN.com WHEN DAN LANNING walks out onto the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where his Oregon Ducks will face Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, it’ll be hard to forget from where he came: a $1,200-a-month job under Nick Saban just seven years ago. Lanning remembers the eyebrows that were raised when

1:30 AM ET PITTSBURGH — Finally, blessedly, the Backyard Brawl returned to college football on Thursday night. Fans saw a game to tell their grandkids about, but were also reminded of the emotion, hatred and yes — profanity-laced chants — that go hand-in-hand with this lost rivalry. Eleven years separated the most recent matchup between

4:58 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN Kansas has extended the contract of football coach Lance Leipold by a year, athletic director Travis Goff announced Thursday. Leipold’s first season was highlighted by a win at Texas, as the Jayhawks went 2-10 and showed tangible signs of progress. Leipold was hired in late April 2021, taking over one

7:30 AM ET ESPN staff After an offseason filled with coaching feuds and conference realignment, the first full slate of college football is here. The Week 1 schedule is filled with top matchups, from the defending champions going against their former defensive coordinator to a top-five showdown in Columbus, Ohio. The Backyard Brawl is officially

9:54 PM ET Pete Thamel Heather Dinich Close ESPN Senior Writer College football reporter Joined ESPN.com in 2007 Graduate of Indiana University The College Football Playoff’s board of managers will hold a virtual meeting on Friday that could accelerate playoff expansion as early as 2024 if the 11 presidents and chancellors who comprise the sport’s

7:30 AM ET Week Zero and the Bottom 10 are a marriage made in confusing, loser heaven. Just where did Nebraska land after their Big Ten opening loss to Northwestern? And where do the annual Bottom 10 powerhouses rank in the preseason standings? Inspirational thought of the week: I can’t say that I’m sorryFor the

7:00 AM ET College football is back, and talkin’ season is over. But boy, what a season of discontent it was. USC and UCLA set off another round of cataclysmic realignment discussions, announcing the plan to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten a year after Texas and Oklahoma declared their intentions to leave the

Aug 29, 2022 Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh referenced the Bible and Solomon when explaining his decision to use different starting quarterbacks in the team’s first two games. The eighth-ranked Wolverines will begin with Cade McNamara, who started at quarterback throughout last season, for this week’s opener against Colorado State. Sophomore J.J. McCarthy will make his

6:02 PM ET ESPN News Services Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders on Tuesday said in an Instagram video that his program and players are now “in crisis mode” when it comes to grappling with the multiple water problems that have afflicted Mississippi’s capital city in the past week. Parts of Jackson were without running

10:35 PM ET In their first public comments since a civil lawsuit was filed last week accusing former San Diego State punter Matt Araiza and two of his then-teammates of gang raping a 17-year-old girl last year, athletic director John David Wicker and football coach Brady Hoke reemphasized the university’s position that its response followed

7:30 AM ET Paolo UggettiESPN LIKE MANY STORIED FOOTBALL programs, USC attempts to overwhelm you with its history once you step on campus. Plaques filled with names of previous great players line the walkway toward the practice field named after former head coach Howard Jones alongside donor Brian Kennedy. Before every practice, players walk up

7:30 AM ET Matt Leinart is no longer the baby-faced quarterback leading USC to national championships. During a phone interview this summer, the 39-year-old who now works as a college football analyst for Fox was driving between appointments while trying to keep his kids quiet in the car. He could have said it wasn’t a