Tennessee, Ohio State, Georgia, and Clemson were the top four teams in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season released Tuesday night, four days before the Volunteers and Bulldogs square off on the field.
Michigan was fifth, followed by Alabama and unbeaten TCU.
Tennessee is No. 1 in the CFP rankings for the first time, starting ahead of a group of teams that have become regulars at the top of the selection committee’s top 25. The Volunteers have already beaten the Crimson Tide and LSU, which was ranked 10th.
Tennessee has been one of the season’s biggest surprises, starting the season unranked in the AP poll and jumping out to an 8-0 start for the first time since the Vols won their last national title in 1998.
“We’ve tried to enjoy the journey,” second-year Tennessee coach Josh Heupel told ESPN. “Three years ago, it didn’t look like this.”
The committee began its weekly in-person meetings at hotel in Grapevine, Texas, on Monday and revealed the first of six weekly rankings.
The final rankings that set the CFP field of four are set for Dec. 4. The 13-person panel is led by a first-time chairman Boo Corrigan, the athletic director of North Carolina State.
Only one team that has been No. 1 in the committee’s initial rankings has not made the playoff, but only about half the teams in first top four managed to finish there.
Oregon was eighth followed by Pac-12 rival Southern California at ninth.
The highest ranked team from outside the Power Five conferences was Tulane at No. 19. The highest ranked champion from the Group of Five conferences earns a spot in New Year’s Six bowl.
The CFP semifinals are scheduled to be played at the Fiesta and Peach Bowls on Dec. 31, with the championship game set for Jan. 9 in Inglewood, California.
NEBRASKA: Quarterback Casey Thompson is listed as day-to-day for the game against Minnesota on Saturday because of an arm injury that knocked him out of last week’s game.
Interim coach Mickey Joseph said Thompson was held out of practice and backups Chubba Purdy and Logan Smothers split snaps evenly with the No. 1 offense.
Thompson, the Texas transfer who has started every game for the Huskers (3-5, 2-3 Big Ten), was hurt in the second quarter while throwing an interception. He got hit on the elbow on his right (throwing) arm, causing numbness in his hand.
Smothers played the rest of the first half and Purdy took over at the start of the second. The Cornhuskers, who lost 26-9, managed only 29 yards after halftime.
Smothers is considered the better runner and Purdy the better passer. Smothers’ only start was last year in a 28-21 loss at Iowa. Purdy is in his first year at Nebraska after transferring from Florida State.
Joseph said he went with Purdy in the second half because he thought the Huskers, down double digits, would need to pass more. The Huskers had only 20 offensive plays in the second half and passed on eight, with Purdy completing three for 15 yards and throwing an ill-advised interception.
MICHIGAN-MICHIGAN STATE: One of the Big Ten’s top defensive players and three other Michigan State football players were suspended for their roles in the melee in the Michigan Stadium tunnel.
Michigan State Athletic Director Alan Haller and Coach Mel Tucker announced the latest suspensions in a statement, bringing the total number of suspended players to eight.
The players suspended Tuesday were defensive end-linebacker Jacoby Windmon, cornerbacks Malcolm Jones and Justin White and defensive end Brandon Wright.
Haller and Tucker said the disciplinary action was taken as the school continues to review electronic evidence of the postgame events Saturday night in the long and narrow tunnel leading from the field to the home and visitor locker rooms.
Michigan State on Sunday announced the suspensions of linebacker Tank Brown, safety Angelo Grose, defensive end Zion Young and cornerback Khary Crump.
Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh said defensive back Gemon Green was punched by a Spartans player in the tunnel to spark the fracas and that teammate Ja’Den McBurrows was attacked when he tried to help.
FIELD HOCKEY
SOUTHERN MAINE 3, FRAMINGHAM ST. 2: Adelle Surrette’s go-ahead goal with just over five minutes remaining lifted the top-seeded Huskies over the eighth-seeded Rams in an LEC Tournament quarterfinal in Gorham.
Bella Carson and Samantha Ellis each scored in the first half for USM, which advances to face fourth-seeded Keene State in a semifinal on Thursday. Julianna Kiklis made six saves.
Isabella Kondi and Natalia Roehr had one goal a piece for Framingham St. Kaitlin Loughlin made 10 saves.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
U. OF NEW ENGLAND 3, CURRY 0: Kylie Curtin was assisted by Karley Belisle on a pair of second-half goals as the second-seeded Nor’easters downed the No. 3 Colonels in a CCC Tournament semifinal in Biddeford.
Morgan Diefenbach opened the scoring in the 15th minute with an assist from Marie Hoehner and Bella Reil. UNE will face No. 1 Western New England in the CCC championship at noon Saturday in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Hannah Correa made six saves for Curry.
JOHNSON & WALES 1, ST. JOSEPH’S 0: Jordan Restivo’s 40th-minute goal assisted by Kiersten Whalen gave the top-seeded Wildcats a win over the No. 4 Monks in a GNAC Tournament semifinal in Providence, Rhode Island.
Carly McCrumb made two saves for the shutout.
Manuela Mejia and Carly Downey split time in goal for St. Joseph’s, with Mejia making eight saves and Downey four.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
KANSAS: Former Kansas and New Mexico forward Gethro Muscadin, who was involved in a rollover crash last December, died late Monday from the injuries he sustained in the crash.
Jayhawks Coach Bill Self announced the news in a statement.
“Although only here one year,” Self said, “Gethro was loved and liked by all and will always be remembered as a Jayhawk. We wish his family and loved ones the best going through this most difficult time.”
Muscadin grew up in the seaside city of Gonaives, Haiti, and moved to the U.S. in 2006 to pursue basketball. He played at Sunrise Christian Academy and Life Prep Academy, both in Kansas, and Aspire Academy in Kentucky, where Muscadin grew into a four-star prospect that had scholarship offers from a number of high-major programs.
The 6-foot-10 center chose the Jayhawks and appeared in 11 games during the 2020-21 season, including a loss to Southern California in the NCAA Tournament. Muscadin transferred to New Mexico, where he started nine of 12 games for the Lobos last season before leaving the program in December.
He was involved in a single-vehicle crash on the Kansas Turnpike in the early hours of Dec. 30 and never recovered.
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