Smothering defenses have carried the last four teams still in the hunt for the national championship.

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman expects running back Jeremiyah Love to play in Thursday's College Football Playoff semifinal game and the Fighting Irish ground game to be at full strength against sixth-seeded Penn State.

The College Football Playoff won’t swap kickoff dates and times for the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl to give Notre Dame more time between games.

In the first round of the College Football Playoff, the teams seeded 5-8 all won.

The College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams to get some new blood.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart says he doesn't regret aggressive offensive play calls that backfired during the Bulldogs' College Football Playoff quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.

Riley Leonard passed for a touchdown, Jayden Harrison returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score, and Notre Dame’s defense made it hold up in a 23-10 victory over No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl that sends the third-ranked Fighting Irish into the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is calling for more consistency on what constitutes a targeting penalty after no call was made on Texas safety Michael Taaffe’s high hit on Arizona State receiver Melquan Stovall late in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Peach Bowl.

Oregon withstood many challenges en route to being the only unbeaten team and the top seed in the College Football Playoff.

The Peach Bowl referee declined to call a targeting penalty late in the fourth quarter for a helmet-to-helmet hit by Texas safety Michael Taaffe that could’ve given Arizona State a chance to kick a winning field goal in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.

Seventh-seeded Notre Dame faces the task of replacing another key defensive player as it prepares for second-seeded Georgia and a Bulldogs' quarterback the Fighting Irish know little about.

Oregon and Ohio State have already produced one heck of a game this season.

Penn State players have watched Ashton Jeanty make opponents look silly all season.

The running game will be front-and-center when third-seeded Boise State meets sixth-seeded Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game.

The Texas defense seems to have built a big burnt orange wall at the goal line.

The average final score over the first week of the College Football Playoffs: Winners 36, Losers 17.

Will Howard threw two touchdown passes to freshman Jeremiah Smith and Ohio State routed Tennessee 42-17 on Saturday night in a first-round College Football Playoff game, setting up a New Year’s Day rematch with No. 1 Oregon at the Rose Bowl.

Jaydon Blue ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns, the last a 77-yard burst in the fourth quarter, and Texas beat Clemson 38-24 on Saturday in the first round of the expanded College Football Playoff.

Jeremiyah Love tied the Notre Dame record with a 98-yard touchdown run, Riley Leonard added two more scores and the Fighting Irish shut down the highest-scoring team in the College Football Playoff, overwhelming Indiana 27-17 on Friday night.

This year's StaffDNA Cure Bowl features Jax State and Ohio and will have News 6's own sports director Jamie Seh on the radio broadcast.

UNLV is reaching into the Southeastern Conference to keep momentum going for its 24th-ranked football team by hiring former Florida and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen on Thursday.

SMU captured the last open spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff, bumping Alabama to land in a bracket that placed undefeated Oregon at No. 1.

The executive director of the new 12-team College Football Playoff suggested that while wins and the age-old “eye test” will play a role in determining who makes the bracket, strength of schedule also will be a major factor in the selection committee’s deliberations.

The College Football Playoff expands to from four to 12 teams this season, a massive change that will profoundly impact the sport and how success is defined.

TNT Sports will begin airing College Football Playoff games this upcoming season through a sublicense with ESPN.

The College Football Playoff snub of unbeaten Florida State is still a fresh wound for the entire Atlantic Coast Conference.

With the expanded College Football Playoff locked in through 2031, questions still remain about what the rest of the postseason will look like.

The College Football Playoff and ESPN have announced a deal that will give the network exclusive rights to the expanded postseason through the 2031 season.

The nine Bowl Subdivision conferences and Notre Dame have reached an agreement on a six-year deal to continue the College Football Playoff through the 2031 season.

College Football Playoff officials are considering a 14-team model that would guarantee multiple automatic bids for each of the four power conferences, starting in 2026.

There are already discussions about possibly expanding the College Football Playoff again.

The field for the 12-team College Football Playoff will comprise five conference champions and seven at-large selections after the university presidents who oversee the CFP voted unanimously to tweak the format.

Two people with knowledge of the agreement say ESPN and the College Football Playoff have agreed to a six-year deal worth $1.3 billion annually that will allow the network to keep exclusive rights to the 12-team playoff through the 2031 season.

Texas will give football coach Steve Sarkisian a four-year contract extension through 2030.

Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s wizardry in the Sugar Bowl got the Huskies into Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game.

Michigan quarterback J.

The curtain will close on the Pac-12’s final season as a Power Five football conference on the biggest stage in the sport.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart challenged the College Football Playoff selection committee to believe what that see when judging his No. 1 Bulldogs following the end of their 29-game winning streak.

Bo Nix threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, securing No. 6 Oregon a spot in the Pac-12 championship game with a 31-7 victory over No. 15 Oregon State in the final scheduled matchup between the in-state rivals.

College Football Playoff managers will meet this week at the Big Ten offices outside Chicago.

The College Football Playoff released a schedule for the 12-team format that will be used in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, which will feature New Year’s Day quarterfinal tripleheaders but no games played on Saturday.

Kirby Smart didn't really want to discuss his Georgia Bulldogs' chances for a three-peat on the morning after they won their second straight College Football Playoff championship game.

The College Football Playoff will include 12 teams, starting with the 2024 season.

The College Football Playoff says it will expand to a 12-team event starting in 2024.

Rose Bowl game organizers have cleared the way for the College Football Playoff to expand to 12 teams starting in the 2024 season.

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TCU coach Sonny Dykes has a simple response for anyone who questions if the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs really deserve to be in the playoff discussion.

The conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff have met for almost seven hours to work on expanding the postseason system from four to 12 teams as soon as the 2024 season.

The College Football Playoff management committee gathered for 4 1/2 hours at a hotel in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.

The College Football Playoff that determines the national champion is expanding from four teams to 12.

The university presidents who oversee the College Football Playoff are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss expanding the four-team format.

Atlanta and South Florida have been selected to host College Football Playoff national championship games for the second time.

The university leaders who oversee the College Football Playoff want the next format for determining a champion settled by this time next year.

Alabama coach Nick Saban called out Texas A&M, saying the school was “buying” players with name, image and likeness deals.

College football and men’s basketball players on scholarship in one of the major conferences can expect to soon earn a minimum of $50,000 each year he plays because of the influx of cash from booster collectives brokering name, image and likeness deals.

The commissioners of the Southeastern Conference and the Pac-12 are scheduled to meet with lawmakers in Washington They will lobby for federal legislation to regulate name, image and likeness compensation to athletes.

Nielsen is being acquired for $16 billion, including debt, about a week after the media measurement company rejected a smaller offer.

The National College Players Association says NCAA Division I schools are violating the civil rights of Black basketball and major college football players by prohibiting compensation.

The College Football Playoff is set to stick with a four-team format through the 2025 season.

Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips says now is not the time for College Football Playoff expansion.

Georgia is No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll, earning their second national title by beating Alabama.

Alabama had plenty of chances in the College Football Playoff championship Monday — but rarely turned those opportunities into touchdowns.

With Jameson Williams and John Metchie III sidelined by injuries, Bryce Young had his Heisman Trophy-winning season effectively ended by a last-minute pick six in the College Football Playoff championship game.

Georgia won its long-awaited national championship the way it dominated during an undefeated regular season — by relying on its defense.

College Football Playoff expansion talks remain stalled and the possibility of implementing a new format by the 2024 season dimmed after three days of meetings failed to produce an agreement.

The Holiday Bowl has become the fifth postseason college football game to be canceled.

The biggest game week in Cincinnati history has arrived.

If a team is unavailable to play in College Football Playoff semifinals because of COVID-19 issues, the game will be forfeited and the available team will advance to the championship game.

Cincinnati is the first outsider to make the College Football Playoff and Alabama is the standard bearer.

Notre Dame will face Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl in a matchup of two teams that just missed the College Football Playoff.

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby says expanding the College Football Playoff as soon as the 2024 season is "in some jeopardy" if an agreement on a new format cannot be reached soon.

American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco says he will vigorously oppose a College Football Playoff expansion model gives automatic access only to Power Five conference champions.

Attending a major sporting event can be overwhelming: You might have to fly or embark on a road trip just to get there, depending on the location of course, and consider your accommodations and where you’ll stay, eat and how you’ll get around.

The college sports leaders who run the College Football Playoff have about four months to come to an agreement on a new format if expansion is to be implemented for the 2024 season.

North Carolina State forced D.

A plan to expand the College Football Playoff has stalled.

The preseason AP Top 25 college football is out and Alabama will pick up where it left off as No. 1 in the country.

Alabama is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason college football poll for fourth time in the past six seasons.

Big 12 coaches say they like the proposal to expand the College Football Playoff to 12 teams.

Home games or bowl games.

The 11 university presidents and chancellors who oversee the College Football Playoff have authorized the continued evaluation of a proposed 12-team playoff.

Officials in charge of the College Football Playoff have opened two days of meetings in suburban Chicago.

There is a plan in place to expand the College Football Playoff from four teams to 12.

A new College Football Playoff with triple the number of teams involved could bring in three times as much money to the conferences and schools that share the wealth.

The College Football Playoff is considering an expansion from four to 12 teams.

A big two has emerged within the Power Five.

Patrick Surtain II and Mac Jones had the spotlight at Alabama's Pro Day, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)DeVonta Smith was there for quarterback Mac Jones once again, this time it was at Alabama's latest pro day. “He didn't have to do that,” Jones told the SEC Network, which aired the pro day. '”Jones showcased his arm strength a week after participating in the Crimson Tide's first pro day. “Mac was just on me like, ‘Bro, come catch, come catch, come catch,’” Smith told the network.

Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson catches a touchdown pass in front of Alabama defensive back Brian Branch during the second half of an NCAA College Football Playoff national championship game, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)ORLANDO, Fla. – EA Sports is bringing college football back to home video game consoles. Athletes may use their image to continue participating in nonathletically related promotional activities if they were initiated before college enrollment. Multiple bills have been introduced in Congress that address college athletes and NIL rights, along with the NCAA’s ability to oversee the issue. The EA campus has worked on several previous sports titles, including the Madden series and the last entry in EA’s previous college football franchise, NCAA Football 2014. The new franchise will not carry the NCAA name, instead, its going with the new name EA Sports College Football.

There is no timetable in place for the next release of a college football game, the company said. “We’ve heard from the millions of passionate fans requesting the return of college football video games,” EA Sports executive vice president and general manage Cam Weber said in a statement. “We love the energy, tradition and pageantry of college football and I am beyond thrilled to say we are back in development." The NCAA Football video game did not identify players by name, but the game simulated teams and players as they played in real life. The video game was part of a broad legal challenge and a judge ruled the NCAA had been inappropriately using the names, images and likenesses of college athletes.

Dr. Scott Harris, the head of the Alabama Department of Public Health, said he expected more cases of COVID-19 to result from the street party. “It’s disappointing to see people not paying attention to the guidance that we try to give to keep them safe. Students and workers also are required to complete online training about reducing the risk of spreading the illness. More than 5,500 people have died in Alabama from the illness caused by the coronavirus, and about 408,000 have tested positive. People lined up to get into the bars an hour before kickoff despite the warnings, The Tuscaloosa News reported.

(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Alabama finished the season No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the 12th time, extending its record by completing the program’s first perfect season since 2009. With 12 AP titles overall — Paul “Bear” Bryant was coach for five and Gene Stallings for one — Alabama has four more than Notre Dame, in second place with eight. The Big 12 finished with a perfect record in five bowl games. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25___This story has been updated to correct the number of national titles for Alabama to 12, not.

From start to finish, the specter of COVID-19 loomed large over the 2020 college football season and the national championship game was no exception. Along with masks for almost everyone except the players, there were lots of empty seats — around 50,000 — for the College Football Playoff showdown. Fittingly, the championship game took place at a COVID-19 vaccination and testing site. It was a made-for-TV season that ends with an asterisk, and college football now looks toward the 2021 season, which question marks of its own. ___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Ohio State is back for the first time since winning the inaugural title in the CFP era. After the SEC champion Crimson Tide rolled past Notre Dame 31-14 in a Rose Bowl played deep in the heart of Texas, the No. 3 Buckeyes of the Big Ten beat Clemson 49-28 in the other CFP semifinal at the Sugar Bowl on Friday night. The Tigers were trying, like Alabama, to get to the title game for the fifth time in the seven seasons of the four-team playoff. Alabama was the top seed in the first four-team playoff, but Ohio State beat the Tide 42-35 in the semifinal Sugar Bowl.

The senior leads the nation and has already set the school season record for touchdown passes with 40, despite the shortened, SEC-only schedule. He also ranks second nationally in passing yards per game (360.3), one spot ahead of Jones at 345.9. FACTS & FIGURESThis will be the 10th time the teams have met in the SEC championship game, with Alabama holding a 5-4 edge. The tight end has been a big weapon in Florida's passing game with 16 TD receptions. ... Florida K Evan McPherson is a three-time Lou Groza Award semifinalist who has made 48 of 56 field goal attempts (85.7%) in his college career.

(AP Photo/Michael Woods)Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State will enter championship weekend in position to make the College Football Playoff with very little drama. The unbeaten Bearcats host Tulsa, which is 23rd, in the American Athletic Conference title game. The semifinals are scheduled to be played Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The current COVID-19 restrictions in California will prohibit the Rose Bowl from having any fans in attendance, including family members of the players. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick is also a part of the management committee.

The Gators have clinched the Southeastern Conference’s East Division and will play top-ranked Alabama in the league title game next week in Atlanta. Losing to LSU in the Swamp would eliminate any chance Florida has of sneaking into the College Football Playoff with a loss to the heavily favored Crimson Tide. Florida: TE Kyle Pitts is Kyle Trask’s top target and the team’s best pro prospect. … LSU self-imposed a one-year ban on postseason play Wednesday as part an effort to cooperate with an NCAA probe into rules violations. … Florida has won 12 straight at home, the team’s longest streak since winning 14 in a row between 2008 and 2010.

Ohio State (4-0) had to cancel its game at Illinois last week because of a spike in COVID-19 cases in the program. HERBSTREIT APOLOGYESPN's Kirk Herbstreit caused a commotion with some of his analysis regarding Ohio State, Michigan and teams using COVID-19 as an excuse to not play. The Wolverines (2-4) are scheduled to host Maryland this week and play at Ohio State on Dec. 12. “I still think Michigan waves the white flag, potentially avoids playing Ohio State next week,” Herbstreit said. the former Ohio State quarterback said.

POLL POINTSWhen it comes to winning games against ranked teams, Alabama coach Nick Saban is the best ever. Even before beating Georgia, Saban held the record for most victories against AP top-five teams (now 25) and top-10 teams (now 42). The average number of games played in a college football season is also longer now than ever before. The conference has had three of its teams ranked at one point or another. 23 North Carolina State is ranked for the first time since 2018.

The conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff have decided to stick with a four-team format during the pandemic-altered season after the Pac-12 made a request to consider expansion. The request was made because of disruptions to the season caused by the pandemic. Conferences are not playing the same number of games, are starting play at different times and there are no interconference matchups between Power Five leagues. Hancock added any decision on expansion would need the approval of the CFP's presidential oversight committee after a recommendation by commissioners. The Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 are already up and running among the Power Five leagues.

The College Football Playoff unveiled a revised schedule Monday for its weekly rankings, with the first set pushed back two weeks to Nov. 17 and the final list now on tap for Dec. 20. Hancock said the CFP selection committee still plans to rank its top 25 teams each week, but nothing isnt open for tweaking if necessary. The six conferences have announced their intention to play, so the committee just established its meeting scheduled to be prepared, Hancock said. This is another way we're planning for a College Football Playoff to happen with a championship in Miami.The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12, Southeastern Conference, American Athletic Conference, Conference USA and Sun Belt are move toward playing in the fall. The playoff management committee, which consists of the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director, met last week, Hancock said.