Texas A&M signed the nation’s top-ranked class three years ago believing it had built a potential national title contender.

Heisman Trophy hopeful Cam Ward threw for 400 yards and five more touchdown passes, three to Xavier Restrepo on a record-setting day for both of them, and No. 5 Miami erased a double-digit deficit for the third time this season to roll past Duke 53-31 and stay unbeaten.

The Miami sideline was loaded with talent this past weekend.

Chandler Rivers scored on an interception return, Todd Pelino kicked three field goals and Duke beat Florida State for the first time in 23 all-time meetings, winning 23-16 on Friday night.

The Florida Department of Education is investigating Sumter County’s public school district amid allegations of moving low-performing students so they don’t affect school grades.

The Florida Board of Education has implemented new regulations that it says will restrict the use of public funds for DEI programs within Florida College System institutions.

Duke has hired Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz as its head coach.

Police in Brevard County are trying to figure out why a woman was hit and killed by a Brightline train.

AP Psychology will be offered in full to students of Seminole County Public Schools for the 2023-24 school year, according to Superintendent Serita Beamon.

College students and professors in Florida are suing over a new law that they say censors academic freedom.

Lawmakers, teachers, school board members and parents crowded into a South Florida church for a forum on the state's new standards for teaching Black history.

School district leaders across the state are taking a patchwork of approaches to a college-credit psychology course, as many high-school students head back to class this week amid a dustup between Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and the College Board.

Hundreds of people from 11 countries are gathered in Venezuela to participate in boxing, swimming, gymnastics and other events.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the school voucher bill on Monday, expanding scholarships for private school vouchers to all families.

Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. offers new details.

The Florida Democratic Party is taking on new leadership and promising to make changes. But with a conservative super-majority in the Florida House and Senate and a governor aggressively reforming the state across the board, the question is can the party turn its fortunes around?

Florida Democrats have selected former state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried to lead their party after a disastrous midterm performance in the onetime presidential battleground state.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed a package of education bills that could make big changes to school systems across the state Monday.

The Florida Department of Education celebrated an overall improvement in the state’s high school graduation rate since the 2018-19 school year.

Plaintiffs challenging a state law restricting how race-related concepts can be taught in higher education accused Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration Wednesday of violating a federal judge’s order that blocked parts of the law from being enforced.

The head of the Florida Democratic Party has resigned after a disastrous midterm election in the onetime battleground state.

Manny Diaz, the former Miami mayor who was in charge of the Democratic Party in Florida, resigned as party chairman Monday in a lengthy letter that exposed party shortcomings with building membership and accused the party’s culture as being “resistant to change.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to provide two Hurricane Ian relief effort updates today.

Saying federal guidelines aimed at preventing discrimination against students based on such things as gender identity would “vastly expand the application” of Title IX, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. told school officials Thursday to ignore the guidelines.

The Atlantic Coast Conference has four new coaches for this season, all in the same division.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is holding a news conference in Miami.

The Florida Board of Education has confirmed a South Florida state senator will be the new education commissioner.

The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature has given Gov. Ron DeSantis another victory in what some call his political culture war.

Former Miami coach Manny Diaz has been hired as defensive coordinator at Penn State less than a week after he was fired by the Hurricanes.

Miami welcomed new coach Mario Cristobal with an introductory news conference in Coral Gables, Florida.

Mario Cristobal is leaving Oregon and headed home to Miami.

Mario Cristobal is leaving Oregon and headed home to Miami.

Huddle up! Here’s a look back at this weekend on the gridiron, with three key takeaways from the state’s football scene.

Miami is searching for a new athletic director.

Tyler Van Dyke passed for 325 yards and four touchdowns, two of them to Charleston Rambo, and Miami knocked off No. 18 N.

Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson and Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett headline The Associated Press' list of midseason football honorees for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Miami quarterback D’Eriq King needs surgery to repair his right shoulder and will miss the remainder of the season.

Miami is planning to play without quarterback D’Eriq King on Saturday when it takes on Central Connecticut State.

Miami quarterback D’Eriq King has a shoulder injury that will need further evaluation this week in the latest blow to the reeling Hurricanes.

Payton Thorne passed for 261 yards and four touchdowns, two of those scoring throws going to Jalen Nailor, and Michigan State extended its unbeaten start by topping No. 24 Miami 38-17 on Saturday.

The most notable catch in Saturday’s game between No. 22 Miami and Appalachian State didn’t even happen on the field.

Top-ranked Alabama looks very much like a team capable of making another run at a national title.

Atlantic Coast Conference coaches are counting on high program COVID-19 vaccination rates to minimize risks of illnesses or lineup-depleting contact tracing for the upcoming college football season.

College football coaches around the country are spending much of the offseason urging their players to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Former Georgia and Miami football coach Mark Richt has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

The Florida Panthers entrusted their season to a rookie goalie making his playoff debut.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Republican legislative leaders are lauding a sweeping school-choice measure filed Thursday, while Senate Democrats have vowed to “fight like hell” against the proposal. Diaz’s proposal (SB 48) would expand the existing Family Empowerment Scholarship, which currently serves middle- and low-income students, in part by combining it with the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship. The Senate proposal also would establish the “Gardiner-McKay Scholarship,” by combining two existing voucher programs that serve students with special needs. The state currently has “a pretty confusing system of scholarship programs with various eligibility and funding mechanisms,” Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, said in a press release on Thursday. Step Up for Students, a nonprofit organization that helps administer two of the state’s existing voucher programs, also is backing Diaz’s proposal.

All rights reserved)Miami quarterback D'Eriq King (1) is taken off the field after he was injured during the first half of the Cheez-it Bowl NCAA college football game against Oklahoma State, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)Miami Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King will undergo surgery after tearing his right ACL in the Cheez-It Bowl on Tuesday. Miami announces QB D’Eriq King tore his right ACL, will have surgery. Coach Manny Diaz said King is in great hands with the school’s medical staff. This season, King threw 23 touchdowns, threw for 2,686 yards, and rushed in four touchdowns. “We can’t wait to see him back on the field leading our team in August,” Diaz said.

Miami quarterback D'Eriq King (1) looks for a receiver as Oklahoma State defensive tackle Sione Asi (99) rushes during the first half of the Cheez-it Bowl NCAA college football game, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami quarterback D’Eriq King tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the Hurricanes’ loss this week in the Cheez-It Bowl. The Hurricanes went 8-3 this season, the best record among the seven FBS schools in the state of Florida. King, in first season at Miami following his transfer from Houston, was a big reason for that. King completed 64.1 percent of his passes, the second-best single-season completion percentage for any Miami quarterback and one that qualifies him as, for now anyway, the most accurate passer in Hurricanes history. ___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

ORLANDO, Fla. – The 18th-ranked Miami Hurricanes hope to redeem themselves when they face Oklahoma State in the Cheez-It Bowl. A lopsided loss to end the regular season cost coach Manny Diaz's team a spot in a major bowl. Instead, the Hurricanes (8-2) will finish their best season in years on a smaller stage on Tuesday night. That loss likely kept the Hurricanes out of a New Year’s Six bowl game. A victory would likely lift Oklahoma State back into the AP rankings.

(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)Cheez-It Bowl: Oklahoma State (7-3, 6-3 Big 12) against Miami (8-2, 7-2 ACC), Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. EST (ESPN). An Oklahoma State victory would likely lift the Cowboys back into the Top 25 in the final AP poll. PLAYERS TO WATCHOklahoma State: Wide receiver Tylan Wallace caught 53 passes for 877 yards and six touchdowns. Miami: Wide receiver Michael Harley had 49 catches and six TDs. ... Oklahoma State averages 194.7 rushing yards and 29.5 points a game.

Series record: North Carolina leads 12-11. North Carolina would get to eight wins for the first time since 2016 with a victory. North Carolina was one of the schools that tried to land Roche when he left Temple and entered the transfer portal last year. ... Miami coach Manny Diaz was the defensive coordinator for North Carolina coach Mack Brown when Brown was at Texas; Brown fired Diaz in the 2013 season. ... Of the current ACC football members, North Carolina is one of only three schools with an over-.500 head-to-head record against Miami.

The annual question in Coral Gables — “Is Miami back?” — might finally have an answer Hurricanes fans will like. 9 Miami gets its first ACC championship, a drought that’s now 17 years and counting, but the Hurricanes (8-1, 7-1 ACC, No. Just finishing the right way, that’s really, really, really important. “We were taken away from each other for almost two weeks and didn’t really get back as an entire football team — I mean, not even an entire football team, but anything resembling a football team — until this past Monday. Odd as this sounds, that’s Miami’s second-longest ACC streak; the Hurricanes won 11 consecutive league games spanning 2016 and 2017.

DURHAM, N.C. – Miami's offense needed a little bit of time to find its edge after the ninth-ranked Hurricanes' coronavirus-related layoff. When we got back together, obviously, I don’t think we missed a beat, and I think we grew as a team." Meanwhile, King and the rest of the offense shook off a bumpy first two drives by finishing with 524 total yards. Instead, they ended up with a matchup against the Hurricanes with a chance for a third straight series win. Duke: The Blue Devils visit Florida State next Saturday in a matchup bumped to make room for the Miami game.

The number of games across major college football scheduled for this weekend that have already been called off is up to six, after three went down Monday, including Mississippi at No. So we can complain about this and this and that but, listen, we’re still getting to play football,” Fisher said. Major college football conferences have been tweaking policies to provide their schools flexibility to schedule games on short notice. That probably won't work for LSU-Alabama, which was among four SEC games postponed last week. __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/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Zonovan Knight had a 100-yard kickoff return to put NC State (4-3, 4-3) on top in the third quarter. NC State led at halftime on the strength of Hockman’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Cary Angeline with 2:49 left. NC State: Angeline, a redshirt senior, has caught at least one touchdown pass in five of the Wolfpack’s games. With a victory, NC State would have been a candidate to climb back into the rankings. NC State: Host Florida State next Saturday.

Zonovan Knight had a 100-yard kickoff return to put NC State (4-3, 4-3) on top in the third quarter. NC State led at halftime on the strength of Hockman’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Cary Angeline with 2:49 left. NC State: Angeline, a redshirt senior, has caught at least one touchdown pass in five of the Wolfpack’s games. With a victory, NC State would have been a candidate to climb back into the rankings. NC State: Hosts Florida State next Saturday.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Miami avoided the post-Clemson letdown and now can set its sight on remaining in the conference championship picture. “We were disappointed and a little bit angry coming off last week,” Miami coach Manny Diaz said. But Miami regained its double-digit advantage on King’s 45-yard touchdown pass to Mallory. “They make you earn every single thing.”The Hurricanes struck first on King’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Cam’Ron Harris midway through the first quarter. King connected with Mallory on a 6-yard score with 6:44 left in the second quarter for a 14-0 lead.

Facing questions about whether he would fulfill his promise, Bloomberg moved over the weekend to direct $100 million to Florida alone in support of Joe Biden. “Mike Bloomberg is an impact player,” said former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who served as a co-chair of Bloomberg’s presidential campaign. After spending $1 billion on his own campaign, Bloomberg won just one primary contest: American Samoa. And they say that, beyond Florida, Bloomberg is one of the Democratic Party’s biggest funders. Many say Biden, who visited the state on Tuesday for the first time since becoming the nominee, has not reached out enough to Hispanics in particular.

All rights reserved)MIAMI – The Miami Hurricanes will begin the 2020 college football season against UAB on Thursday. UAB is 1-0 on the season after the Blazers defeated Central Arkansas 45-35 on Sept. 3. This is the first time UAB will play against Miami. UAB has never defeated a team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami is 14-point Las Vegas favoriteWhat is the total for the game?

CORAL GABLES, Fla. If Miami has a football season, DEriq King will be the Hurricanes starting quarterback. The Hurricanes made the announcement Monday that King, a redshirt senior transfer from Houston, will be the first-string quarterback when or if the season begins. DEriqs hard work both on and off the field has earned him the starting quarterback position, Diaz said. That date is in doubt, of course, because of the coronavirus pandemic and the effect it will have on college football schedules. ___More AP college football: http://apnews.com/Collegefootball and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25