College Sports

Michigan State's Tom Izzo says he never covered up sexual assault allegations: ‘I guarantee I’m trying to do the right thing’

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo delivered a long and spirited defense of his program Thursday during the round-table portion of Big Ten media day. Izzo intended to stay on message — new season, new team — but could not resist after facing questions from an ESPN reporter. An ESPN “Outside the Lines”...

Brad Underwood's 2nd roster, with 8 newcomers, means another Illinois team requires patience

As a young junior-college coach for eight seasons in Dodge City, Kan., and Daytona Beach, Fla., Brad Underwood had to learn how to handle young rosters year after year. At that level of college basketball, it’s an annual roster full of freshmen. “You learn to adapt when you’re a junior-college...

Illinois guard Aaron Jordan is from the Chicago area and wears No. 23. So ... is he related?

Illinois guard Aaron Jordan has eight new teammates this season. So let’s get the word out efficiently in case any of them is wondering: No, he is not related to Michael Jordan. Jordan, a Plainfield East alumnus who last season shot 46.3 percent from 3-point range, said he often gets the question...

'Hundreds and hundreds of programs ... are clean': Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany weighs in on corruption in college basketball

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany defended college basketball Thursday as an ongoing federal trial delving into corruption in recruiting has cast a shadow over the sport. “There’s no doubt that there are storm clouds of a significant magnitude,” Delany said at Big Ten media day in Rosemont. “While...

Path to the playoff? A closer look at Notre Dame's 6 remaining games

Notre Dame has emerged as a College Football Playoff contender after back-to-back blowout wins against Stanford and at Virginia Tech. ESPN, CBS Sports and USA Today project the Irish to be one of the four playoff teams. The No. 5 Irish (6-0) are keeping the hype in perspective. “We talk about it...

5 dark-horse Heisman Trophy candidates

5 questions for Illinois football heading into fall camp

Big Ten picks for Week 7: Take Wisconsin (plus the points) in the Big House

The temperatures crashed this week. So did the line in the Nebraska-Northwestern game. The Wildcats opened Sunday as 8½-point favorites, a massive number given Northwestern’s 0-3 home record — and the fact the road team has won the last four in the series. For the uninitiated, sports books set...

Ohio State is latest power conference school to embrace esports while NCAA sits idle

One of the nation's foremost athletic powerhouse universities has announced a major push into esports with the creation of a new dedicated arena, integrated curriculum involving five colleges and research initiatives aimed to bolster gaming performance. The move by Ohio State University, the nation's...

Illinois dismisses safety Bennett Williams from team

Illinois sophomore safety Bennett Williams has been dismissed from the team, a spokesman confirmed Wednesday night. Williams served a three-game suspension at the start of the season for a violation of unspecified team rules. He played one half against Penn State before leaving with an injury and...

'Pretty good bloodlines' helped Drake Anderson follow his father's path to Northwestern

It was a typical father-son chat, even if there’s nothing typical about the father or the son. The dad is Damien Anderson, the original “D.A.” He rushed for 2,063 yards as a Northwestern All-American in 2000, finishing fifth in Heisman Trophy voting — between LaDainian Tomlinson and Michael Vick....

3 ways Illinois can beat Purdue on Saturday

TV/radio: 2:30 p.m. Saturday; FS1, WSCR-AM 670. Line: Purdue by 10½. Records: Purdue 2-3, 1-1 Big Ten; Illinois 3-2, 1-1. 1. Keep the takeaway train rolling. Purdue had six turnovers in its first three games — all losses — but only two in its last two games, victories against Boston College and...

3 ways Notre Dame can beat Pittsburgh on Saturday

TV/radio: 1:30 p.m. Saturday; NBC-5, WMVP-AM 1000. Line: Notre Dame by 21. Records: Pittsburgh 3-3; Notre Dame 6-0. 1. Jump out to a quick lead. Two years ago, Pitt won at Clemson 43-42 when the Tigers were No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings. Last year, the Panthers defeated Miami 24-14...

3 ways Northwestern can beat Nebraska on Saturday

TV/radio: 11 a.m. Saturday; ABC-7, WGN-AM 720. Line: Northwestern by 4. Records: Nebraska 0-5, 0-3 Big Ten; Northwestern 2-3, 2-1. 1. Find some semblance of a rushing attack. Coach Pat Fitzgerald challenged his offensive line by saying Michigan State “pretty much kicked our ass up front” and added,...

Northwestern and Illinois men's basketball picked to finish near bottom of Big Ten

There isn’t much optimism for Illinois or Northwestern this season among Big Ten basketball reporters. In a preseason poll conducted by The Athletic and Columbus Dispatch, the Wildcats were picked to finish 12th and the Illini 13th. Both teams have plenty of unknowns as they try to replace top...

Quintez Cephus sues Wisconsin over discipline probe

Embattled University of Wisconsin receiver Quintez Cephus is suing the school because he says a disciplinary probe it is conducting while he's trying to defend himself in a criminal sexual assault case violates his rights. Cephus was suspended from the Badgers in August after he was charged with...

Roy Williams 'dumbfounded' by NCAA's refusal to allow hurricane-relief benefit game

Never let it be said that the NCAA doesn't stick to its rules. This time, though, North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he was "dumbfounded" by college sports' governing body. The NCAA last week denied a waiver that would have allowed North Carolina and South Carolina to play a benefit exhibition...

Brady Quinn on Ian Book, Notre Dame’s quarterback revelation: ‘Sometimes we overcomplicate the position’

Ian Book committed to Notre Dame on Aug. 4, 2015. A date that will go down in history? Perhaps. But at the time, it was hardly the stuff of text alerts. Book was a three-star quarterback recruit, ranked outside the national top 500, via 247sports.com. The Sacramento-area native had planned to attend...

Porter Moser says Loyola focused on improvement, not Final Four encore: 'Let's not skip this part of the process'

A year after Butler’s stunning run to the 2010 NCAA championship game, the Bulldogs returned to the national title game the next season. Last season’s Northwestern team, coming off the first NCAA tournament appearance in school history and returning six of its top seven scorers, finished a disappointing...

DePaul coach Dave Leitao says 'we've done our due diligence' regarding allegations in college basketball trial

DePaul coach Dave Leitao said he wasn’t concerned about testimony during a federal corruption trial that mentioned Blue Demons assistant coach Shane Heirman. Speaking Monday at the annual Chicago college basketball tipoff luncheon, Leitao indicated the university had previously investigated allegations...

LeBron James-produced HBO documentary casts former Bears coordinator John Shoop as ... a hero?

John Shoop was called many things when he was the Bears’ quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator between 1999 and 2003 under Dick Jauron. “Hero” wasn’t among them. Yet that’s the role in which Shoop is cast in the HBO documentary “Student Athlete.” The melancholy indictment of the NCAA from...

Terps booster apologizes for remarks about Jordan McNair that kept him from traveling with team to Michigan

A Maryland booster who made comments critical of Jordan McNair and subsequently faced opposition within the football team before its game Saturday at Michigan apologized Monday to those he offended and said that the student newspaper took the remark out of context. He did not accompany the team...

Pat Fitzgerald slams Northwestern's rushing attack as 'yuck'

Pat Fitzgerald added to his movie-reference catalog with lighthearted mentions of “Tommy Boy” and “Major League.” But he got dead serious Monday when talking about Northwestern’s rushing attack, which ranks last in the Big Ten (2.4 yards per carry and 77.4 yards per game) after getting pushed around...

John Gagliardi was nothing like a college football coach, and won more than any

From Alabama Coach Nick Saban's dour demeanor despite his team's dominance to Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer's propensity to "mis-speak" when confronted, successful college football coaches can be a very unpleasant group. And then there's John Gagliardi, who died this past weekend at the age of 91....

Big Ten power rankings: Iowa and Northwestern on the rise; Michigan State tumbles

Last week’s rankings in parentheses. 1. Ohio State (1) The Buckeyes’ toughest foe over the next three games (Minnesota, Purdue, Nebraska) will be apathy. 2. Penn State (2) James Franklin’s quest to push the Nittany Lions from great to elite begins Saturday against Michigan State. 3. Wisconsin (3)...

College football Week 6 wrap-up: Big 12 and Pac-12 are in trouble again. And did Alabama show a crack in the armor?

We’re down to 11 undefeated FBS teams, and if you saw Cincinnati, Colorado and N.C. State being among that group at midseason, take a well-deserved bow. While Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson and Notre Dame kept rolling along Saturday, the big headline of the weekend — Texas is back! (maybe)...

Death of Jordan McNair: Why did so few Maryland football players talk to investigator?

Dozens of players were on the field the day University of Maryland football player Jordan McNair fell ill during practice, suffering heatstroke that would lead to his death. But just six players agreed to speak to the consultant the university hired to investigate what happened that day — and how...

Uplift point guard Markese Jacobs, a former Kansas commitment, picks DePaul

Markese Jacobs, a four-star point guard from Chicago’s Uplift High School and a top-100 national recruit, announced Sunday he has committed to DePaul. The 5-foot-11 Jacobs committed to Kansas two years ago but decommitted in August. He’s the No. 95 Class of 2019 recruit in the nation and No. 3...

Brian Kelly says Notre Dame is ‘looser’ than the 2012 national runner-up Irish

Notre Dame has started 6-0 three times under Brian Kelly. But the Irish have been 7-0 only once, in 2012. So the question arose Sunday: Does this undefeated team feel like that one? “It’s such a different club,” Kelly said. “It was constructed differently. (The 2012 team) was largely put together...

Notre Dame moves into top 5 in AP’s latest rankings

Notre Dame moved into the top five, Texas and UCF reached the top 10 and the Southeastern Conference placed a season-high eight teams in the latest Associated Press college football poll. After three teams in the top eight and eight ranked teams overall lost on Saturday, there was significant movement...

5 things you should know about Big Ten football after Week 6

Five things you should know about the Big Ten, including this: New Kirk > New Coke. 1. Michigan is getting Wisconsin at the perfect time. The Badgers beat Nebraska handily Saturday night but got beat up in the process. Faion Hicks was the only starting defensive back to make it through 60 minutes....

John Gagliardi, college football's winningest coach, dies at 91

John Gagliardi, who won more games than any other college football coach with his unconventional methods at a small Minnesota school, has died. He was 91. St. John's University says Gagliardi (pronounced guh-LAHR'-dee) died Sunday morning. A cause of death was not immediately known. Gagliardi retired...

3 takeaways from Notre Dame's 45-23 victory over Virginia Tech

Notre Dame cleared a big hurdle Saturday night while keeping its record perfect and its College Football Playoff hopes alive. The sixth-ranked Irish pulled away in the second half in Blacksburg, Va., for a 45-23 victory against No. 24 Virginia Tech. Here are three takeaways from the game: 1. This...

3 takeaways from Northwestern's 29-19 victory over No. 20 Michigan State

We’ve seen this movie before, no? Northwestern looks clueless in September, flips a switch and starts winning. The Wildcats opened 2-3 last season, then won their final eight games. Beating Michigan State 29-19 on Saturday in East Lansing, Mich., is just the first step, but it’s a huge one after...

No. 6 Notre Dame stays perfect with 45-23 rout of No. 24 Virginia Tech

Dexter Williams burst through the line, suddenly saw nothing but green in front of him and was gone. In a span of seconds, fans of No. 24 Virginia Tech went from roaring with certainty that the Hokies were about to make the kind of defensive play that can change a game to watching it flip in the...

Notre Dame 45, Virginia Tech 23

Photo from Notre Dame's 45-23 win against Virginia Tech on Saturday night, Oct. 6, 2018 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va.

Illinois 38, Rutgers 17

Photos from Illinois' 38-17 victory over Rutgers on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, at HighPoint.com Stadium in Piscataway, N.J.

Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan pull away for comfortable Big Ten wins

Nate Stanley overcame two costly turnovers with four touchdown passes for an aggressive Iowa offense, and the Hawkeyes used four interceptions and five sacks of Minnesota's Zack Annexstad to beat the Gophers for the fourth straight time, 48-31 on Saturday in Minneapolis. Stanley completed 23 of...

Northern Illinois moves to 3-0 in the MAC by holding off Ball State 24-16

Tre Harbison ran for two scores, Marcus Childers threw for a touchdown and Northern Illinois held off Ball State 24-16 on Saturday to improve to 3-0 in Mid-American Conference play. The Huskies had a 21-6 lead late in the third quarter, but the Cardinals closed to 21-16 on James Gilbert's 3-yard...

Northwestern 29, Michigan State 19

Photos from Northwestern's 29-19 win against No. 20 Michigan State on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 6, 2018 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.

3 takeaways from Illinois' 38-17 victory over Rutgers, the Illini's 1st Big Ten win since 2016

Almost two years had passed since Illinois’ last Big Ten victory. While Rutgers looked as inept as advertised Saturday, at least the Illini can move on from that streak. Showing evidence of the improvement coach Lovie Smith has promised, Illinois (3-2, 1-1) easily defeated the Scarlet Knights 38-17...

Wide receiver recruit Bryce Childress, teammate of 4-star QB Isaiah Williams, decommits from Illinois

During Illinois’ victory Saturday against Rutgers, an Illini recruit announced his decommitment from the program on social media. Bryce Childress, a three-star wide receiver prospect in the Class of 2019, announced his decommitment from Illinois on Saturday during the Illini’s victory over Rutgers....

Northwestern 29, Michigan State 19

Photos from Northwestern's 29-19 victory over Michigan State Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in East Lansing, Mich. 

DePaul says prosecutors haven't contacted school about college basketball corruption case

Federal prosecutors have not contacted DePaul about the investigation into bribery in college basketball recruiting, the university said Friday in a news release. The school’s statement came a day after the father of a highly touted former recruit testified in federal court that DePaul assistant...

3 ways Northwestern can beat Michigan State on Saturday

TV/radio: 11 a.m. Saturday; FS1, WGN-AM 720. Line: Michigan State by 10½. Records: Northwestern 1-3, 1-1 Big Ten; Michigan State 3-1, 1-0. 1. Sling it all over the yard. You can’t run on Michigan State. Arizona State managed just 44 yards on 29 carries. Indiana was held to 29 yards. The Spartans’...

Ohio State billed $1.5M for investigation into a team doctor accused of sexual misconduct

Ohio State University has been billed about $1.5 million and counting for the investigation into a team doctor accused of sexual misconduct against scores of athletes and other men. A list of related invoices provided by the university shows most of that is from Perkins Coie, the law firm hired...

DePaul assistant coach accused during federal corruption trial of paying recruit to attend Indiana high school

The father of a former top college basketball prospect testified Thursday in a federal trial that Shane Heirman, now an assistant coach at DePaul, paid him to have his son attend the Indiana high school Heirman coached at the time. Brian Bowen Sr. told a jury he received $2,000 per month from Heirman...

Big Ten picks for Week 6: Will Ohio State let down after beating Penn State?

What does the coach say when his team stinks? We’re going to stress the fundamentals, that’s what. Well, my team stinks. And by “team,” I mean me. If you’ve wagered your moolah on my picks, I apologize. If you’ve faded my picks and can now afford a llama, you’re welcome. I finished well over .500...

Dexter Williams' big game in return for Notre Dame was all about 'making up for lost time'

Notre Dame running backs coach Autry Denson gave Dexter Williams some words of encouragement before Saturday’s game against Stanford. “He was just saying: ‘You’ve got to be that guy. You’ve got to come out and be that spark,’ ” Williams said. It didn’t take long for Williams to ignite Notre Dame’s...

3 ways Notre Dame can beat Virginia Tech

TV/radio: 7 p.m. Saturday; ABC-7, WMVP-AM 1000. Line: Notre Dame by 6. Records: Notre Dame 5-0; Virginia Tech 3-1. 1. Don’t get overwhelmed by the environment. Lane Stadium is a difficult place to play for a visiting team, especially at night. Notre Dame will be making its first trip to Blacksburg,...

3 ways Illinois can beat Rutgers on Saturday

TV/radio: 11 a.m. Saturday; BTN, WSCR-AM 670. Line: Illinois by 4½. Records: Illinois 2-2, 0-1 Big Ten; Rutgers 1-4, 0-2. 1. Finish strong. Illinois was in position to win in the third quarter of its last two games, leading 19-7 against South Florida and 24-21 against Penn State, but got blown...

Matt Millen steps away from his Big Ten Network job to focus on his health

Former NFL star and Detroit Lions executive Matt Millen is stepping away from his TV analyst job for the rest of this season to focus on his health. The 60-year Millen has amyloidosis and has been seeking a heart transplant. The life-threatening illness often goes undiagnosed because its symptoms...

Belleville's EJ Liddell, state's Mr. Basketball, commits to Ohio State over Illinois

EJ Liddell, a four-star forward from Belleville West who was Mr. Basketball in Illinois as a junior last season, announced Monday evening he has committed to Ohio State. Illinois and Missouri were his other finalists. The 6-foot-7 Liddell is the No. 1 prospect in the state in the Class of 2019...

Culture didn't kill Maryland's Jordan McNair. Negligence did. DJ Durkin is responsible for both.

Don't let DJ Durkin's friends and supporters tell you that his methods were simply "motivational" tactics to toughen a coddled Generation Z. Don't let them argue that his animalistic, brutal treatment of lesser players at Maryland are what's required to raise a college football program to the elite...

Four-star forward Robbie Beran of Virginia commits to Northwestern

Northwestern’s 2019 basketball recruiting class has come together over the last three weeks, with the highest-rated piece added Monday. Four-star forward Robbie Beran of Richmond, Va., committed to coach Chris Collins after taking an official visit to the school over the weekend. The 6-foot-9 Beran...

UMass suspends football coach after 'rape' comment in postgame remarks

The University of Massachusetts suspended football coach Mark Whipple for one week without pay Sunday, following his angry postgame remarks in which he used the word "rape" to describe the lack of a penalty call during Saturday's 58-42 loss to Ohio. "We had a chance there with 16 down and they...

'He's fighting': Tennessee State player in critical condition after surgery for head injury

They gathered at midfield after the game, concerned about something far more important than the final score. Tennessee State and Vanderbilt players circled TSU Coach Rod Reed to learn what little they could about the condition of linebacker Christion Abercrombie, who collapsed after suffering a...