Ohio State, Cincy rise in the rankings
Bearcats could make history as first non-Power 5 playoff program
Cincinnati moved into position to make the College Football Playoff on Tuesday night, climbing a spot to fourth behind Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama.
A team from outside the Power Five conferences has never been selected for the semifinals in the previous seven years of the College Football Playoff.
Heading into the final full weekend of games, one loaded with playoff and conference championship implications, Cincinnati (11-0) seems to have a realistic path to a playoff spot no matter what happens around the Bearcats. Cincinnati plays at East Carolina on Friday and then meets Houston (10-1), ranked 24th by the committee, in the American Athletic Conference championship game on Dec. 4.
Before this season, no team from a so-called Group of Five conference had ever been ranked better than seventh by the CFP selection committee.
Michigan is fifth heading into its game against Ohio State that should produce the Big Ten’s best shot to make the playoff. Notre Dame (10-1) is sixth. The Fighting Irish’s only loss is to Cincinnati. The final CFP rankings will be revealed Dec. 5. PENN STATE: Coach James Franklin agreed to a new 10-year contract Tuesday that will guarantee him at least $75 million through 2031. The terms include a yearly base salary of $7 million, retention bonuses of $500,000 each year and a $1 million annual loan for life insurance.
Franklin is 67-32 at Penn State in his eight seasons. He had been asked multiple times this season about his name surfacing as a candidate for other jobs, notably LSU and USC, and he never outright shot them down.
Should Franklin leave for another college or NFL coaching job before April 1, 2022, he would owe Penn State $12 million. If he leaves between that date and Dec. 31, he’d owe $8 million. The buyout decreases to $6 million in 2023, to $2 million the next two years and $1 million each year thereafter.
JUCO: New Mexico Military Institute (10-1) is seeded second nationally and has a berth in the inaugural NJCAA national playoffs. The Broncos host No. 3 seed Northwest Mississippi Community College (9-2) at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5 at the Wool Bowl in Roswell.
General admission is $15 and tickets can be purchased at www.njcaa.org/tickets. The game will be livestreamed through www.njcaa.org/network for $18.
In the other semifinal, No. 1 Iowa Western (9-0) takes on No. 4 Snow College (7-1) in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Dec. 4. The semifinal winners play the championship game, Dec. 17 in Little Rock, Arkansas.
OBITUARY: Cecil Hurt, a longtime sports columnist at The Tuscaloosa News, died Tuesday of complications from pneumonia. He was 62. The newspaper said Hurt died at UAB Hospital in Birmingham. He had worked for The Tuscaloosa News since 1982.
“In pro football, teams put a ‘franchise’ tag on their most valuable players, and at The Tuscaloosa News, Cecil was the franchise,” said Ken Roberts, the paper’s city editor. “Our readers considered his column an essential part of being an Alabama football fan. I’ve attended Alabama football games for more than 30 years and many, many times I’ve overheard a fan in stands saying, ‘I wonder what Cecil Hurt will say about this.’ I think that shows the power of his skills as a writer.”