No. 13 USC latest Pac-12 team to opt out of bowl
LOS ANGELES — No. 13 Southern California became the sixth Pac-12 team to opt out of a bowl game Saturday, citing a recommendation from team doctors and discussions with players.
The Trojans (5-1), who lost 31-24 to Oregon in the Pac-12 title game Friday night, would have been at risk of falling under the conference’s minimum number of 53 available scholarship players because of positive tests for COVID-19 and injuries after playing their third game in 13 days.
Coach Clay Helton also cited a desire
by players to see family and friends during the holidays after being sequestered during the season.
“I am incredibly inspired by our players and the sacrifices they made these past six months to play the game that they love,” Helton said. “They did everything we asked of them to abide by the challenging guidelines they had to follow to stay safe and well, whether it was daily testing or keeping distant from family and friends or training in less-than-ideal ways. It has not been easy, and it is hard for anyone outside the program to understand how immensely difficult these past few months have been for them.”
USC joins Stanford, UCLA, Utah, Washington and Washington State in ruling out bowl bids, with the Huskies still dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak that prevented them from facing the Trojans in the conference title game.
NHL, players finalize agreement for 56-game season in 2021
Hockey is set to return Jan. 13 after the NHL and players completed a deal Sunday to hold a 56-game season that would include playoffs lasting into July to award the Stanley Cup.
The league’s Board of Governors voted to approve the agreement that was backed by the NHL Players’ Association executive board Friday night. The regular season is scheduled to go until May 8 with a 16-team playoff to follow.
The season will be highly unusual in at least one respect: There will be four divisions — North, South, East and West — and all play will be within divisions to minimize travel and the potential for the coronavirus to disrupt the season. The North Division contains only the seven Canadian teams.
“It is the current plan to play games in the home arenas of participating teams while understanding that most arenas will not, at least in the initial part of the season, be able to host fans,” the NHL said.
The league is allowing for the possibility of playing games at neutral sites if needed. Final details on where the Canadian teams will play are still pending until there are agreements with federal and provincial health officials.
Still, the hurdles won’t be enough to prevent the season from starting without a quarantined bubble.
“The National Hockey League looks forward to the opening of our 2020-21 season,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “While we are well aware of the challenges ahead, as was the case last spring and summer, we are continuing to prioritize the health and safety of our participants and the communities in which we live and play.”
The NHL completed last season in bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, with players, coaches and staff isolated from the general public and virus-tested daily. .
“The players are pleased to have finalized agreements for the upcoming season, which will be unique but also very exciting,” NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said. “During these troubled times, we hope that NHL games will provide fans with some much-needed entertainment as the players return to the ice.”
Most of the league will open training camp Jan. 3. The seven teams that didn’t make the playoffs last season can start as soon as Dec. 31.
AP Top 25: Notre Dame over A&M in final regular-season poll
Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State topped the final Associated Press college football poll of the regular season Sunday with No. 4 Notre Dame comfortably ahead of No. 5 Texas A&M.
Before the College Football Playoff selection committee revealed its selections for the final, AP Top 25 voters released their final rankings. The Fighting Irish were a comfortable 41-point margin ahead of the Aggies.
Unbeaten Cincinnati was No. 6. Indiana, Oklahoma, Coastal Carolina and Florida completed the top 10.
The only team to fall out of the rankings this week was Buffalo, which lost the Mid-American Conference title game.
Oregon’s upset of Southern California in the Pac-12 title game pushed the Ducks back into the rankings at No. 25. USC dropped nine spots from 13 to 22 after its first loss of the season.
San Jose State made the biggest jump in the rankings this week. The unbeaten Spartans moved up six spots to from No. 25 to 19th after winning the Mountain West championship against Boise State.
Alabama ran its streak of weekly appearances in the poll to 212, breaking a tie with Florida State and moving into sole possession of second-place on the all-time list to Nebraska’s streak of 348 from 1981-2002.
7-time F1 champion Hamilton wins BBC’s top sports prize
LONDON — Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton capped another successful year by claiming the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year prize on Sunday.