Allen, Indiana agree to new deal
Indiana BLOOMINGTON, IND. — coach Tom Allen has agreed to a restructured contract that will keep him with the Hoosiers through the 2027 season for $4.9 million in annual compensation.
Allen was named the Big Ten coach of the year and American Football Coaches Association national coach of the year in 2020 following the Hoosiers’ breakthrough season.
Indiana went 6-1 in 2020, earned a big to the Outback Bowl and finished No. 12, its highest appearance in the final rankings since finishing fourth in 1967. In 2019, the Hoosiers were 8-5 and played in the the Gator Bowl.
In December 2019, Allen signed an extension that was to pay him an average of $3.9 million over the next seven seasons. A provision in that deal also added an extra season to the contract each year Indiana earned bowl a bid. It has now qualified for two straight after falling one win short in each of Allen’s first two seasons in Bloomington.
“I would like to thank (athletic director) Scott Dolson, President (Michael) McRobbie and the board of trustees for their support and investment into our football program and our staff,” Allen said. “I’m excited about what we are building here and how we are building it. Having said that, we have unfinished business that we will continue to chase after every single day.”
Last season, Indiana cracked the top 10 for the first time in 51 years and spent six weeks there, climbing as high as No. 7. In 2019, the Hoosiers posted their first winning season in conference play in 26 seasons and ended nation’s longest Top 25 drought by a power-conference school.
“Tom Allen has proven himself to be not only the right person for our student-athletes and our program, but one of the best football coaches in the country,” Dolson said. “The enthusiasm and outlook for our program is at an alltime high, and the future of Indiana Football is in great hands.”
Gonzaga’s bid to go wire-towire No. 1 is in its final week.
The Zags received 61 of 63 first-place votes from a media panel in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released Monday as they attempt to become the first wire-to-wire No. 1 since Kentucky in 2014-15.
Baylor had two first-place votes and moved back into the No. 2 slot after dropping a spot last week.
Illinois, Michigan and Iowa rounded out the top 5. No. 8 Arkansas is in the top 10 for the first time since reaching No. 1 in 1994-95.
Gonzaga won its ninth consecutive West Coast Conference regular-season title after going 14-0 and is the lone remaining undefeated team in Division I. The Zags (24-0) played Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament semifinals Monday night and could advance to the title game today with a win.
“I don’t know about how important it is and all that. I mean it would be a heck of an accomplishment, quite frankly,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of possibly being undefeated heading into the NCAA Tournament. “It’s hard to be the front-runner and lead the mile all four laps.”
Gonzaga will likely be a No. 1 seed regardless of what happens this week and could be gunning to become the first team to finish a perfect season since Indiana in 1975-76.
Bears bounce back
Baylor dropped to No. 3 last week after losing to No. 10 West Virginia in overtime on March 3.
The Bears were back to their dominating ways last week after their only loss of the season, beating the Mountaineers in the rematch, then taking down No. 12 Oklahoma
State and No. 20 Texas Tech by double digits.
The win over West Virginia gave Baylor its first Big 12 regular-season title and moved it back into the No. 2 slot this week. The Bears finished undefeated at home for the first time in 73 years.
Rising Razorbacks
Arkansas has made quite a jump in two seasons under coach Eric Musselman.
The Razorbacks were in decent shape to make the NCAA Tournament in Musselman’s first year before the pandemic wiped out the end to the 2019-20 season.
Arkansas finished the regular season 21-5 and closed it out with seven consecutive wins, including at Kentucky and at then-No. 10 Missouri.
The Razorbacks entered the AP Top 25 on Feb. 15 and have made a quick climb, reaching No. 12 last week. Wins against South Carolina and Texas A&M last week moved them into the top 10 for the first time since Nolan Richardson led them to a No. 1 ranking and the 1995 national championship game.
Poll movement
No. 12 Oklahoma State and No. 16 Virginia had the biggest jumps of the week, moving up five spots each . ... No. 25 Oklahoma had the biggest drop, falling nine places after losing four consecutive games, including 69-65 to No. 13 Texas on Thursday . ... Southern California moved into the Top 25 at No. 24 after beating Stanford and rival UCLA last week . ... Wisconsin dropped out from No. 25 following losses to Iowa and No. 23 Purdue.
Novak Djokovic surpassed Roger Federer for the most weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday.
Djokovic is in his 311th week in the top spot, one more than Federer has spent there.
“Big day today,” Djokovic tweeted Monday.
The 33-year-old from Serbia first reached No. 1 on July 4, 2011, a day after he won Wimbledon for the first time by beating topranked Rafael Nadal in the final. Djokovic’s ascent represented the first time in nearly 71/2 years that a man other than Federer or Nadal was No. 1.
“Any athlete in the world dreams of being No. 1 of the world. This is something that gives us a lot of motivation,” Djokovic said back then, when the ATP marked the occasion by presenting
him with a cake shaped like the numeral “1” in the red, blue and white colors of Serbia’s
flag. “So finally, when you really do it, and when you know that you’re the
best, it’s just an amazing achievement.”
Djokovic has gone on to win five titles at the All England Club, along with nine at the Australian Open, three at the U.S. Open and one at the French Open.
His total of 18 Grand Slam singles trophies trails only the 20 claimed by Federer and Nadal for the men’s mark.
Djokovic has had five separate stays at No. 1 and finished six seasons there, tying Pete Sampras for the most.
Sampras held the total weeks record of 286 until Federer surpassed him in July 2012. Ivan Lendl stands fourth with 270, and Jimmy Connors is next at 268.
The ATP introduced its computer rankings in 1973.
Djokovic’s championship at Melbourne Park last month assured him of staying No. 1 at least until this week and claiming sole possession of the record from Federer.
Djokovic called reaching that milestone a “relief ” and said it would allow him to “focus all my attention on Slams, mostly.”
“When you are going for No. 1 rankings, you kind of have to be playing the entire season, and you have to be playing well; you have to play all the tournaments,” Djokovic said. “My goals will adapt and will shift a little bit.”
Federer most recently spent at week at No. 1 in June 2018. He was 36 at the time and that allows him to still hold the record for oldest man to hold that top place. His 40th birthday is Aug. 8. After two operations on his right knee in 2020, Federer has gone more than a year without competing. He is scheduled to return to tour action at the Qatar Open on Wednesday.
With so much inactivity, Federer slipped to No. 6 in Monday’s rankings, swapping spots with Stefanos Tsitsipas.