Alabama is first and UCF is sixth in final AP poll
Alabama was voted No. 1 in the final Associated Press college football poll after the Crimson Tide beat Georgia in the national championship game. Unbeaten Central Florida finished sixth and USC was 12th.
The Crimson Tide received 57 of 61 first-place votes from the media panel after its 26-23 overtime win Monday. Central Florida received the other four and finished with the best ranking in the history of the program. The Knights are the first bowl-eligible team to finish the season undefeated and not win a national title since Texas Christian in 2010. Ohio State was 12-0 in 2012, but banned from the postseason by the NCAA.
Georgia finished second, its best ranking since 2007, and Oklahoma was third, followed by Clemson and Ohio State.
Barring a last-minute change of heart, quarterback Jacob Eason is expected to transfer from Georgia to Washington for the next step in his college football career, multiple sources told the Seattle Times.
Eason, a strong-armed 6-foot-5 sophomore, would have to sit out the 2018 season under NCAA transfer rules. He then would have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Eason began this season as Georgia’s starter, but a sprained left-knee ligament knocked him out of the opener. True freshman Jake Fromm took over for Eason and did not relinquish the job.
Central Florida backup quarterback Noah Vedral is following coach Scott Frost to Nebraska.
The sophomore who grew up in Wahoo, Neb., tweeted Tuesday that he’s “coming home.” His tweet included a Cornhuskers logo and the hashtag GBR, short for “Go Big Red.”
The national championship showdown between Alabama and Georgia drew 28.443 million viewers for ESPN, making it the second-most watched title game in the four years of the College Football Playoff format.
Left-hander Andrew Heaney agreed to an $800,000, one-year deal to return to the Angels. The parties avoided arbitration.
The Angels also signed free-agent catcher Rene Rivera to a one-year, $2.8million contract, adding a defensively savvy veteran to back up Martin Maldonado. Rivera, 36, has played nine seasons in the majors. He batted .252 with 10 home runs in 74 games last season, split between the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets.
Olympic slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin used a frenetic final run to stretch her winning streak in 2018 to five races at a women’s World Cup night race in Flachau, Austria. She is the first female skier to start a calendar year with five straight victories.
Instead of a Conor McGregor return on the UFC 222 main event March 3 in Las Vegas, Max Holloway will defend his featherweight belt against former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.
The March card was seen as a possible return date for lightweight champion McGregor until UFC President Dana White said that the summer was more likely. — Lance Pugmire
The Galaxy added Perry Kitchen to their growing midfield, luring the 25-yearold home from Europe to sign a contract funded, in part, with targeted allocation money. No details were released.
Kitchen is the third player signed by the Galaxy this week, following goalkeeper David Bingham and midfielder Servando Carrasco. The team, which opens training camp Jan. 22, is shopping for a striker and backup goalkeeper. — Kevin Baxter