Pac-12 scraps football divisions
Moments after the NCAA Division I Council tossed out requirements that dictate how football conferences can determine a champion, the Pac-12 announced Wednesday that it was scrapping its divisional format for the coming season.
The Pac-12 will now match the teams with the highest conference winning percentages in its title game after 11 seasons of matching winners of the North and South divisions.
Other conferences are expected to follow, most notably the 14-team Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC is looking to implement a new scheduling model as soon as 2023.
NCAA rules previously required football conferences that want to play a championship game to split into divisions if they cannot play a full round-robin schedule.
Ohio State is hiking Ryan Day’s annual salary to $9.5 million as part of a two-year contract extension that will put him among the nation’s highest-paid college football coaches . ... Former Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens joined South Carolina as a senior analyst.
ETC. Ex-Ram Fox is newest Charger
The Chargers signed another former Ram, adding defensive lineman Morgan Fox, according to GSE, the agency that represents Fox. After playing four seasons with the Rams, Fox spent 2021 with Carolina.
He and Chargers head coach Brandon Staley were together in 2020, when Staley was the Rams’ defensive coordinator. The other exRams who have joined the Chargers this offseason are defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day, linebacker Troy Reeder and tight end Gerald Everett.
— Jeff Miller
The New York Jets signed wide receiver Garrett Wilson to a four-year, $20.55million deal, the last of the team’s three first-round draft picks to get under contract. Wilson was the No. 10 overall pick last month out of Ohio State . ... The Philadelphia Eagles strengthened their secondary, agreeing on a one-year contract with veteran cornerback James Bradberry . ... The Canadian Football League and its players’ union reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract, ending the second strike in CFL history, the league said.
Rookie of the year Scottie Barnes of Toronto, Cleveland forward Evan Mobley and Detroit guard Cade Cunningham were unanimously voted to the NBA all-rookie first team. Orlando’s Franz Wagner and Houston’s Jalen Green were the other players chosen for the first team by a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from the PGA Championship after practicing for two days at Southern Hills to test his surgically repaired left wrist. The former U.S. Open champion practiced with a wrap that extended several inches up his left forearm.
Defending champion Casper Ruud eased into the quarterfinals of the Geneva Open, while three seeded players — Denis Sharpalov (third), Nikoloz Basilashvili (fifth) and Federico Delbonis (seventh) — went out in the second round. The second-seeded Ruud won 6-3, 6-1 against Benoit Paire to confirm his status as the favorite to retain his title after second-ranked Daniil Medvedev was beaten Tuesday by Richard Gasquet.
Sweden prevailed in a penalty shootout to edge host Finland 3-2 for its fourth straight victory at the ice hockey world championship in Tampere, Finland. In Group A in Helsinki, Denis Malgin scored a shorthanded goal and added an assist to lead Switzerland to a 5-3 win over Slovakia.
Real Salt Lake forward Rubio Rubin was approved by FIFA to switch his national team affiliation to Guatemala from the United States.
Formula One decided against replacing the Russian Grand Prix, which earlier was canceled after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The announcement reduced the current season from a record 23 races to 22, the same total as last year.
In Reggio Emilia, Italy, Alberto Dainese became the first Italian rider to win a stage in this year’s Giro d’Italia by sprinting to victory in the 11th leg, and Juan Pedro Lopez kept hold of the pink jersey.