Alabama dominates AP All-America team
College Football Playoff No. 1 Alabama placed six players on The Associated Press All-America team released Monday, including five on offense and an unprecedented three at the skill positions.
The Crimson Tide contingent is led by quarterback Mac Jones, wide receiver DeVonta Smith, and running back Najee Harris. It’s the first time in the four decades since the AP began putting two running backs and two wide receivers on the first team that any team has placed a quarterback, running back and receiver on the first team.
Alabama tackle Alex Leatherwood and center Landon Dickerson also made the first team offense.
STANFORD WR FEHOKO DECLARES FOR DRAFT » Stanford wide receiver Simi Fehoko is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
Fehoko finished his Stanford career with 62 receptions for 1,146 yards and nine touchdowns in 22 games. He was named a first-team All-Pac-12 player this season by the Associated Press after catching 37 passes for 584 yards and three TDs in six games.
NFL
BILLS EARN 1ST SWEEP OF PATRIOTS SINCE ‘ 99 WITH 38-9 WIN » Josh Allen passed for four touchdowns and the Buffalo Bills became the first AFC East foe to sweep the season series with the New England Patriots in two decades with a victory.
A week after unseating the Patriots as AFC East division champions, the win also keeps alive the Bills’ hopes of securing a top-three seed for the AFC playoffs.
The Bills ( 12- 3) last swept the Patriots in 1999. The last division opponents to sweep the Patriots were the Jets and Dolphins in 2000. The Patriots’ 19 straight seasons without losing both games to a divisional opponent was an NFL record. New England (6- 9) will finish with its first losing record since Bill Belichick’s first season in 2000.
WASHINGTON CUTS HASKINS; SMITH OR HEINICKE TO PLAY AT EAGLES » Washington released quarterback Dwayne Haskins on Monday, hours after coach Ron Rivera said either Alex Smith or Taylor Heinicke will start the regular-season finale with the NFC East at stake.
Rivera is “optimistic” Smith will be ready to play at the Philadelphia Eagles after missing the past two games with a strained right calf. Haskins started those two games, both losses, is 1- 5 this season and turned the ball over three times in a 20-13 defeat to Carolina on Sunday that saw him benched for Heinicke.
RAVENS FINED $ 250,000 FOR COVID-19 VIOLATIONS » The Baltimore Ravens were fined $250,000 by the NFL for violating COVID-19 protocols, a person with direct knowledge of the punishment told the Associated Press.
The team was not docked draft picks for the violations, which led to a coronavirus outbreak and the rescheduling of the Ravens’ Thanksgiving night game against Pittsburgh.
NHL
LUNDQVIST SCHEDULED FOR OPEN-HEART SURGERY » Goalie Henrik Lundqvist said he’s scheduled for open-heart surgery after tests revealed a heart condition that kept him from continuing to play goal in the NHL.
Lundqvist wrote on Twitter that he’s set to have an aortic valve, aortic root and ascending aortic replacement. He did not say when.
Baseball
RAYS REPORTEDLY AGREE TO SEND EX- CY YOUNG WINNER SNELL TO PADRES » The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to trade 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to the San Diego Padres, according to multiple reports.
Per the reports, top pitching prospect Luis Patino, catchers Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt and righthanded pitcher Cole Wilcox would go to Tampa Bay in the deal for Snell, a 28-year-old left-hander who has a career record of 42-30 in five seasons, all with the Rays. He has an earned-run average of 3.24 in 108 starts, posting 648 strikeouts and 232 walks in 556 innings.
College basketball
GONZAGA, BIG TEN CONTINUE TO DOMINATE TOP 25 » It’s hard to decide who has been more dominant in men’s college basketball this season: Gonzaga or the Big Ten Conference.
The Bulldogs remained the clear-cut No. 1, earning 62 of 64 first-place votes in the Associated Press poll after their latest win over a Top 25 foe, while the Big Ten placed nine teams in the poll, with Wisconsin and Iowa in the top 10.