Miami jumps up to No. 2
Miami moved up to No. 2 behind Alabama in the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night, with Clemson slipping one spot to three and Oklahoma holding at four. Wisconsin and Auburn remained next up behind the top four in a week when the top half of the selection committee’s rankings were mostly unchanged. Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Southern California followed in the same order as they did last week. Over the next two weeks, every team in the top nine will play another team ranked in the committee’s top 25, including four games matching top playoff con- tenders.
RAIDER SHAKEUP
The Oakland Raiders have fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. in a staff shakeup during a disappointing season.
Coach Jack Del Rio made the announcement Tuesday that Norton will be let go and assistant John
Pagano will step into the coordinator role leading up to this week’s home game against the Denver Broncos.
l A person with knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press that former first-round draft pick Paxton Lynch will start at quarterback for the Broncos on Sunday at Oakland.
l First-year eligibles Ray Lewis and Randy Moss are among 27 semifinalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Others in their initial year of eligibility who made
this cut are Brian Urlacher, Richard Seymour, Steve Hutchinson and Ronde Barber. Four previously eligible players made the semifinals for the first time: LeRoy Butler, Leslie O’Neal, Simeon Rice and Everson Walls. All others on the 2018 list have reached the semifinals in previous years. Already chosen as finalists are Bobby Beathard as a contributor, and Robert Brazile and Jerry Kramer as senior candidates.
The other semifinalists are Steve Atwater, Tony Boselli, Isaac Bruce, Don Coryell, Roger Craig, Brian Dawkins, Alan Faneca, Torry Holt, Joe Jacoby, Edgerrin James, Jimmy Johnson, Ty Law, John Lynch, Kevin Mawae, Karl Mecklenburg, Terrell Owens and Hines Ward.
MISSOURI STAR OUT FOR SEASON
The Michael Porter Jr. era might have lasted all of two minutes for Missouri.
On Tuesday, the team announced Porter, one of the nation’s top high school recruits, would undergo back surgery that would likely cause him to miss the season.
Porter was voted a preseason All-American and the SEC co-preseason player of the year and was being labeled as a possible No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA draft.
l Robert Williams notched 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 16 Texas A&M to a 98-87 victory over Penn State in the championship game of the Progressive Legends Classic in Brooklyn.