Auburn and Illinois fire head coaches

Auburn fired head coach Gus Malzahn, ending an eight-year run that began with a trip to the national championship.

Athletic director Allen Greene announced the firing Sunday, a day after the Tigers finished the regular season with a 24-10 victory against Mississippi State. Auburn is 64 in a pandemic-shortened season of all Southeastern Conference opponents, losing by double digits to highly ranked teams Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M. The Tigers also were upset by a struggling South Carolina, which wound up firing coach Will Muschamp in the season.

Illinois

Illinois fired coach Lovie Smith with a game left in its ninth consecutive losing season. Smith became Illinois’ first Black head football coach when he was hired in March 2016. The longtime NFL coach went 17-39 in five seasons at the school. Smith’s original deal was for six years and $21 million, but he received a twoyear extension through 2023 after Illinois went 4-8 in his third season.

Virginia

Virginia (5-5) is not going to a bowl game this season. A week before bowl announcements are due the Cavaliers announced that their season is over and they will not be entertaining an invitation to a postseason game.

Elsewhere

The first top-10 shakeup in more than a month pushed Coastal Carolina to No. 9 in The Associated Press poll. Alabama was a unanimous No. 1, followed by Notre Dame, Ohio State, Clemson and Texas A&M as those teams held their spots for a sixth consecutive week. No. 6 Cincinnati and No. 7 Indiana each moved up one spot.