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🏀 Good morning to everyone but especially …
THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

If the 76ers want to do something this postseason, they’ll need Joel Embiid at his best. If they want to do something
special this postseason, they’ll need members of the supporting cast at their best, too. In Wednesday’s Play-In Tournament game, they got both, and not a moment too late.

Embiid scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and Nicolas Batum added 20 points on six 3-pointers — both season highs — as Philadelphia eked out a 105-104 win over the Heat to earn the 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Embiid was awful early on, and so were the 76ers. They had 39 points (and 12 turnovers) at halftime. But Batum and Tyrese Maxey got going in Philadelphia’s 30-point third quarter, and then Embiid looked like himself in the fourth, delivering a pair of 3-pointers, a crucial and-one off an offensive rebound and an assist to Kelly Oubre Jr. that put the hosts up for good. Brad Botkin says while the finish was encouraging, the 76ers need more from the reigning MVP to be a true threat.

The Heat, meanwhile, will hope the concerns surrounding Jimmy Butler’s knee injury prove false. Miami will face the Bulls for the No. 8 seed after Chicago cruised by the Hawks, 131-116. Sam Quinn wonders if Trae Young has played his last game for Atlanta.

👍 Honorable mentions
Here’s what Caitlin Clark said in her Fever introductory press conference.
Clark’s former team, Iowa, got a huge transfer portal boost in Lucy Olsen.
Grant Hill personally delivered USA jerseys to Embiid, Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday.
Justin Verlander will make his season debut tomorrow.
The Red Sox and Guardians played the shortest game since 2010 thanks to Tanner Houck’s gem.
Dylan Cease waved off his manager … and then struck out the next batter.
Albert Suárez made his first MLB appearance since 2017.
🤕 And not such a good morning for …
zion-williamson-pelicans-g.jpg
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ZION WILLIAMSON AND THE NEW ORLEANS PELICANS

The Pelicans have one last chance to save their season. And Zion Williamson won’t be on the floor for it. New Orleans’ oft-injured star sustained a left hamstring strain late in the Pelicans’ Play-In loss to the Lakers on Tuesday. Not only will he miss tomorrow’s game against the Kings — in which the winner gets the No. 8 seed in the playoffs and the loser’s season ends — but he won’t even be reevaluated for two weeks.

In case you missed the game Tuesday or yesterday’s newsletter, Williamson was magnificent — 40 points, 11 rebounds and five assists — before he exited with 3:19 left and the game tied at 95.

Williamson’s injury woes are well-documented, but this year he played a career-high 70 games. Now, unless New Orleans can win tomorrow and then keep its season alive for at least two more weeks against the top-seeded Thunder, the lasting image of its season will be Williamson trudging back to the locker room … again.

Simply put, it’s a cruel, cruel twist of fate for a team and a player heading in the right direction, James Herbert writes.

Herbert: “If this is an even bigger buzzkill than any of Williamson’s previous injuries, it is because of what it interrupted. Williamson was not only making the absolute most of the stage he had that night, he had been showing for months that he — and, by extension, New Orleans — had gotten serious. He was in the best shape of his career, playing the best defense of his career and leading a deep and exciting team that was doing everything it could to make its pieces fit.”
👎 Not so honorable mentions
Jason Kelce lost his Super Bowl ring in a pool of Skyline chili.
Yu Darvish (neck tightness) is on the IL. Same for Garrett Whitlock (oblique).
Robert Stephenson (elbow) is done for the year.
🏀 Jontay Porter receives lifetime ban from NBA for gambling violations
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The NBA banned Raptors forward Jontay Porter for life after he was found to have violated the league’s gambling policies. The investigation is still ongoing, but the league said Porter “violated league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.”

This scandal began in late March, after a March 20 game against the Kings. Prior to the game, Porter “disclosed confidential information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor.” Another bettor then placed an $80,000 parlay bet that would have won $1.1 million if Porter hit the under on his player props. Porter then removed himself from the game after scarcely playing due to illness.
The bet was frozen and not paid out given the unusual activity, and sports betting operators brought it to the league’s attention.
From January to March, when with the Raptors’ G League team, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s account. Damningly, this included a parlay in which Porter bet against the Raptors.
No one affiliated with the NBA can wager on any NBA property, including the WNBA, G League, Basketball Africa League, NBA2K League or Summer League, and last week, commissioner Adam Silver called player gambling the “cardinal sin.”

⚽ Real Madrid, Bayern Munich into UEFA Champions League semifinals
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Somehow, some way, it’s Real Madrid’s day in the UEFA Champions League again, and they got revenge in the process. Los Blancos are into the semifinal for the 12th time in the last 14 seasons after a 4-4 (4-3 in penalties) triumph over Manchester City, which defeated Real Madrid in last year’s semifinal en route to the championship.

Tied 3-3 after the first leg, Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 12th minute, but Kevin de Bruyne equalized for the hosts in the 76th minute. After extra time couldn’t decide things, Manchester City took the early lead in penalty kicks when Ederson stopped Luka Modric in the first round. That was Madrid’s last miss from the spot, though, and Andriy Lunin stopped Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic. Anthony Rudiger scored in the fifth round to seal it.

Outshot 33-8 and out-possessed 67%-33%, Los Blancos found a way. It’s what they do in this tournament, over and over and over, and they’re a clear No. 1 in Chuck Booth’s ranking of the remaining teams.

Booth: “Madrid are doing the thing again where they were somehow underdogs, but will become the favorite when facing Bayern Munich in the next round. … As long as Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior are all healthy, Real Madrid are the most dangerous club in the competition.”
City, meanwhile, may need a new look to get back to the top, Jonathan Johnson writes.

In the day’s other match, Bayern Munich beat Arsenal, 1-0 (3-2 aggregate), on Joshua Kimmich’s 63rd-minute header. Seemingly on the brink of complete disaster weeks ago, manager Thomas Tuchel turned things around brilliantly, Chuck says. Arsenal, meanwhile, has grown used to disappointment on the biggest stages, but the Gunners’ progress and hope for the future is clear, James Benge writes.

🏈🎣 NFL stars hit the water for ‘The Catch’ fishing tournament
The crossover event of the spring is here: The Sport Fishing Championship’s “The Catch” presented by Verizon pairs world-class anglers with a bevy of NFL stars. The defending champions, Gerry McGraw and Jordan Sanford, will be joined by a pair of running backs who share a bond beyond their position, Dalvin Cook, one of the champions from last year’s event, and his younger brother James Cook.

Also competing this year are Alvin Kamara, Raheem Mostert, James Bradberry, Jalen Carter, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Jeffery Simmons, Rachaad White, Quinnen Williams, Quincy Williams, David Njoku and Trey Hendrickson.

Sport Fishing Championship
📺 What we’re watching Thursday
🏒 Kraken at Wild, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Oilers at Avalanche, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ Diamondbacks at Giants, 9:45 p.m. on FS1

If you thought Joel Embiid came into Wednesday’s Play-In game with a built-in excuse for the two months he missed to MCL surgery and rehab, think again. Through most of the first three quarters against the Heat, Embiid and the 76ers were an offensive disaster, and the Philly fans, as they will, were letting them know it.

You wondered if Tobias Harris was going to need security going home.

It was ugly, man. Ugly.

Give credit to Miami’s trademark zone defense that had the Sixers completely out of sorts, but Embiid, in particular, was pretty exposed for an inability to create any kind of offense, or even clear enough space to receive a pass in the first place, from anywhere off his preferred spots, which the Heat were taking away.

He was tired, clearly. He’d looked pretty damn good since returning from injury, averaging over 30 points in five games, but postseason basketball is a different level of intensity, and postseason basketball against the Miami Heat is its own kind of beast. Embiid’s conditioning, understandably, wasn’t ready for what the Heat were throwing at him.

But that excuse wasn’t going to fly as Embiid faded more and more into the background of increasingly stagnated possessions. His history of playoff shortcomings has created short patience for any more big-stage duds, and he was well on his way to one of his worst yet.

Through three quarters, Embiid had made a grand total of three shots. No high-post orchestration. No face-up jumpers. No two-man actions. No bully post-ups. On the rare occasion that he did have control of the ball, he was indecisive and slow to make any sort of move. It removed all tempo from the Philly half-court offense that Nick Nurse spent all season speeding up.

And then it all flipped.

Starting when Caleb Martin front-rimmed a second free throw, which rewarded the suddenly raucous crowd with free chicken, at the midway point of the third quarter, the Sixers turned into a different team. Nic Batum went nuclear with five of his six 3-pointers in the second half. The half-court assertion and tempo returned.

It all culminated with Embiid, who buried a couple of 3s and scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, either scoring or assisting on 10 straight points for the Sixers with under three minutes to play to send them into the playoffs to face the Knicks.

The sequence that won the Sixers the game:

1) Jaquez swipes down on Embiid, gives the Sixers free throws
2) Lowry poke-around steal, Batum saves the ball, Embiid 3 in transition
3) Embiid circus shot and-one off the O board
4) Embiid doubled, finds Oubre for another and-one pic.twitter.com/uk8o2d4INT

— Daniel Olinger (@dan_olinger) April 18, 2024
And just like that, Embiid was a hero again. And believe me, it was not headed that way. Again, given the fact that Embiid’s production has declined precipitously in the playoffs (let’s be fair, he has never stayed healthy) so far in his career, had that game had kept going the way it was, the big man was not going to wake up to much sports-talk sympathy in the morning. Not in Philadelphia.

But he bailed himself and the Sixers out and now he gets a fresh run at a new playoff chapter in what will surely be a fistfight of a first-round series with the Knicks. The good news for Embiid is he has a few days for recovery, and with this first postseason game in the can, hopefully his conditioning will be better come Game 1 on Saturday.

Also, the Knicks aren’t going to pose the same problems that Miami did for Embiid. The Knicks are a tough defensive team that plays hard, don’t get me wrong, but they are not a zone team and Embiid should have more opportunities to operate from his preferred spots as Philly hopefully rediscovers some offensive flow.

For Embiid’s sake, let’s at least hope that’s the case. Because even though the Sixers pulled this one out on Wednesday, his performance, or lack thereof, through three quarters laid some pretty skeptical seeds. The benefit of the doubt is not something Embiid is going to enjoy considering how dominant of a regular-season player he’s been. It’s time for that domination to translate to the playoffs. He bailed himself out of trouble at the last minute against Miami, but an even hotter brand of heat will be on him starting Saturday.

CHICAGO — Coby White drained a 31-foot 3-pointer with just under seven minutes left in the game to put the Chicago Bulls up by 21 points against the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday night. It gave him 37 points, tying his career high, and forced Hawks coach Quin Snyder to call a timeout. White’s 3-pointer sent the fans inside the United Center into a frenzy, and booming “Coby White” chants filled the 23,500-capacity arena as he put the finishing touches on the best performance of his professional career.

The seventh overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft ended the game with 42 points, and while it won’t count in the official record books as no statistics from play-in games do, it will serve as the pinnacle of what’s been a standout fifth season for the 23-year-old guard. Coming into the season, White was in a battle with Ayo Dosunmu and Jevon Carter for who would be the Bulls starting point guard as Chicago would endure another season without Lonzo Ball running the show. Coming out of training camp and preseason, White won the job, but it wasn’t until December that the trajectory of his season started to skyrocket.

But that ascension was no accident. In fact, it was the direct result of Bulls’ All-Star guard Zach LaVine going down with a foot injury in late November. LaVine tried to return in January but was ultimately ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing foot surgery, and his absence meant someone needed to step up for the Bulls to aid DeMar DeRozan on offense.

Not only did White step into that role, he proceeded to turn in supremely efficient performances on a nightly basis. Over the course of the season, he’s averaging career highs across the board, none more impressive than his shooting efficiency, where he’s shooting 44.7% from the field and 37.6% from deep. His 19.1 points, 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds are all career highs, and when he’s on the floor, the Bulls score 5.6 more points per 100 possessions, which ranks in the 89th percentile in the league. White’s shotmaking, passing, decision making and defense have all seen major improvements. And if the regular season served as the groundwork for his Most Improved Player candidacy, then Wednesday night’s play-in game against the Hawks should serve as the stamp of approval to etch his name on the trophy.

“I thought he played a really complete game, I know the number, 42 [points] is a huge number, and it’s phenomenal, but I thought he played a really complete game,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “I thought he defended, I thought he assisted, I thought he got downhill, made the game easy for the guys, I thought it was a great performance by him.”

The game just looked incredibly easy for White against the Hawks. He took complete advantage of Atlanta’s porous interior defense, which allows the sixth-most points in the paint (53.7 points per game). He got to the rim at will, and even when he was met with resistance, he had no problem adjusting. There was a string of possessions at the end of the third quarter where he made Atlanta look particularly foolish.

The first came in transition off a missed Hawks jumper. White pushed the tempo and recognized he had two weak defenders, in Trae Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic, in front of him. He just so effortlessly shirked off Young, used his momentum to spin off Bogdanovic and finished easily at the rim.

On the next Bulls possession, off a missed 3-pointer from Jevonte Green, White corralled the offensive board, and as Donovan said, he made the game easy for his teammates by feeding a cutting Green for this thunderous dunk:

Right after that, White was right back at it pushing the pace in transition, and once again made quick work of Young and Bogdanovic trying to challenge him.

The Bulls could honestly use this game against the Hawks as the tape to prove why White should win Most Improved Player. He did a little bit of everything to show not only that he is capable of stepping up in big moments but also that he has grown in several areas of his game.

“I’m just grateful to be where I’m at, that first playoff series I ever had in my career didn’t go how I wanted it to go, and then last year I played better in the play-in, and then this year — I just wanted to be aggressive and take what the defense gave me, and just try to lead. Coming into the game, I want to impact winning on both ends of the ball, and that’s what I focus on. And tonight, I was just aggressive and things were going my way.”

Sure, White is getting far more opportunity this season due to the injuries to the Bulls roster, so naturally, his stats would go up, but no one could’ve predicted that White would be such an efficient scorer, as he was a career 41.9% shooter from the floor going into this season. He’s upped his production while also improving his efficiency, a difficult task for young players to do, and his decision making as a facilitator has him just a hair behind DeRozan for leading the team in assists. His commitment and willingness to defend has also helped him improve on that end of the floor, and while he’s not exactly locking anyone up, he’s active just enough to cause problems for the opposing team.

White’s been having an unbelievable season, and while Wednesday night’s performance felt like a peak moment in his breakout year, the Bulls will need him to build upon that for their next game against the Miami Heat. It will be another win-or-go-home situation for Chicago, and unlike the Hawks, the Heat will put up a far better fight defensively. There’s a chance Jimmy Butler may not be healthy for that game, but either way, the Bulls will need White to deliver once again if they want to grab the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. And if Wednesday night was any indication, White is not afraid of a high-pressure moment.

The fifth and penultimate edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings was released Tuesday night with a bit of a shakeup coming to the top four. By virtue of a head-to-head win last Saturday in “The Game,” it is Michigan that has taken over the No. 2 spot from Ohio State with Washington moving up to No. 3 and Florida State returning to the top four.

As such, with Georgia maintaining its stranglehold on the No. 1 spot, the four remaining undefeated Power Five programs are currently slated to play in the CFP should they win their respective conference championship games this weekend.

The Buckeyes did not fall far as they now sit at No. 6; however, Ohio State does not have an opportunity to play itself into the playoff field, while the teams surrounding it — No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 Texas and No. 8 Alabama — all compete in league title games this weekend. No program outside of those top eight has a chance at the playoff.

Unlike 2021, when Cincinnati opened at No. 6 in the CFP Rankings and eventually became the first Group of Five team to reach the playoff, the highest-ranked Group of Five program Tuesday is Tulane at No. 22 with Liberty the only other such team ranked at No. 24. That will not create a scenario in which the Green Wave or Flames can advance to the playoff, but in an expanded 12-team field set to be introduced in 2024, Tulane would be in pole position to earn a bid as the highest-ranked potential Group of Five champion.

The most uneventful season in the CFP era — at least at the top of college football — has finally had a change among the top eight. It happened because two of last week’s top eight played each other. Michigan knocked off Ohio State, and the CFP Selection Committee dropped the Buckeyes to No. 6.

We have two more matchups of top eight teams in conference championship games this weekend, so something will have to give.

Do not get too worked up over where teams are right now. The CFP Rankings are not a poll. There are no conference champions yet, and the committee has a preference for conference champions in the playoff. That said, it is not intended to be strictly a tournament of champions. That is more of a tiebreaker, per se.

Another factor that the committee takes to heart is head-to-head results, especially involving one-loss teams. We have seen Texas ahead of Alabama all season in part because of the Longhorns’ win in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It’s also the best win any team has this season, and that will still be true on Sunday. The committee has been consistent all season with the relative placement of those teams. Alabama beating Georgia, should that happen, is unlikely to change that.

One more thing to keep in mind is that the committee does not care about the history of these programs or their conferences in this event. Their job is to evaluate these teams based on what they have done this season. That’s it.

Fans care about Georgia’s 29-game winning streak and back-to-back championships, but the committee does not. The committee does not have any desire, or lack thereof, to put a team in from the SEC just because the SEC is always represented.

The only sure thing about the CFP this season is that the Pac-12 champion will get in. I cannot come up with a scenario where the winner of that game misses out.

Oregon State is promoting defensive coordinator Trent Bray to head coach to replace Jonathan Smith, the program announced Tuesday. Bray, 41, has been with the Beavers since 2018, serving first as linebackers coach and as defensive coordinator for the past two and a half seasons.

“I’m excited to be able to announce Trent as our next head coach,” Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes said in a statement. “After interviewing several qualified candidates, we realized our top choice, Trent, has already been a mainstay at the Valley Football Center and Reser Stadium. He’s been a part of Beaver Nation for a long time and love for this place is real. The connection and trust he has built with our student athletes is unmatched. His energy and determination as head coach will be a catalyst for continued program success.”

Bray played linebacker for the Beavers from 2002-05. The Pullman, Washington native began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Arizona State in 2008. He previously worked on the Oregon State staff from 2012 to 2014, then made a stop at Nebraska from 2015-17 before landing back at his alma mater when Smith got the job in 2018. Smith left for Michigan State after leading the Beavers to an 8-4 regular season.

“I’d like to thank Scott Barnes and President Jayathi Murthy for this opportunity,” Bray said. “I’ve been a part of Oregon State for a long time, as a coach and a student-athlete, and know how special Beaver Nation is. I’m excited to lead an outstanding group of men our fans can be proud of.”

Under Bray’s guidance, Oregon State ranks No. 35 nationally in total defense and No. 14 in rushing defense following the 2023 regular season. During last season’s 10-3 campaign, the Beavers ranked No. 24 in total defense and No. 16 in scoring defense.

Uncertain times in Corvallis
Bray’s promotion comes at an uncertain time for the Oregon State athletic department as the Pac-12 splinters apart. Ten of the 12 current members are set to depart for either the ACC, Big 12, or Big Ten after this season. Amid realignment, Oregon State and Washington State are the two schools left behind in the Pac-12.

The Beavers and Cougars are in discussions with Mountain West schools about a scheduling arrangement for 2024. But the long-term financial future of both programs remains uncertain without a major television contract to support their athletic department budgets. Barring an unforeseen call from the Big 12 or another league, Oregon State has essentially been stripped of its power conference status for the time being.

Familiar face for an unprecedented scenario
Amid the uncertainty, Bray should be a calming presence. He was a first-team All Pac-12 performer at linebacker for the Beavers in 2005 and has served nine seasons on the program’s staff. He’s been instrumental in helping Oregon State post an 18-7 mark over the past two seasons and already has a relationship with the administrators who will be attempting to guide the athletic department through a tumultuous time.

Promoting from within should also help the Beavers with roster retention at a time when recruiting new talent will be harder than ever. Oregon State has established itself as one one of the most physical programs on the West Coast, and Bray’s defense has become a major part of that identity. In particular, Oregon State’s run defense has been elite. The Beavers held six opponents under 100 yards rushing this season.

Games like the 2023 SEC Championship between No. 1 Georgia and No. 8 Alabama (4 p.m. ET, CBS) will steal the headlines heading into the Championship Week college football schedule, but there are some thrilling conference championship games below the Power 5 level as well. No. 22 Tulane will meet SMU in the American Athletic Championship on Saturday afternoon, with the Green Wave entering the game as a one-loss team. Their lone setback came against SEC foe Ole Miss in early September, but they have responded with a 10-game winning streak. They are 4-point favorites against SMU in the latest Week 14 college football odds from SportsLine consensus.

Troy will face Appalachian State in the Sun Belt Championship in the same time slot on Saturday, with the Trojans listed as 6.5-point favorites in the Championship Week college football spreads. Which teams should you back with your 2023 Championship Week college football bets? Before locking in any Championship Week college football picks, be sure to see the college football betting guide from legendary Vegas handicapper Bruce Marshall.

For years Vegas-based Marshall was synonymous with The Gold Sheet, the famed sports betting newsletter. With a background in play-by-play work and sports information while in college, Marshall joined TGS in 1981 when hired by the legendary Mort Olshan and served as executive editor for many years. He now supplies his unique and colorful brand of football and basketball analysis to SportsLine members.

An in-demand guest on numerous sports talk radio and TV shows across the country, Bruce’s vast array of editorial work has been featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the New York Post and many other outlets. He has won various handicapping titles and also is working on several book projects.

Now, using his Tech Corner technique, Marshall has turned his attention to the latest college football odds for Week 14 and evaluated each matchup. Head here to see every pick.

Top college football predictions for Championship Week
One of the top college football picks Marshall is recommending for Week 14: He is backing No. 2 Michigan (-23) to cover against No. 16 Iowa in the 2023 Big Ten Championship Game. That matchup is at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday in Indianapolis.

Iowa only faced one ranked opponent this season, getting exposed in a 31-0 loss to then-No. 7 Penn State in September. Michigan beat the Nittany Lions by nine points in mid-November, and the Wolverines are coming off a win over then-No. 2 Ohio State last week. They have won nine games in blowout fashion this season, and Iowa’s struggling offense will have trouble keeping pace.

The Hawkeyes have not scored more than 22 points in a game since the end of September, finishing with just 15 points against Illinois two weeks ago and 13 points against Nebraska last week. They have leaned heavily on their defense to keep games close, going Under the total in seven straight games. Marshall expects another low-scoring game from the Hawkeyes on Saturday night, taking Michigan to cover in a contest that goes Under (35.5). See which other picks to make here.

How to make college football picks for Championship Week
Marshall has evaluated every other matchup and he’s backing a team on a 17-7 roll against the spread. Get betting analysis for each matchup at SportsLine.

We’ve reached the final QB Power Rankings of the 2023 college football regular season, and neither Caleb Williams nor Drake Maye are ranked in the top 10. I don’t know where I’d have set the odds on that being the case at the beginning of the season, but they wouldn’t be low. I doubt it will impact either’s NFL Draft stock (though I’m sure NFL talent evaluators use these rankings as a tie-breaker, seeing how they’re ultra-scientific).

Of course, per the rules of these rankings, neither is eligible to be ranked this week because they lost their most recent game, but it speaks to the level of quarterback play across the country that neither would be a lock to be included in the top 10 even if the rule didn’t exist. While I’m somewhat confident both would be in there, I don’t think either would be in the top half.

The QBs in the top five this week have been incredible all year. While the entire back half of the list are all newcomers, they’re not in those slots simply because players in last week’s ranking lost. They’re there because they played well, and that’s been the case most of the season.

I watch the NFL on Sundays and think about how the league has a serious QB problem. The rest of the week, I watch college and think QB play has never been higher across the country.

QB Power Rankings
1
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Jayden Daniels
LSU TIGERS QB
It says a lot that Daniels can throw for 235 yards, rush for 120, finish with four touchdowns in a game against Texas A&M … and it feels like he had an off week. I don’t know if he will win the Heisman Trophy, and he’s certainly at a disadvantage of not having the final word with LSU not playing this week. But, statistically, nobody comes close to what he’s done this year. (Last Week: 1)
2
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Bo Nix
OREGON DUCKS QB
Many transfer stories don’t have fairytale endings, but both Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix are shining examples of the ones that do. Nix’s entire reputation has been restored at Oregon. He finished with 398 total yards and three touchdowns in a win over Oregon State to clinch a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game, and if he leads the Ducks to a win against Washington on Friday, the Bo Nix Heisman meme may become reality. (2)
3
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Jalen Milroe
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE QB
Sure, you can say that Jalen Milroe running past the line of scrimmage or whiffing on a snap were crucial mistakes, and that he was bailed out by a prayer. Or you could say that Jalen Milroe understands his strengths and weaknesses and knows he is much better at throwing the deep ball than the short slant! Whichever path you choose, you can’t deny it was an incredible ending. (5)
4
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Carson Beck
GEORGIA BULLDOGS QB
Beck’s final numbers against Georgia Tech weren’t great, and he threw an interception, but I’m not worried about it. Georgia played like a team trying to keep things as simple as possible the week before facing Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. It showed in the results. (3)
5
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Michael Penix Jr.
WASHINGTON HUSKIES QB
I love Penix, but he hasn’t been quite himself for a while now. He was completing 74.7% of his passes with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions through the first five games of the season. In the last seven, he has a completion rate of 59% with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions. He wasn’t great in The Apple Cup, and nearly through a couple of picks during the game-winning drive, but the Huskies did win. In the end, that matters a lot. (4)
6
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Noah Fifita
ARIZONA WILDCATS QB
There’s nothing better than finishing the regular season by dancing on your rival’s grave, and that’s what Fifita and the Arizona Wildcats did this weekend. Fifita finished with 527 yards passing and five touchdowns as the Wildcats beat Arizona State 59-23. He will have Heisman buzz attached to his name to start 2024. (Not Ranked)
7
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Dillon Gabriel
OKLAHOMA SOONERS QB
Dillon has been in and out of the rankings all season long, and he’s back this week after finishing with 436 total yards and four touchdowns in a 69-45 win over TCU. It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds. Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby has left for Mississippi State as the Sooners have former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold waiting in the wings. It won’t shock me to see Gabriel suiting up for somebody else next year. (NR)
8
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Taulia Tagovailoa
MARYLAND TERRAPINS QB
The Maryland QB threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Rutgers, but honestly, I’m not ranking him because of the performance or because of his season. It’s that Tagovailoa became the Big Ten’s all-time passing leader in the process, surpassing former Purdue QB Curtis Painter’s mark of 11,163 yards. Taulia will have one more game to add to his total. (NR)
9
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Jordan McCloud
JAMES MADISON DUKES QB
The Football Gods are just when the NCAA is not. It’s excellent news that the Dukes will get to go bowling this season, even if it took a minor miracle to get them there instead of common sense. That means a larger audience will have the chance to check out Jordan McCloud, who has been fantastic all year. He finished the regular season with six touchdowns in a 56-14 win over Coastal Carolina. (NR)
10
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Levi Williams
UTAH STATE AGGIES QB
Here’s a quick recap of Levi Williams’ week. The third-string QB, Williams was thrown into duty for Utah State following an injury to Cooper Legas, and he led the Aggies to a 44-41 win over New Mexico to reach bowl eligibility. Williams finished the game with 198 yards passing, 153 rushing and five total touchdowns. And you know what he did after the game? He left the team to join the Navy SEALS. You think I’m not going to rank him after that? (NR)

Substantive coaching changes are part of the annual college football offseason cycle. With the early signing period becoming pivotal, athletic directors have pushed forward their timelines, not just when it comes to hiring coaches but firing them as well. Despite that, it took 11 weeks into the 2023 season for an FBS coach to be fired for their on-field performance, the latest that has happened in recent memory.

Michigan State acted quickly to find its successor to Mel Tucker by hiring Jonathan Smith away from Oregon State after Smith’s success at his alma mater. Smith is taking over a Spartans program that needs a massive overhaul after a disappointing 4-8 season. Texas A&M hired Duke’s Mike Elko to replace Jimbo Fisher on Monday. Elko has intimate knowledge of the Aggies program after spending four seasons as Fisher’s defensive coordinator from 2018-21. Mississippi State hired Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby on Sunday to replace Zach Arnett.

Again, this process is just getting started. Here’s a look at the coaching carousel as it continues to spin. Grades will eventually be added once coaches begin to fill these vacancies.

No. 8 Alabama can create chaos for the College Football Playoff committee if it can take down No. 1 Georgia in the SEC title game on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m. ET, CBS). The playoff picture has come into view heading into the Championship Week college football schedule, but several upsets this weekend could shake things up. Georgia is a 6-point favorite in the latest Championship Week college football odds from SportsLine consensus. The Bulldogs have won an SEC record 29 games, with their last loss coming against Alabama in the 2021 SEC Championship.

Another game with playoff implications features No. 4 Florida State (-2.5) vs. No. 14 Louisville in the ACC Championship on Saturday night. Is that a game that you should consider targeting with your Week 14 college football bets? Before locking in any Championship Week college football picks on those games or others, be sure to see the latest college football predictions from SportsLine’s proven model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times. Since its inception, it has generated a strong profit of well over $2,000 for $100 players on its top-rated college football picks against the spread. It finished the 2023 regular season a profitable 13-9 on top-rated spread picks. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.

Now, it has turned its attention to the latest college football odds for Championship Week and locked in picks for every FBS matchup. Head here to see every pick.

Top college football predictions for Championship Week
One of the college football picks the model is high on during Championship Week: No. 4 Florida State (-2.5) remains unbeaten with a convincing win over No. 14 Louisville in the ACC Championship on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET). The Seminoles are going to be without starting quarterback Jordan Travis (leg) for the second straight game, but they were able to pick up a critical road win at Florida without him last week. Backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker has avoided costly mistakes so far this season, passing for 510 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions.

The Seminoles will rely heavily on their rushing attack and defense to control Saturday night’s game, especially after running back Trey Benson rushed for 95 yards and three touchdowns against the Gators. He now has 868 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns this season, averaging a whopping 6.2 yards per carry. SportsLine’s model expects him to have another big game against Louisville, which is why Florida State is covering in nearly 60% of simulations.

Another prediction: No. 16 Iowa (+23) easily stays within the spread against No. 2 Michigan in the Big Ten title game on Saturday in an 8 p.m. ET kickoff. The Hawkeyes stayed within two touchdowns the last time these teams met, holding Michigan to 27 points last October. They are giving up just 12.2 points per game this season, allowing them to win seven of their last eight games.

Iowa thrives as an underdog due to its elite defense, covering the spread in four of its last five games in that role. Meanwhile, Michigan has only covered twice in its last four outings this season, with both failed covers coming as a heavy favorite. SportsLine’s model expects the Wolverines to struggle in that role again on Saturday night, as Iowa is covering in over 60% of simulations. See which other teams the model likes here.

How to make college football picks for Championship Week
The model has also made the call on who wins and covers in every other FBS matchup in Week 14, and it’s calling for several teams to win by double digits. You can only get every pick for every game at SportsLine.

Each Friday night this season, Ted Robinson pulled out a bottle of Jameson whiskey. The Pac-12 Network play-by-play veteran didn’t want his crew — wherever they may have been gathered for a game that week — to forget what was being left behind.

They did shots together on those Fridays because the next day would bring their occupational existences to an end as the conference moved one step closer to its expiration.

“This year,” Robinson told CBS Sports, “was going to be an Irish wake for us.”

Irish wakes are a centuries-old tradition of honoring the deceased with one last party in their honor. Robinson merely added a realignment twist. A once-glorious conference was dying and deserved a proper memorial.

No. 5 Oregon and No. 3 Washington meet Friday night in what will be the final Pac-12 Championship Game. Scattered to the four winds will be 108 years of tradition. The league started in 1915 with a consolidation of four West Coast schools: Cal, Washington, Oregon and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State).

It ends with all the sadness and mourning any wake would imply — along with that shot of whiskey.

“You go to an Irish wake and no one is crying and no one is maudlin,” Robinson explained. “Everybody is telling stories, trying their best to smile while remembering the departed. You try to remember good things about them. And yeah, you have a little drink with it, too.”

Some deaths are expected. In this case, it has been 18 months since news broke of USC and UCLA intending to join the Big Ten. For some, those 1 ½ years have only slightly numbed the initial pain. In fact, the end has come in a series of atomic-level shockwaves.

There was a year-long quest to land a new, lucrative television deal in efforts to salvage the conference. Those efforts failed. Colorado’s decision to leave for the Big 12 then caused a domino effect. When Oregon and Washington announced they, too, would be joining the Big Ten alongside USC and UCLA in 2024, that gave Arizona, Arizona State and Utah cause to join Colorado in the Big 12.

The inevitable Irish wake had begun.

The official end comes July 1, 2024, at the end of the academic year. More importantly, that date also marks the expiration of the league’s current TV contract. But there is some sort of unofficial finality this week with the league’s biggest revenue sport (football) going out with a combination of glory and tragedy.

Glory in that this was arguably the Pac-12’s best football season. Tragedy in that it didn’t also have to be the Pac-12’s final season.

“It just doesn’t seem natural does it?” said Tom Hansen, the league’s commissioner from 1983-2009.

This account isn’t meant to be a recounting of grievances. If nothing else, this is for the rank and file who will soon be looking for jobs. League presidents reportedly approved a retention plan in September to make sure events were properly staffed for the media partners at the Pac-12 Networks, ESPN and Fox.

We already know the Pac-12 could have been saved. It collapsed because of a cascading chain of failures over the years.

These are the Pac-12’s last days. This is meant to be a dignified wake. The Jameson is optional.

NCAA Football: Pac-12 Media Day
The Pac-12 failed to secure a conference-saving TV deal under the direction of commissioner George Kliavkoff. USATSI
Cal and Stanford will soon be playing in the ACC, a conference centered around Tobacco Road. The Big Ten Network will be doing a feature on “Big Ten Legend: Pete Carroll.” (Don’t laugh; shortly after scooping up Nebraska, Tom Osborne’s Big Eight/12 accomplishments were co-opted for similar Big Ten legend status.) There are no immediate plans to keep playing the rivalry game between Oregon and Oregon State.

While the Huskies and Ducks face off in the last Pac-12 Championship Game, irony is not lost. Those two could possibly be facing off next year in their first Big Ten Championship Game.

Yogi Roth, author/documentarian/former athlete and Pac-12 Networks analyst, is going down fighting for his league. A few years ago, then-commissioner Larry Scott asked him to help present the Pac-12’s case to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee during the season. George Kliavkoff kept Roth on the same duty when he took over to present alongside executive associate commissioner Merton Hanks.

“Probably the greatest honor of my career,” Roth said. “I can’t think of another analyst who does this.”

They’d get on the phone fighting the good fight with detailed numbers and in-person observations. The Pac-12 has gone seven years without a CFP berth. Regardless of what happens this week, that will go down forever as the longest drought of any Power Five league in the four-team era — but not without that good fight.

Roth grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania, played at Pittsburgh and got his West Coast awakening from teammate Brennan Carroll, Pete Carroll’s son. Roth soon found himself being invited to work USC camps in the offseason. Carroll offered Roth a job while he completed his master’s degree.

“I was with Lane and Sark,” Roth said, referring to then-offensive assistants Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian. “They said, ‘Hey dude, this is going to be the coolest place in the country to learn offense.’ I basically spent four years sleeping in the office.

“I never called a play, but to sit in those rooms and then spend two years next to Lane Kiffin in the press box and then two years on the sidelines with Sark. That allowed me to see the game, allowed me to earn a job as analyst.”

In 2011, Roth co-authored Carroll’s book “Win Forever.” This is his 20th year in the Pac-10/12. Roth worked the last game on the Pac-12 Networks this past weekend as Notre Dame battled Stanford. Next time those schools meet, the game will be an ACC tilt.

“My kids will not grow up fans of the Big Ten or the Big 12 or the ACC. They’ll grow up fans of USC, UCLA or Stanford,” Roth said. “When we look back on this … history will say that’s not a good thing for college athletics, especially here on the West Coast.”

What would the dearly departed legends think of the dearly departed Pac-12? Forever legends such as Bill Walsh (Stanford), John Wooden (UCLA) and Pat Tillman (Arizona State)?

“They’d say, ‘What’s wrong with you people?’ ” Robinson said.

What about Don James? Might as well call him the West Coast Nick Saban for all the branches that have sprouted from his coaching tree. James, who died 11 years ago at the age of 80, won six conference titles in 18 seasons with Washington. That included a share of the 1991 national championship. That was also the last Huskies team, before this year’s squad, to start 12-0.

James was among a handful of icons, along with Wooden, who may have been able to save the league by sheer force of nature.

“If Don James was alive, he could have talked them into not doing it,” said Jim Walden, Washington State’s coach from 1978-1986.

For weeks now on his Sirius XM radio show, CBS Sports college football analyst and former UCLA quarterback Rick Neuheisel has been playing disco queen Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” as the league’s walk-off music.

Neuheisel is as Pac-12 as they come. The Arizona native was headed to Princeton until former UCLA coach Terry Donahue challenged his football manhood.

“I was a walk-on,” Neuheisel recalled. “Terry Donahue called me … literally, I think I had to leave for Princeton training camp in a week or so. He said, ‘Look forward to having you here at UCLA.’ “

Neuheisel reminded the legendary coach he hadn’t heard from him in weeks and assumed there was no interest.

“I guess that’s probably a good move [to Princeton] if you don’t think you could play at this level,” Neuheisel recalled Donahue saying.

Properly confronted, the quarterback was in his car and showed up the next week for the beginning of UCLA camp. Neuheisel led the Bruins to the 1983 Pac-12 championship and a Rose Bowl win over Illinois.

“It’s the Holy Grail,” Neuheisel said of the Rose Bowl. “I argue … it should be the absolute national championship site every year. You wish you could follow the yellow brick road to Oz. It’s Oz. It’s the Emerald City. It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen on New Year’s Day. To pull up and see that Rose Bowl stadium and say, ‘I’m at the pinnacle of college football.’ “

Not so much anymore. The sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains on Jan. 1 won’t go away. However, the one-time traditional postseason home for the Pac-12 and Big Ten champions will now merely be in the rotation for games in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. There are no plans for the Rose Bowl to host the championship game.

Marc Dellins developed a special relationship with UCLA’s legendary coach, first as a student sports editor of the Daily Bruin, then as the school’s venerable sports information director lovingly nicknamed “The Minister of Propaganda.” On the off day between the NCAA Tournament semifinal win over Louisville and Wooden’s last game against Kentucky for the 1975 national championship, Wooden agreed to meet Dellins in his hotel room for an exclusive.

“For a half hour it was John Wooden and some piss-ant junior editor for the school paper sitting in his hotel room,” Dellins remembered. “Let’s just say I was sitting with a guy who won nine championships in 11 years, and I’m a junior in college and he’s taking time for me. I thought that was pretty special.”

Dellins remained close to Wooden until the legendary coach’s death in 2010. Earlier that year, Dellins felt compelled to call Wooden because of rumblings about his death.

“Coach, you don’t know how happy I am to hear your voice …,” Dellins said when Wooden answered. “There was a rumor you had passed away. He said, ‘Not yet, but soon.'”

Memories like that won’t go away, but they will exist in an alternate conference universe. The Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year award will go away along with the league that awarded it. Tillman gave his all for Arizona State and his life for the country.

Where do all those Pac-12 statistics and milestones go? In the internet age, some of them will be preserved, but certainly not all. There currently are no plans to do a final Pac-12 record book. What, then, becomes of nuggets like this? There are two players who have scored 61 points in a game in the conference’s basketball history. UCLA’s Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) is obvious, but what about the other? Arizona State’s Eddie House in 2000.

Some of the accomplishments have already been memorialized, burned into our collective memories. UCLA won those 10 basketball national championships under Wooden. In football, USC is tied with Miami for the fourth-longest winning streak in history (34 games, 2003-05).

The Pac-12 also has nurtured and grown women’s sports. It has been a developmental incubator for our Olympic teams. There were years when the medals won by Pac-12 athletes alone would be greater than some countries. Officials have worried that Olympic foundation may crumble with schools playing in other leagues.

The weather, the coaching, the excellence of Olympic training all defined the “Conference of Champions.” How many know that Mack Robinson finished second to Jesse Owens in the 200 meters at the epic 1936 Summer Olympics? The continuing irony: If Owens (Ohio State) and Robinson (who would enroll at Oregon) came along today, they’d be in the same conference.

Mack was the brother of MLB legend Jackie Robinson — a four-sport letter winner at UCLA, among his other legendary accomplishments.

“My first class at UCLA was with Jackie Joyner,” Neuheisel said. “English class. I didn’t know she was going to be Jackie Joyner. She said she was from St. Louis, and I told her I was from Arizona. I sat right next to her the whole year. Next thing I know she’s got more gold medals than anybody.”

The icon eventually known as Jackie Joyner-Kersee went on to win three Olympic golds and gain a reputation as perhaps the best female athlete in history.

What used to be the old Pacific Coast Conference was formed with the four schools mentioned above at the Imperial Hotel in Portland, Oregon, more than a century ago. This time next year, those four originals will be playing in the ACC, Big Ten and who knows where in the case of Oregon State?

In 1958, the PCC broke up amid disagreements over “athletic policy and academics.” Five of the schools created something called the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU). That was made up of Stanford, USC, UCLA, Washington and Cal.

“We knew what it could be. And we knew what it ended up being.”
UCLA coach Chip Kelly
It wasn’t until 1968 the league dropped the cumbersome AAWU label and expanded to become the Pac-8. Arizona and Arizona State were added in 1978 to become the Pac-10. Utah and Colorado helped finalize the Pac-12 in 2011.

Serendipity works. Former Cal chancellor Glenn Seaborg, a key figure in the formation of the new conference in 1958, had won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1951. He was born in … Michigan, a state that now profits from the Pac-12’s breakup.

The league’s development is, at least tangentially, attached to atomic research. Seaborg was among a team of scientists who invented plutonium.

In 1958, Seaborg reportedly spoke to Notre Dame president Fr. Ted Hesburgh about membership in a West Coast conference … at a United Nations conference in Geneva, Switzerland, regarding nuclear weapons! One newspaper reported there was talk back then of a nationwide conference that included the Irish, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Army, Navy and Air Force.

And you thought modern realignment was crazy?

The Pac-12 always had a certain dignity to it. Stanford, Cal, USC and UCLA and others at least tried to balance academics and athletics. Maybe that was its undoing — not caring enough about football.

Or maybe there was no saving it considering the direction in which college athletics is headed. Saturday’s MVP in the Big 12 Championship Game will be presented a title belt by a WWE superstar. Arizona will soon be playing in Orlando, Florida, against UCF. Colorado coach Deion Sanders might as well be the de facto president of the university.

Coach Prime wanted more access to talent in Texas and Florida, so migration back to the Big 12 made sense. Never mind that CU went to the Pac-12 a decade ago because of its deep roots in Southern California.

In recent years, the whacky Bill Walton became the league’s biggest cheerleader. The former UCLA basketball star is still known for his late-night ruminations on ESPN telecasts wearing tye-dyed Grateful Dead t-shirts.

“There is a lot to what Walton said,” Walden said. ‘This is the Conference of Champions, and you just ruined it.’ “

The knock on the league during this CFP drought is that it was almost too competitive. It wasn’t surprising to see everyone in the league with two losses before Nov. 1 in recent years. The Pac-12 was out of the national championship picture before Veteran’s Day. That led to a talent drain as recruits headed East because there wasn’t that playoff access.

This year has been different, however. In mid-September, eight teams were ranked in the AP Top 25. USC’s Caleb Williams went through half the season as a favorite to repeat as Heisman Trophy winner. Less than a week before the 2023 Heisman finalists are announced, Oregon’s Bo Nix may be running neck-and-neck with Washington’s Michael Penix, Jr. for the most coveted individual prize in the sport

This has been the best and most fascinating year. Pac-12 quarterbacks rule the Earth once again. There are two national coach of the year candidates: Washington’s Kalen DeBoer and Oregon’s Dan Lanning. That’s not including Arizona’s Jedd Fisch, who could very well be Pac-12 coach of the year.

“Melancholy’s not what I’m thinking about right now,” UCLA coach Chip Kelly, who also coached at Oregon, told reporters after his final Pac-12 game, a 33-7 loss to Cal on Saturday. “I’d like to wax eloquent about the demise of the Pac-12, but that’s not on my mind right now.

“We knew what it could be. And we knew what it ended up being.”