11:37 AM ET INDIANAPOLIS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart saw enough of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young a month ago to know what the Bulldogs are up against Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T. “We talk about him as Houdini, because he can make people miss,” Smart said Sunday. “He
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8:00 AM ET INDIANAPOLIS — As Alabama and Georgia prepare to play each other again (8 p.m. ET Monday on ESPN/ESPN App), it is hard to forget what happened the last time they met in the national championship game. Because what happened was so unforgettable. Second-and-26 will always live in college football history, but especially
3:44 PM ET ESPN News Services FRISCO, Texas — Hunter Luepke ran for three touchdowns in the first half and North Dakota State won its ninth FCS national championship in 11 seasons with a 38-10 victory over Montana State on Saturday. The Bison (14-1) have never lost when making the trip from Fargo to Frisco
7:00 AM ET Aaron Murray had already committed to Georgia in 2008, but he’d never been to a game at Sanford Stadium before the Bulldogs’ regular-season showdown with Alabama that year. Murray was among the top recruits in the country, and his No. 1 priority that Saturday was convincing a few other big names to
7:30 AM ET Editor’s note: This story was originally published in October 2020. It has been updated. BLACKSHEAR, Ga. — When Stetson Bennett III moved his family from suburban Atlanta to southeast Georgia in the summer of 2004, he took his eldest son and namesake to see the small town’s high school football stadium while
9:42 PM ET Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS — Coach Nick Saban walked off Alabama’s team plane Friday night to a cold, harsh reality. When he returns to the airport for the final time this season, the Crimson Tide will either be celebrating another national championship or heading home disappointed. Saban’s top-ranked team received a warm welcome
12:35 PM ET INDIANAPOLIS — The College Football Playoff is considering Las Vegas and Miami as future host cities for the national championship, sources told ESPN on Friday. The CFP is currently finishing its eighth season of a 12-year contract, which runs through the 2025 season, and hasn’t yet finalized where the national championship game
7:11 AM ET ATHENS, Ga. — Sonny Smart remembers taking his youngest son, Kirby, to the city pool in Bainbridge, Georgia, in the summer of 1983. Kirby, only 7 years old, was trying out for the Bainbridge Barracudas swim team. There was just one requirement to make it: A child had to swim the length
6:34 PM ET Michigan safety Daxton Hill declared for the NFL draft on Thursday. Hill is ranked as the second-best safety prospect in the draft, according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., behind Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton. He is the younger brother of Baltimore Ravens running back Justice Hill and a former five-star recruit in
2:31 PM ET LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. is entering the NFL draft, he announced through The Players’ Tribune. Stingley appeared in only three games this season, recording eight tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss, before undergoing left foot surgery in October. ESPN’s Mel Kiper lists Stingley as the No. 5 overall prospect for the
7:00 AM ET ON OCT. 18, the Monday before the storied Alabama–Tennessee rivalry was renewed for the 104th time, former Vols quarterback Jeff Francis was making his weekly appearance on a Knoxville radio show when Eli Gold called in. The play-by-play voice of the Crimson Tide Sports Network, Gold helped preview the game, eventually turning
8:04 PM ET Despite Alabama’s recent mastery of Georgia, Alabama players downplayed Wednesday any role the Crimson Tide’s dominance in the series might play Monday night in their College Football Playoff national championship game matchup. A month ago, Alabama beat then No. 1-ranked Georgia convincingly, 41-24, in the SEC championship game, and the Crimson Tide
7:00 AM ET When Cincinnati got its shot to take on a heavyweight, facing Alabama in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, the Bearcats’ star corners, Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner and Coby Bryant, were eager to prove they could match up against the Tide’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Bryce Young, and wide receiver Jameson Williams, considered the top
7:00 AM ET SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Every day, Marcus Freeman takes a moment to reflect on the opportunity he has to be Notre Dame‘s head coach. Six weeks ago, Freeman’s life forever changed. He spent the afternoon of Nov. 29 recruiting in Michigan as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator. That night, news broke that Fighting
6:28 PM ET As the leaders of the College Football Playoff prepare for another in-person meeting on Saturday in Indianapolis to discuss expanding the current four-team system, the lopsided semifinal scores that resulted in two SEC teams playing for the national title — again — might not resonate as much with the commissioners as they
4:56 PM ET Oklahoma Sooners freshman wide receiver Mario Williams announced Tuesday that he is planning to enter the transfer portal. Williams was the No. 17-ranked recruit in the 2021 class, the No. 1 wide receiver and the second-highest-ranked commit for the Sooners. Despite having other receivers ahead of him on the roster, Williams was
7:00 AM ET NICK SABAN HAD mixed emotions as he left his home in south Florida on Jan. 3, 2007 and headed for the airport. Initially, he hadn’t been interested in leaving for Alabama, and had said so publicly. He was committed to being the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. He loved and respected
8:30 PM ET Quarterback Dillon Gabriel announced Monday he is transferring to Oklahoma, only 18 days after announcing his intent to transfer to UCLA. Gabriel entered the transfer portal on Nov. 27, leaving UCF after three years with the program. A little over two weeks after entering the transfer portal, Gabriel made his intentions to