NCAAF

10:12 AM ET The first half of the college football season was defined by a lack of challengers at the top. Clemson and Alabama have more than looked the part. Georgia is close, Notre Dame is hovering around the conversation, and BYU should get a look. But the Big 12 has all but eliminated itself

7:00 AM ET “For the record, I tested positive first, OK? You make sure Nick Saban knows that.” Colby Carthel is laughing over the phone. So is his father, Don. A week ago, they weren’t laughing so hard. They weren’t laughing at all. But today, the Carthel family is all smiles. That’s what a win

7:00 AM ET After what easily was the most drama-filled decision-making process of any major conference in college football, the Big Ten will kick off its long-awaited season at 8 p.m. ET on Friday night when No. 14 Wisconsin hosts Illinois. No, really. On Aug. 5, the league announced its revamped schedule (the first time)

7:00 AM ET The calendar says it’s late October. The colors of leaves and the emergence of sweaters say the same. But here on Planet College Football, the concept of time is hard to grasp. The game’s internal clock needs a reboot. The coronavirus pandemic has taken our mileposts and shuffled them like a deck

7:00 AM ET A FEW DAYS after the most infamous mascot fight in college football history, Sean Stazen (aka Brutus Buckeye) sat down in his Columbus, Ohio, apartment and opened his laptop, hoping to get some homework done. The first thing that popped onto his screen, however, were news stories from China and Australia. The

10:05 PM ET Associated Press The attorney representing eight Black former Iowa football players who allege racial discrimination during their time with the Iowa Hawkeyes said Monday night the university’s rejection of their demands, which included a payment of $20 million, is not the end of the matter. Civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons of Tulsa,

12:35 AM ET Penn State running back Journey Brown could miss the 2020 season because of a medical condition discovered during the offseason, the team confirmed Monday night. Brown started 10 games for Penn State last season, rushing for a team-high 890 yards and 12 touchdowns on 129 carries. He ranked third in the Big

2:50 PM ET Nebraska junior quarterback Adrian Martinez will start this week’s opener against No. 5 Ohio State, coach Scott Frost said Monday. Martinez, who had a record-setting freshman season in 2018 for Nebraska but struggled at times in 2019, will take the first snaps after competing with redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey in the preseason.

7:00 AM ET The word “midseason” is almost useless this year in college football. Of the 127 teams endeavoring to play FBS football this fall, only 12 have played half of their intended schedule (13 if you include UMass having played its only scheduled game to this point), while another 50 have yet to get

2:21 PM ET Associated Press Clemson easily held off Alabama on Sunday to retain the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press college football poll, extending its longest run atop the poll to seven weeks. The Crimson Tide ran away from Georgia on Saturday night to make the case to be No. 1, but it

11:59 PM ET You come at the king, you best not miss. That’s a quote from “The Wire,” but there is a good chance the writers of that show stole it from Nick Saban. Saturday was supposed to feature a wounded Alabama. It was a week of turmoil amid Saban’s COVID-19 test that, apparently, was

11:50 PM ET With Georgia and Alabama meeting Saturday, our writers’ picks for the College Football Playoff were bound to get shuffled a bit, but following Alabama’s 41-24 victory, the lists aren’t that different from last week. How will Saturday’s top games affect the College Football Playoff chase? What are the current odds for the

5:56 PM ET Florida coach Dan Mullen announced Saturday he has tested positive for COVID-19, the latest hit to a football program that has been severely affected by the coronavirus spread. Mullen said on Twitter that his positive test has been confirmed and he is self-isolating from his family members, who are healthy. Sources told

12:29 PM ET Alabama coach Nick Saban, per SEC protocol, has been cleared to return to the sideline for Saturday night’s showdown against No. 3 Georgia following his third consecutive negative test for COVID-19, the school announced. Sources told ESPN that Saban was informed he had been cleared to return a little before 12:30 p.m.

8:00 AM ET The College Football Playoff race might swing in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Saturday night. Or the game could be a preview of what’s to come. Georgia–Alabama is the scheduled game with the second-highest impact on the playoff race, according to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, behind only Ohio State–Penn State on Halloween. It’s also

5:03 PM ET A subsequent test of Alabama coach Nick Saban on Thursday showed that he is negative for COVID-19, the university announced Friday afternoon. The news comes 48 hours after Saban’s initial positive test and opens up the possibility that Saban could return to coach Saturday night’s home game against No. 3 Georgia. The

9:03 PM ET Chris Low Close ESPN Senior Writer College football reporter Joined ESPN.com in 2007 Graduate of the University of Tennessee Mark Schlabach Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia Before his interview with Alabama football coach Nick Saban began

7:00 AM ET Because 2020 has to have an element of surreality at all times, the biggest game of the 2020 college football season to date will take place without the most successful active coach in the game. With Nick Saban testing positive for COVID-19, No. 2 Alabama’s battle with No. 3 Georgia on Saturday