CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Malachi Toney, the star receiver for top-ranked Miami and a Heisman Trophy candidate, has been scheduled for surgery to address a high ankle sprain and will be sidelined for multiple weeks, a person with knowledge of the matter said Wednesday night. The initial timeline for Toney’s recovery won’t be known until after the surgery, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the player nor the school revealed those details publicly. It is a huge blow to the Hurricanes (8-0, No. 1 College Football Playoff), who play a showdown game at No. 4 Notre Dame (7-1, No. 11 CFP) on Saturday — and now will do so without one of the nation’s most dynamic players.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Nojus Indrusaitis leads California to an 84-70 victory over Radford on Wednesday night. Indrusaitis scores a career-high 30 points, making six 3-pointers. Michael Cooper adds 16 points, and Jake Wilkins chips in with 13 for Cal, which improves to 2-0. Cal shoots 49% from the field and long range. A 12-2 surge, including 3s from Cooper and Indrusaitis, stretches Cal's lead to 71-58 with 7:16 remaining. Radford trails 45-37 at halftime and pulls within one in the second half but can't regain the lead. Frederik Erichsen scores 16 points for Radford, which falls to 0-2.
UNDATED (AP) — No. 1 Miami at No. 4 Notre Dame on Saturday will be the season’s third matchup of teams in the top five of The Associated Press Top 25 and it will be close if it’s like the first two. Texas-Ohio State and Ohio State-Indiana were decided by a total of five points. Seven of the last nine regular-season top-five matchups have been one-score games. The average margin in top-five regular-season games since 2000 is 11.9 points. That's according to Sportradar. Of 54 such games, 25 were decided by eight points or less.
UNDATED (AP) — The undefeated Miami Hurricanes received top billing in the season’s first College Football Playoff rankings, with Georgia, undefeated Utah and defending national champion Indiana filling out the top four spots in the initial projected playoff bracket. The biggest surprise from the selection committee was its choice to rank Notre Dame 11th — seven spots lower than its spot in the AP Top 25 and the last team in the bracket if the playoffs started today. The rest of the rankings: No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Texas and undefeated UCLA at No. 8. BYU was slotted in the ninth spot, followed by Ole Miss, the Irish and Ohio State.
UNDATED (AP) — The College Football Playoff rankings have raised questions about the committee's decision-making. The rankings have sent mixed messages about strength of schedule, injuries, and head-to-head victories. Miami's top spot was expected, but Georgia's second-place ranking raised eyebrows due to a recent loss. Notre Dame and UCLA were surprisingly low, possibly due to weak schedules. Head-to-head results seemed inconsistent, with Tennessee ranked lower than Alabama despite a recent win. Injuries also played a confusing role, particularly for Ohio State. With four weekends left, there's still time for significant changes in the rankings.
UNDATED (AP) — College football fans with an appetite for large portions of high-stakes games should be pleased with the Week 10 menu. The main dish is No. 1 Miami’s visit to No. 4 Notre Dame on Saturday night. Appetizers are No. 7 BYU at No. 3 Utah, No. 10 Texas at No. 19 Missouri, No. 9 Alabama at No. 15 LSU, No. 8 Kentucky at No. 16 Tennessee and No. 2 Georgia at No. 12 Mississippi. Now that the initial College Football Playoff rankings are out, all these games and others will have tangible playoff implications.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Imari Berry scored 16 points for seventh-ranked Louisville and the Cardinals took advantge of 30 Stetson turnovers in an 87-35 victory Wednesday night. Taijanna Roberts added 14 for the Cardinals (2-0), who had four score in double figures.Louisville never trailed, but Wednesday’s victory was much more of a grind than their season-opening 119-47 win over Bellarmine on Monday, especially in the first half. They converted the turnovers by the Hatters (1-1) into 40 points. The Hatters (1-1), who lost their top five scorers off last season’s 20-win squad that made the WNIT, shot just 23.6% (13-for-55) and were led by Sierra Driessen’s 10 points.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — There’s a subplot to No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 Notre Dame this weekend. It’s Malachi Toney vs. Leonard Moore. And that matchup might be just as noteworthy to college football fans as the Hurricanes and Fighting Irish squaring off with huge College Football Playoff implications. Toney is the star wide receiver and dazzling Heisman Trophy candidate for the top-ranked Hurricanes (8-0), the go-to guy for the nation’s best offense. Moore is the lockdown cornerback and quite possibly the top defensive player in the country for the Fighting Irish (7-1). The teams meet Saturday night at Notre Dame Stadium.
