ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears has been named the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year. The fourth-year player was selected Monday by the conference’s coaches and a media panel. Fears was a unanimous selection for the preseason all-conference team along with Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort. The All-Big Ten preseason team also includes David Mirkovic and Andrej Stojakovic of Illinois, Maryland’s Pharrell Payne, Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney of defending champion Michigan, John Mobley of Ohio State, UCLA’s Trent Perry, Rodney Rice of USC and Wisconsin’s Nolan Winter.
UNDATED (AP) — Missouri rose 11 spots to No. 14 in The Associated Press Top 25 following its rout of Florida and the Gators dropped eight to No. 16 and were replaced by LSU in the top 10. Texas will go into Saturday’s Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma as the No. 1 team for the fourth straight week. The rest of the top five stood pat with Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami and Ohio State. The Longhorns received 61 of the 70 first-place votes from the media voting panel. Georgia got six first-place votes and Miami got two.
UNDATED (AP) — How to judge Missouri’s 28-point win over Florida easily was the biggest question facing Associated Press Top 25 college football poll voters this past weekend. At kickoff Saturday, the Tigers were ranked No. 25 with one loss and the Gators were No. 8 and unbeaten. Missouri’s 45-17 victory merited the Tigers being ranked ahead of the Gators and they were. Missouri was No. 14 and Florida was No. 16 in the poll released Sunday. But 11 media members on the voting panel saw things differently and had Florida ahead of Missouri on their ballots. They said it's about more than a head to head result.
UNDATED (AP) — Texas Tech would be back on the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket after a one-week absence based on the new Associated Press Top 25 and Florida would drop off. The projected bracket underwent few changes with Florida the only top-10 team in the AP poll to lose. Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame and Miami remain the top four seeds and Ohio State, Alabama, Indiana and BYU would host first-round games. Florida’s drop partially facilitated BYU's two-spot move up in the AP poll and take the final home field spot for the first round.
UNDATED (AP) — Iowa State running back Aiden Flora is Associated Press national player of the week in college football for his performance against West Virginia. The former walk-on ran for three touchdowns and a career-high 212 yards and passed for two TDs in the 45-42 victory. His five touchdowns accounted for are most among Football Bowl Subdivision running backs this season and he’s the first FBS running back since at least 1996 with two rushing TDs, two passing TDs and 100 yards rushing in a game. Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith was runner-up after catching 11 balls for 206 yards against Iowa.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lena Bilic will miss the upcoming season for defending national champion UCLA because of an ACL tear. The school announced her injury on Sunday without providing further details. The sophomore guard/forward from Zagreb, Croatia, averaged 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds while appearing in 33 games and playing 12 minutes a game. Coach Cori Close says the team is devastated for Bilic but will support her throughout her recovery.
UNDATED (AP) — Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports will no longer make appearances on Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person told the AP on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been publicly announced. The Athletic was the first to report on Fox Sports’ decision. The Barstool Sports founder said on social media that it was Ohio State and coach Ryan Day who forced Fox Sports to take them off the show
