HOUSTON – Troy Dannen had been on the job as Washington’s athletics director for a mere handful of days when the Huskies notched a 36-33 win over Oregon that launched them into national championship contention on Oct. 14. As the game ended and the tension of the moment transformed into a locker room celebration, Dannen observed that his coach, Kalen …

Heading into the 2023 season, no one was really expecting much from the Houston Texans. After finishing with the second-worst record in the NFL last year, the Texans were viewed a long shot to make the playoffs in 2023, but they defied those odds by clinching their first postseason berth in four years on Saturday night.  With their 23-19 win …

The most distinctive aspect of Monday night’s College Football Playoff national championship game is right there in front of you: Michigan and Washington. One team from the Midwest. Another from the West Coast. None from the SEC. Excluding Ohio State, which recently won in 2014 and 2002, Michigan is the first school from the Midwest footprint to play for the …

What D’Andre Swift proved with his Pro Bowl season originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia The day before Nick Sirianni announced the Eagles’ Pro Bowlers to the entire team, he called D’Andre Swift to tell him the good news. After joining the Eagles in a trade this offseason, Swift came home to Philly and has had his first 1,000-yard season …

Georgia Bulldogs starting quarterback Carson Beck is projected to be a Heisman contender in 2024.  LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman in 2023 after an incredible season. Who will win the prestigious award in 2024? The 2024 Heisman race will primarily feature quarterbacks. 12 of the last 14 Heisman winners have played quarterback.  It is a little too …

She sat there, all smiles and shell tops, without the benefit of a Fox flag or microphone to shield herself, painted into a mundane conference room that’d heard the stale chatter of production planning for hours. Ah, look at her, trying to hide it, offering me winks and cheekbones instead of succumbing to her own fragility. As much as she …

Players on the Washington defense pose at media day on Saturday ahead of the Huskies’ College Football Playoff championship game against Michigan on Monday. Washington will play in the final football game involving a Pac-12 team. (Godofredo A. Vasquez / Associated Press) As the Washington Huskies surveyed the scene at the College Football Playoff media day inside Houston’s downtown convention …

Free Press sports writers share their predictions for the College Football Playoff national championship game between Michigan football and Washington in Houston on Monday: Tony Garcia Washington enters play with the nation’s longest winning streak (21 games) and one of the nation’s most prolific offenses. That said, U-M’s offense is better compared to Washington’s defense than the other side of the ball. It’s …

The last time an SEC school didn’t make the College Football Playoff national championship game was the first time the CFP was held. Ohio State won that year. The Buckeyes beat Oregon. But then you probably don’t need a reminder about the SEC’s dominance. The conference reminds us plenty. So do the results. Since that first year — 2014 — …

HOUSTON — The spotlight is usually reserved for Jim Harbaugh. But on Saturday morning, roughly 57 hours before Michigan football faces Washington in the College Football Playoff championship game for the greatest prize of all, the Wolverines’ young brigade of assistants received a little shine as well. One by one, they took their turn on the dais inside Hall A …

No. 2 Washington is set to play in its first national championship game in program history against No. 1 Michigan on Monday night. The Huskies missed a bowl game and went 4-8 two years ago but have been unstoppable since hiring coach Kalen DeBoer. Washington is 25-2 under DeBoer’s watch, including a perfect 14-0 in 2023. Still, Vegas considers the …

ORLANDO — In each of Gus Malzahn’s three seasons as head coach, and boosted by the Power Five move into the Big 12 Conference, UCF has upped the ante on the recruiting trail. The Knights signed their most accomplished high school class in history last month, cracking the top-35 on all four major recruiting services’ team rankings (247Sports, On3 Sports, …

SOUTH BEND — Before riding north out of El Paso with a Sun Bowl victory in his saddle bag, Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman smiled at a questioner’s premise. Thirteen years earlier, in the only other Irish appearance at the Sun Bowl, a 2010 win over Miami launched Brian Kelly’s rebooted program to an eventual national title appearance in …

It all comes down to this as the Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies square off in the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship game Monday at 7:30 p.m. The top-seeded Wolverines took down the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide with a 27-20 overtime victory in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California. Later that night, the No. …

Clemson wide receiver signee T.J. Moore may not be the highest-rated pass-catcher in the 2024 recruiting cycle, but he has the potential to be the best. Playing in the All-American Bowl on Saturday, Moore had two touchdown grabs and 180 yards on 11 receptions, one of which was an impressive one-handed catch, as Team East came up short against Team …