Notre Dame football fans treated sixth-year senior quarterback Sam Hartman like Fighting Irish royalty on senior day Saturday despite Hartman only spending one season in South Bend.

Notre Dame played Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ for Hartman, although the Wake Forest transfer has played in only 11 games for the Irish.

Hartman’s senior day came against his former team, and Demon Deacons coach Dave Clawson got an up-close look at what he thought was an over-the-top celebration.

‘Here’s a guy we recruited and we developed, and they are putting on a video of him, saying, ‘We will always love you,’ ‘ Clawson told reporters this week.

‘I’m like, you only dated him for a couple of months. It can’t be love. We are the ones who love him. We had five years with him. You rented him for a season. They bought him and rented him for a year, and now they love him. When that video played, it’s just like, ‘Holy cow, this is where college football is.’ ‘

Hartman has been solid in his lone season at Notre Dame (8-3), passing for 2,549 yards and 22 touchdowns to seven interceptions before the season finale against Stanford on Saturday. But his play with Wake Forest was what made him one of the most sought-after transfer-portal prospects in the country before the 2023 season, as he made 45 starts for the Demon Deacons and passed for 12,967 yards and 110 passing touchdowns with 858 rushing yards and another 17 scores in his career.

Hartman didn’t hold back against his former team, throwing for 277 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-7 win.

Clawson acknowledged in the days leading up to the game it was hard to see Hartman leave Wake Forest.

“I think the world of Sam,” Clawson said. “Quite honestly, it’s hard for me to watch Notre Dame football because that’s the Wake Forest quarterback playing for them. He spent five years here and did a lot for our program. We’re still close.”

They deserved the stage on Thursday. The final score doesn’t change that. 

For the first time in years, the country wanted to tune into what was happening on Thanksgiving at Ford Field. And it was going to be more than background noise while roasting turkey. 

Finally, the Detroit Lions weren’t going to be the opening act to the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Giants or the San Francisco 49ers or whatever big-market team the NFL likes trotting out on this tryptophan-fueled happy holiday.  

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There are two weeks to go in the regular season and over 100 scenarios for determining which two teams will play in the Big 12 championship game.

Get used to it. Looking ahead, the increased size of leagues in the Power Five and the removal of divisions will increase the need for tiebreakers to determine which teams play for the conference crown, especially given the odds of more than two teams tied atop the standings at the end of the regular season and the likelihood that not all of those teams will have played each other.

While the Big 12 could even have a four-way tie after Saturday, we already know which teams will face off to decide the ACC and SEC. Half of the pairings in the Big Ten and Pac-12 are decided. At stake at the top of every league is a spot in the College Football Playoff.

WEEKEND FORECAST: Experts picks for Ohio State-MIchigan and more

HIGHS AND LOWS: Winners and losers from the playoff rankings

Here’s how things look across the Power Five:

ACC

No. 9 Louisville vs. No. 4 Florida State (in Charlotte), Dec. 2 (8 p.m. ET, ABC).

Louisville clinched an appearance in the ACC championship game after last week’s win against Miami, officially making coach Jeff Brohm’s debut season one of the most memorable in program history. The Seminoles will try to reach the playoff without quarterback Jordan Travis, who will miss the rest of the season after being injured in last weekend’s win against North Alabama. While Louisville is a long shot to reach the playoff even as the one-loss ACC champions, Florida State would be difficult to omit from the top four as the unbeaten winner of a Power Five league.

Big 12

No. 7 Texas OR No. 13 Oklahoma OR No. 20 Kansas State OR No. 21 Oklahoma State (in Arlington, Texas), Dec. 2 (noon ET, ABC).

Yeah, the Big 12 is an absolute mess. Such a mess, actually, that the conference issued one series of tiebreakers back in August and then needed to rewrite the guidelines earlier this month. Now, in the event of a three-way tie for second place, ‘head-to-head wins takes precedence.’ That’s good news for the Cowboys, owners of wins against Kansas State and Oklahoma.

Texas can lock down a place in the conference championship as the top seed with a win on Saturday against Texas Tech. The Longhorns can also secure a spot with a loss if Oklahoma State loses to Brigham Young or if all three of Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas State win − the Sooners face TCU and the Wildcats host Iowa State.

With head-to-head tiebreakers in hand, Oklahoma State has four ways to reach the championship game. One, by beating BYU along with a Texas win. Two, with a win and losses by the Longhorns and Wildcats. Three, with a loss to BYU and wins by the Longhorns and Sooners. And four, with a loss to BYU and losses by OU and KSU.

Oklahoma can get in by beating TCU and with a loss by rival Oklahoma State, or by beating TCU along with losses by Texas and Kansas State. Like the Sooners, the Wildcats can only play for another conference crown with a win against Iowa State. With a win, they’d either need Oklahoma State or Oklahoma to lose or just Texas to lose.

Now, there’s a situation where there are three or even four teams tied at 7-2 in the final conference standings. In a statement attempting to clarify how things could unfold, the Big 12 admitted that ‘multiple scenarios exist in this circumstance contingent on which teams remain in the tiebreaker pool.’ This could get messy.

Big Ten

No. 2 Ohio State OR No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 19 Iowa (in Indianapolis), Dec. 2 (8 p.m. ET, Fox).

Iowa will play for the Big Ten championship for the second time in three years and the third time since 2015. The opponent will be either the Buckeyes or Wolverines depending on the score in Ann Arbor.

Pac-12

No. 4 Washington vs. No. 6 Oregon OR No. 16 Arizona (in Las Vegas), Dec. 1 (8 p.m. ET, ABC).

Washington is locked in as the top seed. Oregon and Arizona did not play this season, removing head-to-head result as the tiebreaker. But the Ducks would draw the rematch with the Huskies by beating Oregon State in the Civil War. Arizona finishes second with a win against Arizona State and an Oregon loss, since the second tiebreaker compares each team’s result against common opponents with the best conference record. That would be the Beavers, who the Wildcats beat earlier this season.

SEC

No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 8 Alabama (in Atlanta), Dec. 2 (4 p.m. ET, CBS).

The two dynasties will meet for the third time in two seasons and for the fourth time in the SEC championship game, with Alabama taking each of the previous three meetings. The Crimson Tide would make the playoff with a win, but whether Georgia would make the cut with a loss depends on what happens elsewhere.

DENVER – Harald Hasselbach, a defensive lineman for the Denver Broncos during the team’s back-to-back Super Bowl championships in the late 1990s, has died at age 56.

The Broncos announced Hasselbach’s death on Thursday, citing family. Hasselbach’s family said he died at home in the Denver area after a six-month fight with cancer.

Hasselback began his career with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He’s one of 10 players to win a Grey Cup and a Super Bowl.

Hasselbach never missed a game during his seven seasons with the Broncos between 1994 and 2000, getting 154 tackles, 17 1/2 sacks and four forced fumbles.

He started 29 regular-season games and three playoff games, including the Broncos’ win over the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl following the 1998 season.

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His seven seasons in the NFL followed a four-year career with the Stampeders, where he was a CFL All-Star.

A native of the Netherlands, Hasselbach played at the University of Washington after growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia.

He is survived by his wife, four children and four grandchildren.

Pro Football Hall of Famer and 13-year NFL veteran Warren Sapp will be joining the Colorado coaching staff for the 2024 season, Sanders said Wednesday to Mark Johnson on the ‘Buffaloes Primetime Radio Show.’ Colorado has not confirmed if Sapp will join the staff next season.

‘I’m excited about coach Sapp,’ Sanders said. ‘He’s a dear friend that I love to life and he, he’s going to be invaluable to what he brings to the table. The kids are going to love him. As far as their recruits as well, they’re going to love him.’

Warren Sapp and Colorado Buffaloes

Sapp has been one of several former NFL stars and celebrities to make their way to Boulder this season to see the Buffaloes under their first-year head coach. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and Oakland Raider has had the desire for months, telling ‘The Rich Eisen Show’ in September about wanting to join the coaching staff after his visit with the team.

‘For the first time in my life, I was loved on by some defensive linemen and they wanted to know, like, the keys to the vault,’ Sapp told Eisen. ‘I’ve never had anybody shake my pockets like that and ask for keys to the vault.

‘I had five, six young men around me that were basically ready to strip-search me like, ‘I know that there’s a key to this somewhere that you’re gonna give me for this,’ and they’re willing to work,’ Sapp added. ‘They infected me, they really infected me. And I told Prime before I left, ‘I’m coming back.”

Sapp said Sanders told him he would have a spot on the coaching staff for him next season, and even gave a preview of what could come to the Buffaloes 2024 team.

‘We gonna go out there and teach these kids these five steps to the quarterback because I know something about this game,’ he said. ‘When you have a quarterback like Shedeur (Sanders) and if my D-line are going to hunt the other quarterback, our chances of winning just went through the roof.’

Colorado Buffaloes’ 2023 defense

Sapp could prove to be a massive help for Colorado in 2024 as they prepare for their first season back in the Big 12. While the Buffaloes offense has improved from last season, the defensive unit has struggled. The defense has given up 35.9 points per game this season, sixth-worst in the FBS, and the 296.5 passing yards allowed per game is third-worst in FBS.

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While the defense ranks 99th with 168.1 rushing yards allowed per game, Colorado has been able to get to the quarterback decently this season, with the 2.4 sacks per game ranking 45th in the country.

Sanders didn’t say what Sapp would be coaching for the team. Charles Kelly is the defensive coordinator of the team, with Sal Sunseri coaching the defensive tackles and Nick Williams coaching the defensive ends.

At 4-7, Colorado is riding a five-game losing streak into its final Pac-12 game with a road contest against Utah.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera has a pleasant Thanksgiving memory against the Dallas Cowboys.

So much has changed since then.

A lopsided holiday victory at Dallas three years ago in Rivera’s first season with Washington came in the midst of a four-game winning streak, with the team on the way to its first playoff berth in five seasons.

Now, after the Commanders’ 45-10 loss Thursday in their 11th Thanksgiving Day game against Dallas, the first since that 25-point victory in 2020, there will only be more questions about Rivera’s future in Washington.

The biggest is, will he even make it to their next holiday game, a Christmas Eve matchup at the New York Jets?

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“I’ve told you before, I’m not worried about it,” Rivera said. “I’m going to just do my job and see how things go. That’s the only thing I can do.”

WINNERS, LOSERS: Sizing up the NFL’s Thanksgiving games

The Commanders (4-8) have lost eight of 10 since a promising start for the club’s new ownership group in September, when they won their first two games.

“This is the league, this is this business. It’s a brutal business, so whatever happens, happens,” tackle Charles Leno Jr. said.

“We’re just going to roll with the punches, whatever comes our way, and just try to come back next week,” receiver Terry McLaurin said. “Players don’t make those decisions. Our job is to go out there and practice hard and perform better than we did. So we didn’t hold up our end of the bargain on that.”

A late playoff run certainly seems unlikely for the Commanders. They would have to win their final five games just to avoid a seventh consecutive non-winning season – after going 8-8-1 last year, and making the playoffs at 7-9 in Rivera’s debut.

AFC East leader Miami visits next week and Washington then gets its bye week before playing at the Los Angeles Rams and Jets. The regular season wraps up at home against NFC West leader San Francisco and then against the Cowboys in the finale.

When quarterback Sam Howell scored on a 1-yard run with 1:51 left in the first half, the Commanders were within 14-10. But they trailed 20-10 at halftime after allowing Dallas to quickly go 75 yards in five plays for a touchdown.

That was still the score going into the fourth quarter before the Cowboys broke loose for 25 points.

“We were in the game and were fighting and scratching, and basically lost control of it in the latter part of the third quarter,” Rivera said.

The last Dallas points came on DaRon Bland’s single-season NFL record fifth interception return for a touchdown after he stepped in front of Howell’s pass intended for Jahan Dotson and ran free up the Cowboys sideline before having to cut back inside to avoid the pursuing Washington quarterback.

McLaurin and running back Brian Robinson Jr. were the last hope for a tackle just outside the 10-yard line, but Bland sidestepped both for the 63-yard score.

Four days earlier, Washington committed six turnovers in a 31-19 loss to the Giants, who were coming off a 49-17 loss at Dallas. New York (3-8) is the only team below the Commanders in the NFC East standings.

“At the end of the day in the NFL, you have to do your job. And as players, we’re not getting the job done, as coaches we’re not getting the job done,” veteran defensive tackle Johnathan Allen said. “So I don’t think anyone’s getting the job done.”

The best team in men’s college basketball.

That’s what the polls will show when they’re released, the Purdue Boilermakers sitting on top.

It took three gutsy top-10 victories in Honolulu, including Wednesday’s 78-75 win over No. 5 Marquette in the championship of the Maui Invitational.

Purdue fended off a Marquette charge after it led by as many as 15 early in the second half. The Golden Eagles fought back, though, getting within one point in the final minute.

The Boilermakers needed every bit of a stellar first half with Marquette star Oso Ighodaro sidelined with two fouls.

Purdue hit 7 of 9 first-half 3-pointers, including a 75-foot heave at the buzzer by Lance Jones, to lead 45-33 at halftime.

Marquette, though, riding All-American guard Tyler Kolek and relying on ball pressure that forced Purdue into 15 turnovers, including nine in the second half, responded.

Kolek finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists and got help from Kam Jones (17 points, five assists) and Ighodaro (16 points) in a near comeback effort.

But, Purdue had the X-factor in reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey.

It was over when…

…The clock hit zero.

Another night of horrific free throw shooting by Purdue kept Marquette in it. Mason Gillis missed the front end of a one-and-bonus with 7.6 seconds left and Edey did the same after an offensive rebounds.

Kam Jones’ last-second 3 was off the mark.

The play that gave Purdue enough cushion to force Marquette into needing a 3 came from Edey.

With the shot clock winding down, Braden Smith’s 3 from the wing hit off the front iron and caromed to the right, where Edey poked it back off the glass with his right hand, the final points with 19.1 seconds to go.

3 stars

Zach Edey, Purdue: The Maui Invitational MVP was outstanding despite five turnovers. The 7-foot-4 center finished with 28 points and 15 rebounds, seven of those offensive. Marquette kept Edey in check for nearly 16 minutes in the first half before he exploded for 11 straight Purdue points. For good measure, Edey had two blocks.

Braden Smith, Purdue: Marquette made it hellacious on Smith in the second half with its ball pressure. The sophomore maintained composure for the most part. His free throw woes are truly a mystery as he’s probably the most trusted from the charity stripe, but Smith’s shooting was otherwise solid. He scored 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting, with five rebounds and five assists. Smith threw a tough runner off the glass in traffic with 3:49 to go that stopped a Marquette run and kept Purdue ahead 74-67.

Lance Jones, Purdue: Jones’ defense in the first half was critical to a double-digit halftime lead. He also hit three 3s and they all seemed big, none bigger than the nearly full court launch at the end of the first half. Gillis found Jones on the wing with a beautiful cross-court pass with six minutes to go and Jones cashed the 3 to put Purdue ahead 10.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

It may be Thanksgiving week, but it’s no Holiday in the NFL.

Week 12 features its now standard tripleheader on Thanksgiving, the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys in their traditional hosting roles – the Green Bay Packers and Washington Commanders, respectively, making Turkey Day visits. Thursday night will up the ante with the best divisional matchup of the day, the first-place San Francisco 49ers visiting the Seattle Seahawks in an important NFC West showdown.

And then a new twist, but what literally feels like leftovers as the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins meet the following afternoon in the league’s inaugural Black Friday game. (Note: You only need an Amazon account, but not Prime membership, to stream this game, which kicks off at 3 p.m. ET. Jeff Bezos must have had access to the NFL ‘script’ and known nobody was paying extra to watch NYJ QB3 Tim Boyle make his first start of the season.)

But that’s not all, no sir. The NFL is handing out no bye weeks for Thanksgiving, all 32 teams in action. Sunday comes with a full 11-game slate highlighted by Browns-Broncos, Bills-Eagles and a sneaky-good matchup in the AFC South as the Jacksonville Jaguars head to Houston to play the Texans. The winner will own first place in the division.

Enjoy your families, eat well and enjoy this heaping helping of prognostications:

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(Odds provided by BetMGM. Access more BetMGM odds here.)

Green Bay Packers at Detroit LionsWashington Commanders at Dallas CowboysSan Francisco 49ers at Seattle SeahawksMiami Dolphins at New York JetsNew Orleans Saints at Atlanta FalconsPittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati BengalsJacksonville Jaguars at Houston TexansTampa Bay Buccaneers at Indianapolis ColtsNew England Patriots at New York GiantsCarolina Panthers at Tennessee TitansLos Angeles Rams at Arizona CardinalsCleveland Browns at Denver BroncosKansas City Chiefs at Las Vegas RaidersBuffalo Bills at Philadelphia EaglesBaltimore Ravens at Los Angeles ChargersChicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings

Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside.

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was hearing it from the San Antonio Spurs fans who used to cheer him as he stepped to the free-throw line Wednesday night.

While the booing is perhaps not entirely rational, it’s also not surprising. Leonard, after all, demanded a trade in 2018 and was shipped out of town amid an ongoing injury saga and with his free agency looming.

But one man in the arena was not a fan of the boos directed at the 2014 NBA Finals MVP and he decided to do something about it

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich grabbed the public address mic with Leonard at the line in the second quarter and implored the fans at the Frost Bank Center to stop the booing.

‘Excuse me for a second. Please stop all the booing and let these guys play. It’s got no class, it’s not who we are. Knock off the booing,’ Popovich said.

Popovich’s announcement didn’t appear to have the desired effect. His words were immediately greeted with both cheers and boos as he walked back to the Spurs’ bench. Then, Spurs fans booed even louder and continued to boo Leonard and other Clippers players throughout the game.

“Anybody that knows anything about sports knows you don’t poke the bear,” Popovich said after the game, which the Clippers won 109-102.

The Spurs acquired Leonard in a draft-night trade in 2011. He spent seven seasons with San Antonio and was awarded the 2014 NBA Finals MVP after the Spurs knocked off LeBron James and the Miami Heat in five games to win their fifth championship. Leonard went on to earn All-Star berths in 2016 and 2017, but his tenure with San Antonio came to a rocky end and he played just nine games in the 2017-18 season due to injury.

Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors in the summer of 2018 and promptly led the Raptors to their first NBA championship before departing for the Clippers in free agency in 2019. The Spurs, who got back DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round pick (they selected Keldon Johnson) have not won a playoff series since Leonard’s departure. They haven’t made the playoffs at all since 2019 and at 3-12 — even with top pick Victor Wembanyama — it seems unlikely they’ll return this season.

Still, it’s clear Popovich has affection for his former star … even if the fans in San Antonio don’t.

Popovich didn’t like that Leonard got booed all night when Leonard returned to San Antonio for the first time as an opponent in January 2019.

‘I felt badly about it,’ Popovich said after that Jan. 3, 2019 game. ‘Kawhi’s a high-character guy. We all make decisions in our lives about what we’re going to do with our futures and he has that same right as any of us. So, I felt badly, honestly.’

Based on his actions Wednesday night, it seems Popovich still feels that way.