The college football world was hit with sad news on Thursday.

ESPN ‘College GameDay’ analyst Kirk Herbstreit announced on X (formerly Twitter) that his dog, Ben, has died after a fight with cancer.

Thursday’s news came a few days after Herbstreit provided an update on Ben’s health, saying he had been undergoing treatment for cancer and had lost the use of his hind legs.

Ben had become a popular figure in college football as he has traveled throughout the country each week for ‘College GameDay’ and ABC broadcasts alongside Herbstreit and Chris Fowler. He had also traveled to different NFL cities in the last two years as Herbstreit called ‘Thursday Night Football’ for Amazon Prime with Al Michaels.

The news of Ben’s passing has brought in an abundance of heartfelt tributes and prayers from the college football world and the greater sports world.

College football reacts to passing of Ben The Dog, Kirk Herbstreit’s dog

Here’s a snippet of reactions and tributes to the news that Kirk Herbstreit’s dog has died:

The NFL season has officially reached its halfway point. But for some teams, will this week also serve as an inflection point?

Over the course of 17 games, any franchise is prone to go through a few swings. The setup of the schedule can be a significant factor in promoting any unevenness, as built-in advantages or disadvantages can quickly reveal themselves. But teams can hold onto the hope that their performance to date does not necessarily have to define their entire year, as it’s not uncommon to see a few groups each season rise up the standings in the final months.

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Let’s begin with the utterly ridiculous: there’s a scenario where seven SEC teams are tied atop the conference standings at the end of the regular season. 

Before you scoff at such nonsense, understand that the only true upset to reach this remarkable point of seven teams with 10-2 overall records, and 6-2 records in the conference, is Auburn beating Texas A&M on The Plains in two weeks. 

Other than that, all it takes is home teams holding serve, and Missouri winning out. 

“Every week, no matter who you play, this conference is brutal,’ said Georgia coach Kirby Smart. “And winning on the road is even more difficult.”

Welcome, everyone, to single-division chaos.

When the SEC embraced a new championship format this season with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, it did so knowing it was moving from a two-division process that was not only wildly popular, but was the DNA of boom growth over the last two decades. 

The SEC’s East and West Division races produced the most anticipated game of nearly every college football season. It became a defacto play-in game to both the BCS and the College Football Playoff. 

Now look: If Auburn beats Texas A&M, Ole Miss wins at home against Georgia, Georgia wins at home against Tennessee, Texas A&M wins at home against Texas, LSU or Alabama win out, and Missouri wins out, the SEC tiebreaker formula must find two teams from seven with identical records to play in the conference championship game.

A championship game that could knock the loser from playing in the CFP — while the others sit out the carnage of the final weekend.

I could explain the SEC tiebreaker, but that’s only going to make you more confused. Let’s just say the last tiebreak after all else fails is a random draw of the teams still remaining after the previous tiebreakers have been exhausted. 

A random draw. 

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If that doesn’t make you feel all warm and fuzzy about the way the biggest, baddest conference in college football determines its championship game participants, I don’t know what will. 

Now that we’ve made that clear, take a deep breath, everyone. Let’s get through the easiest, safest roads (there are others) — as of this week’s games — to the SEC championship game (conference games only). 

Texas A&M: the only team that controls its destiny. Win out (at Auburn, Texas), and the Aggies play in their first SEC championship game. 

Georgia: win out (at Ole Miss, Tennessee), and a Texas A&M loss.

Tennessee: win out (Mississippi State, at Georgia, at Vanderbilt), and an LSU loss.

Texas: win out (Florida, at Arkansas, Kentucky, at Texas A&M), and an LSU and Georgia loss. 

LSU: win out (Alabama, at Florida, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma), and Georgia loses, Texas beats Texas A&M, and Tennessee loses at Vanderbilt.

Alabama: win out (at LSU, at Oklahoma, Auburn), and losses from Georgia, LSU, Texas, and Texas A&M. 

Ole Miss: win out (Georgia, at Florida, Mississippi State), and all hell breaks loose. 

Missouri and Vanderbilt: win out, and an extinction level event happens.  

Now that we’ve attempted to knock out that nonsense, the heavy lifting begins. That’s where the CFP enters the picture, and the reality that the only guaranteed spot in the playoff goes to the SEC champion. 

Because if the aforementioned scenario plays out, Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Alabama (or LSU) and Ole Miss have CFP-worthy resumes. Odds are, five SEC teams aren’t making the CFP. 

In that scenario, it’s not a stretch to say that an Auburn win over Texas A&M, and an Aggies win over Texas in the regular season final could prevent both teams from reaching the SEC championship game and the CFP ― if crazy happens in the three other Power Four conferences. 

That, of course, will lead to fallout in format negotiations for the new CFP contract, which begins in 2026. Those format negotiations will heat up this offseason, after the first 12-team CFP (and the process to get there) plays out.  

The SEC and Big Ten already are talking about multiple automatic qualifiers for each conference beginning in 2026 — when the CFP likely moves to 14 and possibly 16 teams. All it takes is a blue blood program and mega television property (hello, Texas and/or Alabama), to be left out of the CFP because it played a more difficult SEC schedule. 

If you think seven teams tied top the SEC on the last week of the regular season is wild, wait and see how the league reacts to Texas or Alabama staying home for the playoff postseason — while the Big 12 or ACC gets a second team in the field because of a championship game upset. 

That, everyone, will be chaos.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic joined some pretty exclusive company Wednesday night as the Denver Nuggets handed the Oklahoma City Thunder their first loss of the season.

Jokic logged his fourth triple-double in eight games – scoring 23 points, pulling down 20 rebounds and handing out 16 assists. In the process he became only the second player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968 to have a 20/20/15 game, joining current teammate Russell Westbrook (who did it on April 2, 2019).

Jokic’s heroics – along with 29 points from Westbrook – helped the Nuggets come back from a 16-point deficit for a 124-122 home victory.

On the season, Jokic is averaging 28.8 points, 13.5 rebounds and 11.0 assists per game, while shooting 53.2% from the field and 51.4% from 3-point range. He currently leads the league in both rebounding and assists, something no player has done in a single season in NBA history.

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SAN ANTONIO — The Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the World Series just a week ago, wasted no time terrifying all of their peers Wednesday afternoon at baseball’s annual General Manager Meetings.

The Dodgers revealed they plan to move six-time Gold Glove winner Mookie Betts back to the infield, GM Brandon Gomes said, creating an opening, of course, in right field.

So, just what right fielders are currently available to fill Betts’ spot?

Well, there’s a certain right fielder on the free agent market going for $700 million or so that certainly fits the billing.

If the Dodgers call, you think Juan Soto is going to hang up on them just because they’re on the West Coast?

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A Soto-Dodgers marriage may be as unlikely as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump toasting one another, particularly since the Dodgers just proved they can win a World Series without Soto, but it’s a reminder just how deep and talented these Dodgers happen to be these days.

Who else could merely shrug that presumed MVP Shohei Ohtani just had surgery for a torn labrum in his left shoulder, making it unlikely he’ll be ready to pitch in time for their March 18 season-opener against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo — and unclear exactly when he’ll be fully recovered.

“The prognosis is really good,’’ Gomes said. “We’re going to take this time to make sure he’s obviously going to go through his rehab. But big picture, the good thing is that it’s his left non-throwing shoulder and back shoulder for swinging. So, it’s a good combination on that front.

“We’ll see how he gets through this phase, and take it step by step because it’s complicated with somebody who’s also hitting. We’re just going to make sure that we’re checking every box to make sure he’s in the right position health-wise. …

“But we expect him to be ready for spring training.’’

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Still, with or without Ohtani pitching, this is a team that plans to enter April with a six-man rotation consisting of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw or Bobby Miller, and, yes, perhaps even 23-year-old Japanese star Roki Sasaki, who just declined the Chiba Lotte Mariners’ offer, and is heavily favored to sign with the Dodgers if he’s posted. Yet, even with their depth, the Dodgers have interest in bringing back free agent starter Walker Buehler, Gomes said, and perhaps even others.

“We went into the season with 12 (starters) last year,’’ Gomes said, “and that wasn’t enough. We’ll be exploring the pitching market for sure.’’

And now with the news that Betts is returning to the infield, most likely to second base where he was projected to be last season, it leaves GMs wondering if the Dodgers will strongly pursue free agent shortstop Willy Adames, re-sign All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, pursue Soto, trade infielder Gavin Lux, or possibly go with an outfield of Tommy Edman, Andy Pages and either James Outman or Chris Taylor.

“The beauty of Mookie,’’ Gomes said, “is that he’s the most selfless superstar we’ve ever been around. And that permeates through the team.’’

Gomes made it clear that bringing back Hernandez is one of the Dodgers’ biggest priorities. He hit 33 homers and drove in 99 runs after signing a one-year, $23.5 million contract last winter with the Dodgers, who offered him a $21.05 million qualifying offer this week.

“Teo was a huge part of what we accomplished this year on the field,’’ Gomes said. “You could see very clearly a huge impact in the clubhouse with younger guys, and his energy. So, we’ll have conversations with Teo and his group ASAP.’’

So many options, and so many headaches for everyone else in the NL West hoping to stop the Dodgers’ runaway freight train. The Dodgers have reached the postseason 12 consecutive years, winning 11 division titles, four NL pennants and two World Series titles.

And, just think, next year could be the Dodgers’ best team yet during their dynasty.

“I mean, I say this every year, my expectation is that the Dodgers are going to be better,’’ Arizona Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen said, “because they have been almost every single year. I can’t do anything about that. It is what it is. I will still maintain my stance that playing against them, that they are the best team in the National League — either on paper or officially — that if we can compete with them, (it) puts us in a better situation long-term.’’

Little wonder why San Diego Padres GM A.J. Preller shut off his TV and didn’t watch a single postseason game in October after they had the Dodgers on the ropes, but lost to them in the NL Division Series. If the Padres had just gotten past them, they might still be trying to get the confetti out of their hair after winning their first World Series championship.

“We felt we had a team that could have won the World Series,’’ Preller said. “You always think about that possibility, but ultimately, it didn’t happen, and now we’ve got to go get better. At the end of the day, the NL West is really a strong division.

“We played in the NLCS in ’22. The D-backs played in the World Series in ’23. And the Dodgers won the World Series in ’24. The names and faces may change a little bit on these rosters, but it’s always a challenge in the NL West.’’

It’s no different in the AL East, where everyone always looks out for the New York Yankees — who haven’t had a losing season since 1992, and just won the AL pennant.

“I think you always have your eye on the big team,’’ said Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies’ president of baseball operations. “In the American League, it was always the Yankees year in and year out. I would think it’s the same way with the Dodgers.’’

And now, four months before opening day, the Dodgers clearly are the team to beat once again in 2025.

When you can win the World Series employing 40 different pitchers, and have 15 pitchers on the injured list, just imagine how powerful you can be when you get the band back together?

“From a talent perspective, with the number of injuries that we endured,’’ Gomes said, “just those guys coming back will be a huge boost to the talent level of the starting pitching. As we play this thing out, we’ll see how best to supplement the offense.

“But our expectation is that we’re going to be right there again, competing for a championship next year, and to be a better team than we were this year.’’

Follow Bob Nightengale on X: @BNightengale