As the college football world waits on Lane Kiffin’s decision, another coaching domino is reportedly falling on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

According to UConn athletic director David Benedict, Jim Mora is leaving the Huskies to take the open head coaching position at Colorado State. The Rams have yet to announce Mora’s hiring.

‘We are grateful for Coach Mora’s contributions to UConn over the past four seasons. He took on the challenge of rebuilding our football program and delivered results that exceeded expectations,’ Benedict said in a statement shared on X. ‘Under his leadership, the Huskies won 27 games and achieved bowl eligibility in three of his four seasons, including back-to-back nine-win seasons for the first time in program history.

‘Coach Mora brought energy and a winning culture back to UConn football and put our program back on the national stage.’

UConn offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis will serve as UConn’s interim coach, Benedict said.

Before Mora took the UConn job in 2022, the Huskies had not won nine games since 2007. Following a 9-16 mark in his first two seasons, Mora has led UConn to back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2024 and 2025.

In 2025, the Huskies went 9-3, which included wins over ACC foes in Boston College and Duke. All three of UConn’s defeats this season came in overtime.

Colorado State ― which fired Jay Norvell on Oct. 19 ― is joining the Pac-12 next season and looking for stability after cycling through three different head coaches since 2019 in Mike Bobo, Steve Addazio and Norvell.

Mora, 64, has a career 73-53 record as a head coach across 10 seasons. He served as the UCLA head coach from 2012 to 2017, posting a 46-30 record across six seasons, including eight wins or more in four of those years.

His career has also included stints as an NFL head coach with the Atlanta Falcons (2004-06) and the Seattle Seahawks (2009), as well as various assistant coaching positions in college and the NFL.

Mora is the third hire of the cycle. Oklahoma State announced the hiring of North Texas football coach Eric Morris on Tuesday, Nov. 25, the second coaching hiring of the 2025 coaching carousel. James Franklin was introduced as the Virginia Tech head coach on Nov. 19.

Jim Mora Jr. coaching record

2012: UCLA, 9-5 (Holiday Bowl)
2013: UCLA, 10-3 (Sun Bowl)
2014: UCLA, 10-3 (Alamo Bowl)
2015: UCLA, 8-5 (Foster Farms Bowl)
2016: UCLA, 4-8
2017: UCLA, 5-6
2022: UConn, 6-7 (Myrtle Beach Bowl)
2023: UConn, 3-9
2024: UConn, 9-4 (Fenway Bowl)
2025: UConn, 9-3
Overall record: 73-53 (.579)

Jim Mora Jr. age

Jim Mora Jr. turned 64 on Nov. 19.

Jim Mora Jr. contract

UConn was paying Jim Mora Jr. $2,169,000 this past season.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic has been on an absolute tear in the early part of the season as the Pacific Division leaders make their way through the NBA Cup tournament, but the five-time All-NBA performer had a pointed gripe about the home court.

The Lakers routed the Los Angeles Clippers 135-118 on Tuesday, and Doncic had a game-high 43 points with 13 assists and nine rebounds, but getting those buckets caused a problem.

‘Adjust the courts, please. It’s just slippery. It’s dangerous,’ Doncic said after the game. ‘I slipped. I slipped a lot of times and you could see a lot of players slipped. And that’s dangerous, man.’

Doncic said the problem with the floor was noticed during pregame warmups, and workers attempted to remove excess moisture from the court, to no avail.

The Lakers share Crypto.com Arena with the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, who played a home game on Monday before the arena was converted back to an NBA court for the game against the Clippers.

‘Sometimes courts just don’t dry well when there’s condensation on it,’ Lakers coach JJ Redick said.

Los Angeles, which clinched a spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals and earned each player at least $53,000, will be back at home on Friday against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees have proposed new notification-to-transfer windows.

The new windows would open 15 days after the conclusion of the 2025 men’s and women’s Final Four. The new recommendation needs to be approved by the Division I Cabinet in January and could go into effect as early as April 2026.

Under the new proposal, the notification-of-transfer for the DI women’s basketball would open April 6-20. Meanwhile, the men’s transfer window would be April 7-21. Currently, the window opens at the conclusion of the second round of both NCAA Tournaments and is open for 30 days.

The new notification-to-transfer window is recommended by both committees to open after the championships have concluded. This would allow teams that play deeper into the tournament the same chance in the portal as those eliminated.

Additionally, both committees proposed a change to when student-athletes can request to enter the portal when a coaching change occurs. The new proposal will allow for five days for the new coaching staff and current players to meet once a school announces a new head coach hire.

After that period, student-athletes would have a 15-day window to notify their school of intent to enter the portal.

However, if a new head coach is not hired within the 30 days of the previous coach’ departure, the student-athletes would be allowed to enter the portal on the 31st day. But if a coaching change is made after Jan. 1, the student-athletes will have to wait until the April window for notification-of-transfer.

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore faces immense pressure in the upcoming rivalry game against Ohio State.
Unlike previous years, Moore’s performance is now under scrutiny with Big Ten and College Football Playoff implications.
The game marks a significant moment for freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, who joined Michigan with a high-profile NIL deal.

The first two were cake, the pressure of the moment easing the circumstances. 

But there’s no more playing with house money for Michigan coach Sherrone Moore. The Game has arrived, and so have the expectations. 

The Big Ten championship. The College Football Playoff. And last, but most certainly not least, it’s Ohio State. 

“It ain’t me, it’s the kids, man,” Moore said Monday when asked about how he meets the moment in one of the greatest rivalries in sports. “Like, I’m not out there playing. It’s those kids that step on the field.”

But it’s Moore, more than any other, who has moved to center stage in this bitter rivalry — even after Michigan’s four consecutive wins. Ohio State coach Ryan Day’s unique position after losing The Game last season but winning the national title, makes this reality more ever-present. 

Moore was the winning interim coach in 2023, steering the best team in college football while coach Jim Harbaugh was serving a three-game suspension.

A year later, in his first game as the coach replacing Harbaugh and after the loss of significant talent from Michigan’s national championship season, Moore was again playing without the pressure to win.

Now everything is on the line, and for the first time in this rivalry, Moore is in the crosshairs of it all with his team, his multi-million dollar quarterback and CFP expectations. 

The weight of The Game — the unique pressure Moore avoided by circumstance for two seasons — now rests squarely on him.

“You’re playing for something big, and that’s what you want,” Moore said. “All those things are at hand, and I think our kids deserve to know that they’re in position.”

From a ready-made championship team, to a roster that still wasn’t his, to his first true shot at The Game with the quarterback he recruited and developed. The first big moment for freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, who hasn’t been overwhelmed by any moment this fall — but hasn’t yet played in this rivalry. 

He played high school football in Belleville, Mich., so he knows the rivalry. Underwood originally committed to LSU, but then got pulled into a bizarre negotiation between the NIL’s of LSU and Michigan before finally landing in Ann Arbor. 

If you don’t think there’s pressure on Moore, think about what it took to get Underwood, the No.1 quarterback from the 2025 high school recruiting class, to get to Michigan. 

It began with Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy declaring he’d contribute $1 million to an NIL deal for Underwood, especially if it meant the Wolverines having a functional pass game (they didn’t in 2024). 

Then Jolin Zhu got involved. Who is Zhu, you ask? The 33-year-old fifth wife of eccentric Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — who just so happens to be 81 and one of the richest men on the planet.

Zhu is a Michigan alum, and she, like Portnoy, wanted a quarterback who could move Michigan past its five-loss season of 2024. So she got her nearly half a century older husband to pitch in on the deal, and the next thing you know, Underwood flips to Michigan for a reported $12 million deal over four years.

Zhu and Ellison (and Portnoy) didn’t chip in for some random quarterback. They paid for the one player Moore believed could lift Michigan back to the elite of the game.

So now Michigan has The Game in Ann Arbor, and the Wolverines have won five straight since an ugly loss at USC threw the season into win-or-walk mode. No room for error since mid-October. 

There’s only one way for Moore to make good on this quarterback investment, and only one way for Moore to make good on Michigan’s investment in him. Michigan hired Moore to follow Harbaugh despite him twice running afoul of NCAA law as an assistant under Harbaugh.

Moore’s first shot at The Game was as caretaker, his second with a five-loss team in his first season. His third is as big as it gets. 

The Big Ten, the CFP, the multi-million dollar quarterback. 

“You can’t let outside variation, outside things, outside noise control the preparation and the progress of what we’re doing,” Moore said.

The Game has arrived, and so has the pressure. 

The Iron Bowl. The Game. The Red River Rivalry. Those college matchups between hated rivals are well-known and USA TODAY’s college football ranked the 10 best rivalries.

But hatred doesn’t stop at the FBS level. There are plenty of small-school rivalries with big-time disdain for each other.

As we enter Rivalry Week, here are some of the best small-school college football rivalries at the FCS level, Division II and Division III.

The Rivalry: Lehigh vs. Lafayette

When it’s just called ‘The Rivalry,’ then you know.

The most-played rivalry in college football (161 meetings), they’ve been playing since 1884. That’s less than 20 years after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. And the 150th meeting of the schools was played in Yankee Stadium.

Monon Bell: Wabash vs DePauw

“As alumni, it still holds a considerable position just barely shy of God, family and friends,” said Allen Murphy, a 1976 Wabash graduate.

The first football game between DePauw and Wabash was played on in 1890, and it’s the oldest continuous small college rivalry west of the Alleghenies.

Since 1890, the two schools have faced each other 131 times with Wabash holding a 63-59-9 lead. The 300-pound Monon Bell trophy, was a gift of the Monon Railroad taken from one of the railroad’s locomotives. DePauw’s campus, in Greencastle, is 28 miles south of Wabash College, in Crawfordsville, on U.S. 231.

Brawl of the Wild: Montana vs Montana State

The fourth-oldest rivalry in the FCS, these in-state rivals have been playing since 1897. This November’s Brawl of the Wild was the 124th all-time meeting.

The schools are on opposite sides of the Continental Divide and play for The Great Divide Trophy, which weights 306 pounds. Since 1993, it’s been the last game of the regular season, usually deciding the Big Sky Conference title. The schools have combined for 40 conference titles and five national titles.

In 2022, ESPN brought ‘College GameDay’ to a freezing Bozeman.

The Biggest Little Game in America: Williams vs. Amherst

Amherst and Williams first met in 1884 and have met 139 times overall, the most games played between Division III rivals and the fourth-most of any NCAA level.

ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ came to Williamstown in 2007, marking the first time the program chose a D-3 school as host.

Extra trivia: The first college baseball game was played between the two Massachusetts schools in 1859.

Anchor-Bone Classic: Ferris State vs Grand Valley State

Only 66 miles separate these Division II powers, who have played since 1972.

Ferris State is the reigning Division II national champions, and has won the national title in three of the past four seasons. 

Grand Valley State is among D2’s all-time winningest program and has four national titles (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006).

‘I mean this is big-time college football being played right here in West Michigan with two programs that are regularly in the top 10,’ Ferris State coach Tony Annese said after his team’s 38-31 win over GVSU on Oct. 25. ‘What a blessing for West Michigan.’

Tuskegee vs. Morehouse

Nicknamed ‘The Granddaddy of All Classics’, it is the oldest rivalry among HBCUs and longest running Division II game in the nation. Morehouse and Tuskegee have been playing since 1902 and at a neutral site since 1936. Most of the rivalry was played in Columbus, Georgia (1936-2019, 2024) but was moved to Montgomery, Alabama this season.

Morehouse won this year’s game 27-20, but Tuskegee leads the all-time series, 73-31-8. 

Some more notable small-school rivalries

Black Hills Brawl: Black Hills State vs. South Dakota Mines (140 meetings)
The Capital Cup: William & Mary vs. Richmond (136 meetings)
Turnpike Tussle: Emporia State vs. Washburn (120 meetings)
Battle for the Brice Cowell-Musket: Maine vs. New Hampshire (115 meetings)
Bayou Classic: Southern vs. Grambling State (76 meetings)
Battle for the Golden Horseshoe: Cal Poly vs. UC Davis (51 meetings)
Battle of the Domes: Idaho vs. Idaho State (47 meetings)

IndyStar reporter Dana Hunsinger Benbow contributed to this story.

Slugging first baseman Pete Alonso is a free agent for the second year in a row, hoping to sign the long-term deal that eluded him last winter, ultimately returning to the New York Mets.

Since debuting in 2019, Alonso’s 264 homers trail only Aaron Judge (285) and Kyle Schwarber (268) over the last seven seasons. Now a 30-year-old veteran, Alonso has been an All-Star five times and holds the Mets franchise record with 264 home runs.

Will the Mets commit to their homegrown ‘Polar Bear’ long-term or will he have a new home for 2026?

Here’s a look at some of the top landing spots for Alonso this winter:

New York Mets

The Mets were hesitant to commit a multi-year deal to Alonso last winter coming off the worst season of his career, but things should be different this time around. Now the team’s all-time home run king, Alonso is beloved in New York and there’s not really any baseball reasons for the Mets not to bring back one of the greatest players in franchise history.

David Stearns, the Mets’ president of baseball operations, may not be a fan of committing big money to a first baseman, but Alonso is an institution and his departure would not be well received among fans or teammates.

‘Pete is a great Met. He had a fantastic year,’ Stearns said at the end of the 2025 season. ‘I said this last year, and it worked out – I’d love to have Pete back, and we’ll see where the offseason goes.’

Boston Red Sox

Alex Bregman should be the priority, but Alonso is really a perfect fit in Boston. Red Sox first basemen managed just 16 home runs in 2025 using a slew of guys after Triston Casas went down for the season.

Alonso would guarantee Boston the annual 30 homers and 100 RBIs it traded away in Rafael Devers and be a fabulous veteran mentor for the Class of 2025 (Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell).

Casas is still only 25 years old and under team control through 2028, but the Red Sox have the rare opportunity to sign one of the premier power hitters in baseball in Alonso. Alex Cora could use him as the primary designated hitter, further extending what could be an elite lineup – especially if Bregman comes back, too.

New York Yankees

Ben Rice very much earned himself the Yankees’ first base job for 2026 but Alonso could be a high-level backup plan for the Bombers if things don’t break their way with Cody Bellinger and/or Kyle Tucker.

Outfield is a bigger need in the Bronx right now and GM Brian Cashman has expressed his comfort with Rice at first but generational sluggers like Alonso don’t come along very often. Surely Aaron Judge would appreciate the support.

Baltimore Orioles

Until owner David Rubenstein actually breaks open the piggybank for the first time, this is all hypothetical for the Orioles.

Baltimore’s first basemen ranked last in the majors with 14 home runs and Alonso is the type of addition that could revitalize the Orioles project that stalled out in 2025 and faces existential questions about the team’s core despite postseason appearances in 2023 and 2024.

But Camden Yards is now one of the worst parks in baseball for right-handed hitters and Alonso could hesitate to put himself in a stadium that may drastically lower his productivity.

Cincinnati Reds

If you can’t beat them, join them? The Reds edged the Mets for the NL’s final wild card spot on the last day of the season and are expected to be in the market for a big bat this winter.

Great American Ball Park is a home run factory and Alonso would thrive statistically along the Ohio River, but are the Reds prepared to swim in waters this deep? The largest free agent contracts the franchise has ever issued were $64 million deals to Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos. Alonso will probably command twice that much this offseason.