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Sherrone Moore, the former Michigan football coach fired on Dec. 10, was arrested hours after he was relieved of his duties.

Moore was taken into custody and booked into Washtenaw County Jail in Michigan at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 10, according to online courts records. As of 10:30 p.m. that night, he remains in custody, and no charges are listed for Moore.

LIVE UPDATES: Latest news on Sherrone Moore’s firing, arrest

Police in Pittsfield Township, located just south of Ann Arbor where the University of Michigan is located, said in a statement that it responded to a location at 4:10 p.m. local time ‘for the purposes of investigating an alleged assault.’ The incident was approximately 30 minutes before the announcement Moore was fired. The Pittsfield Police Department said a suspect in the incident was taken into custody, but did not name the suspect.

‘This incident does not appear to be random in nature, and there appears to be no ongoing threat to the community,’ the statement read. ‘The suspect was lodged at the Washtenaw County Jail pending review of charges by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor. At this time, the investigation is ongoing.’

The news of the arrest comes after ESPN reported Moore was detained and was turned over to the Pittsfield Township police.

Moore was fired for cause. In a statement, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said a university investigation found ‘credible evidence’ that ‘Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.’

Moore had just wrapped up his second season in charge of the Wolverines, taking over after Jim Harbaugh left to coach the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers following the national championship winning season in 2023. Moore was an assistant on Harbaugh’s staff and was part of the program’s sign-stealing scandal that resulted in Moore getting suspended for three games – two in 2025 and another to be served in 2026.

Officials added authorities are prohibited from releasing additional details, and further details regarding the incident ‘will be released as soon as permissible.’

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Head coach Mike Vrabel, in his first year as head coach of the New England Patriots, has led them on a 10-game winning streak after a 1-2 start.
The Patriots can win their first AFC East title since 2019 with a victory over the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 14.
Patriots players credit Vrabel’s experience as a former player and his consistent messaging for the team’s rapid turnaround.
Vrabel’s coaching style, which includes listening to player feedback, has been well-received in the locker room.

FOXBOROUGH, MA – No naps. 

Not literally, of course. If a member of the New England Patriots required one, and it didn’t hurt anybody else, head coach Mike Vrabel would likely allow some short-term shuteye. 

The metaphorical nap is what the three-time Super Bowl winner as a player here, and now first-year head coach of the Patriots, hopes to avoid. 

“In this league, if you take a nap, you’re going to get beat, and that’s just how it is,” Vrabel said earlier this season. “So, we’re not trying to take a nap.” 

Applying that logic, the Patriots haven’t slept since Sept. 21, when New England gave the ball away five times a 21-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The defeat dropped them to 1-2. They haven’t lost since and carry a 10-game win streak into a pivotal matchup against the Buffalo Bills; with a win, the Pats can claim their first AFC East title since 2019 and snap the Bills’ five-year streak atop the division. 

For an organization that won eight games over the last two seasons – one Bill Belichick’s final season in New England, the other Jerod Mayo’s disastrous standalone year at the helm – that is quite the turnaround. One person stands at the center of it, and it’s not even second-year quarterback Drake Maye, who is a bona fide MVP candidate. 

That would be the guy keeping his team awake – and already knocking on the door of the postseason. 

Turnaround timetable? Vrabel has Pats rolling in Year 1

Turnarounds in the first year of a regime change aren’t uncommon in the NFL. The last-place schedule helps. The amount of cap room – the Patriots entered free agency in 2025 – helps bring in well-paid veterans and, if managed properly, can lead to improved locker-room leadership. 

Players point to April 7 – the day offseason workouts started for New England – as the day the team’s mentality and expectations started moving in the right direction. 

“He’s been in our shoes before. He’s done it before at a high level, won some Super Bowls, caught some touchdown passes,” running back Rhamondre Stevenson said after the Patriots’ Dec. 1 victory over the New York Giants. “He’s done it all. So it’s easy to listen to him and follow behind his lead.” 

A linebacker, Vrabel made his bones sacking the opposing quarterbacks for Belichick’s defenses. But his 12 career touchdown catches cemented him in the lore of two-way part-timers.

In his book, “The Art of Winning,” Belichick – who led the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories over 24 years – wrote of Vrabel:

‘Everything he did was done with purpose and an edginess. Even joking. … Mike’s knife was always sharp, but it was never malicious – if anything, it made people feel like they were important to the organization if he targeted them. It also helped that he could take it as good as he gave it.’

Vrabel became head coach of the Tennessee Titans in 2018 after one season as the Houston Texans’ defensive coordinator. He went 54-45 in six seasons, with three playoff appearances for Tennessee, which decided to move on after the 2023 season. His replacement, Brian Callahan, was fired six games into this season. 

Vrabel spent the 2024 season around the Cleveland Browns as a special assistant. But like he prepared himself to be a coach during his playing career, he was readying for his next job. Cleveland special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone, a teammate of Vrabel’s during their Patriots days, placed blue-collar-type shirts in each player’s locker both as a gift and to send a message. For Vrabel, who loves Christmas and enjoys giving gifts, doing the same in New England was a no-brainer. 

“I got one in brown last year. I thought it looked better in blue, so we got the guys some of those shirts,” Vrabel said. “I thought it would be fun. I liked it. They liked it in Cleveland, so that’s kind of what it was.” 

Center Garret Bradbury said Vrabel can hone his coaching style through a unique lens. 

“He’s like ‘What would I want as a player?’ or ‘I’ve been a head coach before’ and what worked and didn’t work,” Bradbury said. “This whole player-friendly thing gets thrown around quite a bit. I’ve played for a few head coaches. I like what Coach Vrabel does a lot.” 

The little things that mean a lot to Vrabel, using another example he referenced the week of the second Bills game, could be something like receiver Mack Hollins reacting to a tackle on the opening kickoff of the game. Vrabel has been clear with what the expectations are – the primary goal for the 2025 season, preached from that first day of OTAs, was to win the division. The players have appreciated that consistency behind the message.  

During training camp, Vrabel wanted to eliminate a mental tools meeting in an effort to give players more rest and allow them to come in later. But the veteran player leadership group said that it was an important 25 minutes of the week – Vrabel had to find another way to make his players happy while accomplishing a coaching goal.

“I love coaching these guys,” Vrabel said. “It’s fun. They make coming to work a lot of fun.” 

Handshakes and hugs

Vrabel isn’t the only coach in the NFL who greets each player with a hug and a meaningful handshake as they enter the locker room after a win. But that doesn’t make it any less special to his players. 

“It means a lot … he’s someone that connects to his players really well,” rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson told USA TODAY Sports. 

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell does the same, cornerback Carlton Davis said. 

“Great coaches do that,” Davis told USA TODAY Sports. “Great minds think alike. It’s just a part of who they are and what they do.” 

Vrabel’s reasoning for it is that if he says something to a player leading up to the game and it turns out how he predicted, then he sees it as a chance to remind them of that conversation “and thank them for understanding what it is we’re trying to get done.”

“There’s a lot of things that are good that you take from people, and there’s some things that you come up with on your own that’s good, and then there’s some ones that are clunkers,” Vrabel said. “When they’re clunkers, you own it, change it and fix it.”

“Clunkers” is not a bad way to describe (most of) the post-Tom Brady seasons of the New England Patriots.

Owned? Changed? Fixed?

An AFC East title in the first year of Vrabel’s tenure would go a long way in that regard. Just don’t hit snooze on that alarm. 

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The faceoff between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua last month during their lone press conference told a story.

A horror story, if you’re pulling for Paul when the two men square off for an eight-round boxing match Dec. 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

Paul contends his quickness and nimble footwork will help offset Joshua’s size, which generates immense power. But it’s hard to escape the images of that faceoff Nov. 21.

Joshua looked all of 6-6, his official height, while Paul seemed shorter than 6-1, his advertised height. As usual, Joshua was built like Adonis and is expected to weigh 245 pounds when he steps into the ring. Paul, who is not built like a Greek god, is expected to weigh in at no more than 220 pounds.

What impact will the size discrepancy have when Paul, the former YouTuber, takes on Joshua, the former two-time heavyweight champion?

“I think skills is what pays the bills,’’ said Hasim Rahman, the former heavyweight champion, also noting that Terence Crawford moved up two weight classes before beating Canelo Alvarez. “So I really don’t think the emphasis should be on the weight.’’

When it comes to skills, Rahman suggested, Joshua has a sizable advantage against Paul.

Joshua faces weight restriction

Joshua will be required to weigh in at no more than 245 pounds the day before the fight. This is widely viewed as an advantage for Paul because Joshua has weighed in as heavy as 255 pounds and no lighter than 250 pounds during his past five fights.

But Joshua recently told TMZ he thinks the weight restriction of 245 pounds will work to his advantage.

“On fight night I may come in a couple of pounds heavier,’’ Joshua said. “If I’m honest with you, I really do like this weight, you know. It’s actually been a blessing in disguise…because I feel good. I look back and I think, what was I doing carrying that weight?’’

Joshua also said he’s derived benefits by pushing himself with his cardio training to get down to 245 pounds.

“That means I’m getting fitter,’’ he said, adding, “It’s not even like I tried to make the weight. We just upped the cardio.’’

The Kryptonite theory

Paul contends that fighting smaller men is Joshua’s Kryptonite. The supposed evidence:

Andy Ruiz Jr., who is 6-2, stunned Joshua by seventh-round TKO in 2019. But Ruiz weighed in at 268 pounds, about 20 pounds more than Joshua did before that fight.

Oleksandr Usyk, who is 6-3, beat Joshua twice – once by unanimous decision and once by split decision. Usyk weighed in at 221 pounds for those fights, about 20 pounds less than Joshua did. But Usyk is undefeated and the world heavyweight champion, whereas Paul has fought as a heavyweight once — in 2024 against Mike Tyson, 58 at the time of the bout.

Daniel Dubois, who is 6-5, knocked Joshua down four times and finished him off by fifth-round TKO in 2024. Dubois weighed 248 pounds, four pounds less than Joshua did. He was not an appreciably smaller man.

But trainer Buddy McGirt doesn’t think Paul will need Kryptonite.

‘Jake can punch,’ McGirt said. “He can punch, but at the same time, he hasn’t been in there with anybody like Joshua. So I’m just going to say … give it a 50-50 shot (of Paul winning the fight). I learned this a long time ago, when you got two guys over 200 pounds, anything could happen.’’

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

We’re just two months away from the most hotly anticipated hockey tournament since 2014, the last time NHL players competed at the Olympics. 

Team USA assembled a formidable roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off but fell just short of its ultimate goal. Some people will blame a lack of good fortune for the championship final overtime loss to Team Canada, while others will point to roster deficiencies and demand change.  

With more projected rosters being consumed than chicken wings on NFL Sunday, we’ve decided to focus on five NHL players who could be omitted from the U.S. Olympic roster after making the 4 Nations team.

Which U.S. 4 Nations players might not make the Olympic team?

5. Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson

Brock Nelson was included on the 4 Nations roster for his wealth of experience, leadership qualities and defensive wherewithal. He also played left wing.

However, Team USA has too much offensive talent to include Nelson this time around. 

The Avalanche’s second-line center will be an asset for his NHL team in the playoffs. Still, the 34-year-old will likely have to make way for a more productive forward, such as Jason Robertson or Utah captain Clayton Keller.

4. New York Rangers left wing J.T. Miller

J.T. Miller is more dispensable for Team USA than he was at this time last season. With 18 points in 29 games, the 32-year-old left winger’s point production is down significantly. 

Miller notched close to a point per game last season and averaged more than that in the previous three years. His point production has regressed as much as his speed, which won’t fly for a team that can assemble arguably the fastest on offer. 

3. Anaheim Ducks left wing Chris Kreider

The first three players on this list are all similar archetypes: experienced power forwards who can muck it up in the corners while creating a net-front presence. 

Kreider, 34, has continued to play at a high level since joining the Ducks, with 21 points in 25 games. Unfortunately for him, Team USA has younger and more productive players from which to choose.

The most apt like-for-like replacement would be Robertson or Matthew Knies. 

2. New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck

Vincent Trocheck’s chances of making the cut are even less likely, considering he had no points in the 4 Nations Face-Off and the centers he’s up against.

The 32-year-old faces the daunting prospect of competing against Dylan Larkin, the currently injured Jack Hughes and 4 Nations snub Tage Thompson for the bottom two center spots. Hughes is expected back in the next month, leaving more than enough time to be ready for Italy. Thompson brings size and lots of goals.

1. Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin

Last season’s Calder Trophy winner, Lane Hutson, is waiting in the wings, and so is Stanley Cup champion Seth Jones. With 24-year-old Jackson LaCombe impressing in Anaheim, Hanifin is seemingly the odd one out. 

Hanifin’s play hasn’t helped his cause, with six points in 19 games and a minus-6 rating.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

One would think that running a profitable legal marijuana industry would be just about the easiest thing in the world, but don’t tell that to the Democrat leadership of Minnesota, which allowed wokeness and apparent corruption to grind their legalization rollout into dust.

Wherever one lands on the benefits or increasingly evident harms of marijuana legalization, once a state decides to do it, it has a responsibility to do it in a way that most benefits all the citizens. Of course, Gov. Tim Walz and the Minnesota Democrats made it all about social equity.

The 2023 legalization legislation mandated that for a year and a half, only Indian reservations could obtain licenses, a form of reparations similar to when New York mind-numbingly mandated that only people with previous marijuana convictions could open stores.

The upshot is that today, several dispensaries in the state have no product and others have a dwindling supply. One dispensary operator told me with a sigh, ‘We might get a new supply next week.’

And that’s not all, because the state has not approved enough licenses for transporting the product, much of it is sitting at farms, unable to get to market.

But the worst part of this, one very much related to the current scandal over fraud committed by Somali groups supposedly feeding kids, is that the legislation provides millions of dollars in grants and loans to start weed shops based on wokeness and DEI.

For example, the CanStartUp program ‘is a loan program available to new cannabis microbusinesses,’ in which a non-profit hands out the taxpayer cash ‘with priority given to social equity applicants.’

‘Social Equity Applicants,’ can be roughly read to mean no White guys.

Dr. Scott Jensen, one of several Republicans seeking to stop Walz from winning a third term next year, said it is part of a pattern with Walz and his cronies.

‘The Walz team has repeatedly been characterized by a willingness to play political hardball by picking winners and losers, focusing on preserving voting blocks, rewarding loyalty over competence, ignoring employee input, and squashing transparency,’ Jensen told me.

John Nagel, a former state trooper running as a Republican against Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., had a harsher assessment.

‘Minnesota Democrats are recreating the exact conditions that led to the Feeding Our Future scandal, only this time they’re doing it inside the state’s new marijuana industry,’ he said. ‘When you look at the pattern, it’s unmistakable. The same political class that let Feeding Our Future flourish is now designing the cannabis market using the same toolkit—DEI language as political cover, nonprofit intermediaries with insider ties, and almost no accountability.’

He’s got a point. Why does Minnesota need to hand out millions of dollars to nonprofits to teach people how to sell weed? It’s not hard, just hang up a sign and ring up the sales.

This kind of corruption is nothing new. In the 1920s, Democratic Party machines gave out no-show patronage jobs down at the docks. Today, they hand out needless multimillion-dollar DEI contracts. It’s the same game.

The job of the government is to make things run efficiently for all citizens, not to infuse every project or policy with DEI initiatives that are little more than payoffs to loyal voter groups. Nationwide, the amount of money shelled out for this nonsense is in the billions.

In the wake of the Feeding our Future scandal, it is obvious that the nonprofits involved in this DEI weed initiative must be investigated. How can anyone now trust that the money isn’t being abused?

The cherry on top of this abysmal situation is that the inability of legal dispensaries to serve their clientele is driving people back to the black market, which will result in increased marijuana arrests, the very thing this legislation was meant to prevent in the first place.

It’s honestly amazing.

Meanwhile, few people here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes even know any of this is happening, because the local news media, which simply calls this all a ‘logistics problem,’ acts more like accomplices than arbiters of truth.

Walz and the Democrats in Minnesota have no more benefit of the doubt when it comes to shady laws that shower money on DEI-driven nonprofits. It’s time to see where these millions of dollars to train up the next generation of cannabis workers really went.

Perhaps the state can show that spending these millions of dollars had some positive result for Minnesota, but right now, it seems far more likely that the money just went up in smoke.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Alabama set the bar for a late-in-the-calendar hire with Kalen DeBoer. Michigan needs to clear that bar. Or, hire DeBoer.
Next Michigan coach will inherit premier recruits, and an ultra booster.
How will we remember the Sherrone Moore era? For a lot of tears. And a lot of punts.

Anyone checked on Lane Kiffin’s LSU buyout? The Michigan job just opened.

I’m kidding, but only just. One of college football’s best jobs needs filled.

Alert the renegades.

Unlike the last time the Wolverines made a hire, they can fill the seat this time without the inconvenience of NCAA suits lurking in the corner.

The NCAA’s sign-stealing penalty has been handed down, and Michigan skated past the scythe with probation and a big fine. Neither will deter job candidates, so bring on the A-listers.

Good riddance to Sherrone Moore. Michigan fired him for cause after it found credible evidence he engaged in “an inappropriate relationship with a staff member,” according to the university.

How will we remember the Moore era? For a lot of tears. And a lot of punts.

And for how he wound up in jail on the night of his firing.

Forget the calendar. Michigan a premier job

Moore was a seat-warmer, anyway, a glorified interim coach while Michigan rode out multiple NCAA probes after cheating its way to glory under Jim Harbaugh.

Never mind that Moore’s firing comes a tad late in the job-hopping calendar. The coaching carousel just stopped spinning, but this job could open in March, and I’d expect Michigan to pry loose a premier coach.

I’m not sure you’d need a second hand to tick off the number of jobs better than Michigan. I mean, Michigan finished 9-3 this season with Moore as its coach. Yes, indeed, this is a premier job. Premier jobs attract premier candidates, no matter the date on the calendar.

When Alabama needed to replace Nick Saban two years ago in mid-January, it secured the coach of the national runner-up.

If Alabama loses to Oklahoma in the playoff’s first round, angry Bammers might list DeBoer’s house on Zillow. There’s gorgeous real estate in Ann Arbor, and I’d much rather come in on the heels of a fired coach’s alleged moral turpitude than replace the GOAT.

Michigan’s schedules the next two seasons are rugged, but, long-term, facing Big Ten fare with ultra billionaire Larry Ellison’s checkbook at your disposal sounds better than trying to survive the SEC’s fires.

As a sidebar, Oracle’s share price is up nearly 270% the past five years. Money makes the world go round, and money makes the ‘croots flow in.

Hey, Marcus Freeman, Michigan’s never been left out of the 12-team playoff with a 10-2 record! (Because Moore couldn’t reach 10-2.) But, seriously, I wouldn’t care that Freeman played for Ohio State. Consider it intel. He knows how they operate in Cbus!

I’m skeptical Freeman would leave Notre Dame for anywhere other than perhaps Ohio State or the NFL. Worth finding out. And, don’t even start with Brian Kelly. He came no closer to the playoff at LSU than Moore did for Michigan. The Wolverines can set their sights higher than the scrap heap.

Michigan’s hire will inherit talented recruits and a big booster

Michigan signed a top-15 class this cycle, on the heels of landing No. 1-ranked quarterback prospect Bryce Underwood last year.

Now, it needs someone to coach and develop all of that talent. Moore’s Wolverines mustered 35 points against their three toughest opponents this season. Not 35 points per game. Thirty-five points total, in losses to Oklahoma, Southern California and Ohio State.

Michigan having cause to fire Moore meant this ouster comes 11 months sooner than it otherwise might have — and free of a buyout charge. The firing comes one month too late for the peak hiring cycle, and perhaps too late to chase Kiffin, but if the Michigan job is as good as I think, the timing is but a hiccup and not a doomsday scenario.

DeBoer is the bar. Clear it, or hire him.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

(This story was updated to add a video.)

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The three other No. 1 seeds in the tournament Kentucky, Texas and Pittsburgh all advanced to the Sweet 16. The Wildcats will face a red-hot Cal Poly team that upset No. 5 BYU and No. 4 USC in consecutive five-set thrillers to advance to their seventh Sweet 16 appearance in program history.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Round of 16 at the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament:

The 2025 NCAA women’s volleyball Final Four will be held at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. It’s the third time since 2010 that the venue has hosted the volleyball national championship.

When is NCAA women’s volleyball Sweet 16?

Date: Dec. 11 and 13 or Dec. 12 and 14
Time: Four matches each day, beginning at 1 p.m. ET Thursday and noon ET Friday. Match-by-match times below.

How to watch NCAA volleyball tournament

Streaming: ESPN+ ∣ Fubo (free trial)

The 2025 NCAA women’s volleyball tournament will air across the ESPN and ABC family of networks. Games can be streamed ESPN+, ESPN’s subscription streaming service, and Fubo, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

NCAA volleyball Sweet 16 schedule: Times, TV

All times Eastern

Thursday, Dec. 11

No. 2 Arizona State vs. No. 3 Creighton, 1 p.m. | ESPN2
No. 1 Kentucky vs. Cal Poly, 3:30 p.m. | ESPN2
No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. | ESPN2
No. 2 SMU vs. No. 3 Purdue, 9:30 p.m. | ESPN2

Friday, Dec. 12

No. 1 Texas vs. No. 4 Indiana, 12 p.m. | ESPN
No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 2 Stanford, 2:30 p.m. | ESPN
No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 2 Louisville, 7 p.m. | ESPN2
No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 4 Kansas, 9:30 p.m. | ESPN2

NCAA volleyball second-round results

Lexington bracket

No. 1 Kentucky 3, No. 8 UCLA 1 (30-28, 25-16, 28-30, 25-17)
No. 3 Creighton 3, No. 6 Northern Iowa 1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21)
No. 2 Arizona State 3, Utah State 1 (25-15, 25-18, 22-25, 25-15)
Cal Poly 3, No. 4 USC 2 (25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 15-7)

Austin bracket

No. 4 Indiana 3, No. 5 Colorado 0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-23)
No. 3 Wisconsin 3, North Carolina 0 (25-14, 25-21, 27-25)
No. 1 Texas 1, No. 8 Penn State 0 (25-16, 25-9, 25-19)
No. 2 Stanford 3, Arizona 1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20)

Pittsburgh bracket

No. 3 Purdue 3, No. 6 Baylor 1 (25-16, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20)
No. 1 Pittsburgh 3, Michigan 0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-18)
No. 2 SMU 3, Florida 0 (25-11, 25-21, 26-24)
No. 4 Minnesota 3, No. 5 Iowa State 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-14)

Lincoln bracket

No. 4 Kansas 3, No. 5 Miami 1 (25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 27-25)
No. 2 Louisville 3, Marquette 2 (21-25, 25-11, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12)
No. 1 Nebraska 3, Kansas State 0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-16)
No. 3 Texas A&M 3, No. 6 TCU 1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 29-27)

NCAA volleyball first-round results

Lexington bracket

No. 1 Kentucky 3, Wofford 0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-12)
No. 8 UCLA 3, Georgia Tech 2 (24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-18, 15-10)
Cal Poly 3, No. 5 BYU 2 (25-19, 17-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-10)
No. 4 USC 3, Princeton 0, (25-19, 25-12, 25-13)
No. 3 Creighton 3, Northern Colorado 2 (12-25, 25-23,25-23,17-25, 8-15)
No. 6 Northern Iowa 3, Utah 2 (15-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-10)
Utah State 3, No. 7 Tennessee 2 (25-19, 25-15, 19-25, 25-18, 15-11)
No. 2 Arizona State 3, Coppin State 0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-12)

Austin bracket

No. 1 Texas 3, Florida A&M 0 (25-11, 25- 8, 25-14)
No. 8 Penn State 3, South Florida 1 (25-23, 12-25, 25-21, 25-19)
No. 5 Colorado 3, American 0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-16)
No. 4 Indiana 3, Toledo 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-17)
No. 3 Wisconsin 3, Eastern Illinois 0 (25-11, 25-6, 25-19)
North Carolina 3, No. 6 UTEP 1 (24-26, 25-11, 25-18, 25-21)
Arizona 3, No. 7 South Dakota State 1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-15, 25-15)
No. 2 Stanford 3, Utah Valley 1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-14)

Pittsburgh bracket

No. 1 Pitt 3, UMBC 0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-13)
Michigan 3, No. 8 Xavier 0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-23)
No. 5 Iowa State 3, St. Thomas-Minnesota 2 (21-25, 25-13, 25-16, 21-25, 15-8)
No. 4 Minnesota 3, Fairfield 0 (25-12, 25-7, 25-13)
No. 3 Purdue 3, Wright State 0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-19)
No. 6 Baylor 3, Arkansas State 2 (23-25, 25-20, 30-28, 23-25, 15-10)
Florida 3, No. 7 Rice 0 (27-25, 25-23, 25-19)
No. 2 SMU 3, Central Arkansas 0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-13)

Lincoln bracket

No. 1 Nebraska 3, Long Island 0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-17)
Kansas State 3, San Diego 2 (21-25, 25-17, 26-28, 25-22, 15-12)
No. 5 Miami 3, Tulsa 1 (25-22, 13-25, 25-22, 25-20)
No. 4 Kansas 3, High Point 0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-18)
No. 3 Texas A&M 3, Campbell 0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-13)
No. 6 TCU 3, Stephen F. Austin 0 (25-8, 26-24, 25-20)
Marquette 3, Western Kentucky 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-16)
No. 2 Louisville 3, Loyola (Illinois) 0 (25-17, 25-9, 25-12)

When is the NCAA volleyball Final Four in 2025?

Dates: Thursday, Dec. 18 and Sunday, Dec. 21

The two semifinal matches in the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament will take place on Thursday, Dec. 18 and will be broadcast on ESPN. The national championship game is Sunday, Dec. 21 on ABC.

NCAA volleyball tournament champions

Penn State is the reigning NCAA volleyball champion, having defeated Louisville in four sets last year in the national title game. It was the Nittany Lions’ eighth volleyball championship since 1999.

Here’s a look at the past 10 NCAA volleyball champions:

2024: Penn State
2023: Texas
2022: Texas
2021: Wisconsin
2020: Kentucky
2019: Stanford
2018: Stanford
2017: Nebraska
2016: Stanford
2015: Nebraska

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President Donald Trump pushed back on a rumor that he was looking to replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and told reporters that he believes she has been ‘fantastic.’

‘I read a story recently that I’m unhappy with Kristi — I’m so happy with her… We have a border that’s the best border in the history of our country. Why would I be unhappy? She’s fantastic, actually,’ Trump told reporters during a roundtable with business leaders on Wednesday.

The president’s remarks follow a recent report from MS Now stating that a White House official said that Noem was on ‘very thin ice.’ The report claimed that Trump was looking to replace Noem as early as January, and that White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller was leading the push to replace her.

According to the report, Miller and other White House officials were frustrated with Noem because they were displeased with the pace at which she was working to build new detention centers. Additionally, the report claimed that several governors had called Trump to voice complaints about Noem’s handling of FEMA and disaster relief funds.

On Monday, the White House firmly denied the report and accused MS Now of running a false narrative.

‘Everything about this is total Fake News. Secretary Noem is doing a great job implementing the President’s agenda and making America safe again. MS Now continues to beclown themselves by inventing narratives that simply are not true,’ White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also weighed in on the report in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, saying, ‘I can’t speak for the president, but I’ve seen more credible reporting on Big Foot.’

During the roundtable on Wednesday, Trump also shut down rumors that he was dissatisfied with War Secretary Pete Hegseth over the controversial U.S. military strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats. Trump said his feelings about Hegseth’s work were ‘very much the opposite’ of what was being reported and he called the war secretary ‘phenomenal.’

Trump joked that he would ‘have to think about’ Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who was sitting at the table, before going on to praise him. The president similarly praised Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, Preston Mizell and Bonny Chu contributed to this report.

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing her first major test before the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Noem is appearing before the House Homeland Security Committee for a hearing on worldwide threats, an event that is meant to be annual but has not happened in multiple recent years.

She’s set to testify alongside National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent and Michael Glasheen, Operations Director of the FBI’s National Security Branch.

‘I’m sure she’ll talk about border, I’m sure she’ll talk about drugs, I’m sure she’ll talk about China, hopefully an update on what’s happening with cybersecurity. I mean it’s a very important hearing. I’m glad she’ll be there,’ House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital.

It’s Noem’s first major national security-focused hearing before the House of Representatives since taking charge of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) earlier this year.

It comes as lawmakers on Capitol Hill warn about the potential for hostile countries like Venezuela, Iran and China exploiting U.S. vulnerabilities in national security. 

‘I’m always concerned about that. I’ve been concerned about that for years. I mean, thousands of known and suspected terrorists came across the southern border over the last four years. Luckily, it’s been closed up, but they’re still here,’ Garbarino said.

‘I’m gonna look forward to hearing from the FBI, you know, what’s being done, what they’re doing to track down the people that are already here.’

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, lawmakers will likely grill Noem about the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carrying out President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

‘We don’t get much information, in the interim, from the administration. You write letters, and what you get back is an acknowledgment of the letter, but very little facts,’ said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the top Democrat on the committee. ‘Obviously, the administration’s stand on immigration is not one that we agree with, especially how they’re doing it.’

He accused ICE agents of treating people with ‘total disrespect’ because they ‘look Hispanic.’

‘I think that she has to address it,’ Thompson said.

Noem’s appearance comes hours after Axios reported that she and border czar Tom Homan had a falling out behind the scenes, though the outlet also reported that neither are in danger of losing their positions any time soon.

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Senate Democrats have tried to tie the looming expiration date for Obamacare subsidies to the affordability issues slamming households, but Senate Republicans argue that their counterparts are manufacturing it to score political points next year.

The phrase ‘sticker shock’ became a common rallying cry from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during and after the government shutdown that he used to illustrate what Americans could experience if the Biden-era credits were to expire.

‘Our bill is the only bill that will prevent this crisis from happening,’ Schumer said. ‘It’s the last train out of this station. We urge our Republican colleagues, for the sake of the American people, to get on that train.’

But Senate Republicans contend that Democrats’ proposal to extend the subsidies for another three years is designed to fail and provide the party with a political weapon entering into the 2026 midterm election cycle.

‘I think the Democrats politically embrace this affordability issue, and then them asking for a three-year extension does nothing but throw gasoline on the fire of affordability of healthcare,’ Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital.

Marshall is one of several Senate Republicans who have put together an alternative plan to Schumer’s strategy. His ‘Marshall Plan’ marries Democrats’ desire to extend the subsidies for a year with Republicans’ demands that the credits be done away with in favor of health savings accounts (HSAs).

Republicans are instead running with a plan from Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the chairs of the Senate health and finance panels, that would abandon the enhanced subsidies in favor of HSAs. That proposal is also expected to fail, leaving the Senate with little time to move ahead with an alternative before the subsidies expire.

Still, there are ongoing talks between both sides of the aisle to find a compromise. Republicans contend that Schumer is acting as a roadblock to those talks, instead sidelining members reaching across the aisle in favor of a workable solution.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that Republicans were equally concerned about ‘sticker shock,’ and he argued that Cassidy and Crapo’s plan would go a long way to keeping prices low for Americans.

But he acknowledged the political reality that Democrats wanted to use healthcare as a cudgel in the coming months.

‘I think that’s the concern that a lot of us have on our side of the aisle, is that there’s a group of Democrats that don’t want to fix this problem, and they want to use it as a political product,’ he said. ‘I think there’s a group of us on our side of the aisle that really would like to fix it, along with some Dems. I just don’t know if there’s enough Dems to come along and to take what we think is a reasonable approach on this.’

Other Republicans told Fox News Digital that the subsidies, which were passed and then enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic under former President Joe Biden, are just another addition to a 15-year-long affordability crunch brought on by the passage of Obamacare.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital that Obamacare has ‘always been pricey,’ and that Democrats were attempting to inject $83 billion in taxpayer money directly to insurance companies with their proposal.

‘Democrats have always tried to hide that fact by sending more and more money to insurance companies during COVID,’ he said. ‘They did it again with these Biden COVID bonus subsidies, and they set an expiration date, which is coming up at the end of this month. That’s what this is all about.’

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital that healthcare ‘has been an ongoing train wreck since Obamacare,’ and that Democrats jammed the subsidies through Congress without Republican input and set up the fast-approaching cliff.

‘I mean, they’re just doubling down on the stupid,’ Schmitt said.

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