It’s a different year, with more teams in the College Football Playoffs, but Alabama is still a lightning rod for criticism.

The Crimson Tide were left in the CFP field of 12 and, in fact, were not dropped after an abysmal SEC championship game showing against Georgia in which they rushed for minus-3 yards and suffered a 28-7 drubbing at the hands of the Bulldogs.

Left out in the cold was an independent that did not play during conference championship weekend: Notre Dame, which flipped with Miami after being ahead of the Hurricanes in the penultimate rankings. The selection committee has since been lambasted, with its inherent biases being heavily criticized. However, human biases aside, the computer model that once governed the final rankings – the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) – agrees … kind of.

The BCS would have had Notre Dame in and Alabama behind the Irish at No. 10, leaving Miami on the outside looking in. That would see Notre Dame in Norman taking on Oklahoma in its first-round game and Alabama heading to College Station to play Texas A&M.

Also notably, under the BCS system Ohio State would still be No. 2 and a hair’s breadth ahead of Georgia, which would leave an Indiana-OSU national championship. It would be a controversial year by any metric, but that’s a byproduct of conference expansion creating tiebreakers that lead to odd conference championship matchups.

What would BCS final rankings be?

Here’s a look at roughly what the final BCS rankings would look like. The Harris Interactive College Football Poll, part of the BCS formula, of course no longer exists. But it can be simulated by the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. Bold indicates a playoff berth under the current format:

Indiana (13-0)
Ohio State (12-1)
Georgia (12-1)
Texas Tech (12-1)
Oregon (11-1)
Mississippi (11-1)
Texas A&M (11-1)
Oklahoma (10-2)
Notre Dame (10-2)
Alabama (9-3)
Miami (10-2)
BYU (11-2)
Vanderbilt (11-2)
Texas (9-3)
Utah (10-2)
USC (9-3)
Michigan (9-3)
Tulane (11-2)
James Madison (12-1)
Arizona (9-3)
Virginia (10-3)
Navy (9-2)
North Texas (11-2)
Iowa (8-4)
Georgia Tech (9-3)

Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas Tech would get byes. Oregon would play James Madison in Eugene, Mississippi would see Tulane in Oxford, Texas A&M plays Alabama in College Station, and Notre Dame ends up in Norman to play Oklahoma.

There would still be controversy, of course. It’s par for the course in these rankings. But at least according to the computers, it’s not Alabama getting in the field that’s an issue. It’s Miami jumping Notre Dame after a week in which neither team played.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf made a visit to the hospital following his team’s game against the Baltimore Ravens ‘out of an abundance of caution,’ NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reports.

Metcalf’s was pulled off the team flight and sent to the hospital after he experienced stomach pains ahead of the trip from Baltimore to Pittsburgh.

The Steelers’ medical team ‘removed him from the plan out of an abundance of caution,’ a team spokesman said in a statement.

Metcalf was discharged from the hospital and stayed overnight in Baltimore. He is expected to fly back to Pittsburgh on Monday, Dec. 8 to rejoin the team.

It isn’t clear whether Metcalf’s ailment will impact his ability to play in the Steelers’ Week 15 game against the Miami Dolphins on ‘Monday Night Football.’

Metcalf enjoyed his best game as a Steeler in Pittsburgh’s 27-22 win over Baltimore. The former Seahawk logged a season high in targets (12), receptions (7) and receiving yards (148) while showing a strong connection with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Metcalf has totaled a team-high 52 reception for 753 yards and five touchdowns during his first season with the Steelers.

Not one, but two non-Power Four programs reached the College Football Playoff in 2025, thanks to ACC champion Duke being left out of the field.

Duke reached the ACC title game despite holding a 7-5 regular season record due to the matchup being decided by multiple tiebreakers, thus leaving out No. 10 Miami, which reached the CFP as an at-large team. Duke’s win opened the door for Sun Belt conference champion James Madison at No. 12, on top of Tulane at No. 11.

College football personalities Paul Finebaum and Jordan Rodgers debated the Group of Six inclusions for the CFP on ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ Monday, Dec. 8.

‘They do not belong,’ Finebaum said. ‘And I’ll save you all the ‘due respect’ nonsensical preamble that we always use. There’s no reason to have schools like that in a playoff when you’re leaving home Notre Dame, BYU and Texas, and Vanderbilt. But this is like Washington politics, they made a deal. The commissioners blocked an initial idea to make this thing a couple years ago… It’s wrong, but it’s politics. It’s the way college athletics works unfortunately.”

Rodgers agreed, noting the watchability isn’t there for these games, either.

“Who wants to watch those games?’ Rodgers added. ‘We already watched one of them. I think this is getting an extra spotlight because JMU is in it, but if it was just Tulane, they already got beat by Ole Miss 45-10. We’ve seen that football game. I love the comparison to the basketball March Madness because I actually feel having these Group of Five, Group of Six teams with a chance to compete for a national championship is good for the fabric of the NCAA, of football, of college football.

‘But that would be the equivalent of saying we’re going to add two 16 teams, but we’re going to take out two No. 3 ranked teams in the March Madness, you can’t do that. You need to expand the playoffs, but they need to change the metrics to which those teams are allowed to get in. It can’t just be top 25. If you’re top 15, top 10 or top 16, if that’s the number of playoffs, then maybe you can have that consideration, but we can’t be doing a Make A Wish program with the College Football Playoffs and just adding teams because we feel like they should deserve it.”

Rodgers also agreed a similar sentiment being shared across college football of conference championship games potentially ending in favor of a CFP expansion.

“Lets actually get the best teams in, which I think is the end of conference championship games,’ he said. ‘I think they’re meaningless now. They were meaningless a couple days ago, and that doesn’t change. Let’s just rank the teams, regardless of conference. Let’s have a different metric for Group of Five, so there’s still an opportunity but not a guarantee and let’s have the best teams play.

‘Because Notre Dame could win a national championship. Texas could win. They already beat two teams who are hosting. And Vandy is a team that nobody wants to play. Those teams don’t have a chance because JMU and Tulane do.”

The Green Wave is promoting passing game coordinator Will Hall to head coach, the school announced Monday, Dec. 8. Hall is replacing Jon Sumrall, who was hired by Florida after two seasons with Tulane. Sumrall is finishing out the season after leading the program to an American Conference Championship win.

‘I’m truly honored to accept this opportunity to serve as Tulane’s head football coach,’ Hall said in the announcement. ‘Tulane has been a special place for me. I’ve felt the unique spirit of Tulane and the strength of its culture. I’m excited to lead this program with a deep respect for its history, its people, and the city of New Orleans. Together, we’ll build on our success and continue to embody the resilience, pride, and excellence that make Tulane and this community so extraordinary.’

Hall, the offensive coordinator at Tulane from 2019-20, returned to the program as an assistant in 2025 after four years as the head coach at Southern Miss. Hall went 14-30 during his tenure with the Golden Eagles.

Tulane won its second American Conference title in four seasons after defeating North Texas 34-21 in essentially a CFP play-in game on Dec. 5. Hall will be Tulane’s third coach in four seasons, as Sumrall succeeded now-Houston coach Willie Fritz, who left after the 2023 season.

Tulane has been one of the best non-Power Four programs in college football in recent years, and Hall will look to continue that momentum.

‘We are thrilled to select Will Hall to be our head coach,’ Tulane athletic director David Harris said. ‘His character, integrity, and leadership qualities are evident both on and off the field. With extensive head coaching experience and a proven track record of success at every level, Will embodies the qualities we value in our program. We believe he is the right person to lead Tulane Football into its next chapter.’

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier will be arraigned in federal court for his role in an insider sports-betting scheme in which he’s alleged to have altered his performance to benefit illegal gambling.

Rozier, 31, is scheduled to appear before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York Monday, Dec. 8 for his formal arraignment on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. He is also set to participate in a pretrial hearing Monday at the courthouse, which is located in Brooklyn.

The first is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET and the second at 4:30 p.m.

Rozier was arrested Oct. 23, hours before FBI director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. announced indictments in a press conference. Rozier was one of more than 30 defendants arrested as part of a pair of explosive alleged illegal gambling scandals that linked three current and former prominent NBA figures.

Current Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former player Damon Jones are the other two.

Rozier and Billups have both been placed on unpaid leave. Rozier’s salary will be held in escrow; if cleared in the federal probe, he will receive all missed payments in full.

Through his attorney, Rozier has denied the allegations.

“Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight,” Jim Trusty, Rozier’s attorney, said on Oct. 23.

What are the charges Terry Rozier is facing?

According to the indictment, Rozier, Jones and others allegedly committed fraud by betting based on insider information about NBA athletes and teams from around December 2022 to March 2024.

The non-public information included when players would be sitting out future games or when they would pull themselves out early based on purported injuries or illnesses.

Rozier is accused of manipulating his performance during an NBA game to benefit illegal betting. The game took place on March 23, 2023, when Rozier was a member of the Charlotte Hornets.

He had averaged 35.3 minutes and 21.1 points per game that season, and entered the night with no injury designation. He started the game, but played only 9:34 minutes before he left the game with a supposed foot injury.

He did not return and would subsequently miss the remaining eight games of the season. That night, Rozier took just four shot attempts, making two of them, and scored five points, while adding four rebounds and two assists.

According to the indictment, Rozier informed his childhood friend, De’Niro Laster, that he “was going to prematurely remove himself from the game in the first quarter due to a supposed injury and not return to play further.”

Per the indictment, Laster then allegedly sold the information about Rozier’s participation to multiple co-conspirators so they could place fraudulent wagers.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. called the alleged setup, “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”

Who is Terry Rozier?

Roizer played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals and was selected as the 16th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. He spent four years with the Celtics before being traded to the Charlotte Hornets in 2019 as part of a sign-and-trade deal that sent Kemba Walker to Boston. Roizer remained with the Hornets until January 2024, when he was traded to the Miami Heat in exchange for Kyle Lowry and a 2027 first-round draft pick.

Rozier is currently part of the Miami Heat’s roster, but he did not play in the season opener against the Orlando Magic due to a coach’s decision. Rozier averaged 10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in the 2024-25 regular season.

Notre Dame was controversially left out of the College Football Playoff, falling from No. 10 in the final rankings release to out of the 12-team bracket on Sunday, Dec. 7.

Should a similar thing happen in 2026, though, the Fighting Irish should be in the CFP. Why? Well, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports that the school signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CFP committee noting the Fighting Irish would reach the CFP if it’s ranked in the top 12 starting next year.

While obviously problematic for the future of the selection process, Yahoo Sports notes Miami would’ve been bumped for Notre Dame if this year’s scenario played out next season.

The MOU only covers 12- or 14-team playoffs, according to the report. If the CFP is expanded from seven to nine at-large bids, then Notre Dame would be guaranteed a bid if it finishes No. 13 or better in the final CFP rankings.

Bevacqua will likely expand on his comments on Tuesday, Dec. 9, as the Notre Dame athletic director is holding a press conference, the first after the Fighting Irish were left out of the CFP and declined a bowl invitation.

‘There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome,’ Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports. ‘As I said to Marcus (Freeman), one thing is for sure: Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time.

‘Why put these young student-athletes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them having not played a game in two weeks and then a group of people in a room shatter their dreams without explanation? We feel like the playoff was stolen from our student-athletes.’

Notre Dame was ranked No. 9, ahead of Alabama and Miami, for multiple weeks before falling to No. 10 in favor of the Crimson Tide after the final week of the regular season. CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek said Miami jumped No. 11 BYU due to the Cougars’ Big 12 Championship game performance, which put Notre Dame and Miami at No. 10 and No. 11. Then, is when head-to-head came into play, as the Hurricanes defeated the Fighting Irish in Week 1.

It’s unclear if Bevacqua was supposed to disclose the MOU between Notre Dame and the CFP committee, but it’s certainly a development to follow going forward, especially if the committee continues to reach controversial decisions in its selection process.

The only unbeaten team in the Bowl Subdivision, the Hoosiers were an easy pick after beating the Buckeyes 13-10 in the Big Ten championship game.

Ohio State drops two spots to No. 3. Georgia steps up one spot to No. 2 after claiming the SEC championship against Alabama, which dropped two spots to No. 12.

While they landed firmly in the College Football Playoff field, in the re-rank the Crimson Tide trail No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 11 Brigham Young.

Several teams made multiple-spot jumps after conference championship weekend, led by No. 4 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders climbed two after beating Brigham Young for the second time and bumped No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 7 Mississippi down one.

Also climbing are No. 10 Miami, No. 17 James Madison, No. 32 Boise State, No. 34 Duke, No. 47 Kennesaw State and No. 53 Western Michigan.

The final top 25 of the regular season includes eight teams from the SEC, six teams from the Big Ten, four from the Big 12, two from the ACC and then Notre Dame and four teams from the Group of Five in No. 15 Tulane, JMU, No. 22 North Texas and No. 23 Navy.

There will be one last re-rank after the national champion is crowned in January.

College football NCAA Re-Rank 1-136