Category: College Football

LSU football added another talented piece to its 2026 recruiting class on Friday with the commitment of three-star defensive tackle Darryus McKinley.

McKinley, a Louisiana product and the brother of current LSU defensive tackle Dominick McKinley, is the 17th commit of LSU’s class. LSU’s defensive line class is shaping up to be one of the best in the country, with McKinley joining Lamar Brown and Richard Anderson, two of the top-ranked defensive tackles in the class.

Let’s take a look at where recruiting services rank LSU’s class after the latest addition:

LSU has a chance to land the No. 1 class in the country. The Tigers remain in pursuit of top available prospects, including five-star offensive lineman Darius Gray. LSU also looks to hold on to five-star wide receiver Tristen Keys as there’s talk about a potential flip.

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Three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year Matt Campbell is locked in with Iowa State. The schoolfinalized a contract extension with the winningest coach in program history, keeping him on board through the 2032 season, ESPN’s Max Olson reports. Campbell will make $5 million per year and reportedly agreed to take a discount on his new deal to pave the way for an increased assistant salary pool and to allow Iowa State to set aside an additional $1 million in revenue sharing money.

According to USA Today’s coach salary database, the $5 million figure would have made Campbell the 42nd-highest paid coach in college football last season, tied with ex-North Carolina coach Mack Brown. It is a substantial bump from the $4 million Campbell made last year, which ranked 53rd nationally.

The extension and pay raise is a timely one. It capitalizes on the success Campbell delivered last fall in what was by far the best season in Iowa State history. The 11 wins marked the first time the Cyclones ever cracked the double-digit win mark, they returned to the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time since 2020 and their No. 15 ranking in the final AP Top 25 was their second-highest finish to date.

Big 12 coach rankings 2025: Deion Sanders, Kenny Dillingham among big risers as new No. 1 takes throne

Shehan Jeyarajah

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The seal has officially been broken on the start of fall camp for the 2025-2026 edition of the Ohio State football team. The Buckeyes are the defending College Football Playoff national champions and will begin to put the building blocks in place to try and make another run.

To do it, the tone has to be set on the onset of fall camp, and by all indications, that’s exactly what happened inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. The Ohio State football creative team is one of the best in the business and is always on the job when it comes to its social media game, and it wasted no time sharing some highlights of the first day of camp.

If you haven’t seen any footage of the first day of fall camp, check out some of the moments and excitement of the day thanks to what was shared by the Ohio State Football “X” account below.

We’ll continue to keep an eye on what’s going on in fall camp as Ohio State speeds ahead towards the start of the 2025 season and the massive opener against the Texas Longhorns on August 30.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

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Only three short years ago, Big 12 teams played a perfect round robin schedule. Every school vied against every other, and so schedules frankly rarely paid much relevance. As the conference exploded from 10 to 16 teams, though, schedules have never been more important. 

In this era, getting a good draw can make all the difference. Reigning Big 12 champ Arizona State was able to ramp up in the middle of last season to prepare for top contenders Kansas State and BYU in the second half of the year. Iowa State played six teams in conference that missed bowl games. Chances are, the teams with the easiest schedule this year will also have a huge advantage to reaching the postseason. 

Now granted, here’s the thing: In the Big 12, the strength of schedules are somewhat unpredictable. Two years ago, West Virginia appeared to be facing one of the hardest schedules in the league, but ended up with the easiest. Additionally, every team in the conference has FanDuel win totals between 5.5 and 8.5. The teams are, frankly, just not far enough apart that there can be free rides. 

That said, getting a good draw can make all the difference in flying through the schedule, picking up tiebreakers and earning a trip to AT&T Stadium to play for a Big 12 title. With that in mind, here’s how we rank the toughest schedules in the conference in 2025. 

Note: The Big 12 no longer does an official preseason poll, so we’re using the 247Sports Big 12 poll, featuring votes from all 16 team site publishers. 

Big 12 2025 Strength of Schedule

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The Oregon Ducks have had a pretty fun summer when it comes to the recruiting world, landing 5-star players like Immanuel Iheanacho and Jett Washington, along with numerous other high-end 4-star players. That fun looks like it may continue soon.

On Wednesday, 5-star EDGE Anthony ‘Tank’ Jones announced that he will be making his commitment live on the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN Thursday morning, choosing between the Ducks, the Alabama Crimson Tide, and the Texas A&M Aggies.

It appears that Oregon is emerging as a late favorite in this recruiting battle.

According to 247Sports, a new prediction has come down for the Ducks to land Jones, who is rated as the No. 18 player and No. 4 EDGE in the 2026 class. The 247Sports Recruiting Staff logged an expert prediction with a confidence level of 6 in favor of Oregon.

This recruitment has been one to watch over the past couple of months as teams vie for Jones’ commitment. Early on, it appeared that Alabama led the way for the St. Paul’s Episcopal prospect, but over the past couple of weeks, more buzz has been growing for Oregon’s favor, and there is a fundamental belief that the Ducks could land him on Thursday.

Over the next 12 hours, don’t be surprised to see more predictions come in as recruiting analysts get more intel on the situation.

Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.

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Former Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator and longtime NFL starting quarterback Byron Leftwich has joined Deion Sanders’ staff at Colorado. Sanders introduced Leftwich during a team meeting Tuesday, as revealed in a video posted by Thee Pregame Show. Leftwich interviewed for several jobs at the NFL level in recent years but is now tasked with developing a pivotal quarterback room in Boulder. 

“With the quarterbacks, he is going to do what he does. He has a wealth of knowledge. With him and Pat [Shurmur] and what the whole staff brings offensively, we’re going to go to another level,” Sanders said to the team with Leftwich at his side. “You should feel blessed. This guy knows what he is doing and he’s going to be an intricate part of our success. I already know that. So let’s welcome Coach Leftwich.”

Leftwich, 45, served as offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2019-22, helping lead the franchise to Super Bowl LV while coaching Tom Brady. He had a meteoric rise after starting his career as a coaching intern in 2016, ascending through the Arizona Cardinals organization. Leftwich has been interviewed for several NFL head-coaching jobs but never landed one of those coveted roles. 

Deion Sanders health update: Colorado coach reveals battle with bladder cancer during offseason absence

Shehan Jeyarajah

Having a knack for producing prolific…

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The Texas Tech football team begins preseason camp Wednesday, meaning it’s time to finally see what the Red Raiders will be capable of in 2025.

Most of that won’t be viewable in the first few days of practice, and probably won’t be noticeable in the first few games of the season. For head coach Joey McGuire, though, this is a make-or-break campaign. Thanks to the swarm of attention Texas Tech has received from its massive transfer portal haul and the financial backing of the program, the Red Raiders need to set their sights higher than a fifth-straight bowl game for just the second time in program history.

Achieving that with regular stakes would be a talking point, but it pales in comparison to what’s expected of Texas Tech this season. These are the top questions we’ll need to find answers for during preseason camp to determine what the Red Raiders’ ceiling really is.

More: Will Texas Tech football being bigger, more expensive make the Red Raiders better? | Giese

How will Texas Tech football’s new coordinators integrate their systems?

Before we get to the massive overhaul of the roster, we have to look at two of the biggest changes for the Texas Tech football team. Tim DeRuyter was fired after the defense’s putrid showing in 2024 while Zach Kittley got his first head coaching job at Florida Atlantic.

In their place are two up-and-coming names in coaching circles. Shiel Wood comes over from Big 12 rival Houston to take over as defensive coordinator, while Mack Leftwich replaces Kittley as offensive coordinator after a successful tenure at Texas State.

Each was brought in after most of the transfers were added to the fold, and they had the spring to start implementing their personal styles and flare. Returning players said there wasn’t a huge change schematically from what they were doing under the previous coaches, but…

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Deion Sanders and his medical team revealed a bladder cancer diagnosis in a Monday press conference, ending months-long speculation about the health and status of Colorado’s coach. Sanders has been largely absent from the public eye throughout the summer, though he made a truncated appearance at Big 12 Media Days earlier in July. 

Sanders’ doctor labeled the coach cancer-free after a bladder removal. Sanders was diagnosed in the spring, when he was originally tested for a routine vascular checkup. 

“This could’ve been a whole another gathering” said an emotional Sanders. 

Sanders’ oncologist, Dr. Janet Kukreja, explained that Sanders chose bladder removal instead of other treatment options due to a high rate of metastasis, with the cancer often coming back more aggressively.

By removing Sanders’ bladder, Kukreja said, the coach has been “cured” of cancer. 

“The bad side of this cancer is that if it does progress to the muscle, the rate of metastasis is about 50%,” Kukreja said. “Only about 10% people live more than five years, even with our current medical treatment, if it metastasized. We’ve very lucky to have found it at this stage where I can say the word ‘cure,’ because I don’t use that word lightly as a cancer doctor.”

Sanders kept diagnosis from team … and sons

Sanders did not tell his football team about his cancer battle until Sunday night, one day before his press conference, and even hid the details from his sons so that it wouldn’t distract from their efforts to make NFL rosters. Shedeur is battling for a roster spot as a quarterback with the Cleveland Browns; Shilo, a defensive back, is making a strong case for a roster spot with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after signing with the franchise as an undrafted free…

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