AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Marcus Carr scored 19 points and No. 2 Texas held off No. 7 Creighton’s furious late-game rally to win 72-67. Texas led by 11 points in the second half but Creighton closed within three points a few times in the final minutes. That forced Texas to finish it at the free-throw line and Carr made two free throws with 10 seconds left to help the Longhorns stay unbeaten. Ryan Kalkbrenner had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Creighton, and Ryan Nembhard scored 17 points. The Bluejays were 4 of 27 on 3-pointers.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kevin McCullar Jr. returned from an injury to score 17 points and grab 10 rebounds, Jalen Wilson added 15 points and 13 boards, and ninth-ranked Kansas rolled to a 91-65 victory over Seton Hall in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. KJ Adams had 11 points, DaJuan Harris Jr. had 10 with seven assists and Ernest Udeh Jr. scored 10 for the Jayhawks, who now have more than a week off before visiting bitter rival Missouri for the first time in a decade next Saturday. Kadary Richmond had 17 points, but also turned the ball over seven times for the Pirates, who were just 4 of 19 from the 3-point arc in losing their third straight game. Tyrese Samuel added with 16 points for Seton Hall.
UNDATED (AP) — The College Football Playoff says it will expand to a 12-team event starting in 2024. The announcement came after the Rose Bowl agreed to amend its contract for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. That was the last hurdle CFP officials needed cleared to expand the four-team format. The expansion is expected to produce about $450 million in additional gross revenue for the conferences and schools that participate. The plan to expand the playoff was unveiled publicly in June 2021 and it took 18 months of haggling and delays to finally complete.
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Jordan Hawkins scored a career-high 26 points to lead unbeaten No. 8 UConn past Oklahoma State 74-64 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. Adama Sanogo added 20 points and Andre Jackson scored 11 for the Huskies. It was the smallest margin of victory for UConn so far this season. The Huskies’ next closest was an 82-67 win over then-No. 18 Alabama last Friday at the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Oregon. Kalib Boone scored 15 points to lead the Cowboys and Avery Anderson III added 14. UConn is off to its best start since 2013-14.
UNDATED (AP) — The College Football Playoff will include 12 teams, starting with the 2024 season. An expansion plan that was crafted for two years and haggled over for another 18 months finally cleared all the obstacles needed to go from idea to reality. The CFP announced Thursday that the current four-team system would be tripling in size. There are still a few more details to work out, like exact dates of some of the games, but college football is two years away from another dramatic change to its postseason. Here’s how it will work.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Undefeated TCU haas made a strong case to be in the four-team College Football Playoff even before its Big 12 title game this weekend against Kansas State. The Horned Frogs overcame an 18-point deficit to beat the Wildcats six weeks ago. K-State last played in the title game in 2003, and beat previously undefeated Oklahoma by four touchdowns.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — TCU’s Kendre Miller and Kansas State’s 5-foot-6 dynamo Deuce Vaughn have much different body types. But the third-year running backs that will be featured in the Big 12 championship game Saturday look pretty similar in what they do on the field. Like Vaughn, the 6-foot, 220-pound Miller can be shifty, elusive and quick. Vaughn can also be hard to tackle and doesn’t shy from contact even though he is nearly 50 pounds lighter. Vaughn has 1,295 yards rushing. Miller has rushed for 1,260 yards and 16 touchdowns, running for a score in every game this season for third-ranked TCU.
UNDATED (AP) — There was a time when a college basketball or football coach that had just landed his program on probation would be considered persona non grata. Those days appear to be over. The hiring of Sean Miller at Xavier this past offseason and Hugh Freeze by Auburn in football just this week underscore just how far the line has moved when it comes to what is acceptable for universities with open jobs as the stakes soar ever higher.
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