UNDATED (AP) – South Carolina is the consensus No. 1 team in the preseason AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll. The defending national champions went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team. 1 last year and has been the top team for 20 consecutive weeks. Stanford, Texas, Iowa and Tennessee round out the top five. UConn is sixth, the first time since 2006 that the Huskies are not in the top five in the preseason poll. Louisville, Iowa State, Notre Dame and NC State make up the rest of the top 10.
GREENSBORO, NC (AP) – Top-ranked North Carolina is the favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference. In addition, Tar Heels big man Armando Bacot is the preseason pick for the league’s player of the year. The Tar Heels received 90 out of 101 first-place votes from members of the media during last week’s preseason league media day in Charlotte. This put them ahead of the seventh Duke. The Tar Heels return four starters after reaching the NCAA tournament in their first season under coach Hubert Davis. Duke has a preseason pick for league rookie of the year in 7-foot-1 freshman Dereck Lively II.
UNDATED (AP) – The first half of the college football season has been defined by coaching changes, programs pressed for success and several traditional powers hitting the skids. In the next seven weeks, there will be more head coaches fired and fewer hired. Expect some seasonal changes, too. AP College Football Secretary Ralph Russo says the Heisman Trophy race will be decided at this weekend’s conference as well. He is also taking Ohio State over Alabama in the national title game.
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) – Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader and Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei headline an unbeaten ACC showdown that almost no one saw coming at the start of the year. The fifth-place Tigers and Uiagalelei had a lot to prove after missing their first league title since 2014. The 14th-place Orange and Shrader were coming off a troubled season in 2021 that had coach Dino Babers on the hot seat. Now, the teams face off Saturday for control of the ACC Atlantic Division race and a spot in the league championship game.
UNDATED (AP) – Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, two Big Ten running backs and Alabama pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr. confirms The Associated Press midseason All-America team. The team was selected by AP Top 25 voters. Hooker is second in the nation in passer efficiency rating at 187.7 and has accounted for 18 touchdowns. Joining Hooker in the backfield are Illinois’ Chase Brown, who leads the nation in rushing yards, and Michigan’s Blake Corum, who has scored 13 touchdowns for the fourth-ranked Wolverines.
UNDATED (AP) – North Carolina is No. The state champion from last season returns four of its five starters and received 47 of the 62 first-place votes. Gonzaga is No. 2, followed by Houston and Kentucky. Kansas and Baylor, the last two national champions, are tied for fifth. Duke, led by new coach Jon Scheyer, is seventh with UCLA, Creighton and Arkansas rounding out the top 10. The Big 12 and SEC lead the way with five teams each in the Top 25.
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