Sport Champions

It was an easy week for the teams at the top of the college football rankings — and for most of the top 25 in general. The highest-ranked team to get a challenge this week was Arkansas, which needed a late rally to put away former Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino’s Missouri State team.

Because of this, there is no change to the College Football Playoff projection, but there is one for the New Year’s Six. As good as last week was for the Sun Belt, the conference slide backwards this week. Marshall came out flat after the win at Notre Dame, losing to Bowling Green in overtime. Louisiana also lost at Rice, and Appalachian State needed a tip drill Hail Mary to beat Troy at home.

A win is a win, though, and App State replaces Marshall as the Group of Five representative in the Cotton Bowl.

As far as

Last fall, the veteran coach watched his team tennis group improve from the year prior and punch their ticket into the UIL Team Tennis Playoffs.

“It was great for the kids to see improvement within the program. Having the same teams in our district for two years and seeing us finish one spot higher than we did the year prior was good for the program,” Dutchover said. “It lets them know we’re improving and we’re hoping to keep that trend going for years to come.”

Now, what will they do for an encore, especially going into a new district in 2022? On the boys side, Harsh Agrawal will be in that No. 1 line for the Patriots – “He’s going to be taking things to the next level,” Dutchover said.

David Ramirez will be another name to remember, along with Owen Baker and Jiayi Yang.

On the girls side, Amy

Manhattan

The excitement level inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium was palpable last weekend when the Kansas State band helped kick off a new football season by playing Wabash Cannonball as the Wildcats finished warming up for a game against South Dakota.

Young fans rocked back and forth on top of metal bleachers in the student section and one of K-State’s most storied traditions was in full swing.

But K-State band director Frank Tracz refused to play the song a second time after he heard a vulgar chant directed at the rival Kansas Jayhawks coming from the crowd. He didn’t want to give anyone another chance to chant a four-letter word that starts with the letter F and KU.

Turns out, that could

Mel Tucker appears to have found another pass rusher for Michigan State football’s future.

Ken Talley, a four-star prospect from the 2022 class, announced via Twitter on Wednesday his intention to become a Spartan. He originally signed with Penn State but entered the transfer portal on Aug. 15, less than three weeks before the season began.

A message with an MSU team spokesman was not immediately returned. It is unclear if Talley would be eligible to play this season if he does enroll in East Lansing immediately, though recruiting website Blue White Illustrated reported he cannot play this fall because he left PSU too late during preseason camp.

SABIN RAINERS:Why MSU pass rush guru Brandon Jordan’s job just got a lot bigger

The 6-foot-2, 238-pound Talley, who went to Northeast High in Philadelphia, was listed as a linebacker on his since-removed bio on the Nittany Lions’ website. Talley was

Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz said he wished Wednesday’s zoom presser with reporters were under better circumstances.

All assistants will have a turn throughout the season but Ferentz drew the first stick. It was timely, too, considering that the Hawkeyes’ offense is the main topic of conversation ahead of Saturday’s Cy-Hawk battle with in-state rival Iowa State.

All eyes were on Iowa’s offense last Saturday after an off-season of speculation and building optimism that 2021’s issues were a thing of the past.

And then Iowa’s offense took the field and the heartburn among Hawkeye Nation returned.

Against an FCS team in South Dakota State, Iowa’s offense was a mess. It finished with 166 total yards, went 4-for-17 on third down and had zero touchdowns in a 7-3 win.

“Certainly a little bit frustrating, a little disheartening to go out and perform that way,” Ferentz said. “Didn’t feel like we executed