Red Raiders end season with loss to Spring Hill

The first 12-team edition of the College Football Playoff will begin on Dec. 20 and end exactly one month later, with the national championship game set to be played in Atlanta, it was announced Wednesday. The expanded playoff format will start with four first-round games played at campus sites on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21. Two of those games will be broadcast on TNT, which has a sublicense with ESPN. ESPN will carry the remaining nine games of the playoffs, with two of the first-round games airing on both ESPN and ABC. The quarterfinals begin on New Year's Eve with the Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by a trio of games on New Year's Day. The Peach Bowl will begin at 1 p.m., the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. and the Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m. Both semifinals will start at 7:30 p.m. The first, the Orange Bowl, will be played on Jan. 9, and the second, the Cotton Bowl, will take place on Jan. 10. The championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The playoff field will be announced on Dec. 8 after the conclusion of conference championship weekend. The top four seeds will receive a first-round bye. --Field Level Media

PARIS (AP) — Catch up on the French Open with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about what happened at the clay-court Grand Slam tennis tournament, what the upcoming schedule is, how to watch, what the betting odds are and more:

Miami transfer guard and Philadelphia native Wooga Poplar has committed to Villanova, The Philadelphia Inquirer and On3 Sports reported Wednesday. Poplar also considered Oregon and garnered interest from a host of schools, including Kentucky, Arkansas and Kansas, per the reports. He has one year of eligibility remaining. Poplar withdrew his name from the NBA draft before the deadline. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 29 games (all starts) for the Hurricanes last season. Poplar has started 65 of 66 games the past two seasons in Miami. He averaged 7.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in three seasons there. He helped the Hurricanes make a run to the Final Four in 2023. He shot 38.5 percent from the 3-point line last season. --Field Level Media

Five-star linebacker Zayden Walker, a Top 25 player in the Class of 2025, committed to Georgia on Wednesday. Walker, the second-ranked linebacker in the class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, chose the Bulldogs over Florida State, Miami, Penn State and South Carolina among 29 offers. "It felt like home," Walker told On3 Sports. "I made my decision to commit to Georgia over the weekend when I was on my official visit. I had been close to committing before, but that was the right time. My family was there, I knew that is where I wanted to go and I made my decision." The Schley County High School standout from Ellaville is considered the 23rd-best prospect in the class, fifth-best out of Georgia, according to 247. --Field Level Media

Kansas sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson will miss the 2024-25 season after tearing his patellar tendon during a workout, Jayhawks head coach Bill Self announced Wednesday. Jackson will have surgery in the coming days with a recovery process that's expected to take a full year. The 6-foot-3 guard suffered the injury on Tuesday. He is expected to make a full recovery. "We are all crushed by this," Self said in the statement. "Elmarko has had a terrific spring. He has worked so hard and improved so much." Jackson averaged 4.3 points and 18.6 minutes in 34 games (17 starts) last season as a freshman. --Field Level Media

Corey Linsley released by Chargers, expected to retire

The Los Angeles Chargers released Corey Linsley on Wednesday, paving the way for the former All-Pro center to retire. Linsley, 32, competed in three games last season before being diagnosed with a non-emergent heart issue. He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list on Sept. 30. Linsley told reporters in January that he was "99 percent" sure that he would retire. If he does, he will finish his career without having allowed a sack since Week 10 of the 2020 season -- 1,572 consecutive pass-block snaps, CBS Sports reported. Linsley, a first-team All-Pro in 2020 and a 2021 Pro Bowl selection, served as a team captain in each of his three seasons with the Chargers after signing a five-year, $62.5 million deal as a free agent prior to the 2021 season. He spent his first seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers. "Corey is everything you hope for and more in an NFL player," Chargers president of football operations John Spanos said. "The consummate professional, his mentorship of younger players, work ethic, integrity, leadership, competitive drive and sense of humor all played a role in earning him the 'C' on his jersey throughout the entirety of his time with us. And as good of a football player as he is, Corey's an even better person. "To that end, at a time when he and his wife, Anna, were growing their family from two children to four while with the Chargers, they still made it a priority to serve the community as passionate advocates for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) -- work that earned Corey not one, but two Walter Payton Man of the Year nominations during his career. "While he has taken his last snap in the NFL, Corey's story is far from being written. We cannot wait to see what the next chapter has in store for the Linsleys." Linsley started all 132 games he played with the Packers and Chargers. He was selected by Green Bay in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. --Field Level Media

Cornerback Cameron Sutton signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday. Financial terms were not disclosed by the team. Sutton was released by the Detroit Lions on March 21, one day after authorities in Florida announced they were looking for him following allegations of aggravated battery-domestic violence. That matter was resolved after he entered a pretrial diversion program, allowing Sutton to meet with the Steelers in April. He is now set to rejoin the team that selected him in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Sutton, 29, joined the Lions on a three-year, $33 million contract in March 2023. He started all 17 regular-season games with the Lions, posting 65 tackles, an interception, one forced fumble and six passes defensed. He started Detroit's three playoff games as well, adding eight tackles and breaking up three passes. Also on Wednesday, the Steelers signed defensive back Grayland Arnold to a one-year contract and released tight end Izaiah Gathings. Financial terms for Arnold were not disclosed by the team. Arnold, 26, had 18 tackles and a forced fumble in eight games last season with the Houston Texans. He had 33 tackles in 26 career games with the Philadelphia Eagles (2020) and Texans (2021-23). Gathings, 23, signed with the Steelers on May 29, nearly a month after being waived by the Kansas City Chiefs. --Field Level Media

Browns sign GM Andrew Berry, Kevin Stefanski to extensions

The Cleveland Browns signed general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski to contract extensions on Wednesday. Terms of the deals were not disclosed for Berry and Stefanski, who arrived in Cleveland ahead of the 2020 season. Two playoff berths and two NFL Coach of the Year awards for Stefanski apparently were reason enough for the Browns to extend their contracts. "We are incredibly fortunate to have Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry leading the Cleveland Browns," team owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement. "Since the day they were hired, each has worked tirelessly to help the Cleveland Browns win. "We are proud of what they and the team have achieved, but Kevin and Andrew would be the first to say that Browns fans deserve even more. Their leadership, collaborative approach, and ability to overcome obstacles bode well for the future of this franchise." The Browns have posted a 37-30 record under their watch, highlighted in 2020 by qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Cleveland overcame season-ending injuries to star running back Nick Chubb and starting quarterback Deshaun Watson to finish with an 11-6 record in 2023 and a postseason berth. Seven players on the Browns were selected to the Pro Bowl. "Despite facing multiple player injuries and using five different starting quarterbacks, Andrew and his staff built a roster that adapted well, while Kevin and his staff led the team to its second playoff appearance in four years, earning Coach of the Year honors for the second time in that period," the Haslams said. "They are two of the brightest people we know, and selfless people who only care about what is best for the Cleveland Browns. We are thrilled that Kevin and Andrew will remain with the team for the future." --Field Level Media