Ohio
Ohio State, Miami, Clemson plummet in Top 25
Ohio State, Miami and Clemson plunged in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll Sunday following their losses during a wild weekend, while eight of the top 10 teams moved up one spot behind No. 1 Oregon.
The Ducks held the top spot for the seventh straight week.
The shake-up creates two top-five matchups in conference championship games coming up on Saturday — a day before the College Football Playoff bracket is announced. Oregon, the nation’s only unbeaten team, will face No. 3 Penn State in the Big Ten game in Indianapolis. No. 2 Texas will play No. 5 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference game in Atlanta, a rematch of their top-five meeting in October won by the Bulldogs.
No. 4 Notre Dame, 11-1 and winner of 10 straight games, won’t play again until the College Football Playoff.
Ohio State, which lost for the fourth straight time to Michigan and was knocked out of the Big Ten title game, dropped five spots to No. 7, behind Tennessee.
SMU is No. 8 and followed by Indiana and Boise State. The Broncos are in the top 10 for the first time since 2011 and are the highest-ranked Group of 5 team, two spots ahead of No. 12 Arizona State, the highest-ranked Big 12 team.
If the Broncos win the Mountain West title and are one of the four highest-ranked conference champions in the final CFP rankings, they would receive a bye to the quarterfinals.
Miami’s loss at Syracuse cost the Hurricanes a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game — and possibly the CFP — dropping them six spots to No. 14. Clemson, which plays SMU in the ACC game, lost at South Carolina and fell six places to No. 18.
South Carolina has won six straight — four against ranked opponents — and earned a three-rung promotion to No. 13. Ole Miss remained No. 15 and was followed by Iowa State and BYU.
POLL POINTS
Ohio State’s 13-10 loss to Michigan marked the fifth time this season a top-five team lost to an unranked opponent, the most since it happened five times in 2017.
Miami’s 42-38 loss to Syracuse was the 12th by a top-10 team against an unranked opponent, the most since there were 12 such losses in 2021.
It’s been 10 years since South Carolina was ranked higher than in-state rival Clemson. In 2014, the Gamecocks were No. 13 following a 3-1 start and finished 7-6, and they were unranked in Steve Spurrier’s last full season as coach.
Notre Dame has its highest ranking since it was No. 4 on Dec. 22, 2020.
WHO’S IN; WHO’S OUT
No. 23 Syracuse enters the Top 25 for the first time since Oct. 30, 2022, after winning nine games for the first time since 2018 under first-year coach Fran Brown. The win over Miami was its first over a top-10 opponent since 2017.
No. 25 Memphis, which was last ranked in October 2020, knocked off Tulane as a double-digit road underdog and has 10 wins for the second consecutive year.
Tulane, which plays at No. 24 Army in the American Athletic Conference title game, went from No. 18 to falling out of the rankings.
Texas A&M, No. 20 last week, was bounced after losing at home to Texas and dropping its last three SEC games.
CONFERENCE CALL
SEC: 7 (Nos. 2, 5, 6, 11, 13, 15, 22).
Big Ten: 5 (Nos. 1, 3, 7, 8, 21).
ACC: 4 (Nos. 8, 14, 18, 23).
Big 12: 4 (Nos. 12, 16, 17, 20).
AAC: 2 (Nos. 24, 25).
Mountain West: 2 (Nos. 10, 19).
Independent: 1 (No. 4).
RANKED VS. RANKED
No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 3 Penn State in Indianapolis: For the Big Ten championship.
No. 2 Texas vs. No. 5 Georgia in Atlanta: For the Southeastern Conference championship.
No. 8 SMU vs. No. 18 Clemson in Charlotte, North Carolina: For the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
No. 10 Boise State vs. No. 19 UNLV in Boise, Idaho: For the Mountain West championship.
No. 12 Arizona State vs. No. 16 Iowa State in Arlington, Texas: For the Big 12 championship.
Ohio
No. 20 Maryland rallies from 19-point deficit to defeat No. 8 Ohio State 76-75
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Oluchi Okananwa had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Yarden Garzon added 17 points and No. 20 Maryland rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first half to beat eighth-ranked Ohio State 76-75 on Sunday.
It is the Terrapins largest comeback since Nov. 13, 2019, when they were down 19 in the fourth quarter at James Madison before posting a 70-68 victory.
Addi Mack had 14 points and Saylor Poffenbarger 13 for Maryland (21-6, 9-6 Big Ten), which beat a Top 10 team for the first time since it defeated Ohio State in the Big Ten quarterfinals two years ago.
It is also Maryland’s first win over a Top 10 team on the road since 2022 against Notre Dame.
Jaloni Cambridge had 29 points and Chance Gray a season-high 25 for the Buckeyes (22-4, 11-3), who had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Ohio State extended its lead to 38-19 on a 3-pointer by Gray before Maryland started to rally back.
The Terrapins trailed 46-31 at halftime, but got back in it in the third quarter, outscoring the Buckeyes 26-14. That included a 20-7 run at the beginning of the period that included six points by Garzon and five apiece by Okananwa and Mack.
Maryland took the lead by scoring the first 12 points of the fourth quarter. Mack’s 3-pointer with 8:17 remaining put the Terrapins up 62-60. They extended it to 69-60 before Ohio State made its comeback.
Ohio State had a 5:04 scoring drought when Maryland made its comeback.
The Buckeyes had a chance to win it after Maryland’s Kyndal Walker missed a free throw with 4 seconds remaining. Jaloni Cambridge got the rebound and Ohio State called timeout.
Cambridge tried a potential, game-winning 26-foot 3-pointer, but it went off the glass to give Maryland the win.
Up next
Maryland: Hosts Purdue on Feb. 22.
Ohio State: At Minnesota on Wednesday.
Ohio
3 killed in head-on crash on State Route 60 in Muskingum County
WAYNE TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WSYX) — A two-vehicle collision on State Route 60 claimed three lives, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred just after 3 p.m. Saturday in Wayne Township. Investigators report that 18-year-old Adam Cornelison, of Duncan Falls, was driving a 2010 Mercury Milan southbound when his vehicle traveled left of center. The Mercury struck a northbound 2025 Honda CR-V operated by Bradley Stanley, 53, of Newark.
Cornelison was pronounced dead at the scene. The Highway Patrol noted he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the impact.
Two passengers in the Honda CR-V, Mackenzie Lawrence, 29, and Brooklyn Stanley, 22, both of Newark, were taken to Genesis Hospital. Both later succumbed to their injuries.
Multiple agencies assisted at the scene, including the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and fire and EMS crews from Harrison Township, Zanesville, and Duncan Falls.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
The crash remains under investigation.
Ohio
MSU football to host highly-coveted Ohio OT prospect in April
Michigan State football will host a highly-coveted offensive lineman from Ohio for an unofficial visit in April.
Dominic Black of New Madison, Ohio will reportedly visit Michigan State in mid-April for an unofficial visit, according to Bleed Green MSU. Black will visit Michigan State on April 16, and also has upcoming visits lined up with Ohio State (March 28) and Virginia Tech (April 11).
Black is currently an unranked and unrated offensive tackle in the 2027 class. He is listed at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, and plays for Tri-village High.
While Black may not be ranked at the moment, he certainly will be at some point based on the number of schools that have already offered him. According to 247Sports, he holds offers from Michigan State, Boston College, Maryland, Minnesota, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and a host of group of six schools.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
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