Mississippi

Our College Football Playoff picks: Can Oregon reach the National Championship?

Published

4 months ago

December 19, 2025

Our College Football Playoff picks: Can Oregon reach the National Championship?

With the College Football Playoff finally here, the Oregonian/OregonLive sports staff returns with its final predictions for the 2025-2026 season.

No. 5 Oregon starts its CFP campaign with a matchup against 12-seed James Madison on Saturday, in what will be the first-ever playoff game held at Autzen Stadium. The Ducks are a heavy favorite, and many of our experts predict them to make a deep playoff run after beating the Dukes.

In addition to UO hosting JMU, this weekend’s first-round CFP slate includes showdowns between No. 9 Alabama and No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 10 Miami and No. 7 Texas A&M, as well as No. 11 Tulane and No. 6 Mississippi.

Our staff has made predictions for all playoff games from now until the championship on Jan. 19. Check out the picks below.

No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma

Game details: 5 p.m. PT Friday at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma

TV channel and live stream: ABC and ESPN

Latest line: Sooners by 1½

Over/under: 40½

Ryan Clarke: Alabama 31, Oklahoma 20

James Crepea: Alabama 28, Oklahoma 21

Nick Daschel: Oklahoma 27, Alabama 23

Aaron Fentress: Oklahoma 27, Alabama 24

Sean Meagher: Alabama 28, Oklahoma 26

Joel Odom: Alabama 27, Oklahoma 20

Bill Oram: Oklahoma 28, Alabama 21

No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Texas A&M

Game details: 9 a.m. PT Saturday at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas

TV channel and live stream: ABC and ESPN

Latest line: Aggies by 3½

Over/under: 48½

Ryan Clarke: Miami 21, Texas A&M 20

James Crepea: Miami 21, Texas A&M 14

Nick Daschel: Miami 31, Texas A&M 27

Aaron Fentress: Texas A&M 31, Miami 30

Sean Meagher: Texas A&M 35, Miami 24

Joel Odom: Texas A&M 23, Miami 21

Bill Oram: Miami 42, Texas A&M 35

No. 11 Tulane at No. 6 Mississippi

Game details: 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi

TV channel and live stream: TNT, HBO Max and truTV

Latest line: Rebels by 17½

Over/under: 56½

Ryan Clarke: Mississippi 35, Tulane 13

James Crepea: Mississippi 35, Tulane 14

Nick Daschel: Mississippi 38, Tulane 24

Aaron Fentress: Miss 40, Tulane 17

Sean Meagher: Mississippi 38, Tulane 21

Joel Odom: Mississippi 35, Tulane 16

Bill Oram: Mississippi 38, Tulane 17

No. 12 James Madison at No. 5 Oregon

Game details: 4:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon

TV channel and live stream: TNT, HBO Max and truTV

Latest line: Ducks by 20½

Over/under: 47½

Ryan Clarke: Oregon 45, James Madison 7

James Crepea: Oregon 35, James Madison 7

Nick Daschel: Oregon 45, JMU 10

Aaron Fentress: Oregon 41, JMU 16

Sean Meagher: Oregon 42, James Madison 17

Joel Odom: Oregon 38, James Madison 19

Bill Oram: Oregon 40, JMU 13

Quarterfinals

Cotton Bowl: Miami-Texas A&M winner vs. No. 2 Ohio State

Game details: 4:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas

TV channel and live stream: ESPN

Ryan Clarke: Ohio State 31, Miami 17

James Crepea: Ohio State 35, Miami 14

Nick Daschel: Ohio State 34, Miami 17

Aaron Fentress: OSU 33, Texas A&M 20

Sean Meagher: Ohio State 35, Texas A&M 24

Joel Odom: Ohio State 31, Texas A&M 21

Bill Oram: Ohio State 31, Miami 24

Orange Bowl: JMU-Oregon winner vs. No. 4 Texas Tech

Game details: 9 a.m. PT on Thursday, Jan. 1 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida

TV channel and live stream: ESPN

Ryan Clarke: Oregon 27, Texas Tech 20

James Crepea: Oregon 28, Texas Tech 21

Nick Daschel: Oregon 30, Texas Tech 24

Aaron Fentress: Oregon 27, Texas Tech 24

Sean Meagher: Oregon 37, Texas Tech 35

Joel Odom: Oregon 30, Texas Tech 24

Bill Oram: Oregon 38, Texas Tech 30

Rose Bowl: Alabama-Oklahoma winner vs. No. 1 Indiana

Game details: 1 p.m. PT on Thursday, Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California

TV channel and live stream: ESPN

Ryan Clarke: Indiana 34, Alabama 24

James Crepea: Indiana 35, Alabama 28

Nick Daschel: Indiana 34, Oklahoma 24

Aaron Fentress: Indiana 29, Oklahoma 20

Sean Meagher: Indiana 33, Alabama 23

Joel Odom: Indiana 28, Alabama 17

Bill Oram: Indiana 10, Oklahoma 7

Sugar Bowl: Tulane-Mississippi winner vs. No. 3 Georgia

Game details: 5 p.m. PT on Thursday, Jan. 1 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana

TV channel and live stream: ESPN

Ryan Clarke: Georgia 20, Mississippi 10

James Crepea: Georgia 28, Mississippi 21

Nick Daschel: Georgia 30, Mississippi 7

Aaron Fentress: Georgia 30, Mississippi 22

Sean Meagher: Georgia 28, Mississippi 20

Joel Odom: Georgia 25, Mississippi 22

Bill Oram: Georgia 45, Mississippi 35

Semifinals

Fiesta Bowl: Cotton vs. Sugar winners

Game details: 4:30 p.m. PT on Thursday, Jan. 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona

TV channel and live stream: ESPN

Ryan Clarke: Ohio State 23, Georgia 20

James Crepea: Ohio State 28, Georgia 21

Nick Daschel: Georgia 29, Ohio State 23

Aaron Fentress: Ohio State 27, Georgia 26

Sean Meagher: Ohio State 28, Georgia 21

Joel Odom: Georgia 31, Ohio State 21

Bill Oram: Ohio State 42, Georgia 41

Peach Bowl: Orange vs. Rose winners

Game details: 4:30 p.m. PT Friday, Jan. 9 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

TV channel and live stream: ESPN

Ryan Clarke: Indiana 30, Oregon 24

James Crepea: Indiana 35, Oregon 24

Nick Daschel: Oregon 31, Indiana 23

Aaron Fentress: Indiana 30, Oregon 23

Sean Meagher: Indiana 27, Oregon 24

Joel Odom: Oregon 34, Indiana 24

Bill Oram: Oregon 30, Indiana 20

National Championship

Semifinal winners

Game details: 4:30 p.m. PT on Monday, Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida

TV channel and live stream: ESPN

Ryan Clarke: Ohio State 25, Indiana 21

James Crepea: Ohio State 28, Indiana 24

Nick Daschel: Georgia 28, Oregon 17

Aaron Fentress: Ohio State 22, Indiana 20

Sean Meagher: Ohio State 33, Indiana 31

Joel Odom: Georgia 30, Oregon 27

Bill Oram: Ohio State 32, Oregon 31

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Mississippi

New tariff on brand name drugs could impact Mississippi pharmacies

Published

5 hours ago

April 3, 2026

Press Room

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – A new federal tariff on imported, brand name prescription drugs could soon impact how much Mississippians pay at pharmacies.

President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday targeting imported brand name drugs with a 100 percent tariff, citing the U.S.’s “import reliance” as reason for the decision.

“We’re concerned about those patients not being able to afford their medications. When a patient cannot afford their medication, they tend to skip their medication. And so, a little problem can lead to a large problems with hospital visits,” said Dr. Andrew Clark, owner of Northtown Pharmacy.

Pharmacists are also worried about whether medications will be available at all.

“If their cost increase, those supply chains will be disrupted, which can lead to back order or medication shortage. And as a pharmacist, what we’re concerned about is adherence. If there’s a shortage in medication, then those patients are not adhering to those medications,” Clark said.

While the policy aims to lower drug costs by bringing more manufacturing to the U.S., pharmacists said that relief won’t happen overnight.

“I don’t see drug manufacturers moving next month. And so, you can’t go two and three months without getting medication or can’t afford those medications,” stated Clark.

Pharmacists encouraged anyone picking up prescriptions to ask about lower-cost alternatives, generics or patient assistance programs to help manage costs.

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Mississippi

Desoto County native helps guide NASA’s Artemis II moon mission

Published

17 hours ago

April 3, 2026

Press Room

Desoto County native helps guide NASA’s Artemis II moon mission

From Mississippi to the moon.

That’s one way to characterize the career trajectory of Matthew Ramsey, a DeSoto County native who is helping to guide Artemis II, the NASA space mission now on its way to Earth’s natural satellite.

A veteran aerospace engineer and 1993 Mississippi State graduate who pitched for the university’s “Diamond Dawgs” baseball team while studying the science and design principles that would prove invaluable to NASA, Ramsey, who hails from Hernando, is “mission manager” for the expedition that is taking astronauts around the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Working largely out of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Ramsey was responsible for ensuring the safety and efficiency of the hardware and technology for the flight, while also helping to define the priorities of the mission.

Launched April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Artemis II mission consists of four astronauts inside an Orion rocket on a 10-day, 685,000-mile “flyby” around the moon. The crew will test life-support systems, engineering maneuverability and other aspects of space travel in preparation for the return of astronauts to the lunar surface — and beyond.

“For me, it’s all about the crew and ensuring their safety as they venture to the Moon and come home,” said Ramsey, in a statement released by NASA. “Sending people thousands of miles from home and doing it in a way that sets the stage for long-term exploration and scientific discovery is an incredibly complex task.”

Referencing his college career with the Mississippi State Bulldogs, or “Diamond Dawgs,” he said: “There are a lot of similarities between mission management and pitching. You control many aspects of the tempo, and there’s a lot of weight on your shoulders.”

Ramsey worked in both private and government sectors of the tech industry before joining the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 2002, working on the design of guidance, navigation and control systems for various rocket programs. For Artemis I, the uncrewed moon-orbiting mission of 2022, he coordinated the work of multiple engineering teams.

Ramsey and his colleagues already are preparing for Artemis III, which will conduct tests in Earth’s orbit, and Artemis IV, scheduled for the spring of 2028, which will return astronauts to the lunar surface.

As a NASA press release states, Ramsey is helping to get the space agency “primed for what lies ahead: sending humans back to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years and laying the foundation for future missions that will ultimately enable human exploration of Mars.”

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Mississippi

Mississippi judges could receive pay raises exceeding $10,000

Published

1 day ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

Mississippi judges could receive pay raises exceeding ,000

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – More than 100 judges could soon receive pay raises exceeding $10,000 under legislation now awaiting the governor’s signature.

In all, 128 judges would receive raises ranging from $11,404 to $13,877.

“We’re doing that for judges to retain good judges, to attract better lawyers to the bench to serve as judges,” said Rep. Robert Johnson, who voted in favor of the pay raise.

Proposed raises by position

Circuit and chancery court judges would receive a pay raise of $13,063, bringing their new salary to $171,063.

Presiding justices of the Supreme Court would receive a pay raise of $13,877, bringing their new salary to $190,614.

Associate justices of the Supreme Court would receive a pay raise of $13,825, bringing their new salary to $187,625.

The chief justice of the Supreme Court would receive a pay raise of $12,680, bringing the new salary to $194,171.

The chief judge of the Court of Appeals would receive a pay raise of $13,275, bringing the new salary to $182,624.

Associate judges of the Court of Appeals would receive a pay raise of $11,404, bringing their new salary to $179,871.

“We want the best people in those jobs. To attract them, you got to pay them,” Johnson said.

Teacher pay comparison

While Johnson supported the judicial pay raises, he said teachers should have also received a significant pay increase.

Lawmakers approved giving teachers and assistant teachers a $2,000 raise.

Special education teachers would get an additional $2,000, for a total raise of $4,000.

Mississippi ranks last in the country when it comes to teacher pay.

According to the National Education Association, the average teacher salary in Mississippi is $53,704.

Johnson said state leaders should find funding to give educators a thriving wage, the same way they did for judges.

“We ought to have that same philosophy, and I have that same philosophy, and I think most people do with teachers, we need to do the same thing,” Johnson said. “Now, arguably, a teacher pay raise I’m talking about would be 10 to 20 times larger because there are more teachers than there are judges. But the philosophy is the same. If you want to attract the best people, you’ve got to pay the best people.”

The bill now heads to the governor’s desk. If signed into law, the new raises would take effect July 1.

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