Big East football keeps $100m in split

NEW YORK | Big East football schools will get almost all of a $110 million pot in a deal that will allow seven departing basketball schools to keep the name Big East and start playing in their own conference next season, a person familiar with the negotiations says.

Te'o provides answers, but more may be asked

NEW YORK | Manti Te'o tried to put one of the strangest sports stories in memory behind him, insisting he was the target of an elaborate online hoax in which he fell for a fake woman created by pranksters, then admitting his own lies made the bizarre ordeal worse.

Saban, Kelly lead Bama and ND out of darkness

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. | There were some dark days at Notre Dame and Alabama, dark years really, during which two of college football's proudest programs flailed and foundered.

Notre Dame-Alabama could blow up TV ratings Monday night

MIAMI | At a time when college football was generally considered the domain of eastern blue bloods, Notre Dame and Alabama were upstart teams that gave blue collar fans a chance to tweak the elite.

Notre Dame's Kelly wins AP coach of the year

SOUTH BEND | After two seasons as Notre Dame coach, Brian Kelly decided he wasn't spending enough time doing the best part of his job: coaching players.

Big East non-football schools consider departing

NEW YORK | The seven Big East schools that don't play FBS football are considering making a break from the drastically reshaped conference — and how best to go about doing it.

No. 2 Alabama places 4 on AP All-America team

NEW YORK | Alabama is No. 1 when it comes to All-Americans.

Notre Dame vs. Alabama: Star power, power football

NEW YORK | On one side, a blossoming dynasty from the college football capital of the Deep South. On the other, the sport's most famous team, trying to reclaim its place among the elite.

Irish trying to turn USC rivalry their way

The Notre Dame-USC rivalry has been defined by dominance over the last four decades. Two of college football's most celebrated teams have alternated long runs of success in the series that have coincided with the ups and downs of the programs.

Rutgers joins the Big Ten, leaving Big East behind

PISCATAWAY, N.J. | As the Big East was being picked apart, Rutgers was looking for a way out and a new place to show off a football program that has been resurrected in the past decade.

SEC gives up control of national title race

That Alabama lost really wasn't shocking. Surprising, sure, but not shocking. The Crimson Tide is tremendously talented, exceedingly well coached, but as LSU showed last week, vulnerable.

Bama, Oregon, K-State, ND rise to top of AP poll

Call them the fantastic four. Or maybe the final four in the race for No. 1.

Alabama runs No. 1 streak to school-best 8 weeks

Even better than the Bear.

No. 7 Notre Dame stops No. 17 Stanford in OT

SOUTH BEND | TJ Jones made a reaching 7-yard touchdown catch in overtime and No. 7 Notre Dame stopped Stanford inches from the goal line to beat the 17th-ranked Cardinal 20-13 Saturday.

Arkansas plunges in AP Top25; K-State surges

Arkansas took the plunge. The Razorbacks went from eighth to out of the rankings after a 34-31 overtime loss to Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday night in Little Rock.

USC brushes off sanctions to be No. 1 in AP Top 25

NEW YORK | Southern California is No. 1 in the AP Top 25, tossing off the weight of NCAA sanctions and returning to a familiar place in the rankings — with a boost from LSU's problems.

Playoff dollars could spark calls to pay players

NEW YORK | The new playoff system means big money for major college football, as much as a half-billion dollars per year just in television rights alone.

Presidents approve four-team playoff

WASHINGTON | College football will finally have a playoff. Come 2014, the BCS is dead.

Next step on path to playoff: Presidents chime in

NEW YORK | The only things standing in the way of a major college football playoff are 12 university presidents.

BCS changes: Why now? Who wins and who loses?

CHICAGO | College football is headed toward a new era, with a four-team playoff deciding the champion starting in 2014. As the conference commissioners have said over and over during the six months it has taken for them to come up with a playoff plan to present to university presidents for a…

Road to BCS changes filled with bumps

The guys in charge of changing the BCS are headed back to Chicago, hoping to make more progress at a meeting today than they did the last time they were there.

Former PSU star Lydell Mitchell: 'We won't let Joe's legacy die'

Former Penn State star Lydell Mitchell visited Joe Paterno about a week and a half ago, hoping to get just a moment with his ailing coach.

RG3 wins first Heisman Trophy for Baylor

NEW YORK | Robert Griffin III beat out preseason favorite Andrew Luck for the Heisman Trophy, dazzling voters with his ability to throw, run and lead Big 12 doormat Baylor into the national rankings.

Delany OK with no automatic bids, as long as Big Ten has Rose Bowl

NEW YORK | If college football leaders want to eliminate automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series, Jim Delany won't stand in the way.

Clemson, KSU tumble; top 5 stay same in AP ranking

NEW YORK | Clemson and Kansas State tumbled in The Associated Press college football poll after losing for the first time this season, and the top five teams in the rankings held their ground heading into the showdown between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama.

Stanford moves up BCS standings after big win

Stanford's first win of the season against a ranked team helped Andrew Luck and the Cardinal move up in the BCS standings.

SEC, Big 12 take top spots in 1st BCS standings

LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State hold the top four spots in the first BCS standings, setting up two potentially huge conference games that could determine which teams play for the national title.

AP source: Big East to invite Boise St, 3 others

NEW YORK | The Big East plans to invite Boise State, Air Force and Navy as football-only members, and Central Florida to compete in all sports, after it doubles the exit fee for current members to $10 million.

Alabama moves to No. 2 behind LSU in AP poll

LSU and Alabama are the top two teams in the country one month before their game in Tuscaloosa.

State of college football: Strong yet sullied

This is the state of college football in 2011:

Fan apathy could be greatest threat to BCS

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. | Playoff-pushing lawmakers and political action committees are far from the biggest problems facing the Bowl Championship Series these days.

Newton wins Heisman in landslide

NEW YORK | Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy - as if there was any doubt.

Schererville's Palm discusses BCS national championship game

TCU coach Gary Patterson was in the same position last year, with nothing to do on championship Saturday except watch the games and hope for a result that could send his Horned Frogs to the national title game.

Notre Dame downs Army at Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK | Instead of a walkthrough on Friday, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly gave his players a chance to soak in the sites at Yankee Stadium.

Notre Dame comes to the Big Apple to face Army

NEW YORK | Lincoln Center was picked as the site of Notre Dame's pep rally, featuring the marching band and the leprechaun. A goal post now stands where Alex Rodriguez usually takes his hacks and another is planted in front of the outfield wall.

Midshipmen pound Notre Dame again 35-17

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. | The only thing shocking about this Notre Dame loss to Navy was the ease with which the Midshipmen handled Brian Kelly's Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame vs. Navy: Now it's a rivalry

For more than four decades, it was just as reliable as the leaves falling off the trees in South Bend, Notre Dame plays Navy, the Fighting Irish win.

Midseason report on college football

If there was still any doubt that being a so-called traditional power in college football isn't what it used to be, consider the AP Top 25 halfway through the 2010 season.

Swarbrick: Expansion could force ND into move

NEW YORK | Notre Dame wants to remain independent in football, but that might not matter if the Big Ten and Pac-10 decide to expand and create sweeping changes to major college sports.

Swarbrick: Expansion could force ND into move

NEW YORK | Notre Dame wants to remain independent in football, but that might not matter if the Big Ten and Pac-10 decide to expand and create sweeping changes to major college sports.

Alabama beats Texas in national championship game

PASADENA, Calif. | Alabama is on top of college football again, thanks to its big-play defense and punishing ground game.

Ingram delivers Alabama its first Heisman

NEW YORK | Mark Ingram completed the trophy case at Alabama, delivering the first Heisman to a school that boasts one of the richest histories in college football.

Bradford's biggest score: the Heisman Trophy

NEW YORK | Sam Bradford's biggest score: the Heisman Trophy.

Two-pronged QB attack gives LSU options

NEW ORLEANS | Most of the season, Ohio State smothered opposing offenses.

A playoff would be nice

Everybody wants a college football playoff except the people who matter most.

First of his kind

NEW YORK | Tim Tebow needed only two years of college to graduate to Heisman Trophy winner, putting the sophomore in a class by himself.

The Final Four: Tebow, McFadden, Brennan and Daniel

NEW YORK | Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, trying to become the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, and Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the runner-up for last year's award, were among the four finalists selected Wednesday.

Mountaineers come tumbling down in upset loss

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. | The curse of No. 2 claimed another victim.

Ohio State No. 1, LSU No. 2 in AP Top 25, Coaches' polls

NEW YORK | Let's try this again.

Pitt, OU can create BCS mess with wins today

Stanford did it, then Oregon State. Rutgers was next. When Florida State pulled it off it wasn't much of a surprise. By the time Arizona beat Oregon two weeks ago, the Wildcats were the fifth unranked team to beat No. 2 this season.