UNDATED (AP) — Arizona is No. 1 in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll. The Wildcats rose one spot to reach the top spot for the first time since January 2014. Preseason No. 1 Kansas is up to second after beating reigning NCAA champion Connecticut. Houston was No. 3, followed by Purdue after falling from No. 1 to fourth. No. 7 Gonzaga and No. 9 North Carolina each cracked the top 10 for the first time this season. No. 23 Wisconsin, No. 24 Clemson and No. 25 San Diego State were the week's new additions. They replaced Villanova, Mississippi State and Alabama.
UNDATED (AP) — UConn fell to its worst ranking in 30 years when the Huskies dropped to 17th in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll, The last time the Huskies were ranked this low was the second poll of the 1993-94 season when they were 18th. South Carolina remained the unanimous No. 1 choice. UCLA, N.C. State, Iowa and Texas rounded out the top five.
UNDATED (AP) — LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., transfer quarterbacks who have all played at least five college seasons, and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy. The Heisman winner will be announced Saturday in New York. With Nix and Penix, the Pac-12 has two Heisman finalists for the first time since 2010 when Stanford’s Andrew Luck was the runner-up to Auburn’s Cam Newton, and Oregon running back LaMichael James finished third in the balloting. The Pac-12 is in its final season with its current membership before 10 schools depart.
UNDATED (AP) — The ability of college athletes to earn endorsement money based on their celebrity status has led to millions of dollars flowing in and around universities across the country. Beyond individual businesses striking deals with athletes, the emergence of so-called collectives has led to organized and well-funded efforts to attract top recruits. Coaches have become more outspoken in noting the importance of money in landing top talent and the transfer portal has only added to their urgency.
UNDATED (AP) — Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama are in the College Football Playoff. Florida State is not and is the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to be excluded from the four-team field in its 10-year history. The Seminoles lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury two weeks ago. They continued to win but the committee passed them over. Michigan will face Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Washington will play Texas in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. The winners will play for the national championship Jan. 8 in Houston.
UNDATED (AP) — Ohio State’s Kyle McCord, Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel and Oregon State's Aidan Chiles led a parade of quarterbacks into the transfer portal on the first day of a 30-day window football players can put their names out in search of another opportunity. Arizona State’s Drew Pyne, Utah's Bryson Barnes and Baylor’s Blake Shapen also entered the portal. McCord threw for 3,170 yards and 24 touchdowns with six interceptions. Gabriel ranks in the top 10 in Division I history in yards passing and passing touchdowns. Recruiting website 247Sports lists Chiles as the No. 2 player in the portal.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jake Browning threw for 354 yards and a touchdown in his second career start, and the Cincinnati Bengals stunned the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-31 in overtime. Browning also ran for a score as the Bengals won on a Monday night for the first time since 1990 on Evan McPherson’s 48-yard field goal in the extra frame. This one was shocking and potentially costly for the Jaguars, who lost quarterback Trevor Lawrence to a sprained right ankle late in the fourth quarter.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars might have to play without quarterback Trevor Lawrence for the first time since drafting him. Lawrence sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s 34-31 overtime loss to Cincinnati and will have more tests to determine the severity of the injury. He left the locker room in a walking boot and on crutches. Left tackle Walker Little stepped on Lawrence’s ankle on a third-down play. Lawrence tried to get up, but dropped to the ground, ripped off his helmet and threw it in disgust. He was helped off the field and into the tunnel for X-rays, which were negative. Lawrence completed 22 of 29 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a score.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs once again pointed at themselves for their 27-19 loss at Green Bay on Sunday night. Patrick Mahomes threw another interception in crunch time, the Chiefs were again penalized at inopportune moments, and they were just 2 for 4 in the red zone against the Packers. Throw in some questionable decisions by referee Brad Allen's crew and the Chiefs lost for the third time in the past five weeks. Now, the defending Super Bowl champs are a game behind Baltimore and Miami, and a half-game behind Jacksonville as it prepared to play Cincinnati on Monday night, in the race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery for a high right ankle sprain. Pickett had the procedure done less than 24 hours after a 24-10 loss to Arizona. Pickett was injured in the second quarter when Cardinals defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter fell on his at the end of a 2-yard scramble. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Mitch Trubisky will start for Pittsburgh when the Steelers host New England on Thursday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Big-name free agents appear in no hurry to strike deals at the winter meetings, biding time until Shohei Ohtani potentially breaks the record for richest contract set 4 1/2 years ago by Mike Trout. And Japanese free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto could be holding up the starting pitching market. Ohtani, the two-way unicorn who has won two of the last three AL MVP awards for the Los Angeles Angels, is expected to get a deal topping $500 million — Trout’s contract was for $426.5 million over 12 years. And that’s with Ohtani sidelined from pitching until 2025 following elbow surgery.
MONDAY SCORES
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final OT Cincinnati 34 Jacksonville 31
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (4)Purdue 87 Iowa 68
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Indiana 122 Boston 112
Final New Orleans 127 Sacramento 117
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final OT Philadelphia 2 Pittsburgh 1
Final Tampa Bay 4 Dallas 0
Final Montreal 4 Seattle 2
Final Winnipeg 2 Carolina 1
Final Arizona 6 Washington 0