No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Ohio State each placed three players on The Associated Press All-America first team released Monday.
Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow of LSU highlights the first-team offense and Heisman finalist Chase Young of Ohio State leads the defense on the team presented by Regions Bank that was chosen by a panel of 15 college football poll voters.
The top-ranked Tigers also placed receiver Ja’Marr Chase and cornerback Derek Stingley on the first team. Young was joined on the first team by Ohio State by teammates Wyatt Davis, a guard, and Jeff Okudah, a cornerback. No. 3 Clemson’s only first-team All-American was linebacker Isaiah Simmons. No. 4 Oklahoma was represented on the first team by receiver CeeDee Lamb.
No. 5 Georgia, Kentucky and No. 11 Wisconsin were the other teams with multiple first-team selections. Georgia placed tackle Andrew Thomas and safety J.R. Reed on the All-America team.
Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor is the only player to repeat as a first-team All-American this season. Badgers center Tyler Biadasz also made the first-team.
Kentucky had punter Max Duffy, and Lynn Bowden Jr., the receiver-turned quarterback, who made the first team as an all-purpose player. Bowden leads the Wildcats in rushing and receiving this season.
Ohio State led all teams with seven players selected to the three All-America teams, including quarterback Justin Fields, who made the second team.
UMAINE: Earnest Edwards, the Black Bears’ star receiver and kick returner, has been named a first team All-American kick returner by HERO Sports.
Edwards concluded his Black Bears career as Maine’s all-time record holder for kick return yards (2,311), kick return touchdowns (6) and total kick returns (90). He was also chosen as the Colonial Athletic Association’s Special Teams Player of the Year. Edwards earned All-CAA first team honors as both a wide receiver and a kick returner and was named to the 2019 New England Football Writers College Division All-New England Team as a kick return specialist.
HEISMAN: Joe Burrow’s Heisman Trophy acceptance speech has inspired more than $150,000 in donations to a food pantry in his Ohio hometown.
The effort started on Facebook on Sunday, with nearly $156,000 pledged to the Athens County Food Pantry. Many donations have come from Louisiana.
When the LSU quarterback accepted the award as college football’s best player on Saturday, he talked about growing up in Athens. His father, Jimmy, was the defensive coordinator at Ohio University from 2005-18.
“Coming from southeast Ohio it’s a very impoverished area and the poverty rate is almost two times the national average,” Joe Burrow said Saturday night. “There’s so many people there that don’t have a lot and I’m up here for all those kids in Athens and Athens County that go home to not a lot of food on the table, hungry after school. You guys can be up here, too.”
UNLV: The Mountain West Conference suspended four UNLV football players and reprimanded another for their involvement in an altercation following a game against rival Nevada.
The conference announced that Evan Austrie, Noah Bean, Giovanni Fauolo Sr. and Justin Polu were issued suspensions and Steve Jenkins a public reprimand for the postgame fight on Nov. 30.
Four Nevada players were suspended last week for their involvement in the fight.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(3) OREGON 84, UC RIVERSIDE 41: Sabrina Ionescu had a career-high 18 rebounds in her latest triple-double and the Ducks (9-1) routed the Highlanders (3-7) in Eugene, Oregon.
(15) MISSISSIPPI STATE 64, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 48: Jordan Danberry had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Andra Espinoza-Hunter also scored 12 points and the Bulldogs (9-2) won in Lafayette, Louisiana.
TOP 25: Louisville climbed a spot to No. 6 in the The Associated Press women’s Top 25 rankings, which remained mostly unchanged Monday with most teams on break for exams.
Stanford, UConn, Oregon, Oregon State and South Carolina top the poll. The Cardinal played their first game since moving up to No. 1 a few weeks ago by routing Ohio State on Sunday.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
ST. JOSEPH’S 66, ST. JOHN FISHER 64: Nicholas Curtis made a 3-pointer with 22 seconds and the Monks (3-6) beat the Cardinals (4-5) in a back-and-forth game in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The final six minutes of the game featured nine lead changes. The Monks rallied from a 52-40 deficit to take their first lead of the game, 57-56, with 6:25 to play. Curtis scored nine points during the 17-4 run, including the go ahead 3-pointer.
Curtis finished with 26 points. Jack Casale added 12 points for St. Joseph’s. Sammy Robinson had 18 points for St. John Fisher, with Dennis Hare contributing 15 points and 10 rebounds.
TOP 25: It is Kansas’ turn at No. 1 in the Top 25 men’s college basketball poll, while another blueblood – North Carolina – is out for the first time in nearly six years.
The Jayhawks (9-1) moved up one spot to become the fifth team to top the poll in an already wild season. It is the first time the AP poll has had five different No. 1s before New Year’s Day; the record for an entire season is seven, set in 1982-83.
Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke and Louisville have been the other top-ranked teams so far in a year with no dominant team.
North Carolina (6-4) had been ranked for 106 consecutive weeks dating to February 2014, including starting this year in the top 10 and peaking at No. 5 on Nov. 18.
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