AP Sports SummaryBrief at 11:19 a.m. EST

TCU’s loss gets Tide a last look, but Frogs should make CFP

Alabama is going to get one last look from the College Football Playoff selection committee. Whether the Crimson Tide deserves it is debatable, at best, but after both TCU and Southern California lost on championship weekend the committee has to at least talk about making Alabama the first team with two losses to make the playoff. The field of four will be set Sunday. TCU coach Sonny Dykes said he was concerned about the Horned Frogs’ playoff status, but that he also had faith in the committee.

Brady: Season goals still within reach for struggling Bucs

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady only knows one way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can pull out of a season-long funk on offense and realize their potential. Brady enters Week 13 ranked fourth in the NFL in passing with 3,051 yards. Still, the 45-year-old quarterback and a group of talented offensive playmakers around him have not performed with anywhere near the consistency of the past two seasons when the Bucs were one of the NFL’s highest-scoring teams. Tampa Bay takes a 5-6 record into Monday night’s home game against the New Orleans Saints, a NFC South rival that’s given Brady fits since he moved from New England to Tampa Bay in 2020. Brady says “hope is not a strategy” ans the only way the Bucs can realize their potential is play better and earn it.

Colorado hires Deion Sanders to turn around football program

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion Sanders is taking over as head coach at Colorado, bringing his charisma and larger-than-life persona to a beleaguered Pac-12 program that’s plunged to the bottom of college football. The deal was announced Saturday by CU athletic director Rick George. The Pro Football Hall of Famer has been at Jackson State, a historically Black college that plays in the NCAA’s second tier of Division I, since 2020. Sanders has guided the Tigers to consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference titles. The Tigers beat Southern in the SWAC championship game Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi. A few hours later, Colorado announced he was coming to Boulder. The Tigers went 27-5 in the Sanders era. Colorado is coming off a 1-11 season.

American soccer success in World Cup remains a dream

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — American soccer success on the world stage remains a dream. The U.S. team looked better in this year’s World Cup, but the results were the same as in 2010 and 2014 _ elimination in the round of 16 following a 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands. Draws against Wales and England were followed by a 1-0 win over Iran that assured a spot in the knockout rounds, and the U.S. achieved the minimum to avoid being branded a failure. Going home after the group stage would have been a disappointment given the expectations for the team coach Gregg Berhalter rebuilt.

No. 3 TCU loses 31-28 in OT to K-State in Big 12 title game

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ty Zentner kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime as 13th-ranked Kansas State beat No. 3 and previously undefeated TCU 31-28 in the Big 12 championship game. That leaves the 12-1 Horned Frogs to wait until Sunday to find out if they had already done enough to get into the four-team College Football Playoff. TCU could still get in the playoff. Its case was helped when fourth-ranked Southern California lost to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game. Deuce Vaughn ran for 130 yards and a touchdown and Will Howard threw two TDs for the 10-3 Wildcats.

No. 1 Georgia romps into playoff with 50-30 SEC win vs LSU

ATLANTA (AP) — With all sorts of turmoil behind them, No. 1 Georgia left no doubt about the top team heading into the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs dismantled No. 11 LSU 50-30 in the Southeastern Conference championship game, earning a return trip to Atlanta on New Year’s Eve for the Peach Bowl. Stetson Bennett’s threw a season-high four touchdown passes. Christopher Smith gave Georgia an early spark with a heads-up play that turned a seemingly harmless blocked field goal into a 96-yard TD. Georgia also turned a deflected pass off an LSU receiver’s helmet into an interception that set up a TD.

McIlroy says Norman rift began with his ‘brainwash’ comment

Rory McIlroy is detailing how his relationship soured with Greg Norman in a lengthy interview with the Sunday Independent in Ireland. He says he thought they had patched up their differences in April. McIlroy says that changed when Norman accused him of being “brainwashed” by golf’s ruling class. McIlroy says at that point he wanted to make it his business to be a royal pain to Norman. McIlroy has been taking digs at Norman and his LIV Golf venture ever since. McIlroy also says his close friendship with Sergio Garcia ended over a testy text exchange at the U.S. Open.

In Georgia, how sports explain a political battleground

SMYRNA, Ga. (AP) — Georgia’s U.S. Senate race between Republican Herschel Walker and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock highlights how sports and college loyalties explain a political battleground. It goes beyond just the fact that Walker is a University of Georgia and NFL football icon. Sports and politics have long intersected in America. For Republicans, it means embracing the Georgia Bulldogs, the Atlanta Braves and their fan bases that trend older, whiter and less urban than the general population. Democrats have a more demographically diverse, urban base and are less likely to use sports to connect with voters.

AP source: Liberty hiring Coastal Carolina coach Chadwell

Liberty is hiring Coastal Carolina’s Jamey Chadwell to replace Hugh Freeze as the Flames’ head football coach. A person with knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press that a deal was done but spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement from Liberty was still in the works. Freeze left Liberty after four years to accept the same position at Auburn. Chadwell has guided the Chanticleers to a 31-6 record the last three season and consecutive bowl games. The Chants also appeared at No. 23 in the AP Top 25 but have lost their last two games.

Julianne Sitch 1st woman to coach men’s soccer to NCAA title

SALEM, Va. (AP) — Julianne Sitch has become the first woman to coach a men’s soccer team to an NCAA championship. She guided the University of Chicago to the Division III title. Chicago defeated Williams College 2-0 for the Maroons’ first NCAA men’s soccer title in program history. The title capped an undefeated season (22-0-1) and set a school record for wins in Sitch’s first year as head coach. The 39-year-old Sitch was an assistant coach for the Chicago women’s soccer team from 2015-17. She played college soccer at DePaul, setting career records in goals and assists. She also played for several teams in the NWSL, including the Chicago Red Stars.