Sports
Why Alabama vs. Ohio State Must Happen as Scheduled
High-profile games in the first month of the college football season are getting more and more scarce.
As the College Football Playoff has expanded, teams have felt less inclined to take on those games, instead often scheduling cupcakes in an effort to stack up wins before conference play begins.
And yet, Alabama and Ohio State — arguably the two most successful programs of the 21st century — were supposed to be preserving the good old days with a home-and-home series scheduled to begin in September of 2027.
That’s now unlikely to happen, with ESPN talking head Paul Finebaum saying in a radio interview this week that Alabama is expected to cancel that series.
That feels like a reaction to Texas opening the 2025 season at Ohio State, losing that game 14-7 and subsequently being left out of the CFP with a 9-3 record.
The only problem with that line of thinking? One can make a strong argument that loss isn’t what kept the deeply flawed Longhorns out of the playoff.
No matter how much Texas coach Steve Sarkisian campaigned for his team, they were never really in the final CFP conversation, even after a season-ending 27-17 win over previously unbeaten and third-ranked rival Texas A&M.
The Longhorns were three spots out of the playoff field because they had two other defeats, a 29-21 loss to a Florida team which won four games and an uncompetitive 35-10 loss at Georgia.
Perhaps even more crucially, Texas needed overtime to defeat Kentucky and Mississippi State, who won a combined three Southeastern Conference games.
The preseason No. 1 team, Texas didn’t really find itself and come close to that hype until after too much damage had been done to its resume.
It may be true that Texas would have made the playoff had it not opened the season at Ohio State — which will make a return trip to Austin this September.
However, that’s only half the argument. Had Texas won that game, it likely would have been afforded a mulligan for the remainder of the season.
Had the Longhorns taken three SEC losses against ranked opponents, that Ohio State road win, which would have probably been the best win any team had this regular season, may have been enough to keep Texas in the CFP conversation.
Had Texas won that game and then lost just two games the rest of the way, it likely would have been seeded remarkably well in the CFP, possibly on the fringe of the top four.
To only see the downside of those “helmet” nonconference games between the biggest brands in college football is to ignore the upside.
And it would also be bad for the sport if they largely or even entirely go away.
If the first three or four weeks of the season devolve exclusively into ranked teams obliterating overmatched opponents who shouldn’t really be on the same field, it would be a real shame.
We only get such precious little college football relative to basically every other sport. A month of it shouldn’t be wasted like that.
Sports
Reports: Dolphins hiring Mississippi State's Bush Hamdan as QB coach
New Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan coaches during practice Friday. August 2, 2024, in Lexington. Hamdan came from Boise State; he’s also coached at Missouri, the Atlanta Falcons and Florida as well. The Miami Dolphins are hiring Mississippi State associate head coach Bush Hamdan as the team’s quarterbacks coach, according to multiple reports Friday.
Hamdan only landed the Mississippi State position in December and also was to coach the team’s wide receivers.
The 40-year-old has 17 years of coaching experience, largely in the college ranks. Most recently, he was the quarterbacks coach at Missouri from 2020-22 and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at his alma mater, Boise State, in 2023 and moved to Kentucky as OC in 2024.
Hamdan has one year of coaching experience in the NFL, having served as the QBs coach for the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 when Matt Ryan threw for 4,095 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
The Hamdan hire was not the Dolphins’ first attempt to fill the quarterbacks coach position.
Miami originally hired former Broncos head coach and Packers offensive assistant Nathaniel Hackett before he took the offensive coordinator position under new Arizona Cardinals’ head coach Mike LaFluer.
The Dolphins also wanted to interview Detroit Lions offensive assistant Bruce Gradkowski for quarterbacks coach position, but the Lions blocked the interview, according to multiple reports.
Hamdan faces an uncertain quarterbacks’ room in Miami, where the future of starter Tua Tagovailoa is still up in the air. Miami general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said Thursday at a fan event that the Dolphins are “getting close to a decision” on Tagovailoa and that the team would be looking at other quarterbacks in this year’s draft.
Quinn Ewers, a seventh-round pick in last year’s draft, is the other quarterback currently under contract in Miami.
Regardless of the Tagovailoa decision, Sullivan said he expects significant competition among quarterbacks.
“I don’t know what the future holds right now, and I told Tua that. We’re working through some things,” Sullivan said. “What I can tell you is that we’re going to infuse competition into that room, whether Tua is part of the room, whether he’s not part of the room. We’re going to infuse competition into that room, like we will do in every other position,” Sullivan said.
“… You can rest assured that we will add competition to that room, one way or the other, to make it the best that we can.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Anthony Alfredo disqualified from Daytona 500 after car inspection
Feb 11, 2026; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Anthony Alfredo (62) during qualifying for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Anthony Alfredo will not drive in the Daytona 500 on Sunday after being disqualified because of a technical violation with his No. 62 car.
NASCAR officials announced the decision late Thursday after the qualifying race in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Alfredo, 26, was in tears after qualifying for the Daytona 500, then heartbroken a bit later when he was told he had been disqualified following the post-race inspection.
“I was on top of the world, and now it feels like I’m at the bottom of it,” Alfredo told The Athletic. “It feels like I’m drowning.”
NASCAR officials said they found, upon inspection, a loose transaxle cooling hose and an improperly attached driver cooling hose.
“These parts have to be fastened properly,” NASCAR Cup Series director Brad Moran said. “Unfortunately, this one piece wasn’t on the right side, and there was also another hose disconnected for driver cooling.”
The No. 62 car is owned by Beard Motorsports, which issued a statement Friday morning.
“We are proud of our team and the work they put into this NASCAR program,” the statement began.
“Our intent is to make races, contend for wins and race with integrity. We will review what happened and work to make sure we do not have these issues in the future. We are heartbroken for our entire team, our wonderful partners and Anthony and his sweet family.”
With Alfredo’s disqualification, driver B.J. McLeod was elevated to the Daytona 500 field.
Alfredo finished 24th in the Xfinity Series — now called the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series — in 2025. In limited NASCAR Cup Series appearances since 2021, he has two top-10 finishes.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Blue Jays, Astros swap outfielders Joey Loperfido and Jesus Sanchez
Oct 23, 2025; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Joey Loperfido (10) answers a question during media day before game one of the World Series at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images The Astros and Blue Jays exchanged outfielders on Friday, with Houston acquiring Joey Loperfido from Toronto for Jesus Sanchez.
This is a return to Houston for Loperfido, who was a seventh-round pick by the Astros in the 2021 MLB Draft. He hit .333 with four home runs, 14 RBIs and an .879 OPS in 41 regular-season games for Toronto in 2025.
In 91 games at Triple-A Buffalo, Loperfido batted .264 with seven homers and 44 RBIs.
The 26-year-old was traded from Houston to Toronto in July 2024, along with pitcher Jake Bloss and infielder Will Wagner, for pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. Before the trade he appeared in 38 games with the Astros in 2024, his first season in the major leagues, batting .236 with two home runs and 16 RBIs.
Sanchez, 28, appeared in 134 games between the Miami Marlins and the Astros in 2025, combining to slash .237/.304/.395 with 14 home runs, 48 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.
Sanchez is a career .239 hitter with 73 home runs and 238 RBIs in 580 games with the Astros (2020-25) and Marlins.
–Field Level Media
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Reports: Dolphins hiring Mississippi State's Bush Hamdan as QB coach
