Hafley, Jurkovec to make home debuts for Boston College

BOSTON (AP) — Alumni Stadium will be empty when new Boston College coach Jeff Hafley and quarterback Phil Jurkovec get their first look at a game day in Chestnut Hill. But if things keep going like this, they’ll be around for a lot more. BC began the Hafley era with a 26-6 victory over Duke last...

For Donovan, job with Bulls 'came out of left field'

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls weren't on Billy Donovan's radar when he and the Oklahoma City Thunder parted ways after five successful seasons. Things sure changed in a hurry. “I wasn’t looking at anything," Donovan said. "It was five great years in Oklahoma City. I think it’s...

No. 6 LSU and Miss. St. clash in test of new faces, systems

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — No. 6 LSU begins its national title defense with a game featuring numerous new faces on both sidelines. The Tigers have Myles Brennan taking over at quarterback for Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow while Mississippi State has a new coach in Mike Leach whose reputation for...

No. 6 LSU opens title defense vs. Mississippi State

Mississippi State at No. 6 LSU, Saturday at 3:30 ET (CBS). Line: LSU by 16 1/2. Series record: LSU leads 75-35-3. WHAT’S AT STAKE? Defending national champion LSU seeks to justify the top 10 ranking it received despite seeing 14 of last season’s players selected in the 2020 NFL draft, tying a record...

Big 12 conference openers include 1st games for Baylor, TCU

Some things to watch Saturday in the Big 12, when conference play starts in the league's 25th season. It will be the season openers for TCU and Baylor, who weren't able to play their scheduled non-conference games because of COVID-19: GAME OF THE WEEK Kansas State (0-1) at No. 3 Oklahoma (1-0): The Sooners had a...

New Kings GM McNair commits to Luke Walton as coach

New Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair said he is looking forward to working with coach Luke Walton to revive a franchise that has the longest current playoff drought in the NBA. McNair was hired last week after a long tenure as an executive in Houston to replace Vlade Divac. He backed Walton publicly...

Mizzou's Drinkwitz: transparency trumps competitive edge

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eli Drinkwitz could have kept private the COVID-19 testing numbers within the Missouri football program. The new coach of the Tigers could have pleaded ignorance when it came to the number of positive results, or the amount of contact tracing that has been done. He could have leaned...

College Football Picks: SEC start in most unusual season

The Southeastern Conference is set to kick off its 10-game, league-only schedule, making this Saturday the most normal-feeling yet of a most unusual season. As of Wednesday, all the SEC openers were still on. The Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference were also scheduled to have all their teams playing this...

Bulls snag big name in coaching search, hire Billy Donovan

CHICAGO (AP) — Billy Donovan wasn't on the market for long — hardly a shocker given he's won everywhere he's coached. That he's headed to Chicago might be a surprise, only because big and bold moves have been few and far between for the team. Then again, these aren't the same old Bulls. Chicago...

The Chicago Bulls have hired Billy Donovan as their new head coach