Articles written by Eric Olson
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College fans might not notice new first-down clock rule, but some coaches are wary of its effect
The NCAA rule change that drew the most notice in the offseason might go mostly unnoticed by fans once the college football season is underway. For the first season since 1967, the clock will continue to run, as it does in the NFL, when a team makes...
Breaking down the teams playing for national championship at College World Series
A look at the eight teams competing in the College World Series, which starts Friday at Charles Schwab Field. (Capsules in order of CWS opening games. Coaches' records through super regionals): ORAL ROBERTS (51-12) Coach: Ryan Folmar (370-222 in 11...
Play ball: Things to know entering NCAA baseball regionals
The NCAA baseball tournament opens Friday with play in 16 double-elimination regionals. Regional winners advance to best-of-three super regionals next week, and the final eight go to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, beginning June 16....
Conference tournaments to set stage for NCAA baseball regionals
Most of the 30 automatic qualifiers and 34 at-large picks for the NCAA baseball tournament will be determined in this week's conference tournaments. Penn and Army became the first two qualifiers Monday. The Quakers won the Ivy League with a 16-3...
Kansas coach Bill Self 'day to day' at March Madness
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Bill Self's status for Kansas' opener in the NCAA Tournament was uncertain Wednesday, though assistant coach Norm Roberts said the Jayhawks remain hopeful he'll be on the bench when they play Howard on Thursday. Kansas'...
Big 12 teams enter final stretch knowing there are no gimmes
With two weeks left in the regular season, six teams remain alive for the second spot in the Big 12 championship game and others are still trying to become bowl-eligible. Based on how the season has played out so far, it's likely many of these final...
AP Big 12 midseason honoree Martinez enjoys winning feeling
Adrian Martinez had done just about everything in his first four years of college football except play on a winning team. Those wins are finally coming for him at Kansas State. The 17th-ranked Wildcats (5-1, 3-0) sit atop the Big 12 standings in...
Mississippi wins first CWS title by sweeping Oklahoma
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The last team to get into the NCAA baseball tournament was the last team standing. Mississippi scored twice on wild pitches in a three-run eighth inning and the Rebels won their first national baseball title, sweeping Oklahoma...
Big Ten's best defenses come out of spring in rebuild mode
Coordinator changes and heavy player personnel losses made it a spring of uncertainty for the top Big Ten defenses. Start with Wisconsin, which has been in the national top five in total defense three straight years and lower than that just twice...
Thanks for the memories: This isn't your dad's Nebraska-OU
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska's visit to third-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday is a trip down memory lane for the over-40 set of college football fans. It's the 50th anniversary of the "Game of the Century," the showdown between the nation's Nos. 1...
Anxiety abounds in Big 12 towns with OU, Texas departures
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Sipping a beer with friends on a weekday afternoon at Wallaby's Bar and Grille, Chris Clough explained life as an Iowa State fan. "You have to know that you're going to see so many painful years and you just have to get over it,"...
Following their passion, women go far to play flag football
FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — From a distance, it looks like college kids in sweat clothes tossing a football around on a campus green space. Draw closer, and it's apparent this is no sandlot game. A coach is explaining routes he wants receivers to run on...
Huskers looked at backing out of game at Oklahoma
The Nebraska athletic department acknowledged Friday that it explored the possibility of backing out of this fall's game at Oklahoma before ultimately deciding to go ahead with it. The game is Sept. 18 in Norman, Oklahoma, and will mark the 50th...
Nebraska gets past Penn State 30-23 in McCaffrey's 1st start
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska appeared ready to blow out Penn State, then suddenly found itself in a close game, the kind the Cornhuskers have been known to lose under third-year coach Scott Frost. The Nittany Lions twice drove deep into Nebraska...
AP Top 25: No. 2 Alabama closes gap with Clemson; Liberty in
Clemson remained No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, but not by much. Trevor Lawrence's absence because of COVID-19 and the Tigers' narrow win over Boston College created a divide among the 62 writers and broadcasters on...
Number of eliminated college sports programs nearing 100
Four-year colleges facing budget shortfalls stemming from the pandemic are approaching an unwelcome milestone: In coming days, the number of eliminated sports programs will almost surely pass 100. Research by The Associated Press found a total of 97...
NCAA's greatest hits: Austin Carr's record 61 points in 1970
Austin Carr played for Notre Dame in an era when prolific scorers dominated college basketball. LSU's Pete Maravich was scoring 40 a night and still No. 1 on the points list. Niagara's Calvin Murphy, Purdue's Rick Mount and St. Bonaventure's Bob...
College golfer in hijab out to blaze trail for Muslim girls
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Noor Ahmed outwardly lives her Muslim faith, and even growing up in a state as diverse as California she says she encountered hostility on the street, in school and on the golf course. One of the top junior golfers in Northern...
Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray is named the AP Player of the Year
Kyler Murray is The Associated Press college football Player of the Year, the second straight Oklahoma quarterback and fifth overall to win the award since it was established in 1998. Murray beat out Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on 56 ballots...
Oklahoma State follows slow start with a run at Big 12 title
No one would have argued in late March with prognosticators who picked Oklahoma State to finish in the bottom tier of the Big 12 again. Just how far the Cowboys (27-14-1, 15-3) have come since then was apparent in their dominating weekend sweep of...
Kansas is No. 1 in Midwest Region featuring all-time greats
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Midwest Region could be called the NCAA Tournament's Blue Blood Bracket. Top three seeds Kansas, Duke and Michigan State have combined for 271 wins in 118 tournament appearances, 39 Final Fours and 10 national championships...
Lawsuit says NCAA, Riddell didn't educate on head injuries
The NCAA and helmet maker Riddell are defendants in separate class-action lawsuits alleging they failed to protect football players from long-term head injuries and didn't educate them about the risks. The lawsuits were filed Monday in federal courts...
Penn St. kicker says he got treatment for eating disorder
Penn State coach James Franklin said Tuesday he's proud of kicker Joey Julius for how he's dealt with an eating disorder that kept him out of spring practice and led him to being admitted to a clinic for treatment this past summer. Julius said in a F...