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College playoff still creating controversy

When the College Football Playoff system was mercifully installed back in 2014, coaches, players, fans and media breathed a collective sigh of relief. The process of determining the national champion would presumably finally be cut and dried, and decided on the field, with none of the maddening ambiguity that had previously been generated by the ineffective Bowl Championship Series and poll formats. But in 2020, a year in which nothing in sports or otherwise has gone smoothly or made any sense, there’s a big controversy among the field that was selected for the four-team playoff by ...

Lions can let loose vs. Illini

Some nitpicking as Penn State’s home season (for sure this time) concludes: n With three games canceled, and uncertainty over the availability of some key Ohio State players in the Big Ten title game, there’s an anti-climatic cloud over the entire conference today, and, surely, Penn State’s matchup with Illinois (5:30 p.m., Fox Sports1) is part of that. Absent the emotion of even a fanless senior day, and facing a team that has already fired its coach, this is a perfect opportunity for new wrinkles and a little fun on both sides because neither team has anything to lose. Both ...

PSU football: McGloin’s amazing story shows ultimate underdog

Christian Hackenberg was a five-star recruit. So was Anthony Morelli. Penn State’s recent four-star quarterback recruits include Rob Bolden, Pat Devlin, Paul Jones and Kevin Newsome. I can hear your collective groans. Not a single one of those guys ever went on to start a game at quarterback in the NFL. You know who did? Of course you do. Matt McGloin. A zero-star recruit. A walk-on. A guy who had the biggest chip on his shoulder that you’ll ever see. A guy with … wait for it … moxie. I never get tired of writing or talking about McGloin. In my 15 years on the ...

Finish line for PSU football season, mercifully, should be near

Kickoff Saturday: Michigan State (2-4) at Penn State (2-5), Noon TV: ABC Latest line: Penn State is favored by 14.5 points With all the uncertainty that has surrounded this year, college football’s goal was really pretty simple: Just get the season in. And for the Nittany Lions, by ...

MLB deals blow to heartland

(Editor’s note: This is a national commentary on MLB’s reduction of minor league franchises from 160 to 120. The Altoona Curve survived; the State College Spikes did not but will be participating in a new MLB sponsored league for draft prospects next summer.) Minor league baseball hasn’t been able to take the field in more than a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. When it finally returns, it will look a whole lot leaner. That’s not an encouraging development for a sport that desperately needs to develop new fans at the grassroots level. In a classic game of ...

Area gyms remain silent for now

Tonight was supposed to be the first night of competition for the winter scholastic sports season, but in District 6, there won’t be any tip-offs, grappling or dives into a pool. And there might not be for quite some time. The PIAA decided not to delay the season at its meeting Wednesday, but no schools in the Mirror’s region have met the 15-practice preseason rule to begin competition tonight and likely won’t reach that mark any time soon, especially with Thursday’s announcement that all sports at K-12 schools have been shut down starting Saturday until Jan. 4 by the ...