Red Raider Soccer falls short of District Championship

The expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams means there will be college games aplenty during the holidays and after New Year's Day in 2025. And in a scheduling twist, college football will find its first-round playoff games on Dec. 21 going head-to-head with a pair of NFL Saturday games that could weigh on the AFC playoff picture -- the Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens. The complete college bowl schedule was announced Thursday, with bowl season kicking off Dec. 14 with the Cricket Celebration Bowl in Atlanta and the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., and culminating with the national championship game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta. In between, there will be nearly four dozen college bowl games played, including four CFP first-round games on Dec. 20-21, one quarterfinal on Dec. 31, three quarterfinals on Jan. 1 and the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl moving from their traditional holiday week time slots to Jan. 9 and 10, respectively, to host semifinal games. Eight of those games will be played on Dec. 28 alone, giving football fans an extra holiday-week treat. For the first time, the annual Army-Navy rivalry game will share a day with bowl games. The service academies still get a time slot all to themselves at 3 p.m. ET on Dec. 14, but first up will be the Celebration Bowl -- an FCS tradition that pits the MEAC champion against the SWAC champion -- and the Camellia Bowl will follow that night. Below is the complete bowl schedule, without a listing for the Holiday Bowl. That game has yet to be scheduled. All times are Eastern. --Dec. 14 Celebration Bowl, noon, ABC Camellia Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN --Dec. 17 Boca Raton Bowl, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Frisco Bowl, 9 p.m. ESPN --Dec. 18 LA Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN --Dec. 19 New Orleans Bowl, 7 p.m., ESPN2 --Dec. 20 Cure Bowl, Noon, ESPN Gasparilla Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ESPN CFP first-round game, 8 p.m., ABC/ESPN --Dec. 21 CFP first-round game, noon, TNT CFP first-round game, 4 p.m., TNT CFP first-round game, 8 p.m., ABC/ESPN --Dec. 23 Myrtle Beach Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN Potato Bowl, 2:30 p.m., ESPN --Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl, 8 p.m., ESPN --Dec. 26 Detroit Bowl, 2 p.m., ESPN Guaranteed Rate Bowl, 5:30 p.m., ESPN 68 Ventures Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN --Dec. 27 Armed Forces Bowl, noon or 3:30 p.m., ESPN Birmingham Bowl, noon or 3:30 p.m., ESPN Liberty Bowl, 7 p.m., ESPN Las Vegas Bowl, 10:30 p.m., ESPN --Dec. 28 Fenway Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN Pinstripe Bowl, noon, ABC New Mexico Bowl, 2:15 p.m., ESPN Pop-Tarts Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ABC Arizona Bowl, 4:30 p.m., The CW Military Bowl, 5:45 p.m., ESPN Alamo Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ABC Independence Bowl, 9:15 p.m., ESPN --Dec. 30 Music City Bowl, 2:30 p.m., ESPN --Dec. 31 ReliaQuest Bowl, noon, ESPN Sun Bowl, 2 p.m., CBS Citrus Bowl, 3 p.m., ABC Texas Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ESPN Fiesta Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (CFP quarterfinal) --Jan. 1 Peach Bowl, 1 p.m., ESPN (CFP quarterfinal) Rose Bowl, 5 p.m., ESPN (CFP quarterfinal) Sugar Bowl, 8:45 p.m., ESPN (CFP quarterfinal) --Jan. 2 Gator Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ESPN --Jan. 3 First Responder Bowl, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN Duke's Mayo Bowl, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN --Jan. 4 Bahamas Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN2 --Jan. 9 Orange Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (CFP semifinal) --Jan. 10 Cotton Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (CFP semifinal) --Jan. 20 National championship game, 7:30 p.m., ESPN --Field Level Media

Packed college football bowl schedule: NFL conflicts, expanded playoff

The Seattle Seahawks are signing veteran quarterback P.J. Walker to add depth going into the team's mandatory minicamp next week, NFL Network reported on Thursday. Walker, 29, would join a quarterbacks room led by incumbent starter Geno Smith and third-year player Sam Howell, who was acquired in an offseason trade from the Washington Commanders. Walker appeared in six games for the Cleveland Browns last season, going 1-1 as a starter. He completed 54 of 111 passes (48.6 percent) for 674 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions for a 52.2 passer rating. Walker played for the Carolina Panthers from 2020-22, appearing in 15 games and going 4-3 as a starter. He completed 57.5 percent of his passes for the Panthers for 1,461 yards, five TDs and 11 interceptions for a 63.9 QB rating. An undrafted free agent out of Temple, Walker also sent time with the Indianapolis Colts (2017-19) and Chicago Bears (2023) organizations. --Field Level Media

Kansas City Chiefs defensive end BJ Thompson is in stable condition at a local hospital after having a seizure and going into cardiac arrest on Thursday, multiple media outlets reported. Per reports, the Chiefs' medical staff attended to Thompson and an ambulance was called. The Chiefs sent players home and rescheduled the practice for Friday. Thompson, 27, recorded two tackles in one game last season. He was selected by the Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Stephen F. Austin. --Field Level Media

Reports: Chiefs DE BJ Thompson in hospital after cardiac arrest

Wide receiver Sterling Shepard has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, multiple media outlets reported Thursday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed for Shepard, who will see a familiar face in quarterback Baker Mayfield. The two were teammates at Oklahoma, with Shepard reeling in 86 passes for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015. Shepard, 31, had just 10 catches for 57 yards and one touchdown in 15 games last season with the New York Giants. He has 372 receptions for 4,095 yards and 23 scores in 90 career games since being selected by the Giants in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. --Field Level Media

Wide receiver Mecole Hardman has agreed to terms on a new contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, multiple media outlets reported Thursday. NFL Network reported it was a one-year deal for Hardman, who caught the game-winning touchdown in Kansas City's 25-22 overtime victory against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. Hardman, 26, rejoins a wide receiver room that added free agent Marquise Brown and first-round pick Xavier Worthy. He also could provide depth should fellow wideout Rashee Rice receive a suspension due to off-the-field issues. A three-time Super Bowl champion, Hardman had 15 catches for 124 yards in 11 games last season split with the New York Jets and Chiefs. Hardman has 166 receptions for 2,212 yards and 16 touchdowns in 68 career games (28 starts) since being picked by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. --Field Level Media

The first 12-team edition of the College Football Playoff will begin on Dec. 20 and end exactly one month later, with the national championship game set to be played in Atlanta, it was announced Wednesday. The expanded playoff format will start with four first-round games played at campus sites on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21. Two of those games will be broadcast on TNT, which has a sublicense with ESPN. ESPN will carry the remaining nine games of the playoffs, with two of the first-round games airing on both ESPN and ABC. The quarterfinals begin on New Year's Eve with the Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by a trio of games on New Year's Day. The Peach Bowl will begin at 1 p.m., the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. and the Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m. Both semifinals will start at 7:30 p.m. The first, the Orange Bowl, will be played on Jan. 9, and the second, the Cotton Bowl, will take place on Jan. 10. The championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The playoff field will be announced on Dec. 8 after the conclusion of conference championship weekend. The top four seeds will receive a first-round bye. --Field Level Media

PARIS (AP) — Catch up on the French Open with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about what happened at the clay-court Grand Slam tennis tournament, what the upcoming schedule is, how to watch, what the betting odds are and more:

Miami transfer guard and Philadelphia native Wooga Poplar has committed to Villanova, The Philadelphia Inquirer and On3 Sports reported Wednesday. Poplar also considered Oregon and garnered interest from a host of schools, including Kentucky, Arkansas and Kansas, per the reports. He has one year of eligibility remaining. Poplar withdrew his name from the NBA draft before the deadline. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 29 games (all starts) for the Hurricanes last season. Poplar has started 65 of 66 games the past two seasons in Miami. He averaged 7.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in three seasons there. He helped the Hurricanes make a run to the Final Four in 2023. He shot 38.5 percent from the 3-point line last season. --Field Level Media