There will be a new face in the FBS for the 2026 season as FCS powerhouse North Dakota State is making the leap. The 10-time FCS National Champions will be joining the Mountain West Conference. Andy Staples and Steven Godfrey discuss if they think this is the right move for the Bison. The guys chat about what exactly the team is giving up to make this move, what they have to gain, and if they think North Dakota State can be successful. Plus, they also discuss the latest in the Charles Bediako case. He is no longer eligible to play for Alabama after a judge denied his most recent injunction request. Andy and Godfrey discuss what this means going forward.
Advertisement
Then, the guys take a quick look at the NFL in comparison to college football. Sam Darnold culminated his redemption story with a Super Bowl ring this season. Once the third pick in the NFL Draft for the New York Jets, Darnold struggled for much of his career. After being a back-up in San Francisco, he found success as a starter for the Minnesota Vikings and now is a Super Bowl champion with the Seattle Seahawks. Andy and Godfrey look at the college landscape and discuss if there are any transfer quarterbacks that may have a similar redemption story in 2026.
Later, the guys continue to look at the transfer quarterbacks, but through a different lens. Last episode, Godfrey compared Fernando Mendoza to a certified, pre-owned Honda. This was meant as a compliment. Now, they look at the transfer quarterbacks for 2026 and compare seven QBs to used cars. Find out what the comparisons are for Rocco Becht, Kenny Minchey, Drew Mestemaker, Austin Simmons, DJ Lagway, Darian Mensah and Byrum Brown.
Get your college football news here with College Football Enquirer.
NDSU moves to the Mountain West Conference Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
(Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
0:00:00 – North Dakota State heads to the FBS
Advertisement
26:12 – Charles Bediako no longer eligible
34:17 – What transfer QB can have a Darnold-like redemption season
MILAN â Itâs reckless and exhilarating, daring and unnecessary, thrilling and chaotic all at once. The mid-routine backflip is one of skatingâs most controversial moves, and Ilia Malinin â for the third time this Olympic Games â broke it out during his short program on Tuesday night, to absolute mayhem at the Assago Ice Skating Arena.
The flip doesnât add to his technical score, but it sure does rally the crowd. Malinin earned a 108.16 on the night to lead the field heading into Fridayâs medal round. Yuma Kagiyama, who bested Malinin in the team short program skate, ended the day second with 103.07, and Franceâs Adam Siao Him Fa currently ranks third with a score of 102.55.
Advertisement
The evening was a marked improvement over his short program in the team event, when Malinin looked ill at ease and, by his standards, rocky. After Tuesday nightâs skate, he admitted that he had indeed been feeling what he called âOlympic pressure.â
âGoing out there the first time hitting that Olympic ice and feeling the atmosphere, it was like, I didn’t expect it to be so much,â Malinin said. âIt took me a little while to understand what really happened, but now that I understand it, I took a different approach today.â
American Ilia Malinin competes in men’s individual short program at the 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 10, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
(Andreas Rentz via Getty Images)
Malinin backed off of doing a planned quad axel, which would have been the first such jump in Olympic history. But he stuck with his traditional backflip, and as expected, the move improved his routine from the exceptional to the sublime. And he knew exactly what he was doing as. he did it.
Advertisement
âHaving that attention, all those eyes on you â that pressure shows you who you truly are on the ice,â Malinin said. âIt’s one thing to do everything in practice, but it’s another skill to be able to perform it under pressure. That’s something I really enjoy.â
The backflipâs appeal as performance art is obvious. The necessary elite-level athletic ability, combined with the sheer lunatic danger of flipping upside down while ice skating, is guaranteed to send an already-hyped crowd into a frenzy. Malinin is a leading individual gold medal threat and one of the greatest skaters on the planet because he combines showmanship, athleticism and fearlessness, and the backflip is his ultimate manifestation.
The legacy of the backflip is one of brief flourishes followed by blanket shutdowns. Terry Kubicka, an American skater and the first to land a triple lutz, performed the first Olympic backflip at the Winter Games in 1976, landing on both feet. The International Skating Union was apparently so horrified by the move â and aghast that Kubicka landed on two skates â that it immediately banned it from any skating performance.
Twenty-two years later, Surya Bonaly, a three-time French Olympian, landed a one-skate backflip at the Nagano Olympics in 1998 as a protest against what she deemed unfair judging practices. Bonaly had been backflipping for years; she may be the first female ever to land the backflip, and at age 12 she set a Guinness record for the youngest female to backflip.
Until last year, the International Skating Union would deduct points from any skater who attempted one. In 2024, though, as part of its ongoing attempts to shed the sportâs stodgier image, the ISU permitted backflips.
But thereâs a catch: they donât go to a skaterâs technical score, but to their components score, which includes artistic presentation. In other words, you donât get any extra points for landing a backflip, but you can get a small bump for the sheer artfulness of the effort. That distinction makes it a high-risk, low-reward endeavor for most skaters. Most, but not all.
Malinin has been backflipping for several years, but was only able to begin using it legally in competition starting in 2024. Every time he unleashes one, the crowd erupts. And on Sunday night, as part of his gold medal-winning performance, he threw in a backflip ⊠and then saw none other than Novak Djokovic cheering him.
Advertisement
âHe was standing there, hands on his head,â Malinin said afterward, his gold medal around his neck. âI was like, Oh, my God, you know,?â That’s incredible. That’s like a once-in-a-lifetime moment, just seeing a famous tennis player watching my performance. I’m absolutely blown away.â
Fair enough. Malininâs been blowing away the skating world with his backflips for the last year; about time someone did the same to him.
The menâs event continues on Friday night with the free skate program, where the top 24 scorers from Tuesdayâs short program will face off with the podium at stake. Malinin will be leading the field ⊠and he might just flip over it, too. The technical scores and the ambition in Malininâs program are so high that he would seem to be a gold medal favorite, but heâs trying to avoid falling into that trap of assumption.
âBeing the favorite is one thing, but actually getting it done, and doing it under pressure, and really just having the skate of your life to earn that medal is another thing,â Malinin said. âI don’t want to get too ahead of myself and say that, you know, it’s guaranteed that I’m getting that gold medal ⊠I still have to put in that work for that long program, so I’m not going to take that for granted.â
Longtime Rams offensive lineman Rob Havenstein has announced his retirement from the NFL after 11 seasons with the franchise.
Havenstein was a holdover from St. Louis after being selected by the Rams in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He was drafted during the Jeff Fisher regime and became a mainstay under Sean McVay and played a major role in the franchise’s success over the past decade.
The Rams will look to replace Havenstein along the offensive line as we approach the start of the new league season in March. With the scouting combine, free agency and the NFL Draft taking place within the next few months, this Rams’ front office will certainly have its hands full. Havensteinâs presence will undoubtedly be missed in Los Angeles, as he proved to be a reliable anchor at right tackle.
During 10 of Havensteinâs 11 seasons in the NFL, he played at least 97% of the snaps he was available for. In 2016, Havensteinâs second year in the league, he played in all 16 games and was present for all 1,100 offensive snaps. He accomplished the same feat in 2022, but this time on a 17-game schedule, and was on the field for all 1,018 Rams offensive snaps.
Advertisement
That level of consistency will be missed and hard to replace.
Super-G skiing â which stands for super giant slalom â combines the speed of downhill racing with the precision of giant slalom, and Olympic courses feature a minimum vertical drop of 400m. This week at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, the men’s super-G final will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 11, and you can catch the live feed bright and early at 5:30 a.m. ET on Peacock and USA.
Here’s a complete schedule of all Team USA Alpine Skiing events at this year’s games, along with a rundown of who is competing. While every event will stream on Peacock, you can also find most on USA and NBC, too. (To see specific air times, check out the official NBC Olympics broadcast schedule, and toggle your search to “TV Only.”).
Advertisement
If you want to learn even more about every event at this year’s Winter Games, here’s a guide to everything you need to know about the Milan Cortina Games.
How to watch men’s super-G skiing final at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 11
Time: 5:30 a.m. ET
Location: Livigno Snow Park
TV channels: USA, NBC
Streaming: Peacock, DirecTV, and more
Where can I stream the men’s super-G skiing final at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
For $17/month, you can upgrade to an ad-free Premium Plus subscription, which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
Where to watch the men’s super-G skiing final on TV:
The men’s super-G skiing final will be broadcast live on USA at 5:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Portions of the competition will also be broadcast as part of NBC’s Primetime in MIlan coverage at 8 p.m. ET. (To see specific air times, check out the official NBC Olympics broadcast schedule, and toggle your search to “TV Only.”). You can stream these channels on DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV and more.
How to watch Olympic Skiing free without cable:
Who is on the Team USA Alpine ski team?
These are the athletes on Team USA’s Alpine ski team:
NBC announced on Tuesday night that this year’s Super Bowl averaged 124.9 million viewers on their network, which made it the second-most-watched Super Bowl ever. That trails only last year’s Super Bowl â when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs â which averaged 127.7 million viewers on Fox.
Advertisement
The halftime show caused a slight surge in viewership, too. NBC said Bad Bunny’s performance at Levi’s Stadium averaged 128.2 million viewers over the 15 minute window. That’s down slightly from the more than 133 million that tuned in for Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show at the Super Bowl last year in New Orleans.
By comparison, Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show” drew about 6.1 million concurrent viewers on YouTube on Sunday, according to The Athletic. That alternative halftime show, which was pre-recorded, featured Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett.
While the game didn’t set a viewership record in total, the game did set an all-time record for its peak viewership. About 137.8 million viewers tuned in during the second quarter of the contest. Telemundo also averaged 3.3 million viewers for its broadcast of the game in Spanish, which made it the most-watched Super Bowl in Spanish-language history. Telemundo’s audience also peaked during Bad Bunny’s halftime show with about 4.8 million viewers, which also set a Spanish-language viewership record.
Advertisement
The Seahawks rolled to a dominant 29-13 win over the Patriots, marking the franchise’s first championship since the 2013 campaign. Kenneth Walker III was named the game’s MVP, which made him the first running back to win that award in 28 years.
Next year’s Super Bowl will take place Feb. 14, 2027, from SoFi Stadium in Southern California.
Seattle walked into Leviâs Stadium and thoroughly lived up to the expectation that they set for themselves throughout the regular season. There are rarely NFL games that feel over when neither offense can get into the end zone, but as the Seahawksâ offense continued to chip in field goals and slowly build a lead in Super Bowl LX on Sunday, the game quickly fell into doubt for New England.
Head coach Mike Macdonaldâs defense put an emphatic stamp on a dominant season and firmly established themselves as one of the best units in the 21st century. As they repeatedly smothered QB Drake Maye and the Patriots offense, they showed us something thatâs often forgotten in the offense-forward nature of football consumption: defense can be box office too.
Advertisement
It was immediately clear who the bully on the block was in this game. Seattle allowed just 39 yards of offense on 13 plays over the Patriotsâ first three drives of the game, which took up the entirety of the first quarter. New England averaged -0.32 expected points per play in the first quarter and that actually was some of the best work the Patriots were able to manage on the day. In the second and third quarters combined, the Patriots were comprehensively buried before putting together some garbage-time drives in the fourth quarter. Over the two middle quarters, the Patriots once again gained 39 yards of offense, but this time on 26 plays. They averaged a brutally low 5.6 yards per drive and managed only two first downs over seven drives in that time frame.
What has to be most frustrating for Patriots fans is that their defense did enough to keep them in the game, but Seattleâs defense was unflappable. The 9-0 halftime lead felt insurmountable and even though it was only 12-0 heading into the fourth quarter, everyone with eyes on the game knew it was over. New England didnât even reach the red zone until the fourth quarter, and when you throw in all numbers from the first three quarters, they averaged only 7.8 yards per drive.
The numbers paint the picture of a dominant performance, but they donât tell the whole story of how visually dominant Seattle was as well. The Patriotsâ offensive line spent all game getting tossed out of the club, including a truly dreadful performance from rookies Will Campbell and Jared Wilson on the left side of the offensive line. Meanwhile, Mike Onwenu, New Englandâs right guard, spent the day giving away plays with his stance. Thatâs not even a bit, as Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon said after the game that Macdonald noted that the Patriotsâ were giving away what play they were running frequently based on the stances and angles of their offensive line pre-play â and it certainly felt like it.
Advertisement
Witherspoon was a nuisance for the Patriotsâ offense, breaking through the front with ease and even beating blocks from offensive linemen. And even that was just a fraction of the carnage that Seattle unleashed on New England. Derick Hall, Boye Mafe, Byron Murphy II, Uchenna Nwosu and DeMarcus Lawrence all had pressure rates over 12%, according to TruMedia, and Leonard Williams chipped in with a solid 8.1% pressure rate. Those six, along with Witherspoon, had three pressures a piece as they just diced through the Patriotsâ front over and over and over again.
It wasnât just the physical beatdown in the trenches, it was also the clear coaching mismatch between the two sides, with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels being unable to keep pace with Macdonaldâs aggressive plan of attack. New England head coach Mike Vrabel took two timeouts into halftime, and when they came out from the halftime break they were just beat with more of the same. The play-calling wasnât helpful, the game management was poor and Macdonald took extreme advantage of that fact. For the NFL Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year, it was hard to tell who actually won those awards when the game was in action. They had no answers at all.
Advertisement
Dominance is fun, even when it leads to a low-scoring game. There arenât many defenses that feel like must-see television, but the Seahawks had that appeal this season and proved it by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Sam Darnold will be the main focus of the remaining coverage of this game because quarterbacks rule all, but this team should forever be remembered for what got them here: one of the best defenses in the history of the league.
Day 4 of the 2026 Winter Olympics on Tuesday brought more hardware for Team USA, but no gold. A pair of U.S. contenders, however, looked very much like gold-medal favorites in preliminary action.
Meanwhile, there was more Olympic struggle for U.S. alpine great Mikaela Shiffrin, who blew an opportunity to secure her first Olympic medal since 2018 in PyeongChang.
Advertisement
And a Norwegian biathlete may have given the most bizarre post-competition interview in Olympics history.
Here are five of the top stories from Day 4 of the Milan Cortina Olympics.
USA women’s hockey dominates Canada
If this was a preview of the gold medal game, Team USA is a strong bet to take home the top prize.
On the heels of a 3-0 start in group play with a combined score of 15-1, the U.S. women’s hockey team was expected to face its first and stiffest test of the Milan Cortina Games on Tuesday against fellow gold-medal contender Canada. Instead, it was another USA blowout.
USA opened up a 2-0 first-period lead en route to a 5-0 blowout to improve to 4-0 at the Olympics. Abbey Murphy set the tone with a sensational no-look backward pass that set up Hannah Bilka for a one-timer and a 2-0 USA lead.
From there, it was a Team USA romp.
Advertisement
The loss was Canada’s first of the Games, and it’s still expected to advance to a gold-medal matchup against the U.S. But if the two teams meet again in the final game of the Olympics, there’s little from Tuesday’s game to suggest Canada will mount a challenge.
Mikaela Shiffrin’s Olympic struggles continue
Mikaela Shiffrin is widely considered the greatest female alpine skier of all time. But her struggles in Beijing were one of the biggest stories of the 2022 Olympics as she failed to medal in any of the six events she competed in and failed to finish in three of those races.
Her 2026 Games are off to a rocky start. Shiffrin made her Milan Cortina debut Tuesday in the team combined event with teammate Breezy Johnson.
Advertisement
Johnson followed up her individual gold medal in the downhill event with the fastest time in the downhill portion of Tuesday’s competition, putting Shiffrin in position to secure gold in the slalom portion with a strong run. Johnson and Shiffrin didn’t finish on the podium.
The most decorated female slalom skier of all time, Shiffrin finished 15th out of 18 slalom skiers. The cushion Johnson provided in winning the downhill was erased, and Johnson and Shiffrin finished in fourth place.
(L-R) Mikaela Shiffrin gets a hug from teammate Breezy Johnson after her 15th-place finish in the slalom kept them off the podium in the women’s team combined event.
(REUTERS / Reuters)
Shiffrin, who has three Olympic medals â including two golds from prior Games â told Olympics.com before these Games that she wants to “make peace” with the Olympics at Milan Cortina. She defined that peace as being able to “openly accept anything that happens.” And she acknowledged that she had been “a little bit” scared of the Olympics following her Beijing experience.
Advertisement
Shiffrin will have fewer opportunities to medal in Milan Cortina than she did in Beijing. She’s cut her competition schedule in half and is focusing on the slalom races that are her strength. With one race down, she’ll have two more opportunities to medal in the giant slalom (Sunday) and slalom (Feb. 18)
Malinin followed up Sunday’s medal-clinching effort with a nearly flawless short program Tuesday to take control of the men’s individual competition.
Advertisement
The “Quad God” completed two quad jumps and his signature back flip without notable error while executing a program with the highest technical difficulty in Tuesday’s competition.
He performed with joy and exuberance and no signs of nerves at his first Olympic Games.
The effort secured a score of 108.16, more than five points ahead of Tuesday’s second-place finisher and his top rival, Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (103.07). Thanks in part to that cushion, Malinin will enter Friday’s free skate as the favorite to take home the gold medal.
But he’ll have to maintain his level of excellence to fend off Kagiyama, who was outstanding in the team competition and won the silver medal in this event in Beijing.
Advertisement
U.S. curlers settle for silver
U.S. curlers Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse already secured their Olympic dreams just by making it to Tuesday’s mixed doubles curling final, which ensured their place on the podium.
Dropkin and Thiesse made early mistakes that allowed Sweden to take a 4-3 advantage through six ends. USA rallied for a 2-point seventh to take a 5-4 advantage into the decisive eighth end.
Advertisement
But there, Isabella WranĂ„ had a chance to close out a win for Sweden with the final throw of that match. WranĂ„, who was nearly flawless in Tuesday’s final, delivered to secure two points and a 6-5 win for the gold medal.
While surely disappointing in the moment, there’s no reason for Dropkin and Thiesse to hang their heads. Their run to the gold-medal match was an upset, and their hardware represents USA’s second Olympic medal in curling following John Shuster’s team that secured gold in the men’s competition in 2018.
Ashley Farquharson wins rare U.S. luge medal
Ashley Farquharson made U.S. Olympic history Tuesday with a bronze medal run to secure the nation’s second medal in women’s luge.
Advertisement
She needed a dramatic comeback to make it happen.
Germany’s Julia Taubitz and Merle Malou FrĂ€bel were in control in first and second place as the country sought its eighth straight gold medal and fourth consecutive gold-silver finish in the event. But FrĂ€bel had a rocky third run and dropped into eighth place, opening the door for other competitors to move onto the podium.
Farquharson took advantage, jumping from fifth to third place with her third run. She entered her fourth and final run knowing she was in control of her place on the podium. When she crossed the finish line with a clean run and a time of 52.909, she knew that she’d secured at least a bronze medal.
Taubitz earned Germany’s eighth straight gold medal in the event while Latvia’s Elina Bota secured silver.
Advertisement
Farquharson joins Erin Hamlin (bronze, Sochi 2014) as the only U.S. women to medal in the history of the event.
Both of Naumov’s parents died in the Washington plane crash in 2025 that claimed 67 lives when an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter mid-air. His parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, were world champion skaters for Russia who competed in the 1994 Olympics.
Naumov held up a picture of his parents as he awaited his score on Tuesday following his short program.
Naumov is in 14th place after Tuesday’s short program and will advance alongside his U.S. teammates Malinin and Andrew Torgashev (8th place) to compete in Friday’s free skate.
“There’s someone I wanted to share it with who might not be watching,” he said, fighting back tears. “Six months ago I met the love of my life â the most beautiful and kindest person in the world. Three months ago I made my biggest mistake and cheated on her.
“I had the gold medal in life, and I am sure there are many people who will see things differently, but I only have eyes for her.”
That’s one way to come clean.
LĂŠgreid also said that he already told his girlfriend the bad news last week. At least he didn’t break it to her on live TV?
San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Keion White was shot in the ankle during an event on Monday morning.
White was shot at 4:06 a.m. on the 17th block of Mission Street in San Francisco, a San Francisco Police spokesman said, via The Athletic. There was an altercation between two groups that broke out at an event there that led to the shooting, though specifics of that incident are not yet known. White is not believed to have been part of that altercation.
Advertisement
He was taken by police to a nearby hospital, and is expected to be OK. The 49ers confirmed the shooting, and said that White underwent surgery on Monday afternoon. Further specifics of his condition are not yet known, but he did post an update to his Instagram on Tuesday afternoon.
“Thank you to everyone who has reached out with their prayers and concerns on my behalf,” he wrote on a photo of him in a hospital bed. “I’ve undergone successful surgery. For those who know me, y’all know this won’t stop me from spreading peace and joy to the world. Full steam ahead. I’m in great spirits and ready to make the most of this offseason.”
An investigation is ongoing.
The incident took place hours after the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium on the other side of the Bay Area. The stadium sits more than 40 miles away in Santa Clara, south of San Francisco. White was at the Super Bowl, and was spotted wearing a Patriots hat.
Advertisement
White was traded to the 49ers in October from the Patriots, who selected him with the No. 46 overall pick in 2023. White had 18 total tackles and 1.5 sacks in 14 games this season. The 27-year-old has one year left on his initial four-year, $7.7 million deal. The 49ers went 12-5 this past season and reached the playoffs, though they were knocked out in the divisional round.
White is now the second 49ers player to be shot in recent years. Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery in San Francisco ahead of his rookie season in 2024. Pearsall ended up returning to play in 11 games during that season.
Nordic combined is one of the original sports to appear at an Olympic Winter Games, blending cross-country skiing with ski jumping. It also happens to be the only sport in the Winter Games where women cannot compete, despite the fact that there are other global competitions that do allow women. (Take it up with the International Olympic Committee, they’re the ones who make the rules.) This year, Team USA will send two men to compete in Nordic combined: Ben Loomis, who previously competed in the 2018 and 2022 Games, and Niklas Malacinski, who makes his first Olympic appearance.
Here’s a complete schedule of all Team USA Nordic combined events at this year’s games. While every event will stream on Peacock, you can also find all of them broadcast on USA, too. (To see specific air times, check out the official NBC Olympics broadcast schedule, and toggle your search to “TV Only.”).
Advertisement
If you want to learn even more about every event at this year’s Winter Games, here’s a guide to everything you need to know about the Milan Cortina Games.
How to watch Nordic combined at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Dates: Feb. 11 – 19
Location: Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium and the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium
For $17/month, you can upgrade to an ad-free Premium Plus subscription, which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
Where to watch Nordic combined on TV:
Team USA Nordic combined coverage will be broadcast on USA. (To see specific air times, check out the official NBC Olympics broadcast schedule, and toggle your search to “TV Only.”). You can stream USA on DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV and more.
How to watch Olympic Nordic combined without cable:
For $17/month, you can upgrade to an ad-free Premium Plus subscription, which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
Who is on the Team USA Nordic combined team?
These are the athletes on Team USA’s Nordic Combined team:
Advertisement
2026 Team USA Olympic Nordic combined Schedule:
Wednesday, February 11
Men’s Normal Hill: Ski Jump: 3:10 a.m. (Peacock) re-air 4 a.m, 11:20 a.m. and 12 a.m.(USA)
Men’s Normal Hill 10k Race: 7:45 a.m. (Peacock), re-air at 10 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. (USA)
Tuesday, February 17
Men’s Large Hill: Ski Jump: 3:10 a.m. (Peacock), re-air at 4 a.m. (USA)
Men’s Large HIll: 10k Race: 7:45 a.m. (Peacock), re-air at 9:50 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. (USA)
Thursday, February 19
Men’s Team Large Hill: Ski Jump: 3:10 a.m. (Peacock), re-air at 5 a.m. (USA)
Men’s Team Large Hill: 2×7.5k Relay: 8 a.m. (Peacock, USA), re-air at 5:30 p.m. (USA)
Miami started hot with a 17-9 lead at home and never trailed. UNC managed to keep things competitive, but the Hurricanes never allowed the Tar Heels to seize control. Miami closed out the game on a 12-6 run to secure the upset of the nation’s 11th-ranked team.
Miami (19-5, 8-3 ACC) also moves a game ahead of North Carolina (19-5, 7-4) into fifth place in the ACC standings.
Hurricanes contain Caleb Wilson
Miami limited UNC’s All-America candidate Caleb Wilson to 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Wilson left the game around the 15-minute mark of the second half and returned with 8:47 remaining with his left wrist taped.
Advertisement
Wilson sat for the final 1:43 as North Carolina tried to mount a late rally from a 66-60 deficit. The nature of what was bothering Wilson wasn’t immediately clear, nor was it clear if his wrist impacted coach Hubert Davis’ decision to bench his star freshman for the game’s final moments.
Miami attacks UNC’s frontline
On offense, Miami attacked a talented UNC frontline that’s been vulnerable on defense against physical opponents.
Senior center Ernest Udeh Jr. feasted inside when he sought his shot, tallying 15 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 7 of 8 from the field.
He secured his own rebound off a missed free throw for a layup that gave Miami its 66-60 lead in the final two minutes.
Advertisement
Udeh was one of four Miami starters to score in double figures as the Hurricanes shot 47% from the field. Miami limited North Carolina to 40% shooting while securing a 41-35 rebounding advantage and 11-8 edge in takeaways.
The Hurricanes struggled from 3 (3 for 13, 23%) and from the line (14 of 23, 61%). But they attempted 13 more free throws than North Carolina, which went 8 of 10 at the line.
The win for Miami was its first over a ranked opponent since a victory over No. 16 Clemson in the 2013-14 season. Miami fans rushed the court Tuesday to celebrate the program’s biggest win in years.