Open Extended Reactions Following the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, selection committee chair Mack Rhoades wanted to make sure reporters understood the most integral part of the ranking process. “We’ve watched the games,” he said on the weekly teleconference. “Let me repeat that; we watch the games.” That won’t make it easier to decide who should be No. 2 on Tuesday night: Indiana, which escaped a 3-6 Penn State team, or Texas A&M, which…

Stephen HolderNov 9, 2025, 03:37 PM ET Close Stephen joined ESPN in 2022, covering the Indianapolis Colts and NFL at large. Stephen finished first place in column writing in the 2015 Indiana Associated Press Media Editors competition, and he is a previous top-10 winner in explanatory journalism in the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest. He has chronicled the NFL since 2005, covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2005-2013 and the Colts since 2013. He has previously…

Associated Press Nov 9, 2025, 02:23 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The Texas Longhorns returned to the top 10 of the Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, while the ACC has five teams ranked for the first time this season and two Group of 5 conferences are now represented with a month before the College Football Playoff bracket is set. The Longhorns, the preseason No. 1 team, are ranked No. 10 in advance of their visit…

Rich CiminiNov 9, 2025, 07:22 PM ET Close Rich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the Jets for over 30 years, joining ESPN in 2010. Rich also hosts the Flight Deck podcast. He previously was a beat writer for the New York Daily News and is a graduate of Syracuse University. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — On Saturday night, New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn…

Marcel Louis-JacquesNov 9, 2025, 06:13 PM ET Close Marcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018. Open Extended Reactions MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — There was little reason to believe the Miami Dolphins would beat…