Highlights From the 4 Heisman Finalists

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports College football’s top individual honor will go to Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Kenny Pickett or Aidan Hutchinson. See them in action.https://nyti.ms/3IsvNEh

Big Contracts, Big Buyouts, Big Pressure: College Football Coaches Hit the Jackpot

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports Brian Kelly will earn at least $9 million a year at L.S.U., which is paying its old coach almost $17 million to step aside. Top universities have become steppingstones to other top gigs.https://nyti.ms/3xUWxIP

At Jackson State, the ‘Prime Effect’ Reverberates

By BY ALANIS THAMES from NYT Sports In his first full season as the football coach, Deion Sanders has guided the Tigers to the conference championship game and energized a community. He says he’s just getting started.https://nyti.ms/3IgqBDf

College Football’s ‘Great Man Theory’ Gets a New Test at U.S.C.

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports Southern California hired Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma, which is now looking for his successor. The carousel seemed to spin harder and faster than ever as programs looked for saviors.https://nyti.ms/3lgLOD5

The First Family of New Jersey Football

By BY KEVIN ARMSTRONG from NYT Sports Seventeen of the last 20 New Jersey state high school championships have featured a team coached by Mike Campanile or one of his four sons.https://nyti.ms/32c3Qjf

As N.C.A.A. Rewrites Its Rules, Here’s How College Sports May Change

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports The notoriously bureaucratic N.C.A.A. is gearing up for debates about what it should look like going forward.https://nyti.ms/3cfoj8N

Could Cincinnati Shake Up the College Football Playoff Field?

By BY VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports The Bearcats are No. 2 in the Associated Press poll and appear to be in good position to make the playoff. That’s if they win out and find favor among those who select the semifinalists.https://nyti.ms/3n2Nnog

Could Cincinnati Shake Up the College Football Playoff Field?

By BY VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports The Bearcats are No. 2 in the Associated Press poll and appear to be in good position to make the playoff. That’s if they win out and find favor among those who select the semifinalists.https://nyti.ms/3DZmgSe

Cincinnati, Even if Perfect, Could Miss the Playoff. Luke Fickell Has Notre Dame First.

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports The seventh-ranked Bearcats play at No. 9 Notre Dame on Saturday. A loss would doom whatever shot they have at reaching the College Football Playoff, and a win would still put Cincinnati Coach Luke Fickell in the position of campaigning.https://nyti.ms/39Yi6Nq

Labor Memo Amounts to New Stance From Feds Against the N.C.A.A.

By BY DAVID W. CHEN from NYT Sports The top lawyer at the National Labor Relations Board signaled that private universities should not treat those who compete in college sports as “mere ‘student-athletes.’”https://nyti.ms/3EWsoM6

A 12-Team Playoff Isn’t a Done Deal. Math and History Suggest a ‘Yes’ Looms.

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports If the College Football Playoff field triples, the competition will most likely become more lucrative than the Division I men’s basketball tournament.https://nyti.ms/3F43drg

Rudy Riska, the Heisman Trophy’s Guiding Light, Dies at 85

By BY RICHARD SANDOMIR from NYT Sports For over 40 years he oversaw the awarding of the prestigious trophy to the nation’s top college football player and helped winners on their “magic carpet ride” in New York.https://nyti.ms/3i3lgnj

Rudy Riska, the Heisman Trophy’s Guiding Light, Dies at 85

By BY RICHARD SANDOMIR from NYT Sports For over 40 years he oversaw the awarding of the prestigious trophy to the nation’s top college football player and helped winners on their “magic carpet ride” in New York.https://nyti.ms/3lRNvqd

Robert Gates Ran the Pentagon. Can He Help Save the N.C.A.A.?

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports The former defense secretary now leads a committee that could remake college sports — or, as often happens with the N.C.A.A., that has little to show after many meetings.https://nyti.ms/2Xzvgh1

At Army Football Game, Sept. 11 Anniversary Lends Tone of Solemnity

By BY BILLY WITZ from NYT Sports The context of the moment — with respect to 20 years ago and recent events in Afghanistan — was not lost on players, alumni and recruits.https://nyti.ms/3A4lNfZ

Sam Cunningham Dies at 71; Fostered Integration on the Football Field

By BY RICHARD SANDOMIR from NYT Sports As one of three Black players in the U.S.C. backfield, he led the team to a stunning win in 1970 over Coach Bear Bryant’s all-white Alabama. He would go on to star for the New England Patriots.https://nyti.ms/2YIfZuJ

Lane Kiffin, football coach at Ole Miss, will miss Monday’s game after a positive test.

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports The coach and his staff and players have all been vaccinated. He said he has had only mild symptoms.https://nyti.ms/3h2yvEy

College Football Looks to Fundamentals to Combat a 2020 Hangover

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports More than one-third of Power 5 teams played eight games or less last season. Now coaches are preaching the basics more than usual.https://nyti.ms/3mUsTzI

A.C.C., Big Ten and Pac-12 Form Coalition to Counter SEC’s Might

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports The move was far short of a merger and came less than a month after Oklahoma and Texas said they would leave the Big 12 for the SEC.https://nyti.ms/3DfIFL9

College Athletes Score, Cutting Deals as a New Marketplace Is Born

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports From hurdlers to quarterbacks, students signed contracts and began to pull in some of the millions that could be made this year alone.https://nyti.ms/3xdER9V