MIKE LEACH

Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach said it's selfish for players to opt out of bowl games and calls for them to finish what they started.

Snoop Conner ran for two touchdowns and No. 8 Mississippi scored 21 straight points to beat Mississippi State 31-21 on Thursday night in a windy, rainy and cold Egg Bowl.

It's rivalry week across the Southeastern Conference, with plenty of stakes beyond bragging rights.

Alabama coach Nick Saban and Georgia’s Kirby Smart continue to make their ability to field elite defenses a big part of their formula for maintaining consistently elite programs in the Southeastern Conference.

If you’re an AD waffling on a coaching change, the work of Lane Kiffin, Mike Leach and Sam Pittman is an argument for testing the coaching carousel.

No. 5 Michigan State is on upset alert as the Spartans try to follow up their big victory against rival Michigan with a road win against Purdue.

An attorney says former Washington State University football coach Nick Rolovich’s termination for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccination was unlawful and an attack on his Catholic faith.

Washington State has fired football coach Nick Rolovich and four of his assistants for refusing a state mandate that all employees get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Bryce Young threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns and No. 5 Alabama rebounded from a loss to rout Mississippi State 49-9 on Saturday night.

Will Rogers threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns and Nathan Pickering sacked Zach Calzada in the end zone late for a safety to lead Mississippi State to a 26-22 win over No. 15 Texas A&M Saturday night.

Legendary college football coach Bobby Bowden says he has been diagnosed with a terminal medical condition.

The commissioner of the American Athletic Conference promised to "conduct a thorough review" after a wild brawl broke out between Tulsa and Mississippi State players Thursday shortly after the Armed Forces Bowl ended. A massive brawl broke out at the end of the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl between Tulsa and Mississippi State. pic.twitter.com/Ft90Ld3avu — John E. Hoover (@johnehoover) December 31, 2020"I'm not sure what exactly caused that," said Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, who referred to the altercation as a "mosh pit." Mississippi State answered with Rogers' 13-yard throw to Griffin to go ahead 28-19. During the brawl, Mississippi State's De'Monte Russell, in street clothes beneath his jersey, ripped the helmet off Tulsa's TieNeal Martin and appeared to land a punch to Martin's head.

(AP Photo/Jim Cowsert)FORT WORTH, Texas – A bowl victory that increased Mississippi State’s win total this season to four and No. Tulsa outgained Mississippi State in total offense 484 yards to 271, but the Bulldogs got 138 valuable kickoff return yards from Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin. Mississippi State answered with Rogers’ 13-yard throw to Griffin to go ahead 28-19. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs played in their school-record 11th consecutive bowl thanks to pandemic qualification exemptions. Mississippi State: For all of Leach’s Air Raid offenses at various stops, Rogers was his first true freshman quarterback.

When that bowl game was called off because there was not another team available, it suddenly left Army looking for a postseason opponent. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)At a time when team after team had opted out of bowl games, Army found itself in a different sort of situation — left out. “It was a difficult day for all of college football,” said Nick Carparelli, the executive director of Bowl Season, the renamed Football Bowl Association. For the Hokies, the decision ended a 27 straight bowl game run. Some of the canceled bowl games — 15 in all, including three on Sunday alone — included the Bahamas Bowl, Celebration Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, LA Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl, Quick Lane Bowl, Redbox Bowl and Sun Bowl.

2 Alabama heading into a huge ACC matchup at fourth-ranked Notre Dame this week. The rest of the top five remained the same, with Ohio State at No. 1 on their ballots had Clemson third behind Ohio State. Penn State had the fourth-longest active streak behind Alabama (205), Ohio State (138) and Clemson (94). 4 Notre Dame: Another “biggest game of the year” — until the next one.

Alabama quarterback Mac Jones (10) hands off to running back Najee Harris (22) during the second half of the team's NCAA college football game against Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. Alabama won 63-48. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Alabama won 63-48. 2 Alabama in a game that could very well be first of three meetings between the SEC superpowers. A conference title rematch in Atlanta would surprise no one and another meeting in the College Football Playoff would hardly be shocking. UCF (minus 3 1/2) at Memphis — @alanwooten19Knights have won 13 straight against the Tigers; average score in the last three: 50-42 ... UCF 45-44. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Costello three times as the Razorbacks broke a 20-game SEC losing streak by upsetting No. 16 Mississippi State 21-14 on Saturday night. The Razorbacks allowed plenty of yards but made Mississippi State settle for small chunks. Mississippi State: The loud voices of praise Leach will be quiet this week. Mississippi State will head to Kentucky.

14 Oregon returned to The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, weeks before they start playing, creating a Top 25 as unusual as this season. Further complicating voters' task this week: Two top-10 teams lost to unranked teams at home Saturday. POLL POINTSWhere did the rest of the Big Ten and Pac-12 come back in the poll compared with where they were in the preseason? The only big move up for the previously ranked teams was Miami, which jumped four spots to No. That helped clear some space for re-entering Big Ten and Pac-12 teams.

Mississippi State quarterback K.J. Costello (3) passes in the first half an NCAA college football game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Mississippi State quarterback K.J. Costello (3) passes in the first half an NCAA college football game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. Four of Costello's touchdown passes covered between 24 and 75 yards. Osirus Mitchell caught touchdown passes of 43 and 24 yards, the second putting the Bulldogs back up by two scores with 3:39 left. Mississippi State, meanwhile, has made its case to crack the AP Top 25.

FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, file photo, Lane Kiffin speaks to Mississippi fans after being announced as the new head football coach during a introductory press conference in Oxford, Miss. In attendance were his children, daughters Presley Kiffin, 13, left, Landry Kiffin, 15, second from left, and son Knox Kiffin, 10. Mississippi State's Mike Leach and Mississippi's Lane Kiffin brought big names and offensive pedigrees to the Magnolia State. But they drew huge challenges for their debuts, with the Bulldogs visiting defending national champion and No. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Mississippi State's Mike Leach and Mississippi's Lane Kiffin brought big names and offensive pedigrees to the Magnolia State. Mike Leach expected to start his first season at Mississippi State versus New Mexico. Instead, both coaches — and their respective offenses — will encounter stiffer challenges in their Magnolia State debuts. 5 Florida and ex-Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen as two-touchdown underdogs. Before Deion Sanders made a prime-time splash when he was hired by Jackson State on Monday; Leach and Kiffin were splashy hires in the state.

With the return of the SEC comes the return of the SEC on CBS with LSU hosting Mississippi State. Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and Jamie Erdahl once again have the call for the network as the conference embarks on another season on CBS. “I believe this is a good opener for Mississippi State. It’s not a game it’s a lot of pressure on Mississippi State, for sure. For some like Florida, Georgia and Texas A&M, the ten game conference schedule is particularly rough.

PULLMAN, Wash. – These are heady times at Oregon State, which is one victory away from becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2013. Picked to finish last in the Pac-12 North, the Beavers are in second place heading into Saturday’s road matchup against Washington State. Washington State holds a 53-47-3 lead in the all-time series - including 24-19-2 in Pullman. Washington State K Blake Mazza is a perfect 18-of-18 on his field goal attempts. PREDICTION: Oregon State 41, Washington State 38

Justin Herbert #10 of the Oregon Ducks hands the ball off to CJ Verdell #7 of the Oregon Ducks during the Advocare Classic at AT&T Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon took control of the Pac-12's North Division with an impressive 35-31 comeback win at Washington last weekend. "We've always played extremely well against them," Washington State coach Mike Leach, who is 4-3 all-time against the Ducks and 2-1 at Autzen Stadium, told the Eugene Register-Guard. "We recognize the fact that we have not done a good enough job against Washington State for the past four years," Cristobal said. PREDICTION: Oregon 41, Washington State 24Copyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

EUGENE, Ore. Oregon took control of the Pac-12's North Division with an impressive 35-31 comeback win at Washington last weekend. "We've always played extremely well against them," Washington State coach Mike Leach, who is 4-3 all-time against the Ducks and 2-1 at Autzen Stadium, told the Eugene Register-Guard. "We recognize the fact that we have not done a good enough job against Washington State for the past four years," Cristobal said. Gordon has thrown for 400 or more yards in a game five times this season, three more than any other quarterback in the country. PREDICTION: Oregon 41, Washington State 24

Quarterback Gage Gubrud #4 of the Washington State Cougars hands the ball off to Deon McIntosh #16 in the second half against the Northern Colorado Bears at Martin Stadium on September 07, 2019 in Pullman, Washington. Washington State defeatsPULLMAN, Wash. - Two teams heading in the wrong direction meet Saturday night when Washington State hosts Colorado. ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (3-3, 0-3)Defense is also a pressing issue for the Cougars, who are allowing 459 yards (ninth in the Pac-12) and 31.8 points (eighth) per contest. Washington State has won five of the seven meetings with Colorado as Pac-12 foes, including 31-7 and 28-0 victories the past two seasons. PREDICTION: Washington State 38, Colorado 30More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

Washington State defeated Utah 28-24. 19 Utah dropped its first game of the season Friday against USC and the losses may not have stopped there. "I think there were some guys who got satisfied and sloppy," Washington State coach Mike Leach said of his team Monday at his weekly news conference. Washington State has won four straight in the series after last season's 28-24 home victory decided on Gardner Minshew's 89-yard scoring pass to Winston with 4:14 to play. PREDICTION: Utah 26, Washington State 23More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

19 Washington State. LINE: Washington State -18.5"I think they are an extremely talented team," Leach said. ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (3-0, 0-0)Gordon leads the nation in passing yards having completed 96-of-122 attempts for 1,324 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions. Washington State leads the nation with seven fumble recoveries. PREDICTION: Washington State 41, UCLA 20More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew II #16 of the Washington State Cougars looks to pass against the San Jose State Spartans in the second half at Martin Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Pullman, Washington. Washington State defeated San Jose StateHOUSTON - Washington State's offense is in midseason form already with 117 points through two games. Washington State forced four turnovers against Northern Colorado, while Jahad Woods led the team with 10 tackles (seven solo). The teams have not met since Washington State captured the 1988 Aloha Bowl with a narrow win over Houston. PREDICTION: Washington State 42, Houston 37More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew II #16 of the Washington State Cougars looks to pass against the San Jose State Spartans in the second half at Martin Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Pullman, Washington. Washington State defeated San Jose StatePULLMAN, Wash. - Anthony Gordon looks like he will be able to thrive in coach Mike Leach's Washington State offense. The senior quarterback strives to follow up a memorable first college start when the 21st-ranked Cougars host Northern Colorado on Saturday. Washington State, which has never faced Northern Colorado, has won 14 of its past 15 home games. PREDICTION: Washington State 66, Northern Colorado 13More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

Texas Tech's Mad Genius Scott Pelley profiles Mike Leach, head coach of Texas Tech's Red Raiders. Leach made up for a lack of money and talent by creating an offense that's changing the way college football is played.