Former Florida coach Will Muschamp will get a second chance in the Southeastern Conference after agreeing to take over South Carolina’s football program.
A person with direct knowledge of the decision said Muschamp will be the Gamecocks next coach and hopefully bring some stability to a program after Steve Spurrier resigned in midseason.
The person said Muschamp could be introduced as early as today. The person spoke to The Associated Press Sunday on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been finalized and the hire has not been announced.
The 44-year-old Muschamp spent this past season as Auburn’s defensive coordinator after being fired as coach of the Gators.
University of South Carolina Trustees scheduled a 9 a.m. meeting today with the lone agenda item, “Athletics Employment Contract.”
Muschamp spent four seasons with the Gators, leading them to an 11-3 season in 2012. But he was just 10-13 the next two seasons and was let go by Florida.
Georgia officially names Bama’s Kirby Smart new head coach
ATLANTA — Georgia hired Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart as its new head coach on Sunday, hoping he can accomplish what been routine for the Crimson Tide but eluded Mark Richt during his 15 years between the hedges:
Win a national championship.
Smart was formally approved as Richt’s successor during a meeting by the Georgia athletic association executive committee.
Several media outlets reported that Smart would be the choice just days after Georgia announced it was parting ways with Richt, who won two Southeastern Conference titles and nearly 75 percent of his games in Athens but fell out of favor with many top boosters because of a perception that his team’s underachieved.
Richt has since taken a job as Miami’s coach — like Smart, returning to his alma mater.
Smart played at Georgia in the 1990s and has been Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator at Alabama since 2008.
Cooper’s 18 points lead OSU women over Cincinnati
CINCINNATI — Shayla Cooper scored all of her season-high 18 points in the first half to lead six players in double figures and No. 10 Ohio State beat Cincinnati 105-76 on Sunday.
Cincinnati’s Ana Owens scored a career-high 35 points and made 5 of 8 3-pointers, but Ohio State (5-3) rebounded from a 75-72 loss at No. 3 Notre Dame on Wednesday night by topping the century mark for the second time this season.
Ohio State outscored Cincinnati 60-38 in the second half. Cooper did not play in the second half due to an apparent injury.
Cincinnati-native Kelsey Mitchell scored 16 points for Ohio State, including 14 in the second half, and added five assists. Mitchell was recently named national Player of the Week after scoring 42 points in a 95-80 win against Texas A&M and became the fastest player in Big Ten history to surpass 1,000 points in a career.
Mitchell has now scored in double figures in 42 of 43 games in her career.
Ameryst Alston also had 16 points, Alexa Hart had 14 points and nine rebounds and Cait Craft and Makayla Waterman each had 11 points.
Jasmine Whitfield had 18 points for Cincinnati (3-4), and Bianca Quisenberry had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Michigan State up to 3rd in final poll
Michigan State moved up two spots to No. 3 behind Clemson and Alabama in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday.
The last regular-season rankings were released before the College Football Playoff selection committee revealed the field for the national semifinals.
No. 1 Clemson received 59 first-place votes, No. 2 Alabama got nine, and Michigan State one from media panel.
The Spartans, who were No. 2 early in the season, edged up after beating Iowa 16-13 in the Big Ten championship game.
Oklahoma slipped one spot to No. 4. Stanford moved up two spots to No. 5 after winning the Pac-12 title and Iowa dropped two spots to sixth after its first loss of the season.
Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida State and North Carolina round out the top 10.
