HUSKER MEN HOST FIGHTING ILLINI AT PINNACLE BANK ARENA:
Following an overtime win at Minnesota on Saturday, the Huskers return to Pinnacle Bank Arena for the first time in 2023 to host Illinois Tuesday evening. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. with pregame on KGFW starting at 7 PM.
Nebraska (9-7, 2-3 Big Ten) is coming off an 81-79 win at Minnesota on Jan. 7, marking the Huskers’ first overtime road win in conference play since 2001. Derrick Walker had 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, as Nebraska fought back from a seven-point second-half deficit for a crucial road win.
The Huskers have been tough in Pinnacle Bank Arena, going 6-1 this season with the only loss coming to No. 4 Purdue in overtime on Dec. 10.
Illinois enters at 10-5 overall, and searches for their first road win of the season seeking their first consecutive wins on the season since late November.
GEORGIA BULLIES TCU FOR BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
It was all standing ovations and sideline snacks in the fourth quarter of college football’s most lopsided title game.
In emphatic and overwhelming fashion, Georgia became the first team to repeat as College Football Playoff national champions and left no doubt the ’Dawgs are the new bullies on the block.
Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores — in the first half — as No. 1 Georgia demolished No. 3 TCU 65-7 on Monday night.
The Bulldogs (15-0) are the first repeat champs in major college football since Alabama went back-to-back a decade ago. The 58 point margin of victory is the largest in any bowl game in history.
No team has ever scored more points in a national championship game, dating to the beginning of the BCS in 1998.
FINAL AP POLL FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL RELEASED:
The final AP rankings for the 2022-23 College Football season were released today.
Georgia was No. 1 in the final Associated Press Top 25 college football poll, becoming the 12th back-to-back national champion in the history of the rankings after routing TCU on Monday night.
The Horned Frogs were No. 2, their best final rankings since the 2010 season. Michigan was No. 3, followed by Ohio State and Alabama.
Tennessee was No. 6, giving the Southeastern Conference half of the top six teams.
Penn State was No. 7, the first time the Nittany Lions have finished a season ranked since 2019. No. 8 Washington finished ranked for the first time since 2018.
HUSKER SOFTBALL’S ANDREWS NAMED TOP 100 PLAYER AHEAD OF SEASON:
After an impressive 2022 campaign from Billie Andrews, the junior was ranked the No. 58 player in the country by D1 Softball ahead of the 2023 season.
Andrews was listed among the top 100 players heading into the 2023 season. The list included players who were identified as the most valuable softball student-athletes, including Northwestern’s Danielle Williams, the 2022 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year.
Andrews is coming off of a record-breaking sophomore season in 2022. The second-team All-Big Ten selection recorded 20 home runs during the year, setting a sophomore school record and finishing the season ranked 13th in the NCAA. Andrews was named an NFCA third-team All-Midwest Region selection and was voted the Nebraska Female Athlete of the Year.
VIRGINIA TRANSFER RECEIVER KEMP COMMITS TO NEBRASKA:
Nebraska may have found one solution to its pass catcher dilemma with the addition of Virginia Cavaliers wideout Billy Kemp.
Kemp announced for the Huskers on Monday night after taking a visit to Nebraska over the weekend. The wide receiver, who received an extra year of eligibility from the NCAA, had back-to-back productive seasons for Virginia in 2020 and 2021 to help him rank 10th all-time in receiving yardage in Cavalier history.
The 5-foot-9, 172-pound Kemp was slowed in 2022 as injuries relegated him to seven games and four starts. Prior to this past season, however, he had 74 catches for 725 yards in 2021, with no fewer than three receptions in a single game.
He finished his five-year career with the Cavs totaling 1,774 receiving yards on 192 catches.
HAMLIN BACK IN BUFFALO TO CONTINUE RECOVERY:
Bills safety Damar Hamlin said he returned to Buffalo on Monday “with a lot of love on my heart” to continue his recovery in a hospital there, a week after going into cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on the field during a game in Cincinnati.
Hamlin was discharged from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in the morning and flown to western New York. He was listed in stable condition at Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute.
Doctors said Hamlin has been walking since having a breathing tube removed on Friday, eating regular food and undergoing therapy. They said he was on a normal or even accelerated trajectory in his recovery from cardiac arrest, which is considered a life-threatening event, and that normal recovery can be measured from weeks to months.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES ADDITION OF BUSH, TEBOW, MORE:
Reggie Bush, whose Heisman Trophy victory for Southern California in 2005 was vacated because of NCAA violations, was among 18 players in the latest College Football Hall of Fame class announced Monday.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman in 2007, was also elected to the hall by the National Football Foundation, along with Dwight Freeney of Syracuse; Luke Kuechly of Boston College; LaMichael James of Oregon; and Michael Bishop of Kansas State.
The rest of the latest class of college Hall of Famers includes: Eric Berry of Tennessee; Robert Gallery of Iowa; Derrick Johnson of Texas; Bill Kollar of Montana State; Jeremy Maclin of Missouri; Terrance Mathis of New Mexico; Bryant McKinnie of Miami; Corey Moore of Virginia Tech; Michael Stonebreaker of Notre Dame; Troy Vincent of Wisconsin; Brian Westbrook of Villanova; and DeAngelo Williams of Memphis.
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
TUESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Swimming & Diving: Double Dual v. Lincoln North Star & Lincoln Southwest – 4 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Boys Basketball: v. Lexington – 5:30 PM
- Girls Basketball: v. Lexington – 7:30 PM
- Wrestling: @ Central City Dual – 6 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6 PM – 7 PM)
- Nebraska Men’s Basketball v. Illinois (7 PM – 10:45 PM)
WEDNESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6 PM – 6:45 PM)
- Nebraska Women’s Basketball v. Penn State (6:45 PM – 10 PM)
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Girls Basketball: @ Lincoln East – 5:45 PM
- KGFW Pregame at 5:30 PM
- Boys Basketball: @ Lincoln East – 7:30 PM
- KGFW Pregame after KHS GBB
- Wrestling: v. North Platte Dual @ Kearney High School – 7 PM
- Girls Basketball: @ Lincoln East – 5:45 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Swimming & Diving: @ North Star Triangular – 4 PM
- Girls Basketball: v. Broken Bow – 5:30 PM
- Boys Basketball: v. Broken Bow – 7:30 PM
- UNK:
- N/a
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Kearney High Girls Basketball @ Lincoln East (5:30 PM – 7:30 PM)
- Kearney High Boys Basketball @ Lincoln East (7:30 PM – 9:30 PM)
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Swimming & Diving: @ Lincoln High School (Diving Only) – 4:30 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Swimming & Diving: @ Lincoln High Invite (Diving Only) – 4:30 PM
- Wrestling: Triangular @ Gibbon (v. Gibbon & Mitchell) – 7 PM
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: @ Graduate Classic @ Lincoln, NE – 4 PM
- Wrestling: @ Newman – 7 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Nebraska Men’s Basketball @ Purdue (5 PM – 8:45 PM)
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Wrestling: HAC Championships @ Lincoln Southwest – 9:30 AM
- Swimming & Diving: @ Lincoln High Invite – 10 AM
- Boys Basketball: @ Omaha Bryan – 2 PM
- KGFW Pregame beginning at 1:45 PM
- Girls Basketball: v. Bellevue West @ Kearney High School – 4:15 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Swimming & Diving: @ Lincoln High Invite – 10 AM
- Wrestling: @ Gibbon Invite – 10 AM
- Girls Basketball: @ Hastings St. Cecilia – 1 PM
- Boys Basketball: @ Hastings St. Cecilia – 3 PM
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: @ Graduate Classic @ Lincoln, NE – 11:30 AM
- Swimming: @ OC Invite @ Irvine, CA
- Women’s Basketball: @ Fort Hays State – 2 PM
- Men’s Basketball: @ Fort Hays State – 4 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Kearney High Boys Basketball @ Omaha Bryan (1:45 PM – 3:45 PM)
SUNDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- N/a
