Michigan Fires Head Coach Juwan Howard – Tracker
Keep up to date with all the latest news surrounding the Ohio State Buckeyes and college football.
According to multiple reports, the Michigan Wolverines have fired head basketball coach Juwan Howard after five seasons with the team.
The Wolverines just wrapped up a season in which they finished 8-23 and 3-17 in the Big Ten, finishing last in conference standings.
Howard had signed a five-year extension with the Wolverines in 2021, that was set to keep him in Ann Arbor through the 2025-26 season.
Under Howard, the Wolverines had reached the NCAA Tournament twice, making the Elite Eight in 2020-2021, and the Sweet 16 in 2021-2022.
However, over the last two seasons, the Wolverines finished with a combined 26-40 record.
Now, just like the Buckeyes, Michigan will be on the hunt for a new head coach, possible battling one another for their desired candidates.
The Ohio State Buckeyes were likely a heartbreaking loss to Michigan away from yet another College Football Playoff berth in 2023.
However, they narrowly missed out, with Texas and Alabama receiving the last two spots.
The playoff, which is set to expand to 12 teams next season, will see the five highest-ranked conference champions get automatic bids, with the next seven teams in the rankings filling out the rest of the bracket. The top four seeds will get a first-round bye.
But now, according to reports from ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Pete Thamel, the College Football Playoff is set to expand to 14 teams in 2026.
“The details of what’s expected to be a 14-team field won’t be determined until after the TV deal is done,” ESPN wrote.
Teams from the power conferences, as well as Notre Dame, are aiming to meet Friday for contract discussions.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are losing one of their top assistants, with offensive analyst Todd Fitch leaving Columbus for Baton Rouge and the LSU Tigers.
Fitch had been with the Buckeyes since 2001, and was instrumental in the development of star quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Stroud and Fitch were notably close, with the NFL’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year even thanking him in his acceptance speech.
“I want to thank Ohio State, Coach Day, Todd Fitch, and a ton of just Buckeyes out here that have given me nothing but support, and showed a young kid some love all the way 2,000 miles away from home,” Stroud said.
Fitch has been in the coaching field since 1986, spending the majority of his career as an offensive coordinator and coaching quarterbacks.
Ohio State Buckeyes basketball hasn’t exactly had an easy time of it lately. However, there are still some bright spots shining for the program on the next level.
On Friday night, former Ohio State wing Malaki Branham made arguably the play of the night in the NBA, dunking over Lakers superstar LeBron James at the Staples Center.
Branham finished the game with 17 points in 23 minutes, and is averaging 8.2 points and 2.2 assists per game.
The College Football world was set on fire in recent Days when it was confirmed that a new college video game was set to be released for the first time in a decade.
And unsurprisingly, it was NIL that made it possible, with each player who opts in set to make $600 and get a copy of the game upon its release.
Now, over 5,000 players have opted in to be in the game, including Ohio State stars Quinshon Judkins and Denzel Burke, both of whom are expected to be highly rated.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have not been able to get over the hump in the College Football Playoff since 2014. In fact, the team is just 1-4 in the playoff since their national title win that season.
Most recently, the Buckeyes fell to Georgia in the 2022 semi-finals at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
And when pressed about the program’s struggles by former Florida running back Fred Taylor during an appearance on The Pivot Podcast, Ohio State star and Houston Texans rookie phenom QB C.J. Stroud came to the Buckeyes defense.
“Where did you go?,” Stroud asked before finding out Taylor was a Florida alum. “Come on man, what is we talking about? — I thought you went to Bama or something.”
According to reports from the Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, the College Football Playoff and ESPN have reached an agreement on a six-year $7.8 billion extension to keep the event and the network together.
However, per the report, that agreement is still pending the resolution of specific issues for the CFP.
“The full contract’s completion is still contingent on CFP leaders finalizing details of the expanded format in the wake of the implosion of the Pac-12,” Marchand said. “The CFP’s management committee and board of managers have meetings scheduled for next week and continue to work through the complicated process of settling their outstanding issues.
“The ESPN deal will not be ratified until the commissioners and presidents vote on the structure and financials of the expanded CFP. ESPN senior vice president of communication Josh Krulewitz and College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock both declined to comment.”
The Buckeyes are among the most decorated teams to take part in the CFP since its inception. Overall, the Buckeyes have made five appearances (2014, 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2022), and won the first-ever CFP title game in 2014. They are 3-4 all-time in their seven playoff games.
The playoff is set to expand to a 12-team format next season.
Former Ohio State star and Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud won the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year on Thursday night during the NFL Honors show.
He led the Texans to a 10-7 regular season record, marking the most wins by the franchise since 2019.
Stroud finished his rookie season with 4,557 total passing yards, including the postseason, which is the second-most in NFL history by a rookie quarterback — trailing only Andrew Luck (4,662) in 2012.
He also added 23 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 63.9 percent of his passes. On Oct. 8, Stroud began his career with a record-setting 192 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, the most ever by a player to begin a career.
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