Gov. Mike DeWine nominated Jim Tressel, 72, a former Ohio State football coach, to succeed John Husted, who was appointed a U.S. senator to replace Vice President JD Vance.

Tressel, a longtime Republican who has never held or ran for elected office before, said Monday DeWine’s offer “was a surprise for sure. But I’ve always enjoyed working with decision-makers in the state.”

DeWine said he first met with Tressel on Feb. 1 to gauge his interest. Tressel said he called his wife, Ellen, and said “You’re not going to believe this, but the governor thinks that we’d be capable of being helpful and wants us to consider this and she said, ‘It sounds like God has more work for you to do.’”

Being nominated for lieutenant governor was a humbling moment, Trestle said.

“I believe in our governor and what he believes in. I promise for the next 699 days to have a singleness of purpose and a singleness of focus, which is to serve the needs that the governor outlines,” he said.

DeWine made the announcement Monday in Columbus with Tressel by his side.

The Ohio House and Senate have to confirm the appointment.

DeWine said he wanted a lieutenant governor who could succeed him during the final 22-plus months he has as governor if that is needed, someone who could contribute to the state and be a leader.

“I want someone who shared my vision for Ohio,” DeWine said. “I want someone who would focus on education, someone who would focus on workforce.”

DeWine said Tressel will be “involved directly with education and workforce development during the remaining two years of my administration.”

Tressel was asked if he would run next year for governor, when the seat opens. Before he could answer, DeWine said, “We’ve had no discussion about that. I asked Jim to sign up for a little less than two years. That’s been our focus. We’ve had no discussions on anything else.”

Because of his popularity statewide, Tressel’s name has come up as a potential political candidate over the years. If Tressel entered next year’s gubernatorial race, it would upend the Republican primary that already includes Attorney General Dave Yost with Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur with close ties to President Donald Trump, expected to announce his candidacy shortly.

Dr. Amy Acton, DeWine’s former health director during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, has declared a bid to run next year as the Democratic nominee for governor.

Mahoning County Republican Party Chairman Tom McCabe said the governor’s selection of Tressel “came out of nowhere, but it is a great choice. Who knows Ohio better or this area better than Jim Tressel? It has the potential to benefit this area.”

As for Tressel running for governor, McCabe said, “That would be intriguing. I don’t know his plans. That would be an exciting possibility. We’ll see what the next two years hold. His name has been floated for years as a senator or congressman. It would be an exciting possibility to have him run for governor.”

Guy Coviello, president and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, said DeWine made a “spectacular choice” in selecting Tressel as lieutenant governor.

“Tressel has for a long time been engaged in public policy and has very effective ideas,” Coviello said. “It does the Mahoning Valley a lot of good to have someone with Youngstown in his heart serve as lieutenant governor. I look forward to working closely with him as lieutenant governor as I did when he was university president.”

Coviello also encouraged Tressel to run next year for governor.

“It would be a great idea,” he said.

Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Anderson said that Tressel “is too good a human being to sell his soul to the MAGA extremists to win a GOP primary. That’s how you can tell this is a caretaker appointment and that he isn’t going to run for governor. I urge President Tressel to not forget the Mahoning Valley in the Columbus swamp and wish him the best of luck in his new role.”

Trumbull County Democratic Chairman Mark Alberini said he was “surprised” by the announcement.

He said: “I have a lot of respect for Jim Tressel as a football coach and president of a university. I don’t necessarily know how those translate to being a lieutenant governor, but we’ll find out. He has strong leadership abilities. He’s a man of character and integrity, which I think are great characteristics we sorely need in Ohio.”

U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled that Jim Tressel has been nominated to be our next lieutenant governor. As president of Youngstown State, Jim brought transformative, generational changes to the Mahoning Valley. He’s one of our own. His unmatched leadership, approachability and relentless drive make him one of the finest administrators in the country. I have no doubt he will continue to inspire and lead Ohio to new heights.”

Tressel was hired by YSU to be its head football coach for the 1986 season and led the team to four Division 1-AA national championships through 2000, when he was hired to be head coach of the Ohio State University football team. During his time at Ohio State, the team won a national title in 2002 and seven Big Ten championships.

Tressel resigned in 2011 after the university’s football program got caught up in an NCAA investigation involving players selling memorabilia for tattoos.

After serving as a vice president at the University of Akron, Tressel returned to YSU as its president, starting the job May 2014. He retired in February 2023.

Bill Johnson, YSU president, said: “Jim Tressel’s legacy as a leader, educator and community builder has had an immeasurable impact on both Youngstown and the state of Ohio.”

Johnson, a Republican who resigned as a congressman after 11 years to become YSU president in January 2024, said, “Throughout his distinguished career, Jim has proven time and time again his exceptional ability to build and lead teams, bring together diverse groups of people to achieve common goals. His passion for the Youngstown community, along with his vision for a stronger, more united region, has continued to drive positive change.”

Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, a Democrat who worked closely with Tressel, said: “It’s a real big win for the Valley and the city of Youngstown. We’ve got a relationship with him. He’s got a front seat and the ear of the governor to talk about things happening in the Valley such as infrastructure, education and the innovation hub. He can be a great cheerleader for our area and he’s been actively involved in helping to get things done in the Valley.”

Before his lieutenant governor nomination, Tressel agreed to be the final speaker on April 30 during the 47th and last season of Trumbull Town Hall at Packard Music Hall in Warren.

Knight finished another banner year for the Pioneers, once again earning the Paul Hoernemann Defensive Lineman of the Year, the top award for linemen in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Knight finished the season with 58 tackles and led the OAC with 12.5 sacks and 20 tackles for a loss.

After the season ended, Knight was named to both the D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association All-America team first teams and was named a finalist to be named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-American Team.

For 134 years, the Walter Camp All-America team, the nation’s oldest college football All-America team, has been selecting and honoring the best Division I players. This season was the first time that teams for the other divisions have been recognized.

Walter Camp, the legendary former football coach of Yale University, is often referred to as “the Father of American football.” He is credited with developing the use of set plays as well as determining the number of players on the field. He also created the line of scrimmage and the four down system. He first selected an All-America team in 1889 and continued the tradition until his death in 1925. Ever since, a team has been named in his honor, leading to the formation of the Walter Camp Football Foundation in 1967. The purpose of the foundation was to “perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.”

The 14-hour visitation, in honor of Rose’s jersey number, was arranged by the Cincinnati Reds with cooperation from Rose’s daughters, Fawn and Kara, who exchanged hugs, stories and even some tears with fans.

“We wanted to do something like this,” said Rick Walls, executive director of the Reds Hall of Fame. “You could see from the turnout, it means a lot to the people here. It’s a moving experience.”

Rose, known as Charlie Hustle for his unbridled passion for the game, was the engine behind Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine clubs that won back-to-back World Series titles in 1975 and ’76.

A 17-time All-Star, the switch-hitting Rose played on three World Series winners. He was the National League MVP in 1973 and World Series MVP two years later. He holds the major league record for games played (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). But no milestone approached his 4,256 hits, breaking his hero Ty Cobb’s 4,191.

Rose agreed to a permanent ban from Major League Baseball in 1989 following an investigation by MLB that determined he bet on Reds games from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. Two years later, the Hall of Fame barred players on the permanent ineligible list from the Hall ballot.

Despite his indiscretions away from the diamond, fans arrived as early as 4 a.m. Sunday to honor Rose, slowly passing by an urn containing his ashes and a table displaying his bright red Reds Hall of Fame induction suit jacket and other memorabilia while a highlight video of his illustrious career played on the concourse video boards.

Fans left flowers and other mementos at the Rose statue located just outside the main entrance to the ballpark.

“He was a guy you thought was going to live forever,” longtime Reds fan Bob Augspurger said. “When I heard the news, obviously it was sad. Baseball lost its greatest ambassador.”

Fawn Rose said in a statement, “We are deeply moved by the overwhelming love and support from the people of Cincinnati, the entire baseball community, and fans across the world as we mourn the loss of our beloved Dad, Grandpa, and Brother, Pete Rose.”

The Reds plan to honor Rose on “Pete Rose Day” when they play the Chicago White Sox on May 14 with first pitch planned for 7:14 p.m., also in homage to his No. 14.

Stephanie Wheatley, a spokesperson for Clark County in Nevada, confirmed on behalf of the medical examiner that Rose died Monday. Wheatley said his cause and manner of death had not yet been determined.

For fans who came of age in the 1960s and ’70s, no player was more exciting than the Cincinnati Reds’ No. 14, “Charlie Hustle,” the brash superstar with shaggy hair and muscular forearms. At the dawn of artificial surfaces, divisional play and free agency, Rose was old school, a conscious throwback to baseball’s early days. Millions could never forget him crouched and scowling at the plate, running full speed to first even after drawing a walk, or sprinting for the next base and diving headfirst into the bag.

A 17-time All-Star, the switch-hitting Rose played on three World Series winners. He was the National League MVP in 1973 and World Series MVP two years later. He holds the major league record for games played (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890) and the NL record for the longest hitting streak (44). He was the leadoff man for one of baseball’s most formidable lineups with the Reds’ championship teams of 1975 and 1976, with teammates that included Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Joe Morgan.

But no milestone approached his 4,256 hits, breaking his hero Ty Cobb’s 4,191 and signifying his excellence no matter the notoriety which followed. It was a total so extraordinary that you could average 200 hits for 20 years and still come up short. Rose’s secret was consistency, and longevity. Over 24 seasons, all but six played entirely with the Reds, Rose had 200 hits or more 10 times, and more than 180 four other times. He batted .303 overall, even while switching from second base to outfield to third to first, and he led the league in hits seven times.

“Every summer, three things are going to happen,” Rose liked to say, “the grass is going to get green, the weather is going to get hot, and Pete Rose is going to get 200 hits and bat .300.”

Rose reached 1,000 hits in 1968, 2,000 just five years later and 3,000 just five years after that. He moved into second place, ahead of Hank Aaron, with hit No. 3,772, in 1982. No. 4,000 was off the Phillies’ Jerry Koosman in 1984, exactly 21 years to the day after his first hit. He caught up with Cobb on Sept. 8, 1985, and surpassed him three days later, in Cincinnati, with Rose’s mother and teenage son, Pete Jr., among those in attendance.

Rose was 44 and the team’s player-manager. Batting left-handed against the San Diego Padres’ Eric Show in the first inning, he smacked a 2-1 slider into left field, a clean single. The crowd of 47,000-plus stood and yelled. The game was halted to celebrate. Rose was given the ball and the first base bag, then wept openly on the shoulder of first base coach and former teammate, Tommy Helms. He told Pete Jr., who would later play briefly for the Reds: “I love you, and I hope you pass me.” He thought of his late father, a star athlete himself who had pushed him to play sports since childhood. And he thought of Cobb, the dead-ball era slasher whom Rose so emulated that he named another son Tyler.

Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, watching from New York, declared that Rose had “reserved a prominent spot in Cooperstown.” After the game, a 2-0 win for the Reds in which Rose scored both runs, he received a phone call from President Ronald Reagan.

“Your reputation and legacy are secure,” Reagan told him. “It will be a long time before anyone is standing in the spot where you’re standing now.”

Four years later, he was gone.

On March 20, 1989, Ueberroth (who would soon be succeeded by A. Bartlett Giamatti) announced that his office was conducting a “full inquiry into serious allegations” about Rose. Reports emerged that he had been relying on a network of bookies and friends and others in the gambling world to place bets on baseball games, including some with the Reds. Rose denied any wrongdoing, but the investigation found that the “accumulated testimony of witnesses, together with the documentary evidence and telephone records reveal extensive betting activity by Pete Rose in connection with professional baseball and, in particular, Cincinnati Reds games, during the 1985, 1986, and 1987 baseball seasons.”

In August 1989, at a New York press conference, Giamatti spoke some of the saddest words in baseball history: “One of the game’s greatest players has engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game, and he must now live with the consequences of those acts.” Giamatti announced that Rose had agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball, a decision that in 1991 the Hall of Fame would rule left him ineligible for induction. Rose attempted to downplay the news, insisting that he had never bet on baseball and that he would eventually be reinstated.

In the beginning, it was all about the game. He was a Cincinnati native from a working-class neighborhood whose father, Harry Francis Rose, like the father of Mickey Mantle, taught his son to be a switch hitter. Rose mastered his skills with a broom handle and a rubber ball, thrown to him by his younger brother, Dave.

Pete Rose graduated from high school in June 1960. He flew to Rochester, New York, two days later, and then rode a bus some 45 miles to Geneva, home of the Reds’ level D minor league team. By 1962, he had been promoted to level A, in Macon, Georgia. He batted .330 and vowed to displace Reds second baseman Don Blasingame in 1963, telling a reporter “I’m going to be on his heels.”

Blasingame was with the Washington Senators by midseason and Rose was a phenomenon: “Charlie Hustle,” Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford reportedly called him, mockingly, after watching him hurry to first upon drawing a walk in spring training. Rose hit .273 as a rookie and, starting in 1965, batted .300 or higher 14 out of 15 seasons. He was so dependable that in 1968, the “Year of the Pitcher,” he led the league with a .335 average, one of three batting titles.

In his post-baseball life, he did make it to a few honorary associations. The Reds voted him into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2016, the year before a bronze sculpture of Rose’s iconic slide was unveiled outside of Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park.

Rose the man was never inducted into Cooperstown, but his career was well-represented. Items at the Baseball Hall include his helmet from his MVP 1973 season, the bat he used in 1978 when his hitting streak reached 44 and the cleats he wore, in 1985, on the day he became the game’s hits king.

Alex Richter started the day off with a towering home run to straight away center field in the top of the first inning.

The Vikings responded with five runs over the next three innings to take a 5-1 lead. Riley Uhls led off the second with a double and came around to score on an RBI single from Garrett Lang. A Pioneer error led to Berry’s second run of the inning.

Joey Garcia and Nick Brunswick led off the third with back-to-back singles. Both stole a base moving to second and third. Garcia scored on an RBI groundout by Levi Cloud. Berry got its first two runners on in the fourth and sacrifice bunted them into scoring position. A wild pitch plated one run and a sac fly from Garcia scored the second.

The Pioneers tied the game, 5-5, with four runs in the top of the sixth inning. Cole Yeager led off with a triple and scored on a single from Nick Bonnizzio. Trent Valentine singled moving Bonnizzio to third. A balk plated Bonnizzio. Richter drove in Valentine with an RBI double and later scored on a single from Cole Rieman.

The lead was shirt-lived as Berry got a two-run home run from Charles Pulaski in the home half of the inning. Alex Knapp led off with a walk and following a strikeout, Pulaski homered off the leftfield foul pole.

The Etta Express scored eight runs over the next three innings to get the win. Richter delivered a two-run single in the seventh to start a four-run rally. Ben Kaplin reached on an error that plated two more runs in the seventh.

Kaplin drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double in the eighth. Marietta added an insurance run in the ninth when Valentine picked up an RBI on an infield error.

Valentine started on the mound for the Pioneers and worked 3.0 innings giving up five runs, three earned, on seven hits. Jared Bees threw 2.1 innings and gave up two runs on two hits. Jacob Rocky (1-1) picked up the win throwing 2.2 innings and allowing one run on one hit. Gabe Torres pitched the ninth.

Berry used seven pitchers in the game. Charles Stephenson started and threw 5.0 innings. He allowed four runs on five hits. Stephen Slezak (0-1) was tagged with the loss. He gave up two runs, one earned, on one hit.

Richter led the Pioneer offense going 4-for-5 with a double, home run and four RBI. Yeager was a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Kaplin had a double and drive in four runs.

Uhls had three hits and three RBI for the Vikings. Pulaski, Garcia, and Lang had two hits apiece.

Marietta heads to Port Charlotte, Florida for seven games next week. The Pioneers play Wabash College on Monday at noon.

“Those guys are tough and are much better than their record,” said Marietta head coach Kole Vivian. “They defended us really well in the first half. In the second half we did a better job of moving the ball and hitting the glass. Our guards were able to make great decisions and our forwards dominated the backboards.”

The two teams battled through a rough shooting first quarter as both teams only had three made baskets apiece.

After the Pioneers missed their first three shots of the game, Wilmington’s Stephanie Atlstaetter got the first points in the contest off a driving layup. After Ky Walker converted a pair of free throws to extend the lead to four, Marietta finally got on the scoreboard as Hannah Schill nailed a three-pointer. Later in the quarter, the Pioneers were able to use the free throw line to take the lead. Jenna Smith and Madison Cecil hit both of their attempts and Marietta led 7-6 at the 4:13 mark. Cecil followed with a layup a minute later and Sophia Murray scored a layup off the bench with a minute remaining in the quarter. That was the final shot made in the period and the Pioneers took a 11-8 lead into the second quarter.

Both squads had a quiet start to the next period but Schill got things going with a three-point shot to extend the lead to five. Cassidy Lovett, who played a great defensive game for the Quakers, answered with a three-pointer of her own to cut the lead to 14-11. Paige Tolson’s trey at the 6:24 mark gave the Pioneers their biggest lead of the game at that point but Wilmington again answered with a Lovett layup. After Altstaetter scored a layup to cut the lead to two, the Pioneers went on a 6-0 run. A pair of buckets from Tolson and a layup from Olivia Gribble extended the cushion to eight points. Adi Hill nailed a three-pointer in the closing seconds and the Pioneers led 30-20 at halftime.

The Pioneers steadily extended its lead in the third quarter. Altstaetter hit from three to open the period for the Quakers, but Marietta got three consecutive baskets from Schill on the way to a 10-0 run. Wilmington tried to stay close as they answered with seven straight points, five coming from a pair of Olivia Trusty jumpers. The rally was short-lived as Cecil buried a three-pointer at the 3:45 mark. The Pioneers closed out the quarter with a step back jumper from Gribble and led 52-32 going into in the fourth quarter.

Tolson kept the Pioneers rolling in the fourth period as she hit three jumpers, two from three-point range. Wilmington could not overcome and Pioneers would cruise to victory, 69-45.

Tolson led the Pioneers with 15 points and collected four rebounds. Schill finished with 14 points and dished out three assists. Makenzie Wilson led the Pioneers with 12 rebounds and Levering collected eight rebounds to go with her nine points and two blocked shots.

Wilmington’s Atlstaetter led all scorers with 17 points and Trusty finished with 13 points.

Marietta next travels to Ohio Northern for a conference bout on Saturday, scheduled for a 2 p.m. tipoff.

MEN

WILMINGTON, Ohio — Marietta College uses a big second half to erase an eight-point halftime deficit as the Pioneers defeat Wilmington College by the score of 82-69 Saturday in Ohio Athletic Conference men’s basketball action. Marietta improves to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the OAC. Wilmington falls to 5-4 on the season and 1-1 in the OAC.

“That was a full team effort today. We played 13 guys and got great minutes in the second half out of a lot of people,” Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said. “I’m proud of our guys for showing some true toughness in the second half after a miserable first half.”

Marietta struggled at the free throw line in the first half converting just 11-of-21 at the charity stripe. Wilmington hit a pair of three-pointers to start the game jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead. The Quakers held a small lead through the first 13 minutes of the game.

A jumper from Carson Miles midway through the period gave Wilmington a nine-point lead, 20-11. The Pioneers responded with nine straight points to tie the game, 20-20, on a three-pointer from De’Ovion Price at the 6:54 mark. Marietta’s first lead of the game came 30 seconds later when Eric Chapman (Point Pleasant, W.Va./Point Pleasant) completed an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Pioneers in front, 23-22.

After trading baskets over the next five minutes, Wilmington closed the half with a 9-1 run to take a 40-32 lead into halftime.

The Pioneers used an 8-0 run in the first five minutes of the second half to reclaim the lead, 46-45. A layup from Frank Waganfeald and three-pointers from Jayden Bradshaw and David Sanford accounted for Marietta’s points during the run.

After several ties, a triple from Price gave Marietta the lead for good with 8:58 left in the game. The Quakers didn’t score in the final three minutes of the game as Marietta built a double-digit lead in the final minute of the game.

Five Pioneers scored in double figures led by Lovenson Xavier with 13 points. Bradshaw finished with 12 points, while Sanford chipped in with 11 points. Sahmi Willoughby and Price each scored 10 points.

Matthew Dugue led the Quakers with 14 points. Domenic Farley scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Jayden Lewis added 11 points.

Marietta hosts Ohio Northern University next Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Ban Johnson Arena.

The Bulldogs received 60 of 63 first-place votes in the poll released Monday to easily outpoint No. 2 Michigan, which received two first-place votes and has its best preseason rankings since being No. 2 in 1991. The Wolverines’ Big Ten rival, Ohio State, is No. 3 with one first-place vote.

Two more Southeastern Conference teams join Georgia in the top five. Alabama is No. 4, the Crimson Tide’s lowest preseason ranking in more than a decade, and LSU starts at No. 5, its best preseason ranking since 2016.

The Bulldogs have won the last two national titles while going 29-2, but this will be only the second time in program history they have been preseason No. 1. The first was in 2008.

Georgia started the 2021 season No. 5, before going on to win its first national title since 1980. The Bulldogs followed up with a perfect season in 2022 after being preseason No. 3.

The Bulldogs have had 25 players drafted by NFL teams the last two years, including quarterback Stetson Bennett and All-America defensive tackle Jalen Carter this past April. Coach Kirby Smart has built a program to rival Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty so voters are now giving Georgia the Crimson Tide treatment.

Alabama had been preseason No. 1 each of the last two seasons, and five of the previous seven. Clemson was preseason No. 1 in the other two seasons, making Georgia the first team other than the Tide or Tigers to be preseason No. 1 since Ohio State in 2015.

Alabama is also the last team to win back-to-back major college football national championships, doing so in 2011 and ’12.

No team has won three straight national titles during the AP poll era, which dates to 1936. For the record, Minnesota, the first official AP champion, was retroactively crowned champion for the 1934 and ’35 seasons by a couple of organizations.

Coach Bernie Bierman’s Gophers from long ago are the closest thing major college football has to a three-peater.

“We have not addressed that with them,” Smart said during SEC media days of chasing college football history. “We’ve certainly looked at some three-peat scenarios of teams like the Bulls and different sports teams that they might actually know about. No offense to the Minnesota 1935 team, but I don’t know if it’s going to resonate with my audience.”

The Bulldogs are reloading on the defensive front and at quarterback, but do not lack for stars. Tight end Brock Bowers is one of the nation’s best players; linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson was a second-team All-American; and center Sedrick Van Pran anchors one of the country’s most talented offensive lines.

Rounding out the top 10 is Southern California at No. 6, which is the Trojans’ best preseason ranking since 2017, followed by Penn State, Florida State, Clemson and Washington.

The Seminoles are back in the preseason rankings for the first time since 2018, and in the top 10 for the first time since 2017.

STARTING ON TOP, STAYING ON TOP

Beware, ‘Dawgs.

Since the AP preseason poll started in 1950, 11 teams that started No. 1 also finished No. 1. Only two of those have occurred since 2000: Southern California in 2004 and Alabama in 2017.

“The threat for us is complacency,” Smart said. “The first thing you have to do is acknowledge that it’s a threat. Like if you acknowledge the complacency is a threat, it’s the first step towards stomping it out.”

TIDE’S OUT … OF THE TOP THREE

For most schools, a preseason No. 4 ranking would feel pretty good.

For Alabama, it feels like a sign of decline. The last time the Crimson Tide had a lower preseason ranking was 2009. That was Year 3 for Saban in Tuscaloosa, and Alabama went on to win the first of six national championships during his unprecedented run.

This preseason poll is the first since 2015 in which the Tide did not receive at least one first-place vote.

The Tide did run its record streak of top-five preseason rankings to 15. Next best in poll history is 11 for Florida State in 1990-2000. Ohio State has had 11 top-five preseason rankings since 2009.

CONFERENCE CALL

Over the last three years, schools have been redrawing the conference maps.

This year, the Big 12 has four new members, the American Athletic Conference has six and Conference USA has four.

The really flashy moves come in 2024.

This season will be the last with Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12 ( before moving to the SEC ) and maybe the last with a Pac-12 at all. USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington will play in the Big Ten next year while Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah move to the Big 12 as major college football moves toward sprawling super conferences.

Heading into this season the breakdown by conference of teams in the Top 25:

SEC — 6 (Nos. 1, 4, 5, 12, 22, 23).

Big Ten — 5 (Nos. 2, 3, 7, 19, 25).

Pac-12 — 5 (Nos. 6, 10, 14, 15, 18).

Big 12 — 4 (Nos. 11, 16, 17, 20).

ACC — 3 (Nos. 8, 9, 21).

American Athletic — 1 (No. 24).

Independent — 1 (No. 13).

If sorted by next season’s conference alignment the breakdown looks like this:

SEC — 8 (Nos. 1, 4, 5, 11, 12, 20, 22, 23).

Big Ten — 8 (Nos. 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 15, 19, 25).

Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 14, 16, 17).

ACC — 3 (Nos. 8, 9, 21).

Pac-12 — 1 (No. 18 – counts Oregon State as a Pac-12 team).

American Athletic— 1 (No. 24)

Independent — 1 (No. 13).

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., met with reporters from around the state via Zoom on Wednesday to discuss the bi-partisan Protecting Athletes, Schools, and Sports Act of 2023 (“PASS Act”) which he introduced with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., a former college football coach.

The legislation will protect student athletes, maintain fair competition/compensation, strengthen transparency and preserve the traditions of college sports, Manchin said.

In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided National Collegiate Athletics Association v. Alston (Alston), setting in motion the ability of student athletes across the U.S. to be compensated for the use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL) as well as other related benefits they receive for playing.

“The lack of clear rules created ‘a race to the bottom’ with some athletes receiving millions of dollars as an inducement to play while others have been exploited and lost scholarships,” Manchin said. “This legislation will finally provide clarity and create a national uniform standard.

“This bill marks the culmination of over a year we have been talking about this.”

Lawmakers engaged with all of the stakeholders to get a better understanding of what the challenges were and create a common-sense bi-partisan approach where lawmakers felt they were saving college sports as they have been known. Those talks included athletic directors, administrators, associations, conferences, students, student athlete groups and others.

They arrived on four principles that guide the PASS Act of 2023. Those are; maintaining a competitive balance between schools and states; having total transparency on who is doing what, when, and where; protecting players’ health and safety; and maintaining equality so that all student athletes in all sports benefit from these activities, according to a summary provided by Manchin’s office.

The legislation also will put certain limits on boosters and collective organizations.

“Some of these have openly paid millions of dollars to lure athletes to their schools,” Manchin said. “Others have broken promises to these athletes because they don’t have the money to fulfill their outlandish promises.

“They made promises with no backing at all.”

As a result, students ended up leaving certain programs when promises were not met. Also, some arrive and a coach might think they are better suited for another position and the student ends up leaving.

“These are young men and women coming into collegiate sports, but there has to be nurturing and building of their talents,” Manchin said. “Many transfers have low graduation rates.”

The legislation will protect student athletes by requiring collectives and boosters to be affiliated with a college or school, establishing a national standard for NIL; and preserving Title IX sports by ensuring that nothing in the PASS Act affects the rights of any students athletes or affects any programs funded through Title IX, the summary said.

The legislation will be protecting higher education institutions by ensuring that schools, conferences, and associations are not liable for their work complying with the PASS Act; prohibiting NIL agreements that involve alcohol, drugs, or conflict with existing school and conference licenses; requiring student athletes to ask permission to make use of existing intellectual property; and preserving the future of college sports by prohibiting inducements, the summary said.

The legislation will require agents and collectives that participate in NIL to register with a regulating body; all NIL contracts must be disclosed within 30 days; and will establish a public-facing website to publish anonymized NIL data.

The legislation also moderates the transfer portal where student-athletes must complete their first three years of academic eligibility before allowing them to transfer without penalty. Exceptions are included in the bill for a death in the family, a coach that is fired or leaves and other criteria.

The priority is to protect the student athletes, Manchin said.

The legislation also includes guaranteed health insurance for sports-related injuries for uninsured student athletes for eight years following graduation from a four-year institution.

Schools must also honor the original scholarship commitment made to a student athlete.

Manchin said in the coming weeks they are going to have some high-level meetings. He is urging his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to look at this legislation as a way to preserve the integrity of the college sports they love.

“All of us have our favorite teams and we all talk about sports,” Manchin said of regular conversations lawmakers have with one another in between conducting the nation’s business. “That is the only thing that keeps us in a bi-partisan jovial mood is talking about our teams and how they are doing or not doing or how much better they could be.”

The legislation strikes a balance in protecting athletes and helping them meet their potential in school and in life.

“I know how important sports are to gaining invaluable life skills through these types of opportunities,” Manchin said. “It opens doors of opportunity that you don’t see when you are 17-18-19 years of age that you come to appreciate in your 30s, 40s and beyond.”

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

The legislation, sparked by the sudden cardiac arrest of Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin in January on the field during a football game in Cincinnati, would require that all public schools, municipally-owned sports and recreation locations such as gymnasiums and swimming pools, and some private schools have on-site AEDs.

It cleared the chamber on an 84-6 vote.

Current Ohio law allows school districts to require AEDs on site, but it’s an elective decision that’s left to individual districts.

State Rep. Adam Bird of New Richmond, one of the bill’s sponsors, said he’s confident many districts already have AEDs, but making it a requirement can help further protect students.

Under the bill, employees would be required to undergo special training on how to use AEDs and recognize the signs of cardiac arrest. Informational sessions for students on sudden cardiac arrest would be required before the start of any athletic season.

The measure also calls for the Ohio Department of Health to develop a model emergency action plan for schools, centers and sports groups to adopt on the use of AEDs.

Hamlin went into cardiac arrest, fell flat and had to be resuscitated on the field after making what appeared to be a routine tackle during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals that was being broadcast to a national prime-time audience on Jan. 2.

More than two dozen supporters showed up to testify on the bill in committee hearings, including medical groups, emergency responders and those whose lives were saved by having access to an AED during a cardiac episode. All supported the possible new requirement as a way to save lives that may otherwise end too soon.

The proposal now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The measure folds together two contentious bills in the Republican-dominated House that could drastically change the way LGBTQ+ youth live in the state.

The proposal would require K-12 schools as well as universities to designate “separate teams “ for male and female sexes, but explicitly ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports while leaving the door open for transgender athletes to play on male or co-ed teams.

Supporters say the sports ban is about fairness in competition and maintaining the “integrity of women’s sports,” while opponents say the bill is cruel to children who just want to play sports and build friendships with teammates who align with their gender identity.

Minors in Ohio would also be prohibited from taking puberty blockers and undergoing other hormone therapies or receiving gender reassignment surgery in an effort to further align them with their gender identity.

Should the bill become law, doctors who violate it could lose their licenses to practice. Transgender children currently undergoing hormone therapies would have to stop treatment or leave the state.

Those who support the ban say it’s important to put off treatments and surgeries until legal adulthood because children under 18 cannot provide “informed consent.”

But parents of transgender children who have testified against the bill say it’s none of the Legislature’s business and that medical decisions for transgender children should be left up to their families and doctors.

The proposal could head to a full vote by the House as soon as next week.