Sports
Urban Meyer tabs Rutgers as next program to match Indiana’s improbable CFP run
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Indiana football claimed the school’s first-ever national championship earlier this week. The Hoosiers’ stunning rise has sparked questions about which program could be next.
Urban Meyer, who coached Florida and Ohio State to national championships, made his pick. The college football studio analyst believes Rutgers could be the next program to take the sport by storm, saying the Scarlet Knights are in prime position to become the “next Indiana.”
“Give me three programs that could be the next Indiana, meaning teams that are used to losing, have really bad records and can somehow rise from the ashes to become national champion,” Meyer said on “3 and Out,” a podcast Meyer co-hosts alongside Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram II and Rob Stone.
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Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) reacts with the trophy after the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
The Hoosiers’ rise from college football’s most loss-laden program to dominance started last season, when Curt Cignetti arrived in Bloomington and coached Indiana to its first playoff appearance.
Indiana was defeated in the first round by last year’s eventual national champion runner-up Notre Dame. But the latest edition of the playoffs was a much different story. Indiana dominated Alabama in the Rose Bowl before soundly defeating Oregon in the semifinals.
The Hoosiers then outlasted Miami in this past Monday’s title game to secure a 16-0 record and claim the national championship trophy.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights football helmets sit on the field during warmups prior to the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on Oct, 7, 2023 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports)
Meyer worked with Rutgers coach Greg Schiano at Ohio State, with the current Rutgers head coach serving as the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator for three seasons. In addition to the Scarlet Knights, Meyer also named Rice and Wake Forest as programs that could go from among the worst teams to the best.
INDIANA’S CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: A HISTORIC RUN BY THE NUMBERS
“I have no idea about Rice, no idea about Wake, but I’m going to throw them out there because if Indiana can, they can,” Meyer added. “But I will say Rutgers because Greg Schiano — who I’m biased; he’s a great friend and a great football coach — he had him in the top five in the country at one point in (2006).”

Urban Meyer on the sidelines prior to the 2025 Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff between the Oregon Ducks and the Indiana Hoosiers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Jan. 9, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Dale Zanine/Imagn Images)
Rutgers got off to a 9-0 start in the 2006 season and surged to No. 7 in the AP Top 25. After winning the Texas Bowl, the Scarlet Knights finished the season ranked No. 12.
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Rutgers ended its most recent season with a 5-7 record. The school’s 708 defeats currently rank third on college football’s all-time list. Despite recent success, Indiana still leads college football’s all-time losses list. Rutgers is scheduled to play Indiana in 2026.
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” he said on Wednesday’s edition of his Triple Option podcast.
Sports
Reds fans go berserk after catcher Tyler Stephenson’s ABS challenge wins them free pizza
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Hitters, pitchers and catchers are not the only beneficiaries of the ABS challenge system. Fans benefit, too.
The ABS challenge system helped Cincinnati Reds’ fans get free pizza during the ninth inning of the team’s 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park.
When the Reds strike out 11 hitters in a game, fans get free pizza from the local pizzeria, LaRosa’s. The Reds had 10 strikeouts going into the top of the ninth inning and needed one more to earn their fans some free pizza.
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Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brock Burke celebrates with catcher Tyler Stephenson after the final out of the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park. The Reds won the game 7-2 in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 28, 2026. (Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Reds’ reliever Brock Burke was ahead 1-2 in the count against Colorado Rockies second baseman Edouard Julien. Burke fired a 98 mph fastball at the edge of the zone, but home plate umpire Carlos Torres called it a ball.
Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson thought otherwise and tapped the top of his helmet to initiate the challenge. As the challenge appeared on the scoreboard, Reds play-by-play announcer John Sadak set up the moment.
“Stephenson has won one (challenge) tonight, can he win pizza for those in the stands?” Sadak said on the broadcast.
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A general view of Great American Ball Park during the seventh inning of the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 14, 2026. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
The replay confirmed it was a strike, giving the fans free pizza, and the place went bonkers.
“The crowd ready to burst. That’s a strike! He does it for everybody! He does it for the people,” Sadak said.
The broadcast panned to a raucous crowd that celebrated their free pizza. With Burke’s strikeout on the overturned call, all fans got a free small one-topping pizza at LaRosa’s.
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Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Brock Burke pitches against the Colorado Rockies in the ninth inning at Great American Ball Park. in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 28, 2026. (Katie Stratman/Imagn Images)
For good measure, Burke struck out the 12th Rockies hitter to end the game and secure the win.
With the win, the Reds improved to 19-10 which leads the National League Central. They will take on the Rockies (13-17) on Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. ET in the second game of their three-game series.
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Sports
PSL 11 Eliminator: Shan lifts Multan Sultans to 159 against Hyderabad Kingsmen
Shan Masood hit an unbeaten 69 as Multan Sultans set a 160-run target for Hyderabad Kingsmen in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11’s first eliminator clash at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.
Put into bat first in the high-stakes fixture, the Sultans finished at 159/9 in their 20 overs, courtesy of Masood.
The Sultans got off to a shaky start to their innings as Mohammad Ali dismissed their experienced opener Steve Smith (13) in the third over with just 28 runs on the board.
Kingsmen then lost two more wickets in successive overs as Akif Javed got in-form opener Sahibzada Farhan (15) caught at cover point, while Hunain Shah trapped Josh Philippe (six) lbw, and consequently slipped to 36/3 inside the batting powerplay.
Following the early stutter, captain Ashton Turner (nine) and his deputy Shan Masood attempted to force a recovery by batting cautiously but could add 15 runs for the fourth wicket as the former was sent back by Saim Ayub in the seventh over.
Glenn Maxwell inflicted another blow to the Sultans’ batting expedition as he got rid of their young all-rounder Arafat Minhas on the first delivery of the eighth over and brought the total further down to 52/5.
Meanwhile, Masood, who stood his ground firmly during the collapse, then shared a crucial 33-run partnership for the sixth wicket with all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, who contributed with an 18-ball 19 before falling victim to Javed in the 12th over.
Sultans endured another setback an over later as Ali cleaned up Mohammad Imran Randhawa (two) to expose their batting tail.
Hunain ensured retaining the momentum in Kingsmen’s favour as he bowled Peter Siddle in the 16th over.
Masood, however, kept the scoreboard ticking single-handedly and eventually brought his 10th PSL half-century in the 18th over.
The left-handed batter batted until the end and top-scored with an unbeaten 69 off 46 deliveries, studded with four sixes and as many fours.
For Kingsmen, the pace trio of Hunain, Ali and Javed bagged two wickets each, while spinners Maxwell and Saim chipped in with one scalp apiece.
Sports
Ipswich left sweating on EPL promotion | The Express Tribune
LONDON:
The race for automatic promotion to the Premier League will go down to the final day of the regular season after second-placed Ipswich were held to a thrilling 2-2 draw at Southampton on Tuesday that ended the hosts’ bid for a guaranteed return to the top flight.
Ipswich’s Wes Burns opened the scoring early in the second half but the visitors’ lead lasted just 10 minutes, with Southampton, fresh from their FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester City, equalising through Ryan Manning’s free-kick.
And home fans at St Mary’s had even more to celebrate when Cyle Larin put the Saints ahead with 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
But Ipswich were back level in the 87th minute when, following a corner, substitute Jack Clarke drilled a left-footed shot from the edge of the area past Saints goalkeeper Daniel Peretz into the bottom left corner.
Only the top two at the end of the regular season are guaranteed places among the lucrative elite of English football, with leaders Coventry already assured of the Championship title.
Clarke, Ipswich’s leading scorer this season, almost sealed victory two minutes later when his shot hit the base of the post, ricocheted past Peretz and then rolled past the post for a corner.
And in the third of five minutes of added-on time, Ipswich put the ball into the net again only for the effort to be rightly ruled out for offside before Peretz denied Clarke with a superb save.
Had Ipswich — like Southampton relegated from the Premier League last season — won they would have been three points clear of Millwall and all but guaranteed promotion such is their vastly superior goal difference.
But the draw means they must win at home to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday to assure themselves of second place, with Ipswich now a point ahead of Millwall and two clear of fourth-placed Middlesbrough, both of whom could finish runners-up to Coventry.
Millwall are at home to already-relegated Oxford, while Middlesbrough travel to Wrexham, who need a good result to secure a place in the play-offs.
‘Love where we’re at’
“You probably can’t come much closer to getting promoted than we were at the end,” Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna told Sky Sports.
“It was a matter of inches from the ball going in the net, but I loved where were at and I looking forward to Saturday now.”
The draw extended Southampton’s unbeaten run in the league under Tonda Eckert to an impressive 18 games but ended their hopes of automatic promotion.
The Saints, however, will be involved in the play-offs, featuring the teams finishing third to sixth, that will determine which other team enters the Premier League.
“I would have enjoyed the game if we got the three points but if you want to make an advertisement for the Championship I think that was the game to watch,” said Saints boss Eckert, adding: “We have clarity now and we need to get ready for the play-offs.”
Following a lacklustre first half, Ipswich went ahead in the 48th minute when Burns powered a shot to Peretz’s left and into the top corner, via a slight touch off the keeper’s fingers.
But Southampton hit back 10 minutes later through Manning’s powerful free-kick from the edge of the box.
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