College Football
Little on line for Utah, Colorado in season finale
SALT LAKE CITY – There is no rivalry between Utah and Colorado. Neither team is ranked, the Buffalos are out of the bowl picture and the Utes are out of Pac-12 contention.
That leaves both with an eye on the future while trying to end 2015 on a high note.
The season crashed for Utah (8-3, 5-3) after being ranked No. 3 in the country and being in the College Football Playoff discussion just over a month ago. The Utes have lost three of five and are destined for a middle-of-the-road bowl game.
Colorado (4-8, 1-7) has not had the same success since also joining the Pac-12 in 2011. The Buffaloes have five total conference wins in five seasons and haven’t had an overall winning record since 2005.
Saturday likely the final game for Miles at LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. – What is supposed to be Senior Day at Tiger Stadium is bound to take on an air of “Les Miles Day,” no matter how much the embattled coach would rather the focus be on his players when LSU hosts Texas A&M on Saturday night.
Speculation that the regular-season finale will also be Miles’ final game as LSU’s coach has dominated Louisiana sports talk shows, internet chat rooms and newspaper columns lately. Athletic director Joe Alleva has declined to address the matter publicly, allowing speculation about Miles’ status to fester on the heels of his first three-game skid in 11 years at LSU.
One could argue it would be rash to fire Miles now, given his overall LSU record of 110-32. But when asked if the clash with A&M should not mark his final day on the home sideline at Death Valley, Miles responded that he was “not going to look to defend or make a case.”
Hawaii makes a hire for its next head coach
HONOLULU – Hawaii hired Nevada offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich as its head football coach.
Athletic director David Matlin announced the hiring of the former Hawaii quarterback in a news released Friday.
Rolovich played for the Warrior’s in 2000 and ’01 and coached under Greg McMackin from 2008-11. He was the team’s primary play-caller in his final three seasons as a Hawaii assistant.
Hawaii fired Norm Chow earlier this month after he went 10-36 in four seasons.
NBA
Leonard scores 25, Spurs beat Nuggets 91-80
DENVER – Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 91-80 on Friday night for their fourth win in a row.
Tony Parker added 13 points and Jonathon Simmons had 12 for the Spurs, who were without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. The veteran stars got the night off to rest with San Antonio playing the second of three games in four nights.
Danilo Gallinari had 16 points for the Nuggets, who have lost five in a row.
Skiing
Shiffrin eyes World Cup gold, crashes before the line
ASPEN – Lara Gut of Switzerland won a World Cup giant slalom after first-run leader Mikaela Shiffrin crashed while well ahead and the finish line in sight.
Gut completed the course in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 2.51 seconds Friday, edging Austria’s Eva-Maria Brem by 0.10 seconds. Federica Brignone of Italy took third.
Shiffrin was about to win her first World Cup race at home when she lost an edge and went down right after the third-to-last gate. She stared at the snow in disbelief.
It was a rough day for the U.S. elsewhere. Lindsey Vonn lost her left ski in the first run and slid into the netting. No American has won a World Cup race in Aspen since Tamara McKinney in 1981. There are two slalom races this weekend.
Associated Press
