Gardner Named The American Player-Of-The-Week…Best of the decade in local sports No. 8: Ruffin McNeill makes mark as ECU football coach…UCF gets 10th by beating Marshall 48-25 in Gasparilla Bowl…Charlie Weis Jr. hired as USF offensive coordinator…Wichita State quietly on rise as AAC begins to sneak up…Panthers’ Olsen rips own team as a ‘collective failure’ after 38-6 beatdown by Colts…It was another Monday night debacle for Kirk Cousins as the Packers win the NFC North…The NBA isn’t surprised its TV ratings are way down. Radical change was already afoot.

Official NORAD Santa Tracker

 

Pirate Press: ECU Headlines

Gardner Named The American Player-Of-The-Week ecupirates.com

Gardner Named The American Player-Of-The-Week  WNCT 9

ECU’s Jayden Gardner named AAC Player of the Week WITN 7

Best of the decade in local sports No. 8: Ruffin McNeill makes mark as ECU football coach Fayetteville Observer

ECU’s Jayden Gardner Named AAC Player of the Week Rivals

247 Sports

• Biggest needs still remaining for ECU’s 2020 class
• Part of 2020 class may be counted on for immediate impact

This December is different for Houston, staff Greenville Daily Reflector (sub req’d)

Around the American Athletic Conference

theamerican.org

• ECU’s Gardner, Memphis’ Achiuwa Earn Men’s Basketball Weekly Honors
• Houston, SMU Win on Monday Night
• UCF Reaches 10 Wins With Gasparilla Bowl Victory Against Marshall

The Associated Press

• UCF gets 10th by beating Marshall 48-25 in Gasparilla Bowl
• Grimes’ big 1st half helps Houston get past Georgia Tech

UCF secures third straight 10-win season with Gasparilla Bowl victory over Marshall USA Today

Orlando Sentinel

• UCF routs Marshall in Gasparilla Bowl to clinch 10-win season
• 10 things we learned from UCF’s Gasparilla Bowl win

Cincinnati football: Bearcats’ top recruit Evan Prater following Gino Guidugli’s lead Cincinnati Enquirer

Jackets’ rally falls short in loss to Houston in Hawaii Atlanta Journal Constitution

Charlie Weis Jr. hired as USF offensive coordinator Tampa Bay Times

Temple’s Quincy Roche says thoughts of NFL draft can wait until after Military Bowl Philadelphia Inquirer

The Festivus Airing of Grievances: American Athletic Conference Edition The UConn Blog

Notebook: poor free throw shooting costs Tulane twice in D.C. tourney NOLA.com

Dunkin’ around the Christmas tree: SMU’s Feron Hunt sends Mustangs to break with SportsCenter-worthy slams Dallas Morning News

‘Curious To See How Good Memphis Really Is’ KDKA’s Rich Walsh On Penn State Memphis Cotton Bowl Matchup CBS Boston

Relive the 10 best moments of the Memphis Tigers football season so far Memphis Commercial Appeal

Men’s basketball preview: Houston vs. Portland Houston Chronicle

Wichita State quietly on rise as AAC begins to sneak up seattlepi.com

Wichita State basketball finishes just outside AP Top 25 but makes coaches’ poll  Wichita Eagle

 

Regional Headlines: The Carolinas and beyond

Winston Salem Journal

• Ed Hardin: Making a list and checking it … wait … where is that list?
• Wake Forest heads to bowl game in northeast, which has proved to be efficient recruiting ground
• The top 10 most memorable games of 2019

Sports Tuesday: Santa and Hawaii Bowl a perfect combination Fayetteville Observer

Columbia The State

• This under-the-radar Clemson player brings swagger, and big plays, to Tigers defense
• Clemson arrives for Fiesta Bowl. 5 storylines to watch as Tigers prep for Ohio State

The Associated Press

• No. 1 LSU could be missing top rusher against No. 4 Sooners
• LSU freshman cornerback Stingley will be tested vs Oklahoma
• BYU tries to extend winning streak against Hawaii
• No. 2 Ohio State gets another test with No. 22 West Virginia