NCAA Football and Basketball January 2021 News Roundup

As we welcome in 2021, hopes are high around the country for a better, safer, and healthier year. After a year that affected sports at all levels, it has been encouraging to see college sports going strong, even if there is the occasional COVID hiccup.
With football bowl season coming to its conclusion and basketball well underway, there is plenty of news from around the sports world. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from the last week.
Miami Quarterback Injured In Bowl Game
Miami may have lost to Oklahoma State in the Cheez-It bowl, but it suffered an even worse injury on the field. Starting quarterback D’Eriq King tore his ACL during the second quarter of the game.
According to head coach Manny Diaz, the good news is that King should be good to go by the beginning of next season. King had already announced that he was returning for another season before the bowl game, and it appears that he should hopefully be able to return by the start of the season.
This year, King threw for 2,686 yards, 23 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He also rushed for 538 yards and another four scores.
Armed Forces Bowl Turns Ugly
It was an ugly end to a good game on Thursday when players from Mississippi State and Tulsa engaged in a massive fight on the field after the game had concluded.
During the game, Mississippi State won 28-26, but it was the postgame shenanigans that made headlines. After a game that was already physical, an end of game unsportsmanlike conduct might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
After multiple punches and kicks, law enforcement eventually broke up the melee. While no punishments have been issued yet, there will likely be some coming from either the NCAA or the schools. Broadcasters discussed the potential for criminal charges as well.
In the game itself, Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers threw for 148 yards and a touchdown while rushing for another score. In the loss, Tulsa quarterback Zach Smith threw for 347 yards and a touchdown but also threw two costly interceptions.
Utah Running Back Passes Away
In some tragic news, Utah announced that running back Ty Jordan has passed away. The belief is that Jordan may have accidentally shot himself last Friday.
Jordan had a fantastic freshman season, earning himself the honor of Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. On the year, he rushed 83 times for 597 yards and six touchdowns. He also had 11 receptions for 126 yards.
After a 3-2 season, Utah did not qualify for a bowl season but had high hopes for Jordan moving forward. It is an absolute tragedy, and thoughts and prayers are certainly with Jordan’s family at this time.
Arizona Basketball Imposes One-Year Postseason Ban
Shifting to college basketball, Arizona announced this week that they were imposing a ban on postseason play for their men’s basketball team for this season.
As part of the investigation that hit several basketball programs across the country, it was found that Arizona had agreed to pay Deandre Ayton to play for Arizona in 2017.
After being hit with the NCAA allegations in October, Arizona has imposed this ban for this season. While head coach Sean Miller was in charge at the time of the allegations, blame seems to have been shifted to others on the coaching staff as Miller remains the head coach.
Arizona is currently 8-1 on the season and 2-1 in the Pac-12. Despite the early success, though, they don’t have nearly as much to play for this year with the postseason off the table.
Johnson Back With Team
In a bit of good news, Florida’s Keyontae Johnson is out of the hospital and back with the team after a scary collapse during a matchup with Florida State earlier this season.
Johnson has been diagnosed with acute myocarditis, which may have led to his collapse. While he likely won’t be playing anytime soon, it is great to see him back with the Gators as he has even taken on a pseudo-coaching role with the team.
After averaging 14 points and 7.1 rebounds last season, Johnson was off to a strong start this year as he was averaging 16 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and one steal through the first four games.
Still, it is great to see Johnson out of the hospital and back with the team as his health is more important than any basketball game.