As the final seconds ticked down on the scoreboard Monday night in Houston, the end of an era arrived. 

The four-team College Football Playoff, first established in 2015, crowned its final champion as the Michigan Wolverines won their first title since 1997. 

College football will have a different look in 2024 with a 12-team playoff before it inevitably grows. 

The Pac-12 conference will no longer really exist after 10 of its 12 schools bolted for greener pastures and more money. 

MICHIGAN WINS COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OVER WASHINGTON

Name, image and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal will continue to take over the sport until regulations are put in place, making college football similar to professional sports with players bouncing from team to team. 

Fans and those who cover the sport will have more than seven months to discuss the coming changes and the future of the sport. But for one finas night, college football focused on the field, crowning Michigan its champion. 

Let’s take a look at what we learned in the final college football game of the 2023 season. 

Michigan’s defense was that good

Entering the CFP national championship, the Michigan defense was elite, allowing the fewest points (9.5) and the second-fewest yards (239.7) per game in the country. 

And while Michigan held Alabama to just 288 yards and sacked quarterback Jalen Milroe six times in a CFP semifinal, the Washington offense posed an entirely new set of challenges. 

The Huskies slung it around the field the entire year, leading the country in passing yards per game (350) heading into the title game. 

Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) throws an interception during the CFP national championship game against the Michigan Wolverines Jan. 8, 2024, at NRG Stadium in Houston.   (David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Washington had a trio of receivers capable of stretching the Michigan defense, with Rome Odunze and Ja’Lynn Polk both going over 1,000 receiving yards in 2023. 

The Washington offense was the biggest test for a Michigan defense that faced a backloaded schedule in a Big Ten Conference not known for pushing the ball down the field. 

It turned out the Michigan defense was up for the test. 

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The Wolverines held Washington to 24 points below its season average Monday and 173 yards below its average yards per game. 

Michael Penix Jr. and Washington’s passing game was limited all night, gaining at least 20 yards on a pass play just once after leading the country in pass plays over 20 yards (78). 

“We knew they’d get some yards. The goal was to not let them get behind us,” said Michigan co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale, per MLive. “We busted a couple coverages — about two or three — and they didn’t capitalize because of our (defensive) line. Our D-line helped us out. And when we needed to play tight, we did.”

Washington Huskies teammates comfort quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) during the national championship at NRG Stadium Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Houston.  (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Penix looked uncomfortable in the pocket and missed on multiple throws that he had connected on for most of the season. 

“They did some good things,” Penix said. “I feel like, on the offensive side of the ball, we just missed a lot of opportunities, opportunities where we needed to execute the most to help our team, put our team in a better position to come out with this win.”

The Michigan defense was the best in the country in 2023, and it proved it on the biggest stage Monday night. 

Jim Harbaugh has nearly done it all as a head coach

To say that the 2023 college football season was tumultuous for Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh would be the understatement of the century. 

The Wolverines began their undefeated season without Harbaugh after he served out a school-imposed three-game suspension over NCAA recruiting violations. Then, when Michigan was entering its most challenging phase of the season, Harbaugh was again sidelined an additional three games amid an investigation into a sign-stealing operation that involved former low-level staffer Connor Stalions. 

Through it all, Harbaugh’s team went 15-0 and snapped the program’s 26-year national title drought. 

J.J. McCarthy (9) and head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines celebrate after defeating the Washington Huskies in the 2024 CFP national championship game at NRG Stadium Jan. 8, 2024, in Houston.  (Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)

Harbaugh took over a Michigan program that had lost its way in 2014. In the seven years prior to Harbaugh taking the job in Ann Arbor in 2015, Michigan went a combined 46-42 under Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke. 

Harbaugh came in and brought a hard-nosed, physical brand of football to Michigan, leading the Wolverines to a 10-3 record in his first season. Over the past three seasons, Harbaugh’s teams have gone a combined 40-3, winning three straight Big Ten championships and going to the CFP each year. 

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On Monday night, Harbaugh brought a championship to his alma mater, nine years after he took the job in Ann Arbor. 

“That man, he’s the reason we’re here today,” Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said of his coach.

Now, the questions around Harbaugh returning to the NFL take over the conversation. 

Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh celebrates following the CFP national championship against the Washington Huskies Jan. 8, 2024, at NRG Stadium in Houston. (Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Harbaugh led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013 before losing to the Baltimore Ravens, coached by his brother, John Harbaugh. 

Harbaugh’s name has been connected to multiple job openings in the NFL. Will he look for another challenge at the next level?

If he does, Harbaugh didn’t give any hints Monday night. 

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“I just want to enjoy this,” Harbaugh said. “I hope you give me that. Can I have that? Does it always have to be what’s next, what’s the future?”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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California could soon outlaw tackle football for children under 12 amid concerns over health and safety.

Lawmakers in the state will initiate debate on Wednesday on whether to ban tackle football in an effort advocates say would protect kids from brain damage or other medical issues. The bill’s critics include coaches who warn a ban on tackle football would cut off youths from an important source of physical activity.

The bill, authored by Democratic Assembly member Kevin McCarty, is scheduled to have its first public hearing before a legislative committee and is still a long way from passing. Wednesday’s hearing is crucial as the bill must clear the state Assembly by the end of January to have a chance of becoming law this year.

The move would follow previous attempts in California to ban tackle football for kids, as well as in New York and Illinois, which have all failed to pass.

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California law already bans full-contact practices for high school and youth football teams during the offseason and limits them to two practices per week during the preseason and regular season. Both precautions are to avoid unnecessary physical contact for safety reasons.

Separately, a law that took effect in 2021 requires youth football officials to complete concussion and head injury education in addition to other safeguards.

If passed, McCarty’s bill would not take effect until 2026.

Pop Warner football players look on before an NFL pre-season football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers Friday, Sept. 4, 2009 in San Diego. The California Legislature is considering a bill that would ban tackle football for children under 12.  (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation and former Harvard football player and WWE professional wrestler said research has shown tackle football can cause brain damage such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can then cause the death of nerve cells in the brain. This risk increases the longer the sport is played, according to Nowinski.

MICHIGAN WINS COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OVER WASHINGTON

“I don’t have a problem with NFL players, who are adults and understand the risk and are compensated, risking CTE,” Nowinski said. “I can’t imagine a world in which we have children, who don’t understand the risk, doing this for fun (and) taking the same risk with their brain.”

No state has banned tackle football.

Young boys playing American Football during the half time break during the New York Giants V Indianapolis Colts, NFL American Football Pre Season match at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, USA. 18th December 2013. Photo Tim Clayton  (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

Tackle football at the high school level in California has been declining with participation dropping more than 18% from 2015 to 2022.

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The decline came from a high of 103,725 players to 84,626 players, according to the California Interscholastic Federation’s participation survey.

In 2023, football participation increased by 5%, up to 89,178 players.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Erik Spoelstra is staying in South Beach for a long time.

The Miami Heat head coach since 2008, Spoelstra has reportedly agreed to an eight-year extension worth $120 million.

The money is the most ever given to a coach in the history of the NBA, beating Gregg Popovich’s deal that was worth north of $80 million he got last July.

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Popvich had beaten Monty Williams’ $78.5 million from the month before.

The extension comes months after the Heat were in the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed, the second to ever do so. They also made the Eastern Conference Finals the year prior.

Spoelstra has been on the organization’s coaching staff since 1997, serving as an assistant for 11 years. He started in the video room and eventually became a scout, an assistant coach and then Pat Riley’s hand-picked successor as head coach in April 2008.

He has taken the Heat to the NBA Finals six times, including four-straight trips from 2011 to 2014, winning it all twice (2012 and 2013). 

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra looks on against the Brooklyn Nets during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in New York.  (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

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Spoelstra’s 725 regular-season wins rank 19th in NBA history, and only three coaches — Popovich with the Spurs, Jerry Sloan with Utah and Red Auerbach with Boston — have won more games with one franchise than Spoelstra has with the Heat.

He is also an assistant coach for USA Basketball in this Olympic cycle and will be part of head coach Steve Kerr’s staff at the Paris Games this summer. Spoelstra will likely be among the top candidates to take over the Olympic team for the next cycle that will culminate at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Assistant coach Erik Spoelstra and Anthony Edwards #10 of the United States warm up before a 2023 FIBA World Cup exhibition game against Puerto Rico at T-Mobile Arena on August 07, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Spoelstra’s current deal expires after this season.

The Heat are currently 21-15, good for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Free agent MLB pitcher Julio Urias has reportedly avoided felony charges from an alleged domestic dispute back in September.

The case will move to the City Attorney’s Office for misdemeanor filing considerations, ESPN reported. The case had originally been through the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

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Urias was suspended 20 games in 2019 after he was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery, although he was not charged.

Urías was placed on administrative leave a few days after the incident — meaning, he had been paid but was not allowed to be with the team.

MLB continues to investigate the case. No MLB player has been suspended twice for violating the league’s domestic violence policy.

Julio Urias #7 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Miami Marlins during the second inning at Dodger Stadium on August 19, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Urias has spent the first eight seasons of his MLB career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He finished in third place in the NL Cy Young Award voting in 2022 with an NL-best 2.16 ERA. He was seventh the year prior, when he led the majors with 20 wins.

The Mexican-born left-hander pitched to a 4.60 ERA over 21 starts with the Dodgers in 2023. For his career, Urías owns a 3.11 ERA over 158 games (122 starts) with an overall record of 60-25 in the regular season.

Urias won a World Series with the Dodgers in 2020.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Boston.  (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

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The Dodgers have seemingly replaced Urias by acquiring Shohei Ohtani (he won’t pitch in 2024, but will get back on the mound in 2025), Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow.

Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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The Chicago Cubs appear to have made one of the biggest moves of the MLB offseason Tuesday after the team tentatively agreed to a contract with Japanese left-hander Shota Imanaga, according to multiple reports.

The southpaw would still need to undergo a medical review, scheduled for Thursday in Chicago.

Imanaga spent the past eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan’s highest level of baseball widely considered the second-best baseball league in the world behind MLB. 

He posted a 3.18 ERA in 1,002⅔ innings in his time in NPB.

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Although Imanaga is not as highly regarded as compatriot Yoshinobu Yamamoto, he is still an intriguing potential mid-rotation starter for the Cubs. Yamamoto signed a lucrative deal with the Dodgers earlier this offseason. 

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The Dodgers also signed pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani to an unprecedented long-term contract. The two-time American League MVP spent the first six years of his professional baseball career in the U.S. with the Los Angeles Angels.

The 30-year-old Imanaga throws a variety of pitches effectively. His fastball has reached speeds in the mid-90s, and he can also throw an effective splitter, slider and curveball.

Shota Imanaga of Team Japan pitches in the second inning against Team USA during the World Baseball Classic championship at loanDepot Park March 21, 2023, in Miami, Fla. (Eric Espada/Getty Images)

Imanaga underwent a procedure in 2020 to repair his damaged shoulder, and he missed the COVID-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

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Imanaga competed in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, starting against the U.S. in the gold medal game.

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Aaron Rodgers went scorched earth on the media Tuesday during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” and warned those who have a counter opinion to the mainstream narrative.

Rodgers riffed on a number of topics during his weekly appearance on the ESPN show, touching on his response to Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks about him from his late-night show, an ESPN executive’s statement on his remarks about Jeffrey Epstein and how the media is allegedly trying to smear him.

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As he talked about ESPN senior vice president, production Mike Foss’ statement on the New York Jets quarterback’s remarks about Kimmel from last week, Rodgers said the release was just falling into the media trap.

“They try and cancel, and it’s not just me, it’s nowhere near just me,” Rodgers said. “I mean if you look at all the different people that have been censored from the internet, especially during COVID, the canceling that went on, the censorship, using the government to try and censor people — that happened. 

“And if that doesn’t work then they go to name-calling. And I mentioned a lot of the names that I’ve been called. And they don’t stick because I’m not anti-vax. I’m interested in informed consent and the things that are in the best interest of my body.”

Rodgers said he’s never supported Donald Trump or the “Make America Great Again” movement. The quarterback is a noted supporter of Robert Kennedy Jr.

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Aaron Rodgers #8 of the New York Jets looks at a Microsoft Surface tablet during the second half against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on December 28, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)

He said he would be OK being called a conspiracy theorist because of their track record in recent years. But scoffed at being called an antisemite or anything else.

“This is their gameplan,” he said. “They use these words to cancel people, and they went and ran with this because it’s the ‘crazy, anti-vaxer wacko’ again talking about accusing of somebody of being a pedophile. Of course, this is the gameplan that they use. Incorrect. But that’s the environment that we’re in.

“There’s a lot of people who have been captured by various entities, government entities, whether we’re talking about the pharmaceutical industrial complex or whether we’re talking about the government has the best interest in my mind, and we’re puppeting various narratives.

“In the end, if you are not someone whose opinion aligns with the mainstream narrative, this is what they’re gonna do with you. It’s not me. I’m not a victim. I don’t give a s—. Say whatever the hell you want about me, that’s fine. Like the people that know me and love me, you know what I’m all about. My teammates know what I’m all about.”

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers speaks to reporters at the team’s NFL football facility in Florham Park, N.J., Monday, Jan. 8, 2024.  (AP Photo/Dennis Waszak Jr.)

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Rodgers explained earlier in his rant that he never called Kimmel a pedophile and didn’t accuse him of being on any list tied to the disgraced deceased financier.

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Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. has filed a temporary restraining school against the school’s board of trustees so he can return from suspension.

Shannon was suspended from the team last month after he was charged with rape in Kansas.

However, Shannon’s attorneys, Mark P. Sutter, Rob Lang, Steve Beckett and Mark Goldenberg say the university rushed to judgment and did not follow its protocols.

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“TJ has constantly maintained his innocence,” Goldenberg said, via 247 Sports. “All he wants is a fair process, and we don’t think he’s gotten that yet… He’s been granted no due process rights, no presumption of innocence, no fair and complete open opportunity to defend the claim.”

Goldenberg says that Shannon could return to the team as early as Thursday’s game if the restraining order is granted, but it would only last 10 days, unless both parties agree to an extension.

“All he wants is a fair process, and he doesn’t feel like he’s gotten it yet. He’s pretty firm on his innocence,” Goldenberg says.

University of Illinois associate chancellor Robert Kaler said in a statement that the school is aware Shannon has filed for “injunctive relief from his suspension.” 

“We will review the filing and defend our student-athlete misconduct procedures, which allow us to respond swiftly to allegations of misconduct and serious crimes while affording our student-athletes a fair process and waiting for the legal system and university discipline processes to proceed.”

Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (0) brings the ball up court during the college basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on December 9, 2023, at Food City Center in Knoxville, TN. (Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The alleged victim told police said she didn’t say anything to the man before he started pulling her toward him, putting his hands under her skirt and touching her sexually. She said the room was so crowded she couldn’t “do anything,” the affidavit said.

Prosecutors in Douglas County charged Shannon on Dec. 5 with rape or an alternative count of sexual battery. The complaint says the accuser was born in 2005. After a warrant was issued for his arrest, Illinois suspended Shannon on Dec. 28 from “all team activities, effective immediately.”

The rape charge carries a sentence of 12 to 54 years in prison, while the battery charge carries a fine of up to $2,500 and up to a year in jail.

Shannon transferred to Illinois from Texas Tech prior to the start of the 2021-22 season. He played in 11 games this season and was averaging 21.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists this season.

The school said it was aware of the allegations since last September but had “yet to receive actional information” until Dec. 27.

Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. passes during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Missouri Friday, Dec. 22, 2023, in St. Louis.  (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Shannon was an All-Big Ten First-Team selection last season.

He last played on Dec. 22 when he dropped 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Missouri in their “Braggin’ Rights” rivalry. 

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.