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PAGE 2B January 2026 E-Edition
Virginia Earns Win Over Missouri in Gator Bowl
OLE MISS TO FACE LOUISVILLE - Ole Miss will kick off the 2026 football season against Louisville in a neutral-site game in Nashville. The game is set for Labor Day weekend (Sept. 5 or 6) at Nissan Stadium, and exact date, kick time and television network will be finalized at a later date. It will mark the second meeting between the Rebels and Cardinals with the other also being a season-opening, neutral-site game. Ole Miss defeated Louisville 43-24 in the 2021 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. The Rebels have taken the field at Nissan Stadium three times before. Ole Miss knocked off Georgia Tech, 25- 17, in the 2013 Music City Bowl, and nine months later, toppled Vanderbilt there, 41-3, on Sept. 6, 2014. The Rebels also dropped the 2000 Music City Bowl to West Virginia, 49-38. WISCONSIN SCHEDULE CHANGE - Wisconsin Football announced a change to its 2026 schedule. The Badgers are adding a meeting with Eastern Michigan to replace the previously announced September 19 game versus Pitt. Wisconsin and Pitt are still scheduled to meet in the 2027 Aer Lingus College Football Classic. That game remains unchanged and is set for Aug. 28, 2027 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Travel packages are currently on sale here. The Badgers will open the 2026 season on Sunday, Sept. 6 against Notre Dame in Lambeau Field. The home schedule begins on Sept. 12 against Western Illinois before hosting Eastern Michigan on Sept. 19. The 2026 Big Ten schedule has not been finalized, but Wisconsin will host Michigan State, Rutgers, Minnesota and USC during conference play and travel to Iowa, Maryland, Penn State, Purdue and UCLA. ALABAMA SOFTBALL - The University of Alabama softball program has announced its full schedule for the 2026 season, which marks its 30th year as a program and its 28th under Head Coach Patrick Murphy. Highlights of the schedule include 31 games against 12 teams that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament, including 19 games against seven different Super Regional participants and a combined nine games against Women’s College World Series teams Ole Miss, Tennessee and defending national champion Texas. Fans can experience the best atmosphere in college softball with 30 regular season home games at Rhoads Stadium. Home tournaments include the Easton Bama Bash (Feb. 13-15) and T-Mobile Crimson Classic (Feb. 27-March 1) as well as non-conference home games vs. UAB (Feb. 24), Samford (March 10), ULM (March 17), Jacksonville State (March 25), North Alabama (March 25), North Dakota State (March 28-29) and South Alabama (April 7). The non-conference slate also includes the Georgia Tech Invite (Feb. 5-7) in Atlanta, Ga., featuring Georgia Tech, East Carolina and Villanova along with the Dugout Club Classic (Feb. 20-22) in Tallahassee, Fla., featuring Florida State, Dartmouth and Elon. In Southeastern Conference play, home series for Alabama include Arkansas (March 13-15), Texas (April 2-4), Kentucky (April 17-19) and South Carolina (April 30-May 2). The Tide will hit the road to face Ole Miss (March 6-8), Missouri (March 20-22), Auburn (April 10- 12) and Tennessee (April 24-26). The 2026 SEC Softball Tournament will take place in Lexington, Ky., beginning Tuesday, May 5 through the SEC Championship game on Saturday, May 9. Additional information regarding tickets, game times and television broadcasts will be announced later date. VOLS SIGNS TOP 10 CLASS - The University of Tennessee football program surged to its best signing class of the Josh Heupel era, as the Volunteers secured a top 10 class by welcoming 28 new prospects on the first day of the early period. Tennessee signed 19 defensive players, eight offensive players and one specialist to form a Class of 2026 that was ranked No. 7 by both Rivals and the 247Sports Composite as of 9 p.m. The Vols inked three five-star prospects highlighted by quarterback Faizon Brandon (Greensboro, North Carolina), wide receiver TK Keys (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) and offensive lineman Gabriel Osenda out of the Baylor School in Chattanooga. Keys is widely considered the No. 1 wide receiver in the country and committed to the Vols in August. Brandon gave Tennessee the top prospect in the state of North Carolina for the second straight year, while the commitment of Keys secured the state of Mississippi's top recruit for the Vols. Heupel's staff also, most importantly, emphasized the Volunteer State, signing five of Tennessee's top seven prospects, including the No. 1 defensive player in Joel Wyatt. UAB FOOTBALL SIGNS EIGHT - UAB Football announced eight signees on National Signing Day. The group includes three defensive backs, a quarterback, a running back, a wide receiver, a linebacker, and an offensive lineman. Three signees hail from Georgia, leading the way, with Alabama (2) and Florida (2) just behind, and one signee from Mississippi. The eight signees, in alphabetical order, include: • Malachi Character | Thomaston, GA | Upson-Lee HS • Daimir Hicks | Springfield, GA | Effingham County HS • Hudson Higgins | Florence, AL | Mars Hill Bible • Mykale Hrabowski | Adamsville, Ala. | Minor HS • Brogan McNab | Melbourne, FL | Melbourne Central • JP Price | Orange Park, FL | Oakleaf HS • Jayden Skelton | Thomaston, GA | Upson-Lee HS • Wes Wiggins | Smithville, MS | Smithville HS KENNESAW STATE BASEBALL - Kennesaw State is set to open Mickey Dunn Stadium at Henssler Financial Field with an intriguing schedule of both non-conference and Conference USA foes. The Owls will host 32 games inside their new stadium ahead of hosting the 2026 CUSA Baseball Championship. SIDELINE SPORTS
By Myra W. Pierce The Sports Ledger
The Virginia Cavaliers defeated the Missouri Tigers 13-7 in the 2025 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, FL on December 27, 2025. With the win, Virginia finished the season at 11-3 overall. Missouri finished with an 8-5 overall record. “Man, that was a close, hard-fought game that could have went either way. Just grateful for the ball that bounced our way,” commented Virginia Head Coach Antonio Elliott. “Super excited we were able to finish the season with a win versus a very, very good football team.” Virginia won the toss and deferred. That worked out for Missouri, as the Tigers marched downfield in seven plays for a touchdown. Following a 44-yard run by Amand Hardy, Jamal Roberts found the endzone on a 5-yard run. Oliver Robbins made the PAT and it was 7-0 Tigers right out of the gate. Virginia’s Will Bettridge added 3 points to the scoreboard with a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter to make the game 7-3 at the half. The third quarter started out slowly. However, at the 4:53 mark, Harrison Waylee rushed for a 2-yard touchdown. The PAT by Bettridge was good to put the Cavaliers on top 10-7. The score turned out to be the only touchdown of the night for both teams. Before the end of the third quarter, Bettridge added another field goal to put the Cavaliers ahead 13-7. The kick was the final score of this year’s Gator Bowl, as neither team’s offense managed points in the final quarter. Virginia Quarterback Chandler Morris passed for 198 yards in the game and was named MVP of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. Matt Zollers paced Missouri with 101 yards and one interception. “Obviously very disappointed with the result,” said Missouri Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz. “Thought our guys had great resolve and fight throughout the game.” “For us, offensively it was execution. I thought we started the first drive off really good. The second drive, then third drive, like I said, we were short on our routes. So that was not good,” added coach Drinkwitz. “Defensively they did a good job of keeping us off balance. They were running the ball, throwing screens, stymieing our pass-rush. I don't think we had a sack. I can't remember the last time we didn't have a sack in a game like that.”
Photos By Brandon K. Pierce, The Sports Ledger ABOVE: Virginia Quarterback Chandler Morris (#4) was named the MVP of this year's TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. BELOW: The Missouri defense gets stop against Virginia.
Illinois Defeats Tennessee to Win Music City Bowl
Illinois is the champions of the 2025 Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl. The Illini defeated #23 Tennessee, 30-28, with a field goal from David Olano as time expired to earn their second straight bowl victory. With the victory, the Illini have captured nine wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history and head coach Bret Bielema becomes the first coach in program history to win a bowl game in consecutive seasons. Illinois (9-4) finished the winningest two-year run in program history with a 19-7 record, including 15 Power-4 wins, 11 Big Ten wins, and wins over teams from every other Power-4 conference. The Illini have beaten two straight SEC opponents in bowl games after previously never beaten a team from the SEC. Bielema is the only coach in Illinois history to coach two 9+ win teams. He did it in back-to-back seasons. Quarterback Luke Altmyer led his seventh game- winning drive in the final minute/OT of his Illinois career with a 13-play, 64-yard drive over the last 4:58 of the fourth quarter. He was named the Music City Bowl MVP after leading the Illini with 196 passing yards, a passing touchdown, 54 rushing yards, and a rushing score. With his touchdown pass of the evening to Justin Bowick in the first quarter, Altmyer matched his total from last season (22), which is tied for third in a single season in Illinois history. Altmyer concludes one of the greatest careers in Illinois history ranking in the program’s top five in passer rating (144.31, 1st), completion percentage (64.36, 1st), quarterback wins (23, 2nd), touchdown passes (57, 2nd), and passing yards (7,607, 5th). Defensively, the Illini recorded four sacks, their second-most as a team in any bowl since tallying five during the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. In the third quarter, Joe Barna forced a pivotal sack-fumble, which was recovered by Leon Lowery Jr. in the end zone for the first touchdown of Lowery's collegiate career. Olano made three or more field goals for the second time this season, including the game-winner in the final
Photo Courtesy of Illinois Athletics
Illinois Coach Brett Bielema
seconds of play. Tennessee Quarterback Joey Aguilar completed 14 of 18 passes for 121 yards. He finished his lone season at Tennessee with 3,666 yards of total offense, ranking third in school history. Aguilar passed Hendon Hooker (3,561 in 2021; 3,656 in 2022) and Tyler Bray (3,578 in 2012) and trailed only Joshua Dobbs (3,777 in 2016) and Peyton Manning (3,789 in 1997). Aguilar threw for 3,565 yards during the 2025 season, ranking third in program history. His total surpassed Erik Ainge (3,522 in 2007) and trailed only Bray (3,612 in 2012) and Manning (3,819 in 1997). Aguilar finished the season with 24 passing touchdowns, ranking 10th in program history. Defensively, linebacker Jeremiah Telander was the Vols' leading tackler with nine. Senior defensive back Jalen McMurray, playing in his final game, had two pass breakups, including one that forced a field goal.
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