Ohio State backup quarterback Devin Brown is transferring to California.

Brown entered the transfer portal in December but stayed with the Buckeyes through their run to the national championship that ended with a win Monday night over Notre Dame.

Cal announced Tuesday that Brown would be joining the Golden Bears for next season.

The Bears lost starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza to Indiana this offseason, as well as the top two backups, with Chandler Rogers and CJ Harris also entering the portal.

Brown is expected to compete with freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele for the starting job at Cal. Brown has two years of eligibility remaining.

Brown lost a close quarterback competition to Kyle McCord in 2023 and was relegated to the back seat again when the Buckeyes brought in Kansas State transfer Will Howard for 2024.

Brown, who is from Gilbert, Arizona, has been linked to the Golden Bears for some time. He has thrown for 331 yards and three touchdowns in the past two seasons, mostly in mop-up duty.

CFP champ Ohio State finishes No. 1 in AP poll >> Ohio State was No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 poll of the season after beating Notre Dame for its first national championship since 2014.

The Buckeyes (14-2) received every first-place vote following their mostly dominant run through the College Football Playoff. The Irish (14-2) finished No. 2 for their highest end-of-season ranking since 1993.

Oregon (13-1), which had been No. 1 in eight straight polls entering the playoff, lost to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal and finished No. 3. The Ducks’ previous high final ranking was No. 2 in 2014.

Texas (13-3) and Penn State (13-3), which both reached the semifinals, rounded out the top five. The Longhorns finished in the top five for a second straight year for the first time since 2008-09. The Nittany Lions ended in the top five for the first time since 2005.

It’s the first time the Big Ten has had three teams in the final top five.

No. 6 Georgia (13-3) was followed by Arizona State (11-3), Boise State (12-2), Tennessee (10-3) and Indiana (11-2).

No. 11 Mississippi (10-3), which closed with an impressive Gator Bowl win over Duke, and No. 13 BYU (11-2), which routed Colorado in the Alamo Bowl, were ranked ahead of two playoff teams from the ACC, SMU and Clemson.

Alabama took the biggest fall, six spots to No. 17. The Crimson Tide dropped two of their last three under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer, including a 19-13 bowl loss to Michigan.

Golf

Norman says LIV helped Tiger, McIlroy >> Greg Norman says he would win a debate with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy on how Saudi-funded LIV Golf has helped them financially.

And by the sound of his interview with Australian Golf Digest, it wasn’t just LIV Golf where the Shark left his teeth marks.

“When I look back on my past 3 1/2 years, from my past 20 years, oh my gosh, I really have changed the game of golf more than what people realize,” Norman told the magazine.

He says his tenure with LIV officially ends on Aug. 31. Scott O’Neil, a longtime sports and entertainment executive, has been hired as the new CEO.

Woods and McIlroy were both critical of Norman’s combative tone when LIV Golf launched in 2022, backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia that offered enormous bonus money for players to defect to the rival league. Both players said there could be no unification with Norman still involved.

McIlroy said at the end of LIV’s first year, “No one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.”

Norman said he hasn’t watched the indoor TGL backed by McIlroy and Woods because “there’s a couple of players who’ve been very vocal against me.”

But then he said he would love to meet with both players to illustrate how they have been helped.

MLS

Chicago acquires Ivory Coast star Bamba >> Winger Jonathan Bamba was acquired by Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire from Spanish club Celta Viga and agreed to a three-year contract that includes a team option for 2028.

The 28-year-old, a member of Ivory Coast’s team that won last year’s Africa Cup of Nations, will be a designated player whose compensation and acquisition cost exceed the $743,750 salary budget charge maximum.

Bamba has played for Saint-Etienne (2015-18), Paris FC (2016), Sint-Truiden (2016), Angers (2016), Lille (2018-23) and Celta.

San Diego gets USMNT’s de la Torre >> U.S. national team midfielder Luca de la Torre was loaned to Major League Soccer’s expansion team in his hometown of San Diego by Spanish club Celta Vigo after making just one 4-minute appearance during the first half of the season.

A 26-year-old who has played for the national team 24 times, de la Torre signed a four-year contract with Celta in July 2022 and appeared in 28 Spanish league matches in his first season and 32 in his second.

Motorsports

Haas hires F1’s first female race engineer >> Haas has appointed Laura Mueller as the first female race engineer in Formula 1.

Mueller will be working with French driver Esteban Ocon this year, Haas said.

Race engineer is a very visible role in F1 since they’re on the radio to drivers during races and those messages are broadcast.

Haas was seventh in the constructor standings last year and has a new lineup with Ocon and Ollie Bearman.

Mueller was promoted from her role as performance engineer. The German has been with Haas since 2022.

“She’s a pretty determined character,” Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu was quoted as saying on the F1 website. “And then she’s very hard working. Her work ethic is really, really good.”