Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Colorado’s Travis Hunter, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and Miami’s Cam Ward were announced as the Heisman Trophy finalists on Monday.

The Heisman has been given to the nation’s most outstanding college football player since 1935. This year’s winner will be announced Saturday in New York. The top four vote-getters determined by more than 900 voters — the panel includes members of the media and former Heisman winners — are selected as finalists.

Gabriel, who transferred from Oklahoma in the offseason, led unbeaten and top-ranked Oregon to the Big Ten championship in its first year in the league. Gabriel averages 274 yards passing per game and has thrown for 28 touchdowns with six interceptions. His 73.2% completion rate is second in the nation.

Hunter, a two-way star, was named All-Big 12 first-team receiver and earned honorable mention for offensive player of the year. He leads the Big 12 with 92 receptions and 14 receiving touchdowns and is second with 1,152 yards. His 21 receiving plays of 20-plus yards lead the nation. He also is Big 12 defensive player of the year and a unanimous first-team defensive back after recording 31 tackles, tying for the Big 12 lead with 11 pass breakups and tying for second with four interceptions.

Jeanty, a junior running back, has had one of the most productive seasons in college football history. His 2,497 yards rushing are the fourth-highest single-season total in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and his 192.1 yards per game lead the nation and are 58 more than the next highest average. He’s the first FBS player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season since 2019.

Ward, the Miami quarterback, was named AP offensive player of the year and newcomer of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference after averaging 343.6 yards passing per game. He leads the nation with 36 touchdown passes and has been intercepted just seven times.

Former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick said he has had “a couple of good conversations” with North Carolina Chancellor Lee Roberts amid his discussions about the Tar Heels’ head coaching job.

The college football transfer portal opened a day after the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff field was released.

The portal period closes on Dec. 28.

Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold, Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi, Miami (Ohio) wide receiver Reggie Virgil and Georgia Tech wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. were among the players who entered the portal on opening day. Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown announced his transfer intentions on Sunday.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Tennessee is the new No. 1 in men’s college basketball after a significant shakeup in the AP Top 25.

The Vols received 58 first-place votes from a 62-person media panel to reach No. 1 for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Tennessee climbed two spots from last week after Kansas lost twice and Auburn fell to No. 4 Duke. The Tigers remained No. 2 and received three first-place votes.

No. 3 Iowa State had one first-place vote and climbed three places from last week for its highest ranking since 1956-57. Kentucky rounded out the top five.

In all, 14 ranked teams lost last week, including six teams in the top 10; Kansas and then-No. 11 Wisconsin lost twice. Only two teams — Auburn and No. 12 Oregon — remained in the same poll spots they were a week ago, and the volatility saw five teams jump into the rankings.

Tennessee (8-0) is off to its best start since opening the 2000-01 season 9-0.

No. 24 UCLA is ranked for the first time since the preseason poll following wins over Washington and Oregon.

UCLA, UConn and South Carolina remained the top three teams in the women’s AP poll. The Bruins received 24 first-place votes from the 32-member national media panel. UCLA beat Washington by 11 in its lone game last week. The Huskies garnered the other eight top votes after routing Louisville 85-52 in the Women’s Champions Classic.

LSU and USC each moved up a spot to Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, after then-No. 4 Texas lost to Notre Dame 80-70 in overtime. The Longhorns fell to sixth and the Irish rose two spots to eighth. Maryland was seventh. Duke and Oklahoma rounded out the first 10, with the Sooners moving up a spot.

Tennessee returned to women’s poll at No. 19, ending the school’s longest drought in the 48-year history of the women’s basketball poll.

The Vols (7-0) had not been ranked since Nov. 27, 2023, a span of 22 polls. Since the rankings began in 1976, Tennessee has been in the Top 25 in 779 of 870 total weeks (89.5%).

COLLEGE SOCCER

Olivia Thomas scored on a free kick in the 62nd minute for her fourth goal of the NCAA Tournament and North Carolina beat Wake Forest 1-0 for the program’s first national championship since 2012.

North Carolina (22-5-0) has won 22 of the 43 NCAA women’s soccer titles. The Tar Heels also won the 1981 AIAW title to total 23 national championships. No other women’s soccer team owns more than four.

Wake Forest (16-4-4) was playing in the championship game for the first time in program history.

MISCELLANY

Aryna Sabalenka received the WTA Player of the Year award for the first time after winning two Grand Slam titles and finishing 2024 at No. 1 in the rankings. Sabalenka, 26, from Belarus, won the Australian Open in January and the U.S. Open in September, along with two other titles this season, going 56-14 with nearly $10 million in prize money. She overtook Iga Swiatek for the top ranking in October.

The 2026 Pan Pacific Championships featuring swimmers from the U.S., Australia, Canada and Japan will be held in Irvine, ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The meet, held every four years, rotates between the four countries. USA Swimming announced that swimmers from each nation will join top athletes from all non-European countries in competing Aug. 12-15 at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu underwent a procedure last week on her right thumb to stabilize the ulnar collateral ligament, multiple sources reported.