TUESDAY AFTERNOON SPORTS HEADLINES 1/8/18

College Basketball: There’s a number of Top 25 games this evening:

#2 West Virginia hosts Baylor
#3 Virginia welcomes Syracuse
#7 Purdue travels to Michigan
#8 Texas Tech visits #9 Oklahoma
#12 Kansas hosts Iowa State
#15 Seton Hall goes to Marquette
#18 North Carolina entertains Boston College
#20 Kentucky welcomes Texas A&M
#22 Creighton hosts Butler
#23 Tennessee visits Vanderbilt
#24 Auburn entertains Ole Miss

College Football: Alabama finished atop the final Associated Press college football poll today, hours after defeating Georgia in the national championship game. The Crimson Tide received 57 of 61 first-place votes from the media panel. Alabama is the first preseason No. 1 to finish atop the final poll since USC in 2004.

Central Florida which elevated from 10th to sixth in the poll, received the other four first-place votes after completing its undefeated season. The Knights became the first team to finish the season undefeated and not win a national title since TCU in 2010.

Arkansas coach Chad Morris has hired former Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis to help bring Southeastern Conference experience to his coaching staff. The Razorbacks also announced Joe Craddock will serve as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, continuing in the same role he held at SMU under Morris.

Two people with knowledge of the situation say Notre Dame is promoting linebackers coach Clark Lea to defensive coordinator, replacing Mike Elko, who left for Texas A&M last week. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the move first reported by Yahoo Sports were still being finalized.

NFL: Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is sitting out practice today on what amounts to a maintenance day, according to coach Dan Quinn. The Falcons have been limiting Jones’ practices throughout the season in order to keep him fresh for game action.

Sixth-seeded Atlanta hopes to have the wideout Saturday when it visits the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles.

The Carolina Panthers fired offensive coordinator Mike Shula and quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey today, two days after a playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints.

NHL: The Nashville Predators announced today defenseman Yannick Weber has signed a two year contract. Weber has a goal and two assists in 25 games this season. The Predators are back in action this evening hosting Edmonton at 7 pm in Bridgestone Arena.