D'ERIQ KING

Miami quarterback D’Eriq King needs surgery to repair his right shoulder and will miss the remainder of the season.

Miami quarterback D’Eriq King has a shoulder injury that will need further evaluation this week in the latest blow to the reeling Hurricanes.

Top-ranked Alabama looks very much like a team capable of making another run at a national title.

The Florida Panthers have signed a quarterback.

The people who put together the way-too-early rankings are more bullish on the Fighting Irish maintaining their recent run of double-digit victory seasons. On the latest AP Top 25 College Football Podcast, ESPN’s Bill Connelly, the brains behind the SP+ power rankings, joins the AP’s Ralph Russo to discuss the first projections for 2021. And why are the numbers more pessimistic about an Indiana encore and an LSU bounce back than the humans? How will the return to college football of dozens of players who would have otherwise been out of eligibility impact the coming season? ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Miami quarterback D'Eriq King (1) looks for a receiver as Oklahoma State defensive tackle Sione Asi (99) rushes during the first half of the Cheez-it Bowl NCAA college football game, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami quarterback D’Eriq King tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the Hurricanes’ loss this week in the Cheez-It Bowl. The Hurricanes went 8-3 this season, the best record among the seven FBS schools in the state of Florida. King, in first season at Miami following his transfer from Houston, was a big reason for that. King completed 64.1 percent of his passes, the second-best single-season completion percentage for any Miami quarterback and one that qualifies him as, for now anyway, the most accurate passer in Hurricanes history. ___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

The annual question in Coral Gables — “Is Miami back?” — might finally have an answer Hurricanes fans will like. 9 Miami gets its first ACC championship, a drought that’s now 17 years and counting, but the Hurricanes (8-1, 7-1 ACC, No. Just finishing the right way, that’s really, really, really important. “We were taken away from each other for almost two weeks and didn’t really get back as an entire football team — I mean, not even an entire football team, but anything resembling a football team — until this past Monday. Odd as this sounds, that’s Miami’s second-longest ACC streak; the Hurricanes won 11 consecutive league games spanning 2016 and 2017.

Miami quarterback D'Eriq King passes during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in Blacksburg, Va. (Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times via AP, Pool)

D’Eriq King threw for 255 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score, rallying the Hurricanes to a 25-24 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday. Miami announced it had 13 players unavailable before the game, including three starters and several offensive linemen. Hendon Hooker paced Virginia Tech, throwing for 201 yards and rushing for 53 yards and a touchdown. “I hurt for them,” Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said of his players. Virginia Tech: The Hokies travel to Pittsburgh — if the Panthers are ready to play.

Before Miami won easily last year, the ‘Canes and ’Noles played five straight games decided by five points or fewer. A pandemic-altered college football season has helped put FSU-Miami in the spotlight again this weekend. The Big Ten and Pac-12 are still at least a month away, but the college football menu is starting to fill up. 7-6 — Lane Kiffin's record in his one SEC season as coach at Tennessee. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

The college football schedule is still looking light, with the Southeastern Conference a week away from starting and the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference still just warming up. And the American Athletic Conference gets its chance to grab some of that shine that went to the Sun Belts last week. 18 LouisvilleThe only game matching ranked teams on the schedule gets the prime-time treatment from ESPN. 16 — Number of major college football games that have been postponed or canceled since Aug. 26 after two more were wiped off Saturday's schedule because of COVID-19 issues. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25More AP college football: http://apnews.com/Collegefootball and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25