QB Malik Willis reportedly agrees to 3-year, $67.5 million deal with Dolphins following announcement of Tua Tagovailoa's release

Free-agent quarterback Malik Willis is reportedly signing a three-year, $67.5 million contract with the Miami Dolphins, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Monday.

The news comes hours after the teamannounced the impending release of veteran Tua Tagovailoa, who started 76 games for Miami over the past six seasons.

Willis, 26, put his name back on the map last season while filling in for an injured Jordan Love with the Green Bay Packers. Across parts of four games in 2025 (one start), Willis completed 30 of 35 passes (85.7%), threw three touchdowns to zero interceptions, and posted a passer rating of 145.5 and a 93.1 QBR. He also rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns.

New Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan both came from the Packers organization, so there's already familiarity on both sides. Additionally, defensive coordinator Sean Duggan and passing game coordinator Ryan Downard came from Green Bay.

Advertisement

Hafley acknowledged that Willis didn't always get an opportunity to show his skills as the scout team quarterback in practice.

"A lot of times he really couldn't do what he does best because if we were playing a dropback guy, and he started scrambling, I'll tell him, 'Hey, you got to stay in the pocket. Stop scrambling. That's not what we're doing today,"Hafley told the Miami Herald. "And then if we were playing a scrambler, he could play his game and do his thing."

"All you can do is do your part, hold guys accountable as well as hold yourself accountable," Willis said on "The Pat McAfee Show" after the signing was reported.

During his two years in Green Bay, Willis was 2-1 as a starting quarterback and appeared in 11 games overall. In those games, Willis completed nearly 79% of his passes for 972 yards on just 89 attempts. Willis had six touchdown passes and was not picked off once. He posted a 134.6 passer rating and 77.3 QBR in those 11 games as a Packer.

A 2022 third-round pick by the Tennessee Titans, Willis appeared in 11 games and started three during his rookie campaign. In his second season with the Titans, Willis only recorded five official pass attempts. Overall, he won one of his three starts and completed 53% of his passes for 350 yards and no touchdowns.

Willis was traded to the Packers for a seventh-round pick before the 2024 season and spent the past two seasons backing up Love. The opportunity presented in Green Bay came along at the right time for Willis, and working with one of the best offensive minds in the NFL under head coach Matt LaFleur is a huge plus.

byAdministrator

in

13:06

QB Malik Willis reportedly agrees to 3-year, $67.5 million deal with Dolphins following announcement of Tua Tagovailoa's release

Free-agent quarterback Malik Willis is reportedly signing a three-year, $67.5 million contract with the Miami Dolphins, N...

Read More

No. 2 UCLA ends UConn run as unanimous No. 1 in women's AP Top 25, Texas moves up to No. 3

No. 2 UCLA picked up first-place votes from top-ranked UConn in The Associated Presswomen's basketball Top 25on Monday and Texas jumped South Carolina to move up to No. 3 after winning their head-to-head showdown in the Southeastern Conference Tournamentchampionship game.

B10 Iowa UCLA Basketball

The Bruins picked up three first-place votes after their51-point winover then-No. 9 Iowa in the Big Ten title game Sunday. UConn had been a unanimous No. 1 from the national media panel for the past eight weeks. The undefeated Huskies received the other 28 first-place votes.

UConn and UCLA are expected to be the top two teams when the women's NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed Sunday night. While the Bruins are done until then, the Huskies faced Villanova for the Big East tournament title Monday night.

LSU moved up to No. 5, swapping spots with Vanderbilt. Despite its loss to UCLA, Iowa moved up to seventh. Duke jumped five places to eighthafter winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, beating then-No. 12 Louisville in overtime.

Michigan was ninth and Oklahoma 10th.

Advertisement

In and out

Buoyed by reaching the ACC Tournament semifinals, Notre Dame re-entered the Top 25, coming in at No. 22. Notre Dame replaced Fairfield, which had entered the poll last week and advanced to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game Monday.

Conference supremacy

The SEC has the most teams in the Top 25 with eight. The Big Ten is next with seven. The Big 12 and ACC each have four. The Ivy League and Big East each have one.

Games of the week

Besides UConn, Princeton is the only other Top 25 team playing this week. The Tigers will face Brown in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals on Friday night. If they win, they will play either Harvard or Columbia on Saturday. The Lions handed the Tigers two of their three losses this season.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign uphereandhere(AP mobile app). AP women's college basketball:https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-pollandhttps://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

byAdministrator

in

11:06

No. 2 UCLA ends UConn run as unanimous No. 1 in women's AP Top 25, Texas moves up to No. 3

No. 2 UCLA picked up first-place votes from top-ranked UConn in The Associated Presswomen's basketball Top 25on Monda...

Read More

Belarus journalist convicted of treason and sentenced to 9 years in prison

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian journalist Pavel Dabravolski was convicted Monday of treason and sentenced to nine years in a maximum-security prison, activists said, the fifth media worker to be jailed in two weeks in a relentless government crackdown on freedom of the press.

Belarus Crackdown

Dabravolski, who has reported for international and domestic news outlets and won numerous prizes for his work, was found guilty during a closed-door trial at Minsk City Court, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists. The 36-year-old most recently worked for BelaPAN, which the Belarusian authorities have designated as extremist.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for over three decades, has stayed in power through a relentless crackdown on dissent.

Massive protests broke out following the 2020 elections, which were widely denounced as fraudulent. More than 65,000 people were arrested and thousands were beaten. In the wake of the protests, hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations were shut down and outlawed.

Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Dabravolski was being targeted by "trumped-up charges."

"Dabravolski's only 'crime' was doing his job and covering the 2020 protests after the stolen elections," she said. "We see that the conveyor belt of repression inside Belarus continues unabated."

Advertisement

Activists have reported a sharp increase in government pressure on Belarus' media workers.

"Repression is escalating and Dabravolski's sentence shows that the authorities are increasing pressure on journalists in a country that already has the worst freedom of speech in Europe," Andrei Bastunets, the head of the journalists' association, told The Associated Press.

The group says that 28 journalists are imprisoned in Belarus.

"It contradicts the idea that the human rights situation in Belarus has allegedly improved due to the release of prominent political prisoners," Bastunets said.

Under Lukashenko, Belarus has faced years of Western isolation and sanctions for repression and for allowing Moscow to use its territory during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He has recently sought to improve relations with the West by releasing hundreds of political prisoners.

Many more remain behind bars, however, with human rights organization Viasna estimating that there are 1,140 political prisoners.

byAdministrator

in

10:34

Belarus journalist convicted of treason and sentenced to 9 years in prison

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian journalist Pavel Dabravolski was convicted Monday of treason and sentenced to nine yea...

Read More

Ohio State President Ted Carter resigns over inappropriate relationship

After just over two years on the job,Ohio State University President Ted Carterhas resigned from the university after he disclosed an inappropriate relationship to the board of trustees.

Carter, 66, resigned over the weekend after a rare three-hour executive session for the board on March 7.

Carter told trustees in advance of that meeting that he had an inappropriate relationship with "someone seeking public resources to support her personal business," according to a university statement. He offered to resign and the board accepted.

"The Board was surprised and disappointed to learn of this matter and takes the situation and its potential impact on the university very seriously," Ohio State Board of Trustees Chair John Zeiger said in a letter accepting Carter's resignation. "We respect your decision and appreciate your cooperation in supporting an orderly leadership transition."

The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network, asked the university to clarify the nature of the relationship that led to Carter's resignation. It did not share additional information.

Trustees have consistently praised Carter during his short tenure for providing steady leadership and being an ambassador for the university's land-grant mission and vision. In August,trustees approved a 4.5% merit raise, totaling $51,233,bringing Carter's new base salary to $1,189,733, as well as a $398,475 bonus, about 35% of his base pay.

In a statement sent to the campus community March 9, Carter said he "made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership."

"I believe we have made much progress during my time at Ohio State, and I'm sorry I'm not able to remain your president longer," Carter said. "The students, faculty and staff at this university are among the very best in the world, and the Education for Citizenship 2035 strategic plan has Ohio State poised to succeed for years to come."

Carter said he and his wife, Lynda, are leaving Ohio State with "gratitude and appreciation for this wonderful community."

"It has been an honor to serve as this university's 17th president, and we wish the university ongoing success," he said.

Advertisement

Carter officially began his two-year tenure at Ohio State in January 2024.He succeeded former OSU President Kristina Johnson, who stepped down following two years at the helm in May 2023 in a sudden resignation that revealedconsternation with the board of trustees.

His initial contract was set to run through Dec. 31, 2028.

Before coming to Ohio State, Carter served as president of the University Nebraska system. The bulk of Carter's career was spent in the United States Navy.

He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and the Navy Fighter Weapons School − also known as Top Gun − and studied at the Navy Nuclear Power School, the U.S. Air Force Air War College, the Naval War College and the Armed Forces Staff College. He led the Naval Academy as its longest continuously serving superintendent since the Civil War.

Carter spent much of his first year at Ohio State on a "listening and learning" tour, speaking with hundreds of students, staff, faculty and other university stakeholders to craft his 10-year strategic plan. That plan − Education for Citizenship 2035 − was introduced in November 2024 and officially launched in July 2025.

His plan included rolling out multiple new scholarships, investments in six specific colleges,an AI Fluency initiativeand a $100 million initiative to attract top faculty to Ohio State.

Ohio State did not immediately announce who would step in as interim president. Zeiger said in a statement to the campus community that the board will share a transition plan later this week. In his statement, Zeiger called on all Buckeyes to help the university succeed during the transition and into the future.

"Our collective dedication to advancing Ohio State's standing as one of the nation's premier public universities is unchanged. The current strength and momentum of Ohio State and its collective leadership team make us highly confident that our momentum will continue to be strong. You play a critical role in that mission, and we will share additional information about the transition in the coming days."

Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch:Ohio State President Ted Carter resigns over inappropriate relationship

byAdministrator

in

10:34

Ohio State President Ted Carter resigns over inappropriate relationship

After just over two years on the job,Ohio State University President Ted Carterhas resigned from the university after he ...

Read More

No need for March Madness. 2026 Final Four has already been decided

Get ready for another boring run to the men's Final Four.

What makesMarch Madnesssuch a spectacle is the unpredictability. Each game can throw away everything we know about the season, allowing Cinderellas to shine and Goliaths to falter. Thatdidn't happen much last yearen route toall four No. 1 seeds making the Final Fourfor just the second time in history.

This season, there is no doubt of who has separated themselves from the rest of the field.Duke,Arizonaand Michigan are in a class of their own. They awaited who would join them as the fourth member, and it was answered in the regular-season finale withFlorida.

March Madness favorites:Ranking top 20 teams based on odds

March Madness bracketology:Latest NCAA tournament bubble predictions

All No. 1 seed dominance? Guess what? It's going to happen again in 2026.

It sounds crazy to declare whowillbe in the Final Four before the bracket and matchups are revealed, but it's not hard to understand why itwillbe Duke, Michigan, Arizona and Florida.

Duke, Michigan and Arizona have been the most consistent. It felt like they could have gone undefeated, and they each finished the regular season 29-2. Florida didn't have an amazing start, but finished on a 16-1 stretch as it obliterated the SEC to end 25-6 overall.

It's one thing to win a lot, but it's another to do it against quality teams. Look at each of their Quad 1 records, as they are conveniently the top four teams in the NET rankings:

• Duke: 15-2

• Michigan: 14-2

• Arizona: 15-2

• Florida: 11-5

These are the only teams win double-digit Quad 1 wins.

Advertisement

Still need more proof? Look at how they're winning these games. These four make up the top eight teams in the country in average scoring margin; Duke wins by 20 points (1st), Michigan by 19 (5th), Arizona by 18 (6th) and Florida by 16 (T-7th). The Blue Devils and Gators made a joke of the ACC and SEC, theWolverineshandled the loaded Big Ten and the Wildcats made the Big 12 gauntlet look like a stroll in the park. It's a type of consistency we saw exactly a year ago with Florida, Houston, Duke and Auburn.

That's why the 2026 tournament is theirs to lose. All it takes is an off night to end a season in 40 minutes. However, these teams haven't had many of those, any everyone else can't say the same.

There are plenty of other teams that have Final Four capabilities, like Connecticut, Iowa State, Houston and Michigan State. The issue though is these teams have shown they can't be trusted. They've each had their own problems, whether it's losing to teams it shouldn't, or going on extended cold streaks.

Oh, and they've all had a chance to play against the Final Four shoe-ins. Only the Huskies were able to beat Florida, all the way back in December when it was much different Gators team.

This isn't saying the tournament won't be eventful. There is bound to be the double-digit seed first round upset or surprise run to the second weekend. Just don't expect it to be at the expense of the No. 1 seeds. Their games may be snoozers.

While it may take out the thrill of it, save the popcorn for when those four teams meet in Indianapolis, because it will be captivating, must-see TV. We already got a preview when Michigan and Duke met in late February, a thriller in the nation's capital. Imagine that happening again with the national championship on the line?

After happening only once in 45 tournaments, does having an all-No. 1 seed Final Four in back-to-back years show parity is dying in a tournament built on it? Not really, it's just the teams that are really good, are in fact,reallygood.

It's almost become comical how superior each of the projected No. 1 seeds have been. So much so the conference tournaments won't have an effect on their March Madness outlook.

The 2026 NCAA Tournament is for the taking of the Blue Devils, Wildcats, Wolverines and Gators. The other 64 teams are going to need the night of their lives — and then some — to alter the path.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:2026 March Madness can expect four No. 1 seeds in Final Four again

byAdministrator

in

09:06

No need for March Madness. 2026 Final Four has already been decided

Get ready for another boring run to the men's Final Four. What makesMarch Madnesssuch a spectacle is the un...

Read More