The Abilene Christian Wildcats have dropped out of the FCS Top 25 rankings following their latest loss in Week 2 of the 2026 college football season.
The Wildcats — who fell in a 26-7 loss in their home opener to the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks on Saturday night — slid out of the rankings entirely from their previously held No. 23 spot in the latest edition of the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll.
It marks the end of a 30-week streak of consecutive appearances in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll for Abilene Christian, which will head into its Week 3 contest unranked for the first time since September 2024.
ACU started the 2026 campaign ranked No. 15 in the Stats Perform Preseason FCS Top 25 rankings.
The Wildcats received 15 points in the others receiving votes portion of this week's Top 25 poll.

#abilene #loss

Despite a strong start, the Abilene Christian Wildcats football team suffered its third straight loss to start the 2026 college football season.
In a ranked-versus-ranked matchup in its home opener, No. 23 ACU took an early lead but struggled down the stretch in a 26-7 loss to No. 13 Stephen F. Austin on Saturday night at Wildcat Stadium in Abilene.
The loss marks Abilene Christian's second consecutive loss to SFA after the Lumberjacks beat ACU 41-34 in a second-round FCS Playoffs game in December 2025 in Nacogdoches.
The Wildcats jumped in front of the Jacks on a six-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback John David Black to senior tight end Bryan Henry, giving ACU an early 7-0 edge with 14 seconds left in the first quarter.
Abilene Christian's lead didn't last long, though.

#abilene #wildcats #Football #second

Most college football non-conference games involving FBS teams have the home team paying the visiting team a negotiated appearance fee at some point in the months afterward. Such payouts tend to draw attention when an FCS team upsets an FBS team and receives a seven-figure payment along with it.
But nearly all the Texas Tech football non-conference games have game guarantees, too. Counting last week's season opener against Abilene Christian, the Red Raiders have 18 non-conference games scheduled through 2034, only one without an appearance fee.
Texas Tech is due $300,000 for its game against Oregon State on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. The Oregon State payment to Tech is due by Dec. 31, according to the contract. The game is the second of a two-game series in which the Red Raiders routed the Beavers last year in Lubbock. Tech paid Oregon State $300,000 after that game.
More: Texas Tech football gears up for Oregon State passing attack
More: Can Texas Tech football handle Oregon State on the road? Our score prediction

#oregon #texas #conference

The third week of the 2026 Texas high school football season was chalk full of memorable upsets, thrilling comebacks and all-around dominant performances.
The Big Country's top high school football teams returned to the gridiron this weekend, where several of the area's biggest stars put on dazzling displays and showed off their playmaking abilities.
Here's a closer look at the players that shined brightest throughout the Abilene area this weekend.
The following are the many of the Big Country's top individual performances from the Abilene area's standout players during Week 3 of the 2026 Texas high school football season:
This post will be updated with additional top performers throughout the weekend as more stats from Friday night games become available!

#weekend #texas #week #season

Starting safety Brenden Jordan was a late scratch from the Texas Tech football team's starting lineup against Abilene Christian, the team announcing he would miss the first two games of the season just before kickoff.
The initial news release said Jordan's absence was non-injury related reasons. Joey McGuire explained after the game that Jordan has been issued a suspension for a violation of team rules.
"He'll be back," McGuire said. "He's in good standing. He was on the sideline tonight and we expect him back. He won't play these first two games."
Jordan was the veteran returner in Tech's secondary, entering his fourth year with the program and had started 15-straight starts at the end of last season.
Peyton Morgan and Malik Esquerra started at the safety positions for Texas Tech in the 33-10 win over ACU.

#jordan #season

It's just one game.
Let's keep this in mind as we start to examine the Texas Tech football team's 33-10 win over Abilene Christian. By all accounts, the game was relatively boring, a workmanlike victory for the Red Raiders to knock the cobwebs off and start anew.
Each season is a snowflake, no two ever exactly alike. However, when some problems trickle over from one season to the next, with entirely new personnel between the individual units, it's fair to wonder what the deal is.
Texas Tech operated functionally on offense, putting together back-to-back methodical drives to open the game. Rushing touchdowns by Quinten Joyner (on his first official touch as a Red Raider) and J'Koby Williams made it seem destined for another tail-whooping of the Wildcats.
While the outcome was never in question, there were no offensive fireworks until Malcolm Simmons got by an ACU defender late in the fourth for a score. Offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich called a conservative game, mixing the run with the pass and moving the ball down the field, usually without much resistance from the ACU defense. It was the small plays that wound up garnering Tech 471 yards of total offense. Only a few deep throw attempts from Will Hammond, who was more than happy to check it down to Williams as often as possible with nothing open.

#Tech #offense #open

The Texas Tech football team knew it would have one new starting safety this season. The Red Raiders actually are beginning the season with two.
Peyton Morgan went through pre-game warmups with the first team at free safety and Malik Esquerra at boundary safety before Tech's season opener against Abilene Christian at Galaxy Stadium. Those two and Oliver Miles III had been competing for one open safety job throughout the off-season.
More: Is Rob Greene overshadowed? Not inside Texas Tech football building
More: Shiel Wood, a man on the move, finally parked with Texas Tech football
Tech announced before the game that returning starter Brenden Jordan will miss the first two games for reasons not related to injury. Jordan ended last season with a streak of 15 consecutive starts.

#texas #raiders

The No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders open their quest for a second straight College Football Playoff appearance on Saturday when they host the Abilene Christian Wildcats (0-1), ranked No. 21 in the FCS at newly renamed Galaxy Stadium in Lubbock.
Aug 31, 2024; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Abilene Christian Wildcats wide receiver Blayne Taylor (13) rushes against Texas Tech Red Raiders defensive safety Chapman Lewis (25) in the second half at Jones AT&T Stadium and Cody Campbell Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images
When: Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026
Time: 7:00 PM ET
TV Channel: FOX Sports 1

#texas #christian #wildcats #stadium

Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire started his response to reporters on Monday, Aug. 31 by noting his respect for Southern California coach Lincoln Riley, before then seemingly calling out the Trojans' fanbase for the small crowd at USC's Week 0 win over San Jose State.
The No. 14 Trojans defeated San Jose State 42-26 on Saturday, Aug. 29 in front of an almost-empty crowd at Los Angeles Memorial Stadium, due to unusual humidity in the area paired with low interest in a Week 0 game against a lower-tier Mountain West opponent.
REQUIRED READING: Where is everybody? USC football opens season to empty LA Coliseum
McGuire said that won't be the case when Texas Tech faces Abilene Christian on Sept. 5 in Lubbock, Texas.
"Not to take any shots, because I have a lot of respect for USC and Lincoln Riley, but it's really awesome to be playing in Lubbock, Texas, knowing we're going to be playing in front of 60,000 (fans)," McGuire said Monday. "It's going to be warm. It's going to be every bit as warm as it was Saturday.

#texas #going #week

With the 2026 Texas high school football season kicking off and volleyball season tipping off statewide, many of the Big Country's top high school athletes shined across the Lone Star State last week.
Several athletes had standout performances during last week's action and have been nominated for this week's edition of the Abilene Reporter-News' City National Bank Big Country High School Athlete of the Week.
The Reporter-News is taking weekly nominations and will release a list of finalists for the City National Bank Big Country Athlete of the Week at the beginning of each week.
Please include statistics from the week's games and any pertinent information or honors.
Students in all varsity sports are eligible and can only be named Athlete of the Week one time per season, per sport, and athletes from one school cannot win more than three consecutive weeks.

#school #season #bank

AI developers are constantly demanding more power, fueling the AI boom, which bodes well for Nvidia.
Nvidia (NVDA) is becoming more vertically integrated, taking interests in companies that help secure power for data centers, whether from the grid or independent power sources.
It is also reportedly in advanced talks to acquire an interest in Cloverleaf Infrastructure, a company that arranges power for data centers. Nvidia also took an equity interest in SoftBank's SB Energy, which was a deal tied to a megacampus in Ohio that OpenAI leased for 20 years. Additionally, Nvidia made a $2 billion investment in Lancium, the power developer behind a campus in Abilene, Texas, where OpenAI rents computing capacity from Oracle.
Also Read: Goldman Sachs spots huge twist ahead of Nvidia's earnings
Nvidia is clearly becoming more vertically integrated in data center development, which should ensure its market dominance for 20+ years, especially since many data centers operate under 20-year leases.

#power #openai #becoming

Broadwind Energy (NASDAQ:BWEN) reported sharply higher second-quarter revenue, improved adjusted EBITDA and record order activity in its continuing Gearing and Industrial Solutions businesses as the company advances its exit from wind tower manufacturing.
Chief Executive Officer Eric Blashford said the company is repositioning itself as a precision manufacturing supplier focused on domestic power generation and critical infrastructure markets. Broadwind sold its Abilene facility in April, and heavy fabrication results excluding pressure-reducing systems have been classified as discontinued operations. The company expects to complete its remaining wind tower orders during the third quarter.
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"Once we complete our remaining wind tower orders in Q3, satisfying our contractual obligations, Broadwind will have completed our strategic pivot away from wind," Blashford said.
Second-quarter consolidated revenue from continuing operations rose 67% year over year to $24.3 million, driven by higher order activity and deliveries in both operating segments. Adjusted EBITDA improved to $1.6 million, compared with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.1 million in the prior-year quarter.

#million #blashford

Pitching development has been the Red Sox's bread and ******* er under Craig Breslow. Since Breslow took over, the organization has invested heavily in the pitching pipeline. In his first two drafts, 28 of the team's 41 picks were spent on pitchers — 29 if you count two-way player Conrad Cason. At the major league level, Hunter Dobbins, Richard Fitts, Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, and Jake Bennett have all contributed after spending time in the system.
This season, the draft was more balanced, but several pitchers were still selected in the middle and later rounds. One of them was left-hander Brett Lanman out of Abilene Christian University, selected in the fifth round. Lanman, like many of the pitchers acquired by Breslow during his tenure as Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer, is huge. He's listed at 6-5, 230 pounds, and uses that frame to extend down the mound and help his pitches play up. While no two pitchers are the same, he's excited to get to an organization with a recent track record of getting young arms to the major leagues.
"I'm ready to get to work, cause these guys know what they're talking about," Lanman said. "They've developed these guys, and they're in the big leagues. It's like, man, they know, they know what it takes to get a left-handed pitcher into the big leagues pretty quickly."
Draft picks, to an extent, are lottery tickets. It's incredibly rare for a draft pick to enter the league as a major league-level talent. Paul Skeneses (Skenesi? Skenes?) don't grow on trees, and if they did, they'd all be first-round picks. Lanman, as a fifth-round pick, is far from a finished product. If he were, his ERA in his final season at ACU likely would have been lower than 5.35. The Red Sox didn't select the lefty because of his college results. They picked him because of who they believe he can become.
Potential is based on traits, such as being huge and left-handed. Lanman is both huge (6-5, 230) and left-handed. He also has a low release point and plus extension, creating a flat attack angle for his fastball. Most starting pitchers who succeed have a fastball as the foundation. Lanman knows that his heater is what's brought him this far, and that's what the Red Sox will want to build upon.

#league #round

With summer nearing its end and fall just around the corner, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football has ***** yzed and made preseason predictions for Class 5A Texas high school football teams across the Lone Star State.
Next up in the 2026 Texas high school football preseason predictions is Class 5A Division II.
In the Big Country and West Texas area, there is one 5A DII district that includes many of the most talented teams in the greater Abilene area — District 2-5A DII.
Before diving into DCTF’s predictions for this West Texas district, the Amarillo Palo Duro Dons were the only District 2-5A DII squad to secure a spot in Dave Campbell’s preseason 5A DII statewide rankings at No. 18 following their trip to the area round of the 5A DII UIL football playoffs last year.
Amarillo Palo Duro quarterback Julian Reese II and Abilene Wylie linebacker Bo Kates were recognized as DCTF’s Preseason Offensive and Defensive MVPs, respectively, for District 2-5A DII.

#dave

Those hoping hoping to see the Sox splash the cash on some hard-to-sign candidates on day 2 of the MLB Draft were immediately disappointed, as the Red Sox spent their fifth round pick on Lucas Davenport, a pitcher out of Baylor University who was unranked by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline heading into the draft.
Davenport is a beastly 6-6, 230 lbs. and his pick launched a mini-run on those big college pitchers Craig Breslow likes so much: sixth rounder Brett Lanman, a 6-5, 23o lbs. lefty out of Abilene Christian, eighth rounder Josh Volmerding, a 6-4, 210 lbs. lefty out of California Polytech, thirteenth rounder Mason Lei, a 6-4, 215 lbs. righty out of the University of Illinois-Chicago, and fifteenth rounder Chase Frey, a 6-6 225 lbs. lefty out of Grand Canyon University.
The highlights of Day 2 are the two higher-ranked high schoolers the Sox nabbed back-to-back in the ninth and tenth rounds. Ninth rounder Martin Shelar, an outfielder, comes out of the baseball powerhouse that is the Marist School in Georgia. He has massive power potential, is committed to Mississippi State, and was ranked as the 65th-best prospect overall by FanGraphs, 125th by Baseball America, and 175th by MLB Pipeline.
Tenth rounder Kaleb LaFavor out of Bishop Heelan Catholic High School in Sioux City, Iowa is a towering 6-7 righty with a ton of extension who can already hit 95 MPH on the gun. He was ranked the 171st-best prospect by ESPN evaluator Kiley McDaniel, 465th by Baseball America, and is committed to the University of Iowa. Craig Breslow's got bonus pool money burning a hole in his pocket, and it's going to go to these guys in hopes of enticing them away from college (speaking as someone who spent a fair bit of time partying in Iowa City as a 22-year-old, good luck in LeFavor's case).
Here's the full slate of day 2 picks:

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Brendan Sorsby has been granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA that could clear the way for him to play for Texas Tech this fall, even after the transfer quarterback was declared ineligible for wagering on college sports. Some of the bets were made on his own team while at Indiana.
The ruling Monday by Judge Ken Curry immediately prevents the NCAA from being able to block Sorsby’s eligibility for what will be his final college season. Sorsby will still miss the Red Raiders’ first two games, which was a penalty that had been proposed by his attorneys.
Curry’s ruling came a week after a two-hour hearing in the 99th District Court in Lubbock County, where Texas Tech is located.
The NCAA can appeal to a higher court in Texas, though there was no immediate word on if or when that would happen, or the possible timeline for a different ruling. Texas Tech is nearly three months from its season opener Sept. 5 at home against Abilene Christian.
In a statement, the NCAA said it strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling and “is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome — which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports.”

Former Indiana football quarterback Brendan Sorsby has won a temporary injunction against the NCAA that will preserve his eligibility at Texas Tech for the 2026 season.
Per district judge Ken Curry's ruling, Sorsby will have to serve a two-game suspension at the start of the season and continue to receive treatment for the gambling and anxiety disorder that his attorneys said he was diagnosed with during his stint at a residential treatment program.
Sorsby will miss the Red Raiders' opening games against Abilene Christian on Sept. 5 and Oregon State on Sept. 12, but be eligible to debut in a game against Houston on Sept. 18.
"This Court further finds that Applicant has demonstrated a probable right to the relief he seeks on his claims for breach of contract, declaratory judgement, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, and breach of fiduciary duty," Curry stated in his ruling. "This Court further finds that Applicant has demonstrated that the balance of equities is in his favor because of the hardship he would face in the absence of a temporary injunction."
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